Sunflowers are a beautiful plant, native to America. The native Americans used to have many uses for it. They used it to create a yellow dye that was extracted from its petals, oil used for painting the body during religious ceremonies, stems to produce a light fiber, and for eating.  

Sunflower heads are made up of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the head are individual ray flowers that do not develop into a seed. They can grow up to 8 to 10 feet tall and are a great way of attracting birds.

Sunflowers have a lot of calcium and 11 important minerals. They also have 50% fat, but it is mostly polyunsaturated (the healthy kind) fat.

These fiery blooms track the sun as it moves across the sky. A plant-growth regulator, called the auxin, which accumulates on the shaded side of the plant, causes the darker side to grow faster than the sunlit side so the stem can bend towards the sun.

There are many health benefits to eating sunflower material. Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of Vitamin E, the body’s primary fat-soluble antioxidant. Vitamin E has anti-inflammatory effects that reduce symptoms of asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, in which free radicals and inflammation play a big role. Vitamin E has also been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer, decrease the severity and frequency of hot flashes in women, and reduce the development of diabetic complications. Finally, vitamin E plays an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.  

The sunflower produces magnesium, a mineral used to counterbalance calcium, helping to regulate nerve and muscle tone, and prevent headaches, muscle cramps, tension, soreness, and fatigue. Last, but not least, sunflower seeds produce selenium which helps prevent the proliferation of cancer cells.