In the latest issue of Vegetarian Journal, the Nutrition Hotline column by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, answers this question: “Are flaxseeds and other seeds good to eat? How much should I be eating? My doctor told me to eat more seeds so I’ve cut down on beans and have been eating seeds instead.”

Dr. Mangels starts her response with “Seeds are a good choice with a few caveats…They have less protein and much more fat than you’d get from a serving of beans providing a similar amount of calories. Seeds, for the most part, are somewhat lower in iron and higher or similar in zinc compared to beans on an amount per calorie basis…If you replaced beans with seeds, you’d end up eating more calories and fat to get the same amount of protein. On the other hand, including some seeds will give you a boost of zinc, copper, magnesium, and other essential minerals.”

This article includes a chart comparing nutritional values of some seeds with lentils, as well as a lot of other valuable information. Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2019issue1/2019_issue1_nutrition_hotline.php

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