sesame seeds
I have a child who is calcium deficient. He was born that way, his teeth came in decalcified (is that a word?) and he has been my sickliest child, having battled with recurrent ear infections and MRSA. I know he needs more calcium, I just haven’t known how to get it into him. He has been on calcium supplementation since he was a baby, but his body goes through it immediately and he is always in need of more. I have been researching ways to get calcium into him and have decided to try sesame seeds. We have had several friends with broken bones and I want to avoid that if at all possible!
My friend, Kim Simmerman, has this to say:
The most calcium rich food is the sesame seed; 1 oz. of sesame seeds contains 1200 mg of calcium. Calcium is the knitter of our bodies. It is the primary ingredient in bones, teeth, joints, and nerves. It holds our tissues and organs in place and it is the agent moves toxins from our bodies. The human body needs regular amounts of calcium in the diet just to keep up with daily nutrient demands. Calcium is depleted by stress and acids (the highest acid foods are refined sugars and animal proteins). As an example, one candy bar can deplete a single day’s worth of calcium. If the diet doesn’t provide the calcium, the body will naturally draw from its reservoir: bones, teeth and nerves. Osteoporosis, dental decay, arthritis, popping joints, nerve problems, and hardening of the arteries are all a result of calcium deficiency. In fact, a large portions of the diseases of the modern western world are just symptoms of severe calcium deficiency! Therefore, we must supplement our diets with plenty of quality calcium.
To aid in the digestion, eat the sesame seeds with yogurt or kefir so that the friendly bacteria can assist the body in opening up the seeds for better calcium absorption. The nutrition of your sesame seeds can be enhanced an additional 200% if you soak them in water overnight, thus sprouting them. Drain off the water and spoon them into your breakfast bowl. Store leftovers in the refrigerator and eat within three days.
So, sesame seeds are going to become an ever more part of our lives! I have been eating yogurt with frozen peaches and walnuts lately and it is DELISH! Now I am going to add a few more things in and try to make it super tempting to my picky Fisher.
Kim recommends 1 C. yogurt or kefir with 2 TB – 1/4 C. sesame seeds, 1/2 – 1 C. fruit, 1 – 3 C. granola or muesli, and sweetener to taste. I never put sweetener in mine as my yogurt is vanilla flavored to start, but if it were plain, it would be a must. Some ideas are honey, stevia, raw agave, pure maple syrup, 100% frozen juice concentrate, and jam w/out sugars.
I’ll let you know if we notice any differences in our health and especially Fisher’s!
I'm Tracy, a mama with big dreams, crazy ideas, loads of laughter, an insatiable desire to learn, and enormous piles of laundry.
Do they need to be eaten raw? Can I bake it into my bread with the same result? What about grinding the sesame seeds? My daughte has a tooth that came in decalcified too.
I don’t know if they have to be eaten raw – but everything has more nutrition if it is raw, so I would shoot for that. Add it into smoothies, put it in your cereal, make some granola…all those would be good uses of sesame seeds.
I just read about another seed that has about 6 times the calcium of milk. It’s called chia seed. Technical name Salvia hispanica. It sounded interesting and useful. Google it.
One of my favorite snacks is a sliced banana, sprinkled with cinnamon and sesame seeds (which I’ve soaked first) and slivered almonds, maybe a drizzle of honey, topped with milk or almond milk. There’s a bowl of calcium for you! :)
Another great use of sesame is in tahini, which you can make yourself or buy pre-made. This is a key ingredient in hummus, which is a good disguise for nutrients! :) A bowl of hummus, served with a bag of Garden of Eatin’ brand blue corn chips with sesame seeds, is a great sesame snack!
Tahini is also good as a smear on a sandwich, or mixed into a salad dressing, or any other veggie/chip dip you might be making.
Here’s a calcium powerhouse: spinach with tahini and sesame seeds!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spinach-with-Tahini-1222193
You can also just grind up the sesame seeds and include them in your baked goods of course.
Blackstrap molasses is also a great source of calcium! Sometimes I drizzle it onto my sliced banana snack (above) but it’s got a pretty strong taste so it might not go over with a picky eater. I guess you could sneak it into baked goods or pancake syrup or something…?
Almonds are also a good calcium source, and if kids don’t like nuts you can just grind them up for almond flour and use that in baked goods too.
You can always go with the kid favorite: cookies! Here’s a recipe for sesame seed cookies :)
http://southernfood.about.com/od/buttercookies/r/bl40312l.htm
bon appetit!
Now these sound like delicious ideas! We will be trying them out soon! Thank you so much for sharing, Anne!