8 Health Benefits of Poppy seeds

Poppy seeds contains high amount of Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Dietary fiber. Health benefits of Poppy seeds includes lowering cholesterol level, strengthen bones, prevent anemia and Poppy seeds also good for Skin.

Updated: June 2, 2018

Poppy seeds are a one of the delicious edible seed cultivated many regions throughout the world with numerous health advantages. The scientific name of Poppy seeds is Papaver somniferum. It belongs to the Genus: Papaver, family: Papaveraceae. It is believed that this Edible seed is native to the East Mediterranean and Asia, but now it is also cultivated widely all over the world, such as Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, France, India, and East European region for domestic and commercial purpose.

Due to various types of Vitamin, Minerals and nutrients, present in the Poppy seeds it has lots of health benefits. Among that some of the health benefits of Poppy seeds include preventing the Risk of Cancer, improves Digestive Health, reduces Blood Pressure, improves Brain Health, prevents the Risk of Anemia, improves Eyesight, contain Antioxidant Properties, improves Bone Health and improves skin health.

Nutritional Value of Poppy seeds:

Poppy seeds contain lots of Vitamin, Minerals and other components. Some of the vitamins Poppy seeds has vitamin C, Vitamin E, Folate, Thiamin, Niacin, Pyridoxine, Pantothenic acid and Riboflavin. Poppy seeds also contain Omega 3 fatty acids, Omega 6 fatty acids, dietary fiber, sodium and potassium, which have lots of health advantages. Apart from this Poppy seed also contain minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and Manganese. The best part of the Poppy seed is, it contains zero cholesterol.

Poppy seeds Improves Cardiovascular Health:

Due to the high amount of oleic and linoleic acids a mono-unsaturated fatty acid found in Poppy seeds, it is very beneficial for our cardiovascular health and it also helps to reduce cholesterol level in our body. The fiber found in Poppy seeds helps to reduce the bad cholesterol level from our body, such as LDL cholesterol, it is the main cause from different kind of heart related disease and it also helps to increase the good cholesterol level in our body, such as HDL Cholesterol level. Different studies have been proven that consumption of Poppy seeds can prevent various types of cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack, heart stroke, etc.

Poppy seeds Reduces Blood Pressure:

Poppy seeds contain high amount of potassium, which is very helpful in improving the blood circulation in our body. Potassium present in Poppy seeds acts as a vasodilator, which means it reduces the strain from the blood vessels and provide smooth passage for blood through the arteries that reduce the pressure of the cardiovascular system and prevent various types of issue related to blood pressure, such as hypertension. Beside this Poppy seed also contains high amount of Phenolic elements, which prevent the oxidative damage of blood vessels caused by free radicals.

Poppy seeds Digestive Health:

Due to the high amount of dietary fiber found in Poppy seeds, it is very beneficial for our digestive health and it also helps to prevent various types of digestive issues. Different studies have been proven that, consumption of fiber rich foods, such as Poppy seeds helps to promote the proper bowel movement and provide smooth passage for food through the digestive tract. Fiber also helps in adding bulk to our stomach and ensures the proper elimination of waste from our body in time, thus prevent the risk of various types of digestion related problem, such as constipation, gas, etc.

Poppy seeds Prevents Diabetes:

Different studies have been proven that the anti-diabetic compound presence in Poppy seeds, which promotes the production of insulin in our body that, is very useful to reduce the absorption of glucose level in our blood stream, which is very useful to control the blood sugar level in our body, thus prevent diabetes. So consumption of Poppy seeds on a regular basis in a moderate quantity can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Poppy seeds Prevents Anemia:

As we all know anemia is a disease of iron deficiency in our body; however, consumption of Poppy seeds on a regular basis in a moderate quantity can improve the iron level in our body and prevent anemia because Poppy seeds is highly rich in iron. Different studies have been proven that consumption of Poppy seeds on a regular basis can reduce various anemia symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue, irregular breathing, etc.

Poppy seeds Improves Bone Health:

Due to the high amount of calcium found in Poppy seeds, it is highly beneficial for our bone health and to keep our bone strong and healthy. Calcium is the main element of our bone structure and it also helps to improve the bone density. Apart from this, studies have been proven that consumption of Poppy seeds on a regular basis in a moderate way can keep our bone strong and prevent the risk of osteoporosis. Beside this Poppy seed also contain high amount of Vitamin C and Vitamin E, which helps to promote the absorption of calcium in our body and also contain antioxidant properties, which protect our bone tissue from oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

Poppy seeds Prevents Cancer:

Due to the presence of anti-oxidant compound in Poppy seeds, it is very beneficial for preventing various types of cancer such as skin cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer. Studies have been proven that consumption of Poppy seeds can very helpful those who are suffering from cancer because it helps in destroying the cancer cells and stopping the growth of the cancerous cells in our body. It also helps to prevent the oxidative damage caused by free radicals, thus prevent the risk of macular degeneration and various age related issues.

Poppy seeds Improves Skin Health:

Due to the high amount of anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties present in Poppy seeds can help in reducing the various kinds of skin related issues. Antibacterial properties of Poppy seeds help to protect our skin from foreign invaders, such as bacteria and virus and anti-oxidant properties of Poppy seeds also help to protect our skin from oxidative damage caused by free radicals; it is the main cause of various types of skin issues, such as wrinkles, dark spots, signs of aging, etc.

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0031942272801018

http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/33/6/806.short

http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/40(1)/PJB40(1)461.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1824667/

https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/opium.htm

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/zinc-and-the-immune-system/23B26245CF0F773E5F1AA19E9800B82B

Nutritional Facts Of Spices, poppy seed

Nutrient	Unit	Value per 100 g
Water	g	5.95
Energy	kcal	525
Protein	g	17.99
Total lipid (fat)	g	41.56
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	28.13
Fiber, total dietary	g	19.5
Sugars, total	g	2.99
Calcium, Ca	mg	1438
Iron, Fe	mg	9.76
Magnesium, Mg	mg	347
Phosphorus, P	mg	870
Potassium, K	mg	719
Sodium, Na	mg	26
Zinc, Zn	mg	7.90
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	1.0
Thiamin	mg	0.854
Riboflavin	mg	0.100
Niacin	mg	0.896
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.247
Folate, DFE	µg	82
Vitamin B-12	µg	0.00
Vitamin A, RAE	µg	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	1.77
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	µg	0.0
Vitamin D	IU	0
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	µg	0.0
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	4.517
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	5.982
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	28.569
Fatty acids, total trans	g	0.000
Cholesterol	mg	0
Caffeine	mg	0