Eli5: how do sunflower seed hulls hurt you by eating them?

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I love sunflower seeds but I get annoyed that I have to spit out the hulls, which is even more annoying to do after I’ve chewed them down a lot. I guess my question is how can they harm us after we’ve chewed them well?

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Why do you chew them so much? Just crack the two halves apart with your teeth and use your tongue and teeth to separate the parts. Or split them with your fingers after cracking with your teeth

Anonymous 0 Comments

The sharp edges of any seeds/husks can poke holes in your GI tract. This can lead to something called leaky gut where you can absorb nutrients as well. That leads to other issues…

Anonymous 0 Comments

Too much fiber basically. Though it takes a decent amount. Like cases usually reference children eating a bag of unshelled seeds and not chewing well. Think spiky wadded ball of butt pain. Or poking holes in intestines causing sepsis in a very severe case.

So occasionally swallowing some isn’t too much of a problem, though if it isn’t chewed super well it can scratch you up a bit, mostly on the way out. Though you definitely don’t want to swallow all of them, even if well chewed because of the blockage problem.