Dietary calcium is easily obtained from dairy, green leafy vegetables (i.e. kale) or, nuts/seeds (chia, amonds). What about other sources?

Do you know that unhulled sesame seeds are a great source of calcium? One ounce of sesame seeds has 270 mg calcium…But, sesame seeds are important for other reasons, too. Supplementation of sesamin, as extracted from sesame seeds has been shown to increase lifespan (Zuo et al. 2013). In humans, dietary sesamin has been shown to reduce blood pressure (Miyawaki et al. 2009) and, LDL and total cholesterol (Hirata et al. 1996). So, sesame seeds appear to be a functional food for those interested in optimal health!

Here’s my recipe for a delicious tahini salad!

Mike’s Tahini Salad

Salad:

16 oz romaine lettuce

12 oz cherry tomatoes

9 oz purple cabbage

3 oz sweet yellow corn

3 oz pickles

 

Tahini:

1 oz sesame seeds

3 garlic cloves

1-2 medium sized jalapenos

Half a lemon

1 teaspoon, cumin

Put all ingredients for the Tahini in the blender. Add ~5 ounces water, or more, based on your desired consistency.

Mix all the vegetables and Tahini together…Eat and enjoy!

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

References:

Calcium in Sesame seeds determined via http://ndb.nal.usda.gov

Hirata F, Fujita K, Ishikura Y, Hosoda K, Ishikawa T, Nakamura H. Hypocholesterolemic effect of sesame lignan in humans. Atherosclerosis.1996;122(1):135–36.

Miyawaki T, Aono H, Toyoda-Ono Y, Maeda H, Kiso Y, Moriyama K. Antihypertensive effects of sesamin in humans. Journal of Nutritional Science & Vitaminology. 2009;55(1):87–91.

Zuo Y, Peng C, Liang Y, Ma KY, Chan HY, Huang Y, Chen ZY. Sesamin extends the mean lifespan of fruit flies. Biogerontology. 2013 Apr;14(2):107-19.