How to Eat Sunflower Seeds

To eat a sunflower seed, run your tongue along the salty outer shell, crack it between your teeth, and spit out the shell before chewing the seed. Repeat. This article instructs on how to become a master seeder: one who can consume sunflower seeds while performing other tasks.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Getting the Technique Down

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    Get a bag of sunflower seeds. You can get a bag of seeds that have already been removed from their shells, but it's more fun to eat the seeds you have to do a little work to extract. Choose from a variety of flavors, like chipotle, pickle or barbecue.[1]
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    Place a sunflower seed in your mouth. Start with just one, so you can get the hang of the technique.
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    Move the seed to the side of your mouth. It's easier to crack the seed in the side of your mouth than the front.[2]
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    Place the seed between your teeth. Use your tongue to get it in place. Position it either vertically or horizontally, depending on your preference. Either way, the outside edge of the shell should be making contact with your teeth.
    • Use your molars (chewing teeth) to crack the shell. They have an indention in the middle to hold the seed.
    • It's more difficult to use your two front teeth; you risk the seed slipping and scraping your gums.
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    Apply firm and steady pressure on the seed until it cracks. The hull should give easily after a moment of intense pressure. Don't bite so hard you crush it, though.
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    Release the seed from your teeth. Let it fall onto your tongue.
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    Separate the inner seed from the shell. Use your tongue and your teeth to pull them apart.The texture is the key to this step. The inner, edible seed, will be smooth, while the shell will be rough.[3]
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    Spit out the shell pieces. After practice, the shell will usually break open like a clam, therefore making this step less messy.
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    Eat the seed.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Eating a Greater Amount of Seeds

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    Place a handful of seeds in your mouth. Some baseball players pour half a bag in their mouth at once, and chew them over the course of an hour. The more seeds you can store in your cheek, the better.[4]
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    Move the seeds to one cheek. You want them all to be in the same place, so you have control over them.
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    Move one seed to the other side of your mouth. Use your tongue to move it over so it's inside the other cheek.[5]
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    Crack the shell. Use your tongue to position it between the molars, then bite down to crack the shell.
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    Spit out the shell and eat the seed.
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    Repeat with another seed. Move it over from the storage cheek to the other cheek, bite it between your molars, spit out the shell, and eat the seed.
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    Slowly raise the amount of seeds you can hold in your spare cheek. This reduces the number of reloads per serving, and it's what the pros do.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    Is it hygienically healthy to put shelled seeds in the mouth? We don't know how they were stored previously.
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    If you take the seeds out of an undamaged bag, they come from a factory, meaning they have to submit to food hygiene laws. If the seeds are open or from a bowl, your mileage may vary. If one is pedantic, the question of whether food is safe could be asked of any food that was not 100% created yourself from production to table.
  • Question
    What is a normal serving size of sunflower seeds?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    According to the nutrition label on a bag of David's sunflower seeds, a serving is 1/4 cup, or 30 g of kernels (the edible interior bits).
  • Question
    What does eating sunflower seeds do?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It's just a healthy snack that some people like.
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Warnings

  • Prolonged sessions of eating seeds will cause soreness to your tongue, because of the amount of salt.
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  • Excessive consumption can cause laxative effects due to fiber.
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  • Take heed when chewing lest you choke.
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  • Consult your health care provider to ensure that you can consume 110mg of sodium (amount in a typical serving of commercial Sunflower Seeds) with each meal. Check the Nutrition Facts label on your sunflower seeds package.[6]
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
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Things You'll Need

  • Bag of Sunflower Seeds
  • Dexterous mouth

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/how-do-you-eat-sunflower-seeds-salted-or-unsalted.html
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSgz2n413gg
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgzY-dRJKCM
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgzY-dRJKCM
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSgz2n413gg
  6. ↑ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium/sodium-health-risks-and-disease/

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 44 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 930,365 times.
167 votes - 83%
Co-authors: 44
Updated: March 16, 2023
Views: 930,365
Categories: Eating Techniques
Article SummaryX

To eat a sunflower seed, place the seed in your mouth so it's between your back molars. Then, bite down on the seed until the shell cracks. Once the shell cracks, use your tongue to separate the seed from the outer shell. Spit the shell out, chew the seed in your mouth, and you're finished! If you want to learn how to eat multiple seeds at once, keep reading!

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