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There are some risks with homemade seeded crackers: here's how to keep the goodness in and the bad stuff out.

- BY JENNIFER BOWDEN

QUESTION:

I bake seeded crackers using chia, pumpkin, flax, sesame and sunflower seeds. Does baking them for 50 minutes at about 180°C cause a loss of the seeds' goodness?

ANSWER:

Nuts and seeds are small but mighty: nutritional powerhouses packed with fibre, protein, healthy fats and minerals. Eating patterns that include nuts and seeds alongside legumes and seafood in place of typical protein sources like red meat are consistently associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

So, your daily cracker habit is on the right track. But what happens to these nutrients when seeds are ground and baked? Let's start with the good news. Minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium are highly stable, so baking won't destroy them. Likewise, protein, carbohydrate and fibre are all robust under heat and remain intact in your finished cracker.