It’s that time of year again, the time when most of my dinners during the week have a strong salty flavor as I often forget to throw a sandwich in my bag and am forced to chow down on Sunflower seeds while I watch baseball and softball games well into the night.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the Sunflower. Not only is it the state flower of Kansas and a sure-fire sign of summer, but it also produces a mean seed that can sustain a man for hours on end.

I know from experience.

These days, Sunflower seeds, much like hot wings or High School Musical movies, come in a variety of flavors. The possibilities are endless. You’ve already got the classics like salted or unsalted, barbecue, ranch and dill. And I’m sure garlic, nacho cheese, jalapeno and some form of lime are out there somewhere. Heck, the other day while researching the Sultan of Seeds I came across a new product: beer flavored seeds. Hmmm.

One click later I came face to face with a web site that sold caffeinated seeds, packed full of the stuff that makes energy drinks so great — caffeine, taurine, lysine and ginseng. Yum.

Anyway, the other night as the inside of my cheek began to go raw, I started to wonder just what it was about these magical seeds that so effectively conquered my hunger. So I looked it up.

Turns out the seeds aren’t all that bad for you. They’re high in fiber, low in saturated fat and pretty low in carbohydrates and sugars, too. In addition, they pack a pretty good punch of protein, which makes them a favorite topping for healthy salads, and they have no trans fats. NO WAY!!!

The biggest drawback comes from calories (170-250 per half cup) and sodium, which should come as no surprise since you can literally taste it with every mouthful.

All of that knowledge can be attained from a quick look at the back of a bag. But, not quite satisfied yet, I chose to dig deeper.

According to the web site www.nutritiondata.com, sunflower seeds have a fullness factor rating of 1.6 and a nutrition diet rating of 3.3. Let’s compare that with a couple of other ballpark favorites:

* Peanuts (approximately 292 calories per half cup) — fullness factor: 1.3, nutrition diet rating: 2.6.

* Hot Dogs (approximately 150 calories per dog) — fullness factor: 1.7, nutrition diet rating: 0.7.

* Soft Pretzel (approximately 143 calories per pretzel) — fullness factor: 1.7, nutrition diet rating: 2.0.

As you can see, Sunflower seeds actually are the way to go. They have slightly more calories than the hot dog or the pretzel, but fill you up the same and have a greater all-around nutrition rating.

I’m not going to sit here and say the objective of stadium snacking is to stay healthy. Let’s face it; if you’re interested in eating healthy but wait until you get to the game to grub, you’re pretty much out of luck anyway.

But on those occassions where you’re dying for something to eat and you don’t want to shell out the nine bucks for the cheeseburger or the pulled pork sandwich, Sunflower seeds can do the trick. For a fraction of the cost, they’ll fill you up, making these little floss-fighting machines the value pick of the draft.