Anyone remember news st. ab. boy- swallows apple stem dies?

Like Fluhrer, who grew up eating apple cores, Saxelby eats the seeds of pears and grapes for the fibre. While apple seeds do contain cyanide, you would have to eat more than 100 apples' worth at one sitting before you ran into trouble. As with any food, don't go overboard on the seeds.

"It would follow logically that, because we eat other seeds, the seeds of fruit would be good for us. But it would depend on how much we digest and absorb of the rich content - and that would vary between individuals."

Saxelby makes a couple of provisos. "We wouldn't recommend eating seeds for people with diverticulitis [inflamed bowel] and for children of vegetarians, who are eating seeds all the time, we usually recommend they grind them up to prevent any danger from inhaling. But ground sesame seeds as tahini paste and the nut butters [almond, cashew] are a good alternative."

Fluhrer says pumpkin seeds are a good source of the amino acid tryptophan, a precursor for serotonin production (the chemical that enhances mood), which may help people who suffer from depression.

Where the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs slow the breakdown of serotonin in the brain, tryptophan helps produce more serotonin. "So it's the difference between trying to break down something or having more source material," Fluhrer says.

Dr John Piesse, a Melbourne integrative GP, cites pumpkin seeds for prostate health. He chews apple and pear seeds, and recommends they be eaten, saying it's probably better to eat all seeds with the fresh fruit.

"In general, the biological activity of nutrients is stronger in fresh fruit. You lose some potency each time you process something.

"We need to have a substantial rethink about our diets. Most doctors don't consider nutrition when they are treating patients and know little of supplements. Variety is always the best way to go."

And what of our mothers' assertions never to eat seeds because "they'll get caught in your appendix"?

Saxelby says it's an urban myth and a paper by the Medical Journal of Australia concurs. The authors, led by Dr Roger Byard, analysed 1409 cases of acute appendicitis and found our mothers were "incorrect in espousing the belief that fruit seeds or pips may cause appendicitis".