Stay Healthy By Eating Pumpkin Seeds
First and foremost, the Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds are mind-blowing! Plus, they’re totally worth adding to your list of favorite snacks! Not only are they healthy for you, but they’re also quite delicious as well.
Generally, most people don’t realize how beneficial these little amazing seeds are. Surprisingly, pumpkin seeds provide an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids. Not to mention, they’re great for your heart, bones, and much more!
Indeed, they’re full of protein and are a particularly hearty food source for vegans! Even a small amount of pumpkin seeds offer a substantial amount of healthy fats, zinc, and magnesium.
Also, pumpkin seeds are a treat that can be roasted, cooked, baked, or even eaten tossed over a salad. There are many ways to eat these nutritionally enriched seeds, you’ll always walk away feeling more than satisfied, especially once you know how beneficial they are for consumption!
The Many Uses of Pumpkin Seeds Throughout History
Pumpkin seeds are the edible seeds found inside pumpkins. However, pumpkin seeds purchased from the store are typically de-shelled, are small, oval in shape, and green in color.
The oldest pumpkin seeds discovered by archaeologists date back to the Oaxaca Highlands of Mexico. To clarify, pumpkins likely originated as long ago as 7,500 years ago in Central America. Although, the pumpkins we have today share little resemblance to those harvested early on.
Now, seeds are extracted and deshelled from pumpkins native to mostly North America. Since they’ve been used for dietary and medicinal purposes for hundreds of years, they’ve become extremely popular in modern culture, worldwide, especially here in the United States!
Furthermore, their popularity has grown significantly since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that pumpkin seeds can greatly increase magnesium and zinc absorption.
That’s right; you can find about 40 mg of magnesium and 1 mg of zinc (about 20% of your daily recommended intake) in one tablespoon of pumpkin seeds. Since discovering the health benefits of pumpkin seeds, China now produces more than any other country!
Pumpkin Seeds Nutrition and Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Without a doubt, pumpkin seeds offer much in the way of nutrition and health benefits. Both pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil contain several nutritional benefits including antioxidants, potassium, polyunsaturated fatty acids, folate, and vitamin B2.
Indeed, antioxidants play an important role in reducing inflammation and protecting your cells against damaging free radicals. Therefore, adding pumpkin seeds to your diet can help prevent diseases.
In fact, a recent research study showed that when a test group of mice was given pumpkin seed oil, inflammation reduced quite noticeably. On the other hand, mice who were given anti-inflammatory drugs as opposed to pumpkin seed oil faced a slew of negative side effects. Thus, indicating that pumpkin seed oil can be a safer alternative to combat inflammation.
Pumpkin Seeds Can Reduce the Risk of Developing Cancer
For those who are concerned with developing cancer such as breast cancer, lung cancer, or colon cancer, pumpkin seeds have been shown to significantly decrease the risk of developing these types of ailments.
Furthermore, studies indicate that the lignans found in pumpkin seeds have properties that greatly influence the prevention of breast cancer. These lignans have a handful of health benefits including a lowered risk of menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, and lowered risk of heart disease.
Improve Your Overall Heath By Eating Pumpkin Seeds Daily
Pumpkin seeds have proven to have a positive effect on benign prostatic hyperplasia, which impacts the prostate and the male’s ability to urinate. Pumpkin seeds have been shown to help promote a stronger bladder and reduce overactive bladder risks.
Better yet, regular consumption of pumpkin seeds can improve blood sugar levels! The use of pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil, and its juices all appear to lower blood sugar, especially for those concerned about type 2 diabetes.
Since pumpkin seeds are such an excellent source of unsaturated fats, they’re also good for overall heart health. This is due to their ability to lower cholesterol levels in the blood.
This is especially important as high cholesterol levels often lead to many other health-related issues. Even worse, unmanaged high cholesterol can lead to the development of heart disease, heart failure, and even death.
While these are only a few of the many nutrition benefits of consuming pumpkin seeds regularly, there are quite a few more. Pumpkin seeds can also help with weight loss, boost your immune system, improve eye health, and even help support healthier pregnancy development.
So as you can see, the health benefits of pumpkin seeds are one of nature’s best gifts to mankind. Not to mention, these miracle seeds could save your life, or at least extend it.
Eat Pumpkin Seeds And Sleep Better
One of the most unrecognized health benefits of pumpkin seeds is the way they can improve the quality of sleep. Surprisingly, the best time to consume pumpkin seeds is at night.
Many believe that tryptophan can only be found in their Thanksgiving turkey. However, this is simply not the case. Tryptophan is an amino acid that converts into serotonin and then to melatonin, which is a key ingredient for a restful night’s sleep.
In other words, pumpkin seeds are a natural source of this amino acid that can help promote sleep. Therefore, eating pumpkin seeds at bedtime is a treat your body will surely appreciate!
Best Ways to Eat Pumpkin Seeds
While you can absolutely eat pumpkin seeds raw, you can also bake, roast, and cook them as well.
One of the most popular ways to eat pumpkin seeds is roasted. Keep in mind, while roasting pumpkin seeds can slightly alter their nutritional value, if the heat is kept low and steady, then they shouldn’t be impacted too greatly, just eat an extra handful!
If you choose to consume the seeds directly from the pumpkin, the following pumpkin seed recipe will help you achieve the best-roasted pumpkin seeds that can be enjoyed right away.
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds
First, scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin and clean them in cold water. Swirling the seeds around a bit will help remove any excess mess from the innards of the pumpkin.
Even if the pumpkin seeds aren’t perfectly clean at this point, the next step will ensure that they are sparkling clean before it’s time to eat them.
Next, you’ll add them to a pot of boiling salted water and simmer for about 5 minutes. This allows the pumpkin seeds to be thoroughly washed and seasoned with salt.
Then, you’ll want to drain and rinse the seeds, pulling off any remaining pumpkin bits that are hanging on. Now that they’re drained and rinsed, they’ll need to be dried out, which is an important step to take before roasting.
Thereafter, toss the seeds with the oil of your choice. You can use olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, whichever is your preference. Season them to your liking – salt and pepper are often used. We also recommend using coconut oil, as this is much healthier than other oils.
Finally, lay the pumpkin seeds flat on a pan and put them in the oven to roast. You can roast them until the edges are browned and crispy. Feel free to eat these alone as a snack, or however you want, they’re now all yours to enjoy how you please!
How to Bake Pumpkin Seeds
The process of baking pumpkin seeds is very similar to the process of roasting them. Typically, the only major difference between the two is the amount of time spent in the oven.
In other words, it’s not necessarily a new recipe to bake them versus roasting them, but it’s important to identify how you’d like to use your pumpkin seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds often taste best eaten as a snack on the go, whereas baked or cooked pumpkin seeds are best used within other dishes.
Surprisingly, pumpkin seeds make a great addition to cornbread, muffins, and even cookies. They’re most delicious in savory, nutty dishes like banana bread. You can also blend your pumpkin seeds into a sauce to use over pasta. For a sweeter alternative, cover them in chocolate to create a guilt-free satisfying snack like nothing else!
Nature’s Gift of Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are undoubtedly one of nature’s miracles. It’s interesting to consider all of the ways that pumpkin seeds can benefit not only your health but your diet and overall fitness as well.
In reality, it’s not an easy feat to find a snack that can help fight harmful free radicals, ward off potential cancer risk, improve blood sugar, and aid in a healthy pregnancy. Plus, this snack’s ability to help promote weight loss and improve sleep is second to none!
Last, but not least, it’s not easy to find a treat that is both highly nutritional and deliciously versatile. Pumpkin seeds can be tailored to your liking, regardless if you like them sweet or savory!
All in all, the health benefits of pumpkin seeds are astonishing, even more so, mind-blowing! They’re widely available, versatile, affordable, and can be roasted, baked, or eaten raw! So if you’re looking to improve your health by eating better, then we recommend adding pumpkin seeds to your diet right away, as in today!
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Thanks for Reading, Be Healthy, Stay Healthy!
