Pumpkin is known to be a delicious vegetable that has a lot of essential nutrients. For most of us, pumpkin seeds can also be a great and yummy snack. But we don’t even guess that these seeds are extremely beneficial for our health.
Our snacks should be both tasty and wholesome, but, unfortunately, such food isn’t easy to find. We usually give preference to some fruits or vegetables like apples, bananas, carrots and many others.
If you try to add pumpkin seeds to your eating plan, you’ll discover their numerous health benefits. Here are the most convincing reasons due to which you should start eating pumpkin seeds right now.
1. High in Proteins
To my mind, this is one of the greatest benefits of these vegetable seeds. I should say you can’t find any other seeds that are so rich in proteins.
For example, if you eat only one ounce of pumpkin seeds, you will supply your body with 9.30 grams of protein. Perhaps you don’t know, but protein is essential for our body to build skin, muscles, bones, blood, and cartilage. Moreover, these seeds are a wonderful substitute for meat for vegans.
2. Help to Prevent Cancer
Nowadays, we are subjected to different diseases, but cancer is the most terrible and dangerous. You’ll be surprised to know that you can protect yourself from the risk of cancer by eating pumpkin seeds regularly.
A great number of antioxidants make this food so advantageous for your health. Scientists’ researches have shown that these seeds contribute greatly to cancer prevention, especially breast cancer.
More: 8 Great Benefits of Chia Seeds
3. They Are Full of Antioxidants
Another reason why you should include pumpkin seeds into your diet is because of their high concentration of antioxidants, which strengthen our immune system and enable our body to resist various diseases. What are these useful antioxidants that pumpkin seeds contain? Take a look at them:
- Vitamin E
- Zinc and manganese
- Caffeic, syngic acid, sinapic and other phenolic antioxidants
- Phytonutrients like pinoresinol, medioresinol and ligans lariciresinol
4. Anti-inflammatory Effects
If you have some inflamed areas on your skin, oil from pumpkin seeds will be the best remedy for you. It should be mentioned that this food can also help to treat arthritis.
Doctors claim that these wholesome seeds affect our body in the same way as Indomethacin does. That is the medicine used for treating arthritis.
5. Diabetes Support
There are so many people throughout the world who suffer from diabetes. By eating pumpkin seeds, they can relieve the painful symptoms of this disease.
Generally, these people have lots of problems with their kidneys. At last, a great solution has been found! Consumption of pumpkin seeds will help you to protect your kidneys from the negative influence of the disease.
It was found out that they stabilize your insulin regulation either. If you are one of those people who have diabetes, you’d better go now to the supermarket and buy this healthy snack.
6. Rich in Zinc
One of the greatest advantages of this food is that it is full of zinc. One ounce of seeds will give your body about 2 mg of this nutrient. So, it is advisable for you to include pumpkin seeds in your eating plan.
As a result, you will improve your sleep, insulin regulation, and you will forget about your bad mood. To have strong immunity, you certainly need foods fortified with zinc.
Do you often catch a cold and flu in winter? Then, make sure to provide yourself with these tasty and healthy seeds.
7. Relieve Menopausal Symptoms
I want to add that pumpkin seeds have a high concentration of phytoestrogens, positively influencing our bodies. Try to eat this snack daily, and you will be amazed at the results. Such symptoms of menopause as headaches, hot flashes, joint pains, and high blood pressure will never bother you.
More: 7 Foods That Help Fight PMS
8. Treating Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia can be treated with the help of pumpkin seeds and oils. Since they contain a wide range of beneficial nutrients, their role in treating this illness cannot be overestimated. Scientists say that zinc, lignans, and phytosterols are the most efficient antioxidants that help people to fight the disease.
Pumpkin seeds are considered to improve prostate health. That’s why it is reasonable for your guy to eat them too.
9. Provide You with a Good Night Sleep
Does it take you much time to fall asleep at night? Surely, insomnia can make us nervous and irritated, leading to undesirable changes in our health.
If you have tried many methods to overcome this problem, but none has helped you, I would recommend you eat pumpkin seeds before bedtime. This food helps your body get enough hormones like melatonin and serotonin to provide you with good sleep.
Now you can see that there are lots of reasons to include pumpkin seeds in your daily diet. Besides, the opportunities for their cooking and serving are endless. We all used to eat them as a snack, add to some homemade dishes like soup, cakes, and pieces of bread.
How often do you eat pumpkin seeds? Did you know about their health benefits before? Did they help you to improve your health?
