The benefits and harms of pumpkin seeds

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Amazing things you can learn today about the most famous vegetables. The pumpkin growing in all gardens and summer cottages, as it turned out, benefits a person not only with its pulp. Traditional medicine knows the beneficial properties of flowers and stems. Pumpkin seeds deserve special attention, as they bring both benefits and harm to the body.

Today pumpkin seeds are available to everyone, they are fried and gnawed with pleasure by all people. However, not everyone thinks about the fact that simultaneously with getting pleasure from eating delicious seeds, you can treat many diseases.

The beneficial composition of pumpkin seeds

Nature gives a person many health secrets, one of such secrets is pumpkin seeds. A person creates a symbiosis with the world around him; to maintain it, it is required to obtain from nature's pantries many components that support the normal functions of the body.

In this regard, pumpkin seeds are of particular interest, because they contain:

• pectins;
• Versatile amino acids with excellent effects on the body;
• fatty saturated and unsaturated acids, there are many of them, and they are all contained in a tiny grain;
• phytosterol compounds;
• many different vitamins;
• mineral salts;
• cellulose.

The uniqueness of pumpkin seeds is in its rich mineral composition. More than fifty micro- and macroelements include a small grain, some - in a high percentage, others - in a minimum sufficient for a person.

But all of them are necessary for human health, to improve muscle tone, strengthen the heart, and prevent bone and joint diseases. A complex of amino acids is aimed at the same, some of which can be found only in pumpkin seeds.

They are most useful for athletes looking to build muscle mass and women with frequent insomnia. Amino acids regulate the normal course of biological processes, hormone synthesis, and immune resistance to external factors.

Beneficial features

Nutritionists say that pumpkin seeds are more important for medical purposes. And the greatest benefit is brought by fresh, unroasted seeds. Many useful substances are lost in their roasting.

Raw seeds have the following properties:

• treat constipation;
• fight depressive conditions for various reasons;
• reduce joint pain;
• quickly heal wounds of different origins;
• remove inflammation of various etiologies;
• slow down the withering of the body as a whole;
• normalize metabolism;
• activate the functions of all parts of the intestine.

By strengthening the immune system, raw seeds help a person become more active, bring blood pressure back to normal. They have a slight diuretic and laxative effect. Since olden times, grandmothers have taken out some types of worms to their grandchildren with raw seeds of seeds - pinworms, roundworms.

Modern research shows that with the processing of raw seeds in the body, various toxins are neutralized and eliminated, the formula and color of blood improves, and hair grows stronger and faster.

Indications for use

You can just gnaw the seeds for pleasure, or you can consult with a nutritionist and take the seeds at a daily rate to keep the necessary nutrients in balance.

Doctors advise people with specific pathologies to eat seeds:

• BPH;
• avitaminosis;
• osteoporosis;
• nervous disorders;
• heartburn;
• diabetes;
• chronic gastritis;
• with hypertension;
• with intestinal dysfunctions;
• with renal pathologies;
• with liver diseases.

Only properly dried seeds taken from fully ripe fruits are introduced into the diet. The seeds must be separated from the core fibers on which they grow, put on paper in a layer of 1-2 cm. The seeds should be dried away from sunlight, but in a well-ventilated area. Stir occasionally to dry evenly.

Store dried seeds in a linen bag, in a dark, cool place.

Shelf life - until the next harvest. If cleaned grains are harvested, they can be stored in a container, in a fresh area of the refrigerator, for no more than a month. This is how the seeds are harvested for the course of treatment so that every day you do not waste time cleaning the seeds from the husks.

Be careful to eat seeds for people with:

• high acid gastric secretions or abnormal acid production;
• exacerbation of any pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract;
• obesity.

Pumpkin pulp and all dishes made from it are low-calorie foods. Whereas the seeds contain a large amount of calories, which is why nutritionists do not recommend them to be consumed by people with a large body weight, but use recipes for losing weight.

For any problems, raw or fried pumpkin seeds can be eaten per day for 100 g. If you exceed the daily norm, ulcers worsen, salts accumulate. When you gnaw the shell with your teeth, the upper, thinnest and most vulnerable layer of tooth enamel is damaged, which subsequently leads to the formation of caries.

Pumpkin seeds are shown to people who spend a lot of energy every day:

• children, adolescents;
• athletes;
• pregnant women, since they need calories to build a new body;
• elderly people, to restore vitality.

Interestingly, pumpkin seeds help those who are sick in vehicles - airplanes, cars. Here the psychological aspect is triggered: you need to break the seeds with your fingers, with the tension of fine motor skills, attention is switched.

How to treat with pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds are included in many of the recipes offered by traditional healers. They select the right prescription for the patient's illness. There is an important point here: the seeds are used fresh, without processing them with temperature.

For cardiac and vascular pathologies

The body is at risk of cholesterol from many foods, especially with an unbalanced diet. The seeds do not allow the formation of cholesterol plaques, they cleanse the walls of blood vessels. This is facilitated by phytosterol, which blocks the penetration of cholesterol into the walls of the small intestine.

The combination of amino acids, saturated and unsaturated acids in the seeds reduces the possibility of blood clots formation, regulates the heart rate.

A special broth is being prepared: 3 tbsp. l. grains must be poured with 0.3 liters of water, boil for 5 minutes over low heat. Drink ¼ glass before bed.

With pathologies of the genitourinary sphere

Refined pumpkin seed grains contain high levels of zinc, an important element in the treatment of the prostate gland in men. It uses pumpkin seed extract and oil. Tincture of seeds helps with pain in the urethra.

The tincture is prepared as follows: Pass 150 g of raw dried grains through a coffee grinder, pour in ½ l of vodka, tighten hermetically, put in the dark for 6-7 days. Drink the finished tincture once a day for 2 tsp, diluting them with a glass of water. Store the tincture in the dark at all times. Course - a week, then a break - 2 weeks, and repeat the course of taking the tincture.

With pathologies of the digestive system

Seeds have a pronounced laxative effect, in which all parts of the intestine are cleansed from slag deposits. Pumpkin seeds save from stool retention, prevent gas accumulation.

Colic in the intestine often indicates helminthic damage to the digestive tract. For the treatment of helminthic invasion, an anthelmintic powder is prepared from raw seeds: finely crush 100 g of grains. Eat 2 tbsp in the morning on an empty stomach. l., drink ½ glass of warmed milk. An hour later, you need to take any laxative medicine. The course is 5 days. Worms have a cyclical growth.

If after a month the parasites begin to bother the person again, the course of treatment must be repeated. The treatment course is repeated for prophylaxis.

With weak immunity

The zinc contained in the seeds kills various bacteria and viruses, thereby strengthening the immune system. It will help here simply to eat 100 g of grains every day to replenish the body with the daily requirement of zinc.

With a lowered emotional background

100 g of grains is the daily value, it contains so much of the amino acid tryptophan that you need less daily. Tryptophan converts into serotonin, a pleasure hormone that creates a positive attitude.

People prone to depression should eat 100 g of pumpkin seeds every day.

Helping women's health

Bring the invaluable benefits of pumpkin grains to female representatives. The large composition of micro- and macroelements, vitamins allows a woman to maintain a fresh, blooming appearance for long years. The constant use of seeds improves the structure of hair, nails, prevents the formation of early folds, maintains skin turgor, renews epidermal cells.

Grains are an excellent prevention of infertility and the growth of polyps. A small number of grains can also be chewed by pregnant women. They reduce the manifestations of toxicosis, relieve heartburn. In addition, seeds are a good prevention of anemia and constipation, which often torment pregnant women.

Women are more likely to be affected by osteoporosis than men, with the peak of the disease occurring at 45 years of age. The beneficial substances contained in grains stop the development of pathological neoplasms. Often women get sick with anemia, here pumpkin seeds are irreplaceable suppliers of Fe. The daily intake of iron is replenished with 100 g of seeds, if they are eaten daily, so that the iron has time to be stored and accumulated.

Pumpkin seeds bring benefits and harm to the female body. The question for women is how to take and how much, a nutritionist or phytotherapist will help to decide.

Helping men's health

Pumpkin seeds are of undoubted benefit to men's health. Their help with prostatitis is especially valuable, but how much does a man need to eat seeds to get benefits for the body?

All the same 100 g - the norm per day is the same for everyone except children.

The constituent components of the seeds activate the synthesis of hormones, increase the potency. They help athletes to build muscle mass, increase physical endurance.