Pumpkin Seeds: Healthy Food for Movember
Halloween and Movember are quickly approaching, and soon enough, people will be carving up pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns. While you are preparing your pumpkins, remember to save your seeds; otherwise, you are throwing out a number of highly beneficial plant-based nutrients.
Nutritional highlights
There is an incredible amount of nutrition in pumpkin seeds. These powerful little seeds contain essential minerals such as iron, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, manganese, and zinc. Furthermore, they are a great source of vitamin A, vitamin B1, B2, and B3, protein, and monounsaturated fats. There are also antioxidant phytonutrients like lignans and phenolic antioxidants which research has found may deter the development of certain cancers.
Prostate health
November is prostate cancer awareness month, otherwise called Movember. Now that pumpkins are readily available, it is the perfect time to incorporate pumpkin seeds into your diet. In addition to the many nutritional highlights of pumpkin seeds, they can also promote prostate health. Pumpkin seeds pack high levels of prostate-
supporting amino acids like alanine, glycine, and glutamic acid. A 1/4 cup of serving of pumpkin seeds is more than enough to meet the recommended daily dosage of these beneficial amino acids. Pumpkin seeds also contain zinc–a mineral that has been shown to reduce the size of enlarged prostates—and beta-sitosterol–one of the phyosterols that helps block the conversion of testosterone into a metabolite that encourages prostate enlargement. You can see why this is such a great Movember snack for guys keen to keep their prostate health in good standing.
Some Helpful preparing tips
To enjoy fresh pumpkin seeds, you will need to scoop them out from the inside of the pumpkin. This can get a little messy–especially if the kids are involved–so make sure to place your pumpkin on some newspapers or a tablecloth. Clean off the pumpkin flesh from the seeds while they are still moist.
Once you have done this, you can leave them out in the open air to dry for a few days. If you would like to roast the pumpkin seeds instead, spread them out on a cookie sheet, add a little oil and some seasonings, bake them in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown, then enjoy. Happy Healthy Movember!
