Pumpkin Seeds eaten raw have some amazingly super health benefits!

 

Pumpkin seeds contain a vast amount of proteins, manganese, fibers, potassium and phosphor. They also are important for the immune system because of their high level of zinc.  And what do you know, like other things that are good for the immune system, they also help in the fight against cancer.

Other benefits of these amazing little seeds are as follows:  they repair our body’s damaged DNA, help to control diabetes and make our vision better.

The substances in the pumpkin seeds that have been used for treatment of various types of cancer in its early stages are Cucurbitacins.  These give the seed its potent anti-inflammatory properties also.  The zinc and phytosterols in pumpkin seeds help in the prevention of prostate cancer development. They are also beneficial in DNA repair.

What else?

Well, so glad you asked.  If the above benefits are not enough, pumpkin seeds also contain a large amount of nicotinic acid, trigonelline and D-chiro-inositol.  Nicotinic acid and D-chiro-inositol have been proven to control blood sugar, and D-chiro-inositol prevents the onset of diabetes also.

Since these little seeds also contain a lot of zinc, a lot of the common cold prevention products try to copy or mimic their zinc fighting action.  Zinc is so great for the immune function that the National Institutes of Health recommends 8 mg of zinc per day for women, which is about one cup of pumpkin seeds.

Last but not least, zinc allows vitamin A to travel from our liver to our retina (in the eye) to make melanin. Melanin is a pigment that protects our eyes.

Try the below tasty recipe in reference number 2 if you are like me and not SO excited about eating the seeds raw.  Of course you get the best health benefits eating them as is, but I guess I would rather get some of the benefit than none at all due to the thought of eating them raw… not too exciting!  This is one thing that I have reviewed that I am not so eager to try again as is….however, the great minerals and nutrients as well as health benefits gained from them are too great to let you all sleep on them.

References:

1. http://complete-health-and-happiness.com/eating-raw-pumpkin-seeds-repair-dna-control-blood-sugar-spikes-improve-our-sight/
2. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/cinnamon-sugar-roasted-pumpkin-seeds-recipe.html