What are Pumpkin Seeds good for?
After window shopping at my local health food store I happened to notice the popularity of the plain tasting pumpkin seed (aka pepitas – Beeble). Of course I just had to delve deeper and find out if these small seeds actually provide us with any nutritional benefit or if it is just one of those fads like so many others in the diet world.
Nutrients are based on 100 grams
- Calories: 519 kcal
- Protein: 33 grams
- Carbohydrates: 14 grams
- Fibre: 3.86 grams
- Fat Saturated: 7.89 grams
- Fat Mono unsaturated: 12.98 grams
- Fat Polyunsaturated: 19.12 grams
- Calcium: 42.1 milligrams
- Phosphorus: 1166.66 milligrams
- Potassium: 801.75 milligrams
- Zinc: 7.37 milligrams
- Iron: 14.91 milligrams
- Magnesium: 531.58 milligrams
- Vitamin A: 38.6 micrograms
- Vitamin B1: 0.21 milligrams
- Vitamin B2: 0.316 milligrams
- Vitamin B3: 1.75 milligrams
- Vitamin B6: 0.088 milligrams
- Vitamin C: 1.75 milligrams
- Vitamin E: 0.99 micrograms
- Folate (folic acid): 57.75 micrograms
(A pumpkin is not just for Halloween! – Beeble)
What do these figures mean?
Like with a lot of the seeds and nuts I have been testing, the calories are obviously very high. However for you “calorie counting” lot out there take a look at the fats and you will notice that the saturated fat level is fairly low and is nicely balanced against high unsaturated fat levels. The figures also show how good the simple pumpkin seed is on mineral content, beating the peanut’s nutrients in several areas. It should also be noted that 100 grams of pumpkin seeds is a lot and you do not need to consume this much to gain the benefits. 10 grams a day should be sufficient as a snack. Finally, like other seeds and nuts you will also notice that they have high protein content which is good for vegetarians who can’t get their protein from meats.
Pumpkin Seed Benefits
The strengths of the pumpkin seed means that they are excellent for prostate health and that the 10 grams daily could help prevent kidney stones. There have also been reports that pumpkin seeds can help deter intestinal parasites such as tapeworms. The seeds are also a great source of omega-3 and omega-6 the essential fatty acids. They are known as essential acids because the body cannot produce them itself and therefore you can only get these acids through your diet. These seeds are also essential as they can reduce the chance of coronary heart disease. One gram of the seeds contain as much L-tryptophan in its protein as a full glass of milk. This basically means that it could have treatment possibilities for anxiety disorders, depression and other mental problems. By the sound of things if you are planning on giving up smoking the pumpkin seed could make an inexpensive replacement for the nicotine patches and gum.
Summary
If you are a regular reader then I hope like me that your intake of nuts and seeds has gone up, because there is no doubt that they have huge benefits to our health. Pumpkin seeds do probably taste nicer when they are roasted and salted, however I would recommend having them untainted as possible and certainly not salted. They may not taste as great but if you have them at the same time as a piece of fruit that would make a great combination for taste and your health.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:22 am
But don’t pumpkin seeds contain a lot of saturated fat?
December 16th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Pumpkin seeds do contain saturated fats but these are far out weighed by the benefits of the unsaturated fats. However as with all nuts and seeds some level of moderation is sensible.
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:38 am
Hello I was reading your information on pumpkin seeds. I had read on another website that they cause build up in the aterys if they are roasted.. so what is the truth? Thanks
July 7th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I have never heard that roasting pumpkin seeds can cause the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries. Pumpkin seeds are very high in mono and polyunsaturated fats. These are good fats that help keep us healthy when had in moderation. Pumpkin seeds also contain good levels of Phytosterols which are great for reducing cholesterol. Roasting pumpkins seeds is good to help preserve the healthy oils. That said if you look at the nutritional content of pumpkin seeds plain and compare them against roasted the nutritional differences are tiny.
To help you compare them here are 2 links to our new diet tools section where we have pumpkin seeds and roasted pumpkin seeds. If you spend some time to compare them you will see that there is very little difference. I know they are with squash seed kernels as well but we are looking at the nutritional difference of roasting them, so it won’t make too much difference for our purposes.
The links
http://beeblefitness.com/diet/food/values/12014/seeds-pumpkin-and-squash-seed-kernels-dried
http://beeblefitness.com/diet/food/values/12016/seeds-pumpkin-and-squash-seed-kernels-roasted-without-salt
At the end of the day there is a lot of information on the internet that isn’t regulated and it can be difficult to find the correct information in amongst all the nonsense out there. Now I am not saying that the other website is the nonsense as they may have more information on the subject than I do. However if it is just a passing comment with very little scientific back up then I would ignore it because as far as I am concerned Pumpkin seeds are very healthy for you and actually can help to clear your arteries.
Anyway I do hope this helps and I hope we will see you back at beebleblog.com again soon.
All the best
Hugo