pumpkin is Essential for the health of your eyes.
Among the beautiful and beneficial fruits for the health of the eyes is the pumpkin. Due to its richness in beta-carotene and vitamin A, one of the benefits of pumpkin is that it is an ideal food for the eyes. Here you will be able to know all the foods rich in vitamin A.
Beta carotenes are essential to protect eye tissue from oxidative damage and external factors affecting its function. Vitamin A, for its part, is necessary for the retinal pigments that allow you to see correctly at night.
Vitamin A is so necessary for the sight that its deficiency is linked to night blindness. Consumption of beta-carotene is also associated with a lower risk of blindness.
Pumpkin is also an incredible source of two antioxidants vital to your eyesight: zeaxanthin and lutein. Both antioxidant compounds have been linked to a lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, etc.
The vitamin C of this fruit is also essential for the health of the eyes because it acts as a protector of the retina against the sun’s UV rays. Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant that protects vision from oxidative damage.
To stay at your weight
Pumpkin is versatile, delicious, and very low in calories, so one of the benefits of pumpkin is that it is an excellent option for maintaining your ideal weight. The caloric density of this fruit is low and allows you to eat a more incredible amount of pumpkin without affecting your daily caloric intake.
In addition, pumpkin is very dense in nutrients that help you be satisfied, keep your metabolism activated, and meet your daily nutritional requirements.
Since 94% of the pumpkin’s weight is just water, its consumption is key to filling you up faster. The dietary fiber in this fruit is also excellent for controlling your appetite and cravings.
If you know how to incorporate and combine pumpkin into your daily diet, you can stay healthy and even lose weight more quickly.
Keeps your heart healthy
Pumpkin properties Another of the benefits of pumpkin that you should know is that it is suitable for your cardiovascular system thanks to its various nutrients. Potassium is one of the most abundant micronutrients in pumpkin, and, luckily, it is one of the best allies for your heart.
Potassium helps control blood pressure and prevents the onset of chronic problems such as hypertension. This mineral acts as a vasodilator that stimulates the relaxation of the arterial walls and spontaneously decreases the force with which the blood flows.
Furthermore, potassium is an antagonist of the stimulating action of sodium. It helps lower blood pressure, fights fluid retention, and maintains all normal functioning in the body.
On the other hand, pumpkin is rich in dietary fiber that can help you control your blood cholesterol levels. Fiber increases the number of bile acids that are released in the gastrointestinal tract and helps these acids wash away excess cholesterol.
By consuming pumpkin frequently, LDL cholesterol or harmful cholesterol levels are lowered. In addition, the antioxidants in this fruit prevent free radicals from oxidizing LDL cholesterol and increase the risk of getting sick.
Consuming enough pumpkins could reduce common chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis, cerebrovascular events, heart failure, etc.
It does not matter if they give us pumpkins because, as we will see below, this humble cucurbit vegetable brings us many benefits thanks to its nutritional and medicinal properties and nourishes us with vitamins, antioxidants, and essential minerals as phosphorus, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc. And copper, among others. It provides us with 35% of beta-carotene or provitamin A of the recommended daily amount, 15% of vitamin C, and 10% of vitamin E. It also provides us with group B vitamins, such as folic acid, B1, B2, B3, and B6 for our nervous system.
Nervous system
These B vitamins, along with the magnesium that pumpkins also contain, work as a powerful antidepressant. In addition, they provide us with L-tryptophan, a natural antidepressant that will increase our serotonin, and, therefore, we will sleep better and mitigate our anxiety and stress.
Digestive system
All orange foods are great for the digestive system. Precisely, the pumpkin, thanks to its fiber and high water content, will help us against constipation. It is a vermifuge food, and it will fight intestinal parasites. It helps cleanse the colon of toxins and is very useful in treating irritable bowel syndrome. It also relieves discomfort from gastritis and gastroenteritis.
In addition, pumpkin helps us lose weight and eliminate body fat and fluid retention. It is low in calories (about 25 per 100 grams) and satisfying. Its slowly absorbed hydrates help us keep our blood sugar levels stable. It is a whole digestive balm thanks to its anti-inflammatory power in the intestine. Diuretics and laxatives, we cannot miss it in our autumn diet. Remember that one of the organs related to this season, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, is the large intestine, along with the lung.
Urinary system
We have already mentioned its diuretic power against fluid retention, thanks to the potassium it provides. Cucurbitite improves bladder function and supports kidney health, and helps prevent kidney stones.
Heart
Due to its contribution of magnesium, vitamins A and C, and carotenes, it supports the circulatory system’s health and prevents heart disease and atherosclerosis. In addition to benefiting our nervous system, Folic acid protects our heart by neutralizing homocysteine, whose high levels can be responsible for heart attacks; and its phytosterols help reduce LDL cholesterol levels.
Cancer
It can protect against certain types of cancers. Lycopene protects our lungs, stomach, bladder, and cervix, and it also prevents prostate inflammation.
Skin
Pumpkins are a great help to keep us cheerful, both inside and out. It is a food full of antioxidants that will fight against our free radicals: alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, which will be transformed into vitamin A and C. Its pulp is very beneficial against burns and stinging.
Vision and hearing
We name the beta carotenes again, essential for sight and our ocular health; prevent cataracts and loss of vision due to retinal degeneration. They cannot be absent from students’ diets and of everyone who works in front of computer screens. It also prevents deafness, thanks to its carotenes and vitamin A.
How to consume pumpkin
We can benefit from all this by taking both pumpkin seeds and pulp. The pipes alone or with salads, mueslis, corn flakes, with fresh fruits or nuts, or in cereal bars; and the pulp in creams and soups, baked to enhance its sweetness, or accompanied by whole grains such as millet, amaranth or rice –with almonds and pine nuts, ideal for autumn days-. A pumpkin cream for dinner will help us sleep better. Also, in pastries, like the famous pumpkin pie that will not have been missing on the Thanksgiving table last Thursday in November, and so many desserts with angel hair. It can also be consumed raw, simply grated, and incorporated into salads or in juices and smoothies that will help our digestive tract and cleanse our kidneys.