Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds

We carve pumpkins for Halloween each year and usually I throw away the pumpkin seeds. But this year I'm going to roast them in the oven. It's really easy, you just need some salt and butter. (See the recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds).

Pumpkin seeds have a lot of nutritional health benefits. A quarter of a cup of pumpkin seeds provides you with about 52% of the daily recommended amount of manganese. You may not have heard of manganese, but high-manganese foods will

* Help your body utilize several key nutrients such as biotin, thiamin, ascorbic acid, and choline
* Keep your bones strong and healthy
* Help your body synthesize fatty acids and cholestorol
* Maintain normal blood sugar levels
* Promote optimal function of your thyroid gland
* Maintain the health of your nerves
* Protect your cells from free-radical damage

That same quarter cup of pumpkin seeds also provides 46% of the daily recommended amount of magnesium, 40% of phosphoros, 28% iron and 16% protein. See all about the health benefits of pumpkin seeds here.

Pumpkin seeds, raw 0.25 cup 34.50 grams 186.65 calories
Nutrient	Amount	DV (%)	Nutrient Density	World's Healthiest Foods Rating
manganese	1.04 mg	52.0	5.0	very good
magnesium	184.58 mg	46.1	4.5	very good
phosphorus	405.03 mg	40.5	3.9	very good
tryptophan	0.11 g	34.4	3.3	good
iron	5.16 mg	28.7	2.8	good
copper	0.48 mg	24.0	2.3	good
vitamin K	17.73 mcg	22.2	2.1	good
zinc	2.57 mg	17.1	1.7	good
protein	8.47 g	16.9	1.6	good

The above pumpkin poster is by Diane Pedersen.