Fall is upon us once again, and with the
sweet-scented air, the turning autumn leaves, and the return of football, we find
another fall favorite…pumpkin! With
every corner café bombarding us with this treat, I began to wonder if there
were any health benefits to this fall favorite.
Turns out, there can be.
While your pumpkin spice latte may
not reap many health benefits, a recent study shows pumpkin seeds may help
fight disease. Researchers from a university in Poland found
pumpkin seeds are high in antioxidants and several other disease-fighting
compounds. Several pumpkin species were
analyzed to determine which seeds and their oils contained antioxidants, and if
they did which species had the highest amount of these antioxidants. What they found was the pumpkin fruit known
scientifically as Cucurbita maxima (recognized
most commonly as your Halloween Jack-O-Lantern) contains seeds rich in
antioxidants. In addition, they also
found these seeds to have high contents of tocopherols and phytosterols
(Nawirska-Olszanska et al, 2013).
Given the high
daily exposure to pollutants, harmful chemicals, and other disease-causing
agents, we could all probably use more antioxidants in our diets. Antioxidants work to bind harmful chemical
compounds (known as free radicals) in the body. When free radicals are not
bound, they can cause diseases through mutations or interferences in our DNA and
improper reactions with chemical signals in the body. Thus, antioxidants help to prevent disease by
preventing these free radicals from interacting any way they please in the
body.
Another compound
found in the pumpkin seeds was tocopherols, which are vitamin compounds. More commonly, they are recognized as vitamin
E. This vitamin has been linked to
reduced cardiovascular events, healthy skin, and a strong immune system, among
other benefits. In addition, these seeds
are high in phytosterols, which are compounds found specifically in plants. They have been shown to lower the risk of
cardiovascular disease and cancers. Both
tocopherols and phytosterols have also been shown to have antioxidant effects. Not only do these pumpkin seeds contain
tocopherols and phytosterols, but they also contain several other disease-fighting
agents, and happen to be a good source of protein—making them a healthy snack
alternative (Nawirska-Olszanska et al, 2013).
So,
as you get ready to carve your pumpkin for Halloween, be sure to save the
seeds. Sprinkle on some spices, toast
them in the oven, and then sit down to a fall snack full of antioxidants!
Nawirska-Olszanska, A., Kita, A.,
Biesiada, A., Sokol-Letowska, A., & Kucharska, A. (2013). Characteristics
of antioxidant activity and composition of pumpkin seed oils in 12 cultivars. Food
Chemistry, 139(4), 155-161.
Most people say that when you cook foods like vegetables they lose a significant portion of their nutritional value. Do you know if this will happen if you bake pumpkin seeds in the oven? A quick article search shows that tocopherols can be degraded at cooking temperature of 180degC. However, the article stated that other degradation compounds were not dependent antioxidant content.
ReplyDeleteCite:
Barrera-Arellano D, Ruiz-Méndez V, Velasco J, Márquez-Ruiz G, Dobarganes C. (2002). Loss of tocopherols and formation of degradation compounds at frying temperatures in oils differing in degree of unsaturation and natural antioxidant content. J. Sci. Food Agric., 82: 1696–1702. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.1245
Interesting post. Since pumpkin seeds are somewhat small how many would you have to ingest in order to get the benefits? Is it a feasible amount or would someone be better off looking to other foods to get antioxidants?
ReplyDeletePumpkin seeds are such a great snack and seem to be very beneficial for your body as well! After reading your blog, I went and did some research on how other seeds influence the body, and found that sunflower seeds do almost the same things! There was a study done on the influence of linoleate and vitamin E from sunflower seed oil on platelet function. One of their findings were that vitamin E enhances prostacyclin (which inhibits platelet activation) in blood vessels; too much platelets in the blood can obstruct blood vessels or result in a stroke or heart attack.
ReplyDeleteArticle: McIntosh GH, Bulman FH, Looker JW, Russell GR, James M. (1987). The influence of linoleate and vitamin E from sunflower seed oil on platelet function and prostaglandin production in the common marmoset monkey. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol., 33(4): 299-312.
I wonder if the the antioxidant benefit of having these pumpkin seeds more than counterbalances any nutritional upset that may be caused by ingesting the salt and other various chemicals that are potentially added to the seeds during a cooking process? Is it possible that the other sources of antioxidants (coffee, blueberries, etc.) may be more healthy overall despite a smaller "bang for your buck" as it were? Either way, pumpkin seeds are still delicious. Just some food for thought.
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