Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are one of the most nutritious snacks or foods to eat regularly. These little-sized seeds offer various health benefits due to the presence of various essential nutrients. Pumpkin seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, omega-3s, omega-6s, iron, sodium, potassium, calcium, vitamin B, and folic acid. Thus, these are an excellent snack to replace unhealthy and fried snacks. Now you might be wondering, how to consume these seeds to get additional benefits. This is why we have prepared a list of the top 10 healthy ways to eat pumpkin seeds.
Before that, let’s check out some of the proven health benefits of this seeds.
Health Benefits
Improves Heart Health – Due to the presence of antioxidants, dietary fibers, and health-friendly fats, these seeds are known to improve heart health. Furthermore, these also help in regulating the cholesterol levels and maintaining the blood sugar levels too.
Good For Bone Health – As these seeds are known to possess anti-inflammatory properties, they’re quite helpful in alleviating arthritis pain and joints pain. For this, you can also apply and massage pumpkin seed oil on your joints.
Immunity Booster – The presence of antioxidants and other essential nutrients in these seeds helps in boosting immunity. Thus, your body can fight off viral infections and various other health problems.
Better Sleep – Thanks to the presence of sleep-inducing neurochemical called Serotonin, these seeds help in improving sleep quality too. Thus, consuming these before bedtime can help in treating insomnia and the stress caused by it.
Weight Loss – Pumpkin seeds are a great food to lose weight quickly due to the presence of dietary fibers. The body takes more time to digest these seeds, which keeps you full for a long and prevents overeating. Furthermore, this little-sized snack is quite heavy and keeps your tummy full for a longer time.
Hair Growth – The presence of cucurbitin and vitamin C is the reason why pumpkin seeds help in boosting hair growth. Furthermore, the regular application of pumpkin seed oil helps in preventing hair-related problems.
Best Ways To Eat Pumpkin Seeds
Here are the most healthy and easy ways to eat this seeds.
Breakfast Topping
One of the easiest ways to eat pumpkin seeds is to add them as a topping to your breakfast meals. To add a crunchy touch, you can add it to dishes like oatmeal, quinoa, cheerios, and cornflakes, etc. Furthermore, you can also add pumpkin puree or pumpkin spice for adding extra flavor to the dishes.
Roast & Eat
Another easy yet tasty way to eat pumpkin seeds is to roast them. For this, you will need to add ingredients as per your taste requirements. For example, adding brown sugar and cinnamon will make it taste sugary. Similarly, you can add cayenne pepper for spicy flavor or add grated cheese for a salty flavor.
Add To Salad
Salad is one of the most favorite healthy foods of people around the world. However, you can make your daily salad even healthier by adding this seeds to it. This will not only improve the nutritional value but also add a crunchy texture to it. The best thing about this seeds is that they can be added to both fruit and vegetable salads.
Add To Baked Dishes
People all around the world love to bake foods like cookies, snacks, muffins, and dry cakes, etc. Thus, you can make these baked dishes healthier by adding pumpkin seeds to them. One of the most popular baking recipes that you can try is pumpkin seeds muffins.
Super-Healthy Trail Mix
Trail mixes are known to very healthy, crunchy, and tasty snacks to eat. To make it, you can use dried fruits, sunflower seeds, dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate chips, and peanuts. To add a sweet flavor, you may use maple syrup or any other dressing that you want to add.
Pesto With Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Pesto with roasted pumpkin seeds is not only a healthy but delicious dish too. To make this dish, you’ll need cilantro leaves, garlic, leaf parsley, roasted seeds, parmesan cheese, salt, and olive oil. Without adding salt or oil, add other ingredients into the mixer grinder. Grind for 2-3 minutes, and then add oil and salt as per your taste requirements. Keep it in the refrigerator to cool and consume later.
Soups
Another healthy and tasty way to consume pumpkin seeds is to add them to your favorite soups. You can add roasted seeds to both vegetable and non-vegetarian soups. The best thing about these seeds is that they’ll add taste to all your soup recipes.
Chili With Pumpkin Seeds
One of the tastiest and healthiest recipes to eat pumpkin seeds is Turkey & Pumpkin Seed Chili. For this, you’ll need onions, garlic, turkey, yellow bell peppers, cocoa powder, oregano, chili powder, olive oil, and pumpkin seeds. You may add other ingredients as per your choice or recipe. Add the main ingredients to a pan first and cook for 6-7 minutes on medium flame. After that, you may add the tastemakers and serve when ready to eat.
Pumpkin Seeds As A Side Dish
Many people consume unhealthy and fried snacks as a side dish with chicken or other cuisines. The best option for you is to replace those unhealthy snacks with a super-healthy seeds side dish. You can roast and add different flavors to the their seeds like lemon juice, chili, onion, and cilantro. Thus, you can eat with your fried chicken or chicken curry for an amazing flavor.
Ground Pumpkin Seeds
This is probably the best way to include pumpkin seeds into every dish or cuisine. Ground seeds can be added to curry, burgers, meat, vegetables, soups, pudding, guacamole, shakes, and most other dishes. This way you’ll be able to get all the amazing health benefits of seeds by consuming them regularly.
The Bottom Line!
So these were the top 10 healthy ways to eat pumpkin seeds regularly. they are highly nutritious, which is why they’re suggested by every dietician in their diet plan. Furthermore, you can add other seeds like flax seeds, chia seeds, coriander seeds, watermelon seeds, and sunflower seeds into your diet plan. A combination of all these seeds will offer you countless health benefits in the long run.
