{"id":6684,"date":"2019-10-08T21:14:57","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T19:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/?p=6684"},"modified":"2019-10-08T21:14:57","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T19:14:57","slug":"star-of-the-month-2-2-3-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/?p=6684","title":{"rendered":"9 Impressive Benefits of Pumpkin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pumpkin has a ton of healthy benefits to add nutrition to your diet and boost the taste of pretty much anything you\u2019re craving. Sweet or savoury\u2014it complements both and is pretty low in calories, making it an excellent diet food. As if you needed more excuse to dig into pumpkin-spiced goodies all year long, here are nine awesome benefits of your favourite orange-coloured food.<\/em><\/p>\n

Help Digestion
\n<\/strong>Pumpkins are a good source of fibre, which helps keep you feeling full and promotes healthy digestion. The health benefits of pumpkin’s fibre don’t stop there: All those stomach-satisfying powers also lower your risk for obesity, all while increasing nutrient absorption. It also slows absorption of the carbohydrates, including natural sugars, so you don’t experience the blood sugar highs and lows of, say, a handful of gummy bears. Plus like many, pumpkin is mostly made of water about 90 percent.<\/p>\n

Regulates Blood Pressure
\n<\/strong>Your heart loves pumpkin as much as your taste buds do. Pumpkin contains potassium and antioxidants, which contribute to good heart health. While the pumpkin pur\u00e9e nutrition facts panel lists only a half gram of fat, there are more oils in the seeds. That healthy pumpkin seed oil helps prevent high blood pressure\u2014and can lower already-high levels.<\/p>\n

Reduce Cancer Risk
\n<\/strong>A magical combo platter of vitamins A and C, iron and more nutrients make pumpkin natural armour against cancer cells. In particular, the health benefits of pumpkin decrease risk for prostate, breast and colon cancers. Consuming the antioxidants found in foods like pumpkin, corn and beans leads to less oxidative stress, a major factor in decreasing cancer risk. And once again, fibre may play a role here. Consuming more soluble fibre has been linked to lower risk of mouth, colon and stomach cancers, too.<\/p>\n

Improves Eye Health
\n<\/strong>This stellar winter squash is a real vision-booster. Pumpkin is rich in carotenoids, which can be converted to vitamin A, important for keeping your eyes healthy. The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, in particular, are beneficial in the battle against cataracts. You’ve heard all about the sight advantages of carrots, right? Well the health benefits of pumpkin trump the same size serving of the root veggie: Half a cup of pumpkin contains more than 1,000 milligrams of vitamin A, while a half cup of cooked carrots has about 700 milligrams.<\/p>\n

Promote Weight Loss
\n<\/strong>Pumpkin is considered a nutrient-dense food.\u00a0 That means it\u2019s incredibly low in calories despite being packed with nutrients.\u00a0 In fact, pumpkin clocks in at under 50 calories per cup and consists of about 94% of water.\u00a0 Simply put, pumpkin is a weight-loss friendly food because you can consume more of it than other carb sources \u2014 such as rice and potatoes \u2014 but still take in fewer calories.\u00a0 What\u2019s more, the fibres in pumpkins can help curb your appetite.<\/p>\n

Reduce Heart Disease Risk
\n<\/strong>Pumpkin contains a variety of nutrients that can improve your heart health.\u00a0 It\u2019s high in potassium, vitamin C and fibre, which have been linked to heart benefits. For instance, studies have shown that people with higher potassium intakes appear to have lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of strokes \u2014 two risk factors for heart disease. Pumpkin is also high in antioxidants, which may protect bad LDL cholesterol from oxidizing. When LDL cholesterol particles oxidize, they can clump along the walls of blood vessels, which can restrict your vessels and raise your risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n

Promote Healthy Skin
\n<\/strong>Pumpkins are loaded with nutrients that are great for your skin. For one, it\u2019s high in carotenoids like beta-carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A, as we\u2019ve mentioned before.\u00a0 In fact, one cup of cooked pumpkin packs 245% of the RDI for vitamin A.\u00a0 Studies show that carotenoids like beta-carotene can act as a natural sunblock. Once ingested, carotenoids are transported to various organs including your skin. Here, they help protect skin cells against damage from harmful UV rays. Pumpkin is also high in vitamin C, which is essential for healthy skin. Your body needs this vitamin to make collagen, a protein that keeps your skin strong and healthy.<\/p>\n

Combat Diabetes
\n<\/strong>When you enjoy it unadorned, aka no fancy stuff, just the squash, pumpkin calories are quite low. Since following a low-cat diet is key to keeping type 2 diabetes in check, that makes pumpkin a wise choice. Seek out canned pumpkin without added sugar and you can enjoy it all year. The phenolic phytochemicals in this super-fruit have been shown to control blood sugar levels, and in turn, lower the risk for diabetes. Boosting fibre consumption can help maintain blood sugar levels, too, which can aid in weight loss and help manage diabetes.<\/p>\n

Boost Muscle Function
\n<\/strong>Pumpkin also contains magnesium, a mineral that many of us are not getting enough of and that is very important for many functions in the body like energy creation, muscle relaxation and nervous system regulation. Magnesium is especially important for active people working out a lot because during exercise your body redistributes magnesium to accommodate metabolic needs. That means you may be losing the magnesium stores in the muscles and must replenish them through food and drink. So, eating pumpkin after a tough workout can be especially helpful in recovery. In just 1 cup of pumpkin, you\u2019ll get 14%of your daily value and pumpkin seeds contain 37% of the daily requirement.<\/p>\n

Some wise ways to get your pumpkin nutrition fix:<\/strong><\/p>\n