The benefits and harms of pumpkin for the body: the composition and properties of the vegetable, the rules for its use

Pumpkin is a valuable and healthy food product. Hundreds of various dishes are prepared from it, the pulp is consumed fresh, boiled, baked, stewed, processed into caviar, mashed potatoes, juice, and the seeds are used as a snack. It is well absorbed by the body, used for dietary and baby food.

The vegetable is popular in folk medicine. Due to its rich chemical composition, it has a versatile effect on the body: it normalizes metabolism, improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, strengthens the heart, and saves from depression.

In the article, we will consider in detail the useful properties and contraindications of common pumpkin, methods of use as a food product and as a medicinal raw material.

Common pumpkin - composition and properties

Pumpkin is an annual herb of the Pumpkin family, a melon crop. Her homeland is Mexico. Even before our era, the vegetable was grown in the northern part of the Missouri and Mississippi river valleys. It was brought to Europe by the Spaniards in the 16th century.

Depending on the use, there are three types: feed, decorative and dining (for human consumption). Using the example of common pumpkin (it belongs to edible varieties), we will consider what vitamins and minerals it contains, what are its medicinal properties for various diseases, the consequences of its deficiency and excess.

Composition, properties

Pumpkin has a unique chemical composition that saturates the body with useful micro- and macroelements, vitamins. A properly grown vegetable without the use of nitrates is 90% water, the rest is made up of such components as:

• starch;
• carotene (5 mg per 100 g of mass, which is five times more than in carrots);
• vitamins A, B, C, E, K, T, PP;
• pectin;
• cellulose;
• a nicotinic acid;
• trace elements: zinc, copper, iodine, fluorine, cobalt;
• salts of calcium, iron, magnesium.

Pumpkin seeds are rich in fatty oils (up to 40%) containing oleic, stearic, palmitic acids. In addition, seeds contain essential oil, amino acids, vitamins B1, C, plant sterols, resinous substances, carotene, organic acids. The leaves of the plant are saturated with vitamin C, the flowers - flavonoids, carotenoids.

Traditional medicine has long used pumpkin for medicinal purposes. A vegetable has a wide range of actions:

• helps with metabolic disorders;
• prevents or facilitates the course of diseases of the cardiovascular system, namely, reduces the risk of developing diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, hypertension, anemia;
• improves liver and kidney function;
• has a calming effect;
• forms the mechanism of antimicrobial immunity;
• inhibits the growth of cancer cells;
• relieves depression.

Pumpkin seeds are effective in diseases caused by helminthic invasions. For purulent-inflammatory skin diseases, wounds and burns, a compress from pumpkin pulp is used.

Advice! According to nutritionists, pumpkin is especially relevant and useful in winter, when the body is deficient in vitamins. With the help of the pumpkin menu, you can saturate the body with minerals, vitamins and other components necessary to ensure and maintain the internal and external activity of a person in a few days.

What vitamins and minerals are contained

Pumpkin is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. The pulp of the fruit contains B vitamins (B1, B2, B5, B6, B9), A, C, E, D, K, T, PP.

Also, the vegetable is rich in trace elements important for the body:

• calcium;
• phosphorus;
• zinc;
• iron;
• sulfur;
• potassium;
• chlorine;
• cobalt;
• calcium;
• magnesium;
• copper;
• fluorine;
• iodine;
• manganese.

The chemical composition may vary depending on the variety and growing conditions. Pumpkin is perfectly stored without losing its beneficial properties.

Calorie content and BZHU

Pumpkin is classified as a dietary food. The calorie content per 100 g of raw vegetable is 22 kcal, after heat treatment - 25 kcal. The vegetable pulp contains practically no fat (0.3 g per 100 g), but it is rich in carbohydrates (7.7 g) and proteins (1.3 g) necessary for saturation of the body.

Pumpkin: benefits and harms to the body

The vegetable has a wide spectrum of action and has a positive effect in many pathological conditions.

Why pumpkin is useful:

• activates metabolism;
• regulates protein synthesis;
• improves the absorption of calcium and prevents its leaching;
• enhances bile secretion, removes heavy metal salts;
• prevents water and sodium retention;
• supports the functionality of the organs of vision, moisturizes the eyes, protects from drying out;
• slows down the aging process;
• takes part in the formation of new cells;
• provides the synthesis of steroid hormones;
• essential for the proper functioning of the immune system;
• prevents the development of oncological processes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, anemia;
• ensures the normal intrauterine development of the embryo;
• restores and maintains epithelial tissues, accelerates the healing process of the dermis in case of damage;
• protects against infections of the upper respiratory tract, genitourinary system, colds;
• calms the nervous system;
• stabilizes high blood pressure;
• increases endurance and performance;
• normalizes weight.

Another benefit of pumpkin is its low calorie content. The vegetable is included in the diet menu, it is recommended for people with obesity or overweight. It has been clinically proven that pumpkin is a powerful antioxidant, promotes the elimination of salts, toxins and toxic substances from the human body, normalizes metabolic processes, and removes excess fluid.

Fiber provides quick satiety, which allows you to reduce the portion of food, and folic acid stimulates the production of "happiness hormones", improves mood.

The pulp of pumpkin fruits is used in baby food. Due to the presence in the composition of a large amount of vitamins, micro- and macroelements, it supports the development and growth of the child at the physiological level.

According to the WHO complementary feeding table, pumpkin is allowed for children aged eight months and older, provided there are no contraindications. Children who regularly consume the pulp of the fruit have a good night's sleep, are resistant to infections, rarely get sick with ARVI, ARI.

Important. Pumpkin seeds are good for you for men reproductive age (20-50 years). Their regular use reduces the risk of developing inflammatory disease of the prostate gland in men, maintaining the normal size and function of the prostate.

At the same time, pumpkin requires reasonable and correct use. The consequences of an excess of vegetables in the diet can be an exacerbation of gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer, gastritis with low acidity, cholelithiasis. Vomiting and nausea are possible, as well as increased pain in the lower abdomen.

Medicinal properties for various diseases

Traditional medicine is advised to use pumpkin for the treatment and prevention of diseases such as:

• hypertension and atherosclerosis - improves the condition of the heart, increases the elasticity of the walls of blood vessels, saturates the body with magnesium, potassium and iron, necessary for the normal functioning of the myocardium, prevents the formation of foci of cholesterol and lipid deposits, blockage of blood vessels, impaired blood circulation;
• cirrhosis of the liver and other gastrointestinal diseases - neutralizes free radicals, increases the protection of mucous membranes, inhibits inflammatory processes, prevents the growth and reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms, has diuretic and antioxidant properties, activates the digestive organs;
• anemia - replenishes iron deficiency, reduces the severity of symptoms, eases the course of the disease;
• impotence - stabilizes the functions of the prostate gland, increases sexual endurance;
• depression - has a calming effect on the nervous system, improves sleep, improves mood;
• wounds and burns - accelerates healing, maintains and restores epithelial tissues;
• obesity - improves digestion, activates metabolism, removes excess fluid, due to the presence of fiber, gives quick saturation;
• gout, rheumatic diseases - suppresses the inflammatory process, reduces swelling and swelling at the site of the lesion, improves the condition of bone and cartilage tissue, increases joint mobility, slows down the progression of destructive changes.

It is recommended to use pumpkin pulp for women in the menopausal period. The pumpkin menu will relieve nervous tension, alleviate the severity of symptoms, and improve the general condition.

Cooking applications

All parts of the vegetable are used in cooking. The fruits are consumed fresh or after heat treatment (boiled, baked, steamed), processed into juice, caviar, mashed potatoes. Unripe fruits are salted and pickled. The pulp is used to prepare the first courses (soup, puree soup), serve as a side dish, add to salad, baked goods, use to make jam, jam, candied fruit and other desserts.

Pumpkin seeds consumed between main meals as a snack, raw or fried. An analogue of sesame milk (or almond) is obtained from seeds pre-soaked in water, killed in a blend. Additionally, pumpkin seeds are used as an ingredient in Mexican moth sauce. Pumpkin seed oil is obtained from fried seeds, which is in demand not only in cooking, but also in cosmetology.

In folk medicine

For medicinal purposes, pumpkin pulp is used in its raw form, decoctions are prepared from the peel or pulp, pumpkin juice is used as an independent product or in combination with other vegetable / fruit juices. The grated gruel is applied in the form of a compress to wounds, burns, edema, and places of inflammation. On the basis of pumpkin seed oil, a hepatoprotective agent for oral administration, ointment and rubbing for external use is prepared.

Pumpkin seeds are used as an antihelminthic agent. Other healing effects boil down to the ability to suppress inflammation, increase the density and elasticity of bone tissue, and increase its endurance. The product is used to treat rheumatic diseases, in particular arthritis and arthrosis. In addition, pumpkin seeds stabilize blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol levels, and help cure prostatitis.

Usage rates for children, men and women

How much pumpkin can be eaten per day without harm to health depends on the characteristics of the diet, age, gender and the presence of concomitant diseases. The average rate for women and men is 300-400 g per day for several doses, for children - half as much. Such restrictions are associated with the presence of carotene in the composition, an excess of which causes lethargy, drowsiness, yellowness of the skin, vomiting, nausea, and headaches.

The optimal amount of pumpkin juice is 200 ml per day for an adult, 100-150 ml for children. To enhance the medicinal properties and improve the taste, pumpkin juice is diluted with apple, orange, carrot, beetroot, cabbage, celery juice.

Nutritionists recommend that adults consume 20 g of pumpkin seeds per day, provided that other vegetable fats are present in the diet. If any other fats are completely excluded, then the daily seed rate is increased to 50 g.

Contraindications

It completely excludes the possibility of using pumpkin, seeds, pumpkin juice, allergy to vegetables and its components. Relative contraindications, the presence of which indicates a significant danger to health and the need to take precautions, include such diseases and pathological conditions as:

• peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum. Chemical components, in particular acids, can irritate defects in the gastric mucosa and underlying tissues;
• diabetes... The vegetable contains sucrose, glucose, fructose, which are recommended to be limited to patients with a deficiency in the formation of their own insulin and an increased level of glucose in the blood;
• gastritis with low acidity.

Reference! When gastritis with low acidity, it is forbidden to eat raw pumpkin. It is pre-boiled, baked, stewed, so it is easier to digest, breaks down faster, does not cause discomfort and exacerbation of pain.

It is not recommended to use pumpkin seeds for pregnant women, so as not to provoke premature labor. The vegetable baked and steamed has a laxative effect, therefore it is contraindicated for people suffering from intestinal disorders.

Conclusion

Pumpkin is a food product with a unique chemical composition and pleasant taste. It is widely used in both cooking and traditional medicine. The pumpkin menu has a positive effect on the organs of the cardiovascular, digestive, nervous systems, the condition of the skin, nails, hair, relieves constipation and excess weight, increases vitality.

However, in order to achieve results and avoid unwanted side effects, it is important to adhere to certain rules for eating the vegetable. The question of the advisability of using pumpkin and its components for medicinal purposes should be discussed with a doctor in advance.