As I do my research on pumpkin carving I realize that as I throw away the guts of the pumpkin that I’m missing out on some health advantages. Pumpkins are low in fat, low in calories and loaded with vitamins.
Pumpkins are very good for your heart because it’s high in potassium. Potassium is a high electrolyte of your body. Potassium lowers blood pressure, improves the use of insulin in your body, and improves symptoms of depression and anxiety. If there isn’t enough potassium in your system it results in fatigue, muscle cramping and constant muscle fatigue.
As it’s a rich orange color you can tell that it’s also high in beta carotene. Just like carrots eating too much will also give you a nice warm glow. Beta carotene is a great antioxidant and it’s also said to help promote better eye sight. Beta carotene converts to Vitamin A in the body. Beta carotene is known as one of the preventors of cancer and also reduces heart disease.
So as you throw away your pumpkin carving guts remember that you are missing a huge health benefit. Here are a few ideas to use what you once thought was waste.
After you remove the seeds from your pile of guts, place the guts in a food processor and blend. Keep blending until it’s the texture of apple sauce. Make sure that you avoid putting pumpkin peel in the mix…this doesn’t taste too good. One cup (8oz) of raw pumpkin equals 30 calories.
This blended pumpkin is then good for use in pumpkin pies, bread, muffins, baby food, soups and stuffed pasta.
Health myths? Pumpkins were once thought to rid freckles. A facial mask of pumpkin sauce was smeared on the face and left till dry. Once removed it was supposed to lessen the appearance of freckles.
Pumpkins were also known to aid in snake bite remedies. Once bitten a poultice of pumpkin was applied to the bite and the pumpkin poultice would extract the poison.
Pumpkin seeds have been said to help men with prostrate cancer. Eat lots of seeds and avoid it and eats lots of seeds to solve it? There are only so many seeds in a pumpkin to eat so it looks like you should plan on carving a lot of pumpkins this year.