2. Get a dose of antioxidants without worrying about adding even more vegetables to your diet.
Alright, all you eaters out there who grumble about having to eat veggies, pumpkin seeds can be an alternative way to boost your intake of health-protecting antioxidants. Pumpkin seeds contain an amazing variety of antioxidants that many other foods simply don’t have.
3. Keep your vitamin E levels up.
Pumpkin seeds are high in vitamin E. In fact, pumpkin seeds contain just about every form of vitamin E that you can think of: alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, alpha-tocomonoenol, gamma-tocomonoenol and gamma-tocopheral.
Why do you need so many different forms of vitamin E? Because some are more readily absorbed by the body, which ups your chances of benefiting from the consumption of this antioxidant vitamin.
4. Up your intake of phenols.
Phenols found in pumpkin seeds include caffeic, vanillic, syringic acid, coumaric, ferulic and sinapic. Phenols help protect your cells against damage.
5. Boost your levels of key minerals.
Pumpkin seeds are very high in phosphorus, manganese, tryptophan, and magnesium. Phosphorus is important for healthy bone formation, good digestion, protein synthesis, hormonal balance, and nutrient absorption.
Manganese is needed for proper metabolic activity, bone metabolism, normal functioning of your thyroid, and calcium absorption.
Tryptophan is needed for balancing mood and boosting mental function. And finally, magnesium is important for just about everything (transmission of nerve impulses, body temperature regulation, energy production and detoxification, to name just a few!).
6. Protect your prostate.
Pumpkin seed oil has been shown in numerous clinical trials to have a beneficial effect in the treatment of BPH. The fatty acids and plant sterols in pumpkin seeds are thought to improve the function of the urethra and bladder.