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Pumpkin appeared in Russian vegetable gardens in the 16th century and was first used as a fodder crop for livestock. It was noticed that in winter cows willingly eat such a supplement, and milk becomes even tastier. Later, the peasants tasted the taste of the vegetable, brought new varieties, and in dietetics, pumpkin became a necessary additive in the diet. Currently, the benefits of pumpkin for the body is confirmed by numerous studies.
What causes the benefits of pumpkin pulp?
The fruit consists of a peel, which makes up approximately 17% of the total mass, up to 75% pulp and the rest falls on the seed chamber with fibrous nests for seeds. Waste-free product, in old times even the crust was used as a storage vessel, now only for crafts and masks.
92% of water, pumpkin is a low-calorie product containing only 22 kcal per 100 g, but most of the energy is represented by carbohydrates, so its glycemic index is 75, which is important for diabetics to know.
It is important that the content of vitamins and minerals in the product is significant:
- vitamin A is 171% of the daily requirement;
- vitamin C - 17%;
- vitamin E - 6%;
- folic acid -5%.
Present group of vitamins B and a rare element in vegetables, vitamin K make the product not only dietary, medicinal.
The mineral composition is varied and a piece of pumpkin in 100 g compensates for the lack of mineral salts:
- calcium and zinc by 2% of the daily requirement;
- of iron and phosphorus by 5%;
- copper at 7%;
- potassium by 11%.
Other elements are present in smaller quantities, but their benefits are undeniable. Thus, the pulp contains vitamin T and helps digestion, and promotes the formation of platelets, improving blood clotting and preventing anemia. Carotin in pumpkin 2 times more than in carrots. It is more beneficial for nourishing the eyes than sea buckthorn.
A medicinal substance that suppresses the tubercle bacillus is found in the pumpkin. Avicenna also wrote about the healing properties of pumpkins in the fight against old cough.
How to eat a pumpkin?
All the beneficial properties of plant products are better manifested in their raw form. Is it possible to eat raw pumpkin? The product is useful in raw, baked and boiled form. You can pumpkin and fry, but at the same time it gathers oil and becomes not a therapeutic or dietary product. Raw pumpkin is used as an additive in salads or grated as a separate dish.
However, if any disease is exacerbated, it is undesirable to use a pumpkin without heat treatment. In remission, pumpkin salad won't hurt. The frozen product also retains useful qualities in full. Boiled, cooked porridge with milk, steamed and baked pumpkin slices will only benefit any organism with moderate consumption.
You can eat raw pumpkin at certain times to relieve problems if there are no contraindications:
- laxative effect, stabilization of the bowels, choleretic effect occurs when you consume 300-400 grams of pumpkin per day;
- helps with bladder inflammation;
- improves potency.
Pumpkin cleanses the skin, relieves pain in the feet with a large load on the legs, is used in the form of compresses.
Can I eat a pumpkin during pregnancy and breastfeeding?
At the beginning of pregnancy in the first half of the gestation period, the woman's body is subject to restructuring, hormones make the state of mommy emotionally unstable. The oncoming toxicosis poisons happiness with sudden bouts of nausea, odor intolerance. It is during this period that the future mommy will be helped by the salad with the inclusion of raw pumpkin, juice, or dry, useful pumpkin seeds. All of these products suppress the gag reflex, reduce intoxication and excessive nervousness.
However, at the same time, the body requires enhanced fortification, more efficient blood formation should occur. Permanent pumpkin in pregnancy will help to cope with the problems of the first trimester. Later, the same product helps to relieve swelling, as it has diuretic properties. The young woman accepting pumpkin dishes has shiny hair, healthy skin and nails, as there are enough nutrients to build a new man and the mother does not give her calcium, zinc and magnesium to the child.
Mom's eyesight will not deteriorate thanks to vitamins A and D, and phosphorus and calcium will be used to form the skeleton of the child. Iron participates in blood formation and together with folic acid and vitamins T and K participates in the blood supply to the fetus. However, all the beneficial properties of pumpkin can turn into the opposite, if a woman has untreated gastrointestinal ulcers, gastritis or diarrhea. A possible cause of the deterioration of the condition may be an allergy to carotinoids.
When and whether it is possible to eat pumpkin when breastfeeding, often ask a question to young mothers. A period of strict restrictions in the diet of a nursing mother requires careful food choices. In this case, there are reservations for eating pumpkin. Undoubtedly, a useful product should get to the baby with mom's milk gradually, only after 10 days of infancy. The first portions should be tiny, after which you should observe the well-being of the baby.
Initially, the pumpkin is used only boiled, baked and as part of porridge. Roasted pumpkin can not be used by nursing mom. Later in the menu you can add juice and pumpkin in salads. However, it is not worthwhile to get too carried away with a useful vegetable; problems with constipation can occur in both mother and baby.
Nutritionists and pediatricians advise using the pumpkin as the most useful vegetable as the first product during the feeding of babies. However, if the mother was allergic to yellow vegetables before the birth, you should not add pumpkin to the food, the child's allergy may be congenital.
It is possible to use a pumpkin in the diet of a pregnant woman and a nursing mother only with confidence in their safety. Best of all, if the fruits are grown at the dacha or in a private household without top dressing with nitrogenous fertilizers and growth stimulants. Use should be of medium size.
Pumpkin with diabetes
Despite its low calorie, pumpkin GI is high, 75 units, the same as in watermelon. Nutritionists attribute pumpkin to starchy foods, which are difficult to decompose, so blood sugar rises slowly. It also contributes to weight loss, as a product with a low energy component.
Moderate pumpkin intake with the substitution of other products to achieve XE will only be useful. Pumpkin diabetes in the menu increases the blood content of beta cells, and they are included in the production of insulin, which is already good. Dried pumpkin is good as a dessert for people for whom the restriction of sweet is vital.
It is raw pumpkin without heat treatment that is more useful because it has the lowest GI.However, in case of diabetes mellitus, the introduction of pumpkin into the diet is possible only after consulting a doctor.
Pumpkin for pancreatitis and liver diseases
Pancreatitis is called inflammation in the pancreas. They are accompanied by pain, nausea, vomiting after eating. Usually, as the first measure for stress relief, medical fasting is prescribed. After that, the patient is transferred to a sparing diet, in which an important place is given to boiled pumpkin in the form of puddings and cereals. It is important that the pumpkin with pancreatitis in the acute stage is used only after heat treatment without adding oil.
If pancreatitis has passed into the stage of chronic disease, then during periods of remission, you can add a little unsalted butter or refined vegetable oil to products with pumpkin. The recommended dose of pumpkin in the daily diet of 200-300 grams, up to a half a kilogram.
If the pain in the right hypochondrium is deprived of the opportunity to enjoy life, it's time to examine the condition of the liver. This body removes toxins, toxins, processes sugar, participates in blood formation and gives a pain signal when it cannot cope with its functions. Pumpkin has properties that have been recognized for centuries. It restores the performance of the cell membranes of the liver by cleaning. Therefore, for the liver, pumpkin is a product for health reasons.
Liver cells, hepatocytes, with diseases are destroyed. Pumpkin products reduce the amount of slag entering the liver, activating the work of cleaning systems. However, pumpkin is not a medicine, it contributes to the effectiveness of drug treatment, which is prescribed by a doctor. However, if the menu of a person includes pumpkin dishes, this is the prevention of a formidable disease.
