Pumpkin is one of the first vegetables that a person meets. Pleasing with the nobility of their forms and smart color, the pumpkin also presents for the body and other interest. Included in the majority of therapeutic diets, it is able to alleviate the course of many diseases. The benefits and harms of pumpkins will be discussed in this article.
The Benefits of Pumpkin for the Body
First of all, it should be noted its rich chemical composition. Vegetables include a number of vitamins - A, E, C, D, F, PP, group B, minerals - calcium, potassium, magnesium , iron, phosphorus, cobalt, copper, as well as pectins, fiber, antioxidants, flavonoids, etc. in it and a very rare vitamin T, which allows food to be more easily absorbed. This can be appreciated by persons suffering from obesity and just those who did not calculate their strength and ate for a tasty lunch.
Pumpkin can bring health benefits by:
- improve vision, reduce the risk of developing cataracts and other eye diseases;
- has a positive effect on digestion, normalizes intestinal peristalsis. In the pumpkin, a lot of fiber, which absorbs all toxins and toxins and removes them from the body;
- will help lose weight. Caloric content of this product is only 22 kcal per 100 g, so it can be actively included in your diet with excess weight;
- will remove from the body "bad" cholesterol due to the presence of pectin fibers. Vegetable strengthens the vascular walls, normalizes the balance of water and salts in the body, thereby reducing blood pressure. The pumpkin, baked in the oven, is useful for the hearts, the harm of which is minimal for the organism;
- will have a diuretic effect. Pumpkin is rich in water and is successfully used as an additional therapy for diseases of the liver, kidneys, bladder. Pumpkin is very useful for the liver with jaundice, but its harm with this disease is minimal. With renal insufficiency and hemorrhoids, it is advised to use it in raw form;
- suppress the reproduction of the tubercle bacillus;
- regenerate damaged pancreatic cells and increase the level of beta cells in the blood. Namely, they are involved in the production of insulin. Thus, it can be concluded that the pumpkin is useful in diabetes mellitus , and its harm is only in the individual intolerance of its constituent components.
Even more powerful choleretic and diuretic properties are possessed by pumpkin honey, which is its benefit, although harm is also present. It is an excellent antioxidant, prolonging youth and beauty, which you can also cook with your own hands. But not only honey is made from pumpkin. It is boiled, baked, frozen, eaten raw and cooked on its basis with wonderful porridges. Especially well this vegetable is combined with millet. Pumpkin in a dried form strengthens memory, charges the body with energy in heavy physical exertion. Useful not only the vegetable itself, but also its seeds, which have been used since ancient times to combat helminths. And they should be regularly included in their diet for men who go to old age to have a good potency.
From the pumpkin is obtained oil, which is widely used in cosmetology. Its antiseptic, wound-healing and anti-inflammatory properties give grounds to apply it for the treatment of trophic ulcers, wounds, cuts and other injuries on the skin. Oil, like the pumpkin pulp itself, strengthens the immune system well, helps to cope with insomnia, headaches, nervous disorders.
It is not necessary to use a pumpkin in its raw form to persons suffering from acute gastrointestinal diseases. In any case, it is necessary to observe the measure in all and not to dismiss the possible risk of individual intolerance and allergy.