It allows our immune system to be stronger to fight diseases due to the nutrients provided by vitamin C and beta-carotene as a whole and folates.
Fight prostate cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer. It prevents kidney stones and improves healing.
They promote weight loss, and their fibre content gives a prolonged feeling of fullness because it slows down the rate of digestion.
Protects from ultraviolet rays from the sun, avoiding premature wrinkles. For this purpose, it can be used as a whole with milk and honey as a facial mask.
Although the carbohydrates it contains are sweet, it is used to treat diabetes.
The folates it contains help produce red and white blood cells and the synthesis of genetic material.
How to grow a pumpkin?
cultivation of pumpkins
Pumpkin cultivation
The first step you should consider is to prepare yourself before sowing the pumpkin seeds; how do you do it? Let’s see next.
Find out enough before sowing.
You should know that you can sow pumpkin seeds at any time of the year except winter.
Surely you already realized that since it cannot be sown in winter, it means that for the seeds to germinate successfully, they need a lot of suns all day.
The plant germinates between 1 or 2 weeks, and its maturation takes from 95 to 120 days.
It would help if you did not sow it where other cucurbits such as watermelon and cucumber are already located.
In this season, we collect and enjoy a very characteristic Halloween fruit, the pumpkin.
It is used to cook delicious dishes, but we also use it as a decoration for the Day of the Dead in many countries.
The benefits of this fruit are not so well known, but both the pulp and the pumpkin seeds have many properties that we will discuss below.
Nutritional properties of pumpkin
Contains vitamins, fibres and minerals. It also contains beta-carotene –the redder it is, the more it contains–, which the body transforms into vitamin A, an antioxidant vitamin that slows down the ageing of cells. A 200-gram serving of pumpkin covers your vitamin A needs in one day.
You don’t just eat the pulp of the pumpkin; its seeds are also highly prized. They are an excellent source of iron, whose assimilation is favoured thanks to vitamin C. Above all, it contains a source of alpha-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fatty acid normally with little presence in our diet.
Pumpkin properties on the skin
What makes pumpkin so beneficial for the skin are its vitamins, of which it should be noted:
Alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and other carotenoids (vitamin A) found in the bright orange pulp of pumpkins help defend skin cells against oxidative damage.
Vitamin C protects the skin against free radical oxidative damage that can lead to poor skin tone, wrinkles, and even skin cancer.
Vitamin K and some essential vitamin E to maintain healthy skin.
Copper is another nutrient that is important for the production of collagen and elastin. It is also involved in creating melanin in the body that provides pigments for the colour of the skin and hair.
In general, a pumpkin nourishes the epidermis from the inside and is recommended for dry skin.
Here are some instructions to prepare your mask only, so you can reuse your Halloween pumpkin and at the same time hydrate your skin:
Ingredients:
Three tablespoons of pumpkin (a little cooked) or its pulp.
One tablespoon of olive oil.
One tablespoon of argan oil.
One tablespoon of honey.
One tablespoon of milk or yogurt (for a creamy consistency).Mix all the ingredients well except the milk/yogurt. If necessary, use a mixer. Mix again with the milk/yogurt.
If you want it to have an exfoliating effect, add 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar to the mixture.
Choose the variety you want to plant
Select the pumpkin seed according to the use you will give it; in this way, you will choose the correct one.
For example, the most appropriate pumpkins for Halloween are the Tom Fox pumpkins, and if you want it to make desserts, the most ideal for its pulp are the Peanut pumpkins.
Prepare conditions before planting.
The fact that pumpkins grow in clusters indicates the need for a large space (6 to 9 meters) to be planted.
Open the hole where you will sow the pumpkin seeds a week before and add organic compost.
If you do not add organic fertilizer at that time, you can do it once the seeds have been sown.
Soil characteristics are very important for the plant to thrive.
The soil must drain; that is, it must absorb enough nte water and at the same time drain so that the water does not stagnate in the rainy season.
It is recommended that the soil be light, soft, fresh and well-tilled.
Did you know that pumpkin seeds or seeds are highly beneficial food for our bodies?
Pumpkin seeds or pepitas are foods used since ancient times, both for their medicinal and nutritional properties. They are the seeds with the highest protein content that you can incorporate into your diet since they contain 24.5gr of protein per 100 grams.
Pumpkins are native to North America. This food was already highly valued in ancient times by the Native Americans due to its nutritional and medicinal properties.
We usually eat pumpkin seeds as a snack, just like we do with sunflower seeds, but they offer so many benefits that just by adding a little of this food to our daily meals, we will be helping to improve many ailments.
Delicious and very nutritious thanks to their large amount of varied nutrients, these seeds can be eaten at any time, especially in those hours of the afternoon when it causes you to chew something tasty, without having to face remorse for eating something unhealthy.
There are many benefits that pumpkin seeds contain for our bodies. A one-cup (64-gram) serving has 44% of the Recommended Daily Value (DRV) for zinc, 22% for copper, 42% for magnesium, 16% for manganese, 17% for potassium, and enough iron ( 17% DV) to improve iron deficiency associated with anemia.
