Pumpkin seed – Shielding the Prostate

When carving the pulp from a pumpkin for your Halloween jack-o’-lantern, don’t throw out the seeds—they’re a treat for your health.

Pumpkin seeds are rich in cell-protecting antioxidants, nerve-calming magnesium, blood-nourishing iron, muscle-building protein, immune-strengthening zinc, and heart-helping polyunsaturated fatty acids. They’re also rich in phytosterols—plant compounds that are very good for the prostate.

The Prostate Loves You, Pumpkin

The size of the prostate gland is often compared to that of a walnut—maybe because the prostate can drive middle-aged men nuts.

By age 50, four out of five men have benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH)—a “swollen” or enlarged prostate. Unfortunately, the gland is wrapped around the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. So by the age of 60, half of all men have urinary symptoms caused by their enlarged prostate. And those symptoms are really annoying, interfering with what scientific studies call “quality of life.” You have to go more urgently. You have to go more frequently, sometimes waking up several times a night. The urinary flow is harder to start, weaker when it does start, and incomplete when it stops, with dribbling and a feeling of incomplete emptying.

Time to feed the prostate some pumpkin seeds.

Korean researchers gave 320 milligrams (mg) a day of pumpkin seed oil to men with BPH. After a year, their overall symptoms improved by 58 percent, their “maximal urinary flow rate” increased by 13 percent, and their score on a “quality of life” questionnaire improved by 41 percent.

“Pumpkin seed oil,” concluded the researchers in Nutrition Research and Practice, can be a “clinically safe and effective complementary and alternative medicine for BPH.”

In a Swedish study, researchers gave 53 men with BPH a supplement combining extracts from pumpkin seeds and a phytosterol-rich herb. After three months, all their symptoms improved: urination was less frequent, their urinary flow was stronger and faster, there was less dribbling—and the men felt a whole lot better.

How do pumpkin seeds work? The same way prescription drugs for BPH work, explain the Korean researchers. The phytosterols in the seeds block the action of 5-alpha-reductase, an enzyme that converts the hormone testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the compound that fuels prostate swelling in middle-aged men.

More Protection from Pumpkin Seeds

Animal studies (and a few in people) show pumpkin seeds may help prevent or treat several other health problems.

Heart disease. Feeding animals a mixture of pumpkin and flax seeds protected them from increases in cholesterol when they were fed a high-cholesterol diet. In fact, the seed mixture lowered heart-threatening total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides, and increased heart-helping HDL. The researchers theorize that the fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the seeds produced the positive effect.

In another study, researchers found that giving pumpkin seeds to animals with high cholesterol enhanced the effects of the anti-cholesterol drug simvastatin (Zocor).

And when researchers gave pumpkin seed oil to animals with chemically induced menopause, they found the animals had lower blood pressure, lower total cholesterol, lower LDL, lower triglycerides, and higher HDL compared to animals that weren’t fed pumpkin seed oil. “It’s conceivable that adding pumpkin seed oil or the seeds to the diet of menopausal women may reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications associated with lack of estrogen,” the researchers concluded in Phytotherapy Research.

Iron-deficiency anemia. Feeding women with iron-deficiency anemia an iron-fortified breakfast cereal along with an ounce a day of pumpkin seeds helped clear up the problem, according to a study in the medical journal BioFactors.

Arthritis. When researchers gave pumpkin seed oil to animals with chemically induced rheumatoid arthritis, they saw a “remarkable” reduction in swelling. The findings were in Pharmacological Research.

Getting to Know Pumpkin Seed

Pumpkins and other squashes are native to North and Central America; pumpkin seeds are one of the few spices the New World introduced to the Old.

Pumpkins and other squashes are native to North and Central America.

Native Americans used pumpkin pulp for food, but valued the seeds for medicine. They ate the seeds to get rid of tapeworms, roundworms, and other intestinal infections, and to treat bladder and urinary tract problems. They also made a poultice with pumpkin seeds and put it on the skin to relieve burns, headaches, and arthritis.

Pumpkin seeds are eaten as a snack everywhere pumpkins are grown, but the seeds are popular as a spice in the cuisines of West Africa, Spain, Central America, and Mexico.

Pumpkin seeds—pepitas—are a popular snack in Mexico, but also an important spice. They’re added to salads and are ground to thicken soups and sauces. They’re a popular ingredient in Mexico’s famousmoles—hot and nutty sauces served over chicken and seafood. Genuine moles are time-consuming and painstaking to make and are considered the signature sauces of Mexican regional cuisine. The best-known moles come from Oaxaca, which is sometimes called the “land of seven moles.” Among them is the popular mole verde de pepitas, a pumpkin seed sauce that is traditionally served with chicken.

In West Africa, where pumpkins are plentiful, the seeds are cooked, ground, and fermented, and used as a spice to enhance the flavor of gravies and soups.

Pumpkin seed oil is popular in India, Germany, and Austria for spicing sauces, pastas, salad dressings, and vegetables.

How to Buy Pumpkin Seed

You can purchase pumpkin seeds as a snack—raw or roasted, salted or unsalted. You can also purchase them hulled or in the shell. But to use them as a spice, you should buy them raw. They are available in many well-stocked markets and in health food stores.

Look for seeds that are intact, and inspect them when you get home. Discard those that are cracked or otherwise damaged.

If you buy seeds from a bin, make sure they are plump, free of moisture, with no insect damage. Smell them to make sure they’re not musty or rancid.

Pumpkin seed may help prevent and/or treat:

Anemia (iron

deficiency)

Arthritis, rheumatoid

Benign prostatic

hypertrophy (BPH)

Cholesterol problems

(high total cholesterol,

high “bad” LDL cholesterol, low “good” HDL cholesterol)

Heart disease

Triglycerides, high

Urinary incontinence

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Pumpkin seed pairs well with these spices:

Black cumin

seed

Cardamom

Chile

Cocoa

Coriander

Cumin

Garlic

Onion

Oregano

Sesame seed

Sun-dried

tomato

Thyme

and complements recipes featuring:

Cakes

Chicken

Cookies

Muffins

Pork

Salads

Sauce

Soups

Pumpkin seeds can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about two months.

You can purchase pumpkin seed oil in specialty markets or online. Read the label carefully to make sure you’re getting 100 percent oil. (The oil is expensive and is sometimes diluted with sunflower seed oil to reduce the price.)

Pumpkin seed oil is a deep, rich green, and may have a red tinge when you look at it through the bottle in bright light. Some of the best oils come from Austria. Keep the oil in a cool, dark place.

Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce

This is an easy version of the famous Oaxaca Mole Verde de Pepitas. Serve it on top of grilled, sautéed, or baked chicken.

1 cup pumpkin seeds, hulled

6 red chiles

1 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 romaine lettuce leaves

½ cup cilantro, chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup light cream

1. Dry roast the pumpkin seeds in a heavy skillet over high heat until they start to pop. Start to shake the skillet and continue to roast until they turn golden, about three to five minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Place in a spice mill and grind to a fine powder.

2. Put the chiles, onions, garlic, lettuce, cilantro, cumin, oregano, thyme, salt, and the ground pumpkin seeds in a food processor and process until smooth. Add 1½ cups of the chicken broth through the feed tube and process until smooth.

3. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the sauce and cream. Cook over medium heat for five minutes, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat and add the remaining broth, if needed, and simmer partially covered for 10 minutes. The sauce can be made ahead of time and kept in a sealed container until ready to use. When ready to use, bring to a simmer in a saucepan and run it through the food processor again, if necessary, to get a smooth consistency.

Makes about 3 cups.

In the Kitchen with Pumpkin Seed

You can dry your own pumpkin seeds from your Halloween jack-o’-lantern. Here’s how:

Scoop out the seeds with a strong metal spoon and wipe off the pulp with a paper towel. Lay the seeds out on a clean kitchen towel in one layer and let them air dry overnight. A pumpkin can contain as many as 600 seeds.

To roast pumpkin seeds: Put the seeds in a single layer on a pastry sheet, sprinkle with oil and salt, and bake them in a 300°F oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden.

You can use pumpkin seeds whole or ground, in both sweet and savory dishes.

Here are a few ways to add more pumpkin seeds to your diet:

• Toss them with any of the dry spice mixes described on this website, sprinkle with a little Worcestershire sauce, and roast them as instructed above. Add them to chicken and tuna fish salads or toss them over salad greens.

• Grind the seeds and add them to vinaigrette or creamy salad dressings.

• Mix whole or ground seeds into oatmeal and other hot cereals.

• Use pumpkin seeds instead of nuts when making brittle.

• Grind the seeds and use them as a thickener in sauces.

• Add ground seeds to muffin and cake recipes.

• Add whole seeds to yeast and quick breads.

• Add whole seeds to homemade granola recipes.