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PumpkinPumpkin is a good source of dietary fibre and has high levels of antioxidant vitamins and minerals which are especially helpful for strengthening immunity. Pumpkin can also help us look our best as it contains minerals that regulate hormones which regulate our sleep cycles, and how much pigment is available for hair and skin colour. A typical serving of pumpkin has enough beta carotene to form over 200% of the antioxidant vitamin A we need each day. There are other components of pumpkin that increase the effectiveness of the vitamin A. For example, pumpkin contains good amounts of the B vitamin, Riboflavin. This vitamin works synergistically with vitamin A to keep the linings of our digestive system healthy. And specifically, providing protection from infection.
Pumpkin also contains healthy amounts of the mineral Manganese. This mineral is essential for the outside protective coating of our cells. This coating helps keep viruses out. Manganese is also critical for the formation of interferon. Interferon is the protein released by cells when they are under attack to trigger other cells defence mechanisms.
We are unlikely to be deficient in the mineral copper if we eat a diet rich in fresh vegetables. A serving of pumpkin can provide 10% of our daily requirement for Copper. Copper has so many important roles. It helps regulate the production of the hormone melatonin that sets our body rhythms, such as when we feel sleepy. Copper is also essential for the production of melanin which is the basis for the pigment in our skin that is activated by the sun to rise to the surface and provide protection, otherwise known as a tan! It is also melanin which provides the pigment for our hair colour, which naturally reduces with age accounting for the greying of hair. Alongside helping make sure we get the sleep we need, enabling our tans, assisting our natural immunity, pumpkin contains good amounts of vitamin E. Vitamin E works in the same antioxidant manner as vitamin A cleaning up free radicals that can stress and damage our cells which is a contributory factor to the ageing process.
Information supplied by Steph Askeur |