What is a pumpkin, probably everyone knows. From it you can cook a lot of tasty and healthy dishes. But few people realize that a real natural first-aid kit is hidden under a thick crust. So what are the medicinal properties of the common pumpkin and what is the use of this bright fruit for the human body?
Description
Common pumpkin belongs to melons and gourds. This is an annual plant with a creeping stem, the length of which can reach 10 meters, and it itself has prickly pubescence.
The leaves of the plant are large, up to 25 centimeters in length, five-lobed. To the touch, they, like the stem, are prickly, as they are covered with many short, hard hairs. In the axils of the leaves there are spiral tendrils with which the pumpkin during the growth period can cling to the surrounding plants or objects.
Large yellow or orange flowers are pollinated most often by bees. Pumpkin blooms in June and July.
Pumpkin fruits are spherical or oval. On top they are covered with a hard, smooth crust, and inside there is a gentle pulp and many flat drop-shaped seeds 1-3 cm long. Pumpkins can grow in diameter from a few centimeters to 50 or more. Their coloring, size and shape depend on the variety.
Chemical composition
The chemical composition of common pumpkin is of interest to many. The fruit is valued not only for taste. It has many useful properties. All this thanks to the rich chemical composition:
- The pulp contains sugar up to 11%, and starch - up to 20%. It is also saturated with vitamins C and E, a number of vitamins of group B. Carotene in the pulp of pumpkin more than in carrots. The composition contains such important trace elements as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, as well as nicotinic acid, pectin, fiber, enzymes and vital proteins that enter the body only with food.
- Pumpkin seed contains up to 40% fatty oil. Its composition is no less diverse: lenolenic, oleic, palmitic, stearic and organic acids, vitamins, carotenoids, amino acids.
- Phytosterols and carotenoids are present in pumpkin flowers.
Benefits for the human body
Common pumpkin has a lot of benefits for the human body. Not only is it very tasty, which is why it is widely used for cooking various dishes. She still has healing properties. For this, not only pulp is used, but also seeds and flowers. Pumpkin perfectly cleanses the body of toxins and toxins. And it also contains very few calories, so it is indispensable in dietary nutrition.
What is the use of pumpkin for the human body? It helps to establish digestive processes, activating them, and at the same time effectively cleanses the intestines due to the presence of fiber.
This is an excellent diuretic that helps relieve the discomfort that people with kidney failure feel, eliminates swelling.
Pumpkin helps to increase vitality, relieving along the way from depression, mood swings and insomnia.
In medicine
The medicinal properties of common squash have long been known. With regular use, it will help get rid of many ailments:
- Diseases of the upper respiratory tract.
- Problems with the kidneys and the genitourinary system.
- Gastrointestinal diseases.
- Liver disease.
- Problems in the cardiovascular system.
- Gout, atherosclerosis, arthrosis, the cause of which is a violation of the water-salt metabolism in the body.
- Anemia.
There is an opinion that pumpkin is forbidden for diabetes, but this is not so. You just need to consult a doctor and eat it in limited quantities.
How to apply
Sometimes, in order to eliminate health problems and establish the body, it is enough to simply include pumpkin in your diet. But there are many recipes that are time-tested:
- For colds, grate raw pulp and mix with rye flour, diluting with warm milk. It should make a pasty mass. Form small cakes from it and, wrapping them in gauze, apply to the chest and back.
- When coughing, take a kilogram of pulp, chop it and pour a liter of water. Boil over low heat for about an hour. Strain the resulting broth and add one tablespoon of chopped ginger and licorice root. Boil for another 10 minutes. Take 1 tbsp. l for the night.
- With inflammation of the bladder, pumpkin syrup helps well. Prepare it as follows: cut off the top of the pumpkin with the stalk. Take out the seeds and fibers, leave the pulp. Pour a glass of sugar inside, cover with a towel. After 5-6 hours, juice appears that must be drunk three times a day in a tablespoon.
- For the liver, the drug is prepared similarly to the previous recipe, only sugar is replaced with honey. Take the medicine in the morning, on an empty stomach.
- For hemorrhoids, it is recommended to drink 50 ml of pumpkin juice in the morning and evening. The course is 1 month. Juice must be freshly made.
- Also, juice mixed with honey helps with neurosis. Dissolve a tablespoon of honey in 1/2 cup of juice.
Which pumpkin is healthier: raw or cooked?
The debate about the best way to consume pumpkin does not subside for a moment. Of course, in raw fruits all vitamins and minerals are preserved in their original form. However, people with a weak gastrointestinal tract, the elderly and children are better off eating heat-treated pumpkin. So it is better absorbed than raw. It can not only be boiled, but also baked.
Raw food adherents are advised to eat only mature fruits to avoid possible problems.
For weight loss
Pumpkin is an ideal product for those who follow the figure or want to lose weight. This is what makes pumpkin healthy for overweight people:
- It has a very low calorie content. There are only 26 kcal per 100 g of product, most of which are complex carbohydrates and a little protein. Fats are practically absent. Therefore, dishes from it are well saturated and have a low calorie content. And you can cook a lot of pumpkins. Even pumpkin diets have been developed.
- Pumpkin cleanses the intestines like a brush. Removes toxins from the body. Normalizes the digestive tract, relieving constipation.
- It also eliminates the accumulation of water, eliminating swelling. But this is also extra pounds and centimeters.
- It’s not necessary to eat just a pumpkin to become slim. Mono-diets are tiring. It is enough to make it the basis of your diet. After all, the fruit is combined with almost all products.
The benefits of pumpkin seeds
Seeds of pumpkin ordinary love along with sunflower seeds, only they are more rare. They have many useful substances, but nevertheless they should not be abused due to their high calorie content. It is best to feast on dried or raw seeds, because during heat treatment, most of the active components are lost or destroyed.
It is also worth noting that due to the large amount of zinc, pumpkin seeds are very useful for men. After all, they are the basis for the production of the main male hormone - testosterone.
Application methods
What else are seeds useful for:
- From parasites. You can eat seeds this way or make such a mass: grind the peeled grains and mix with honey and milk. Take 2 tbsp. l
- For a disease of the urinary system, take 200 g of peeled pumpkin and hemp seeds, grind and pour boiling water (3 tbsp.). Insist 2 hours, strain. Take half a glass 3 times a day.
- To clean the blood, take a glass of purified grains, finely grind and pour 100 ml of vodka. Insist 2 weeks, then filter and add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. Drink a tablespoon several times a day.
- With prostate, twist 0.5 kg of untreated young seeds in a meat grinder and mix with a glass of honey. Put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Then make small balls with a diameter of not more than 1.5 cm from the resulting mass. Every morning you need to eat 1 thing on an empty stomach, no later than half an hour before eating.
Pumpkin Flowers: Application
Pumpkin color has also found its application in folk medicine. From it make a decoction and use externally and internally.
To prepare a therapeutic agent, it is necessary to collect fresh peduncles and chop them. Next, take 2 tablespoons of flowers and pour a glass of boiling water. Place the container in a water bath and boil for 10 minutes. Then remove and cool. Only then can the broth be filtered. Topically, the product is used to wash purulent wounds or wipe problem skin instead of lotion. Inside, a decoction of pumpkin flowers can be used at high temperatures and as an expectorant. The systematic intake of the decoction is able to normalize the water-salt metabolism.
Pumpkin oil
Pumpkin oil differs from other vegetable oils in its specific aroma and color. It can be dark green or orange (brown). Get it by cold pressing, so that it retains all the useful substances. Use it both for the treatment of existing diseases, and for their prevention.
What is useful pumpkin oil:
- strengthening immunity;
- normalization of the hormonal background;
- improvement of the digestive tract;
- a positive effect on the vessels and the cardiovascular system as a whole;
- prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases;
- lowering bad cholesterol.
Method of application: Drink 1 teaspoon of oil shortly before meals. Oil can be taken up to 3 times a day, no more, as there is a risk of an overdose of carotene, which is rich in product.
Pumpkin in cosmetology
Due to the large number of vitamins and active ingredients, pumpkin is often used in cosmetology to maintain the beauty of the skin and hair. For the skin, pulp, oil and juice are used. For hair - juice and oil, less pulp.
The most popular tool that can be made from pumpkin pulp is a face mask. Depending on the additional components, it can be nutritious or moisturizing:
- A universal mask that is suitable for any type of skin. It cleanses and nourishes the epidermis with vitamins. Mix one tablespoon of boiled pumpkin puree in equal proportions with yogurt or kefir. Apply the mixture on the face for 15 minutes and rinse.
- For dry skin, the mask is prepared as follows. Boil a piece of fruit in milk and mash it into gruel. Add some honey and yolk. To stir thoroughly.
- For oily skin, the following mask is suitable: mix a tablespoon of grated pumpkin pulp with egg white. This mixture brightens age spots and narrows the pores. The pumpkin is taken raw.
Contraindications to the use of pumpkin
Despite the large number of positive points, this fetus has contraindications:
- Individual intolerance.
- You can not eat pumpkin for diabetes in large quantities.
- Exacerbations of gastrointestinal tract diseases.
- Caution must be pregnant. An excess of vitamin A can cause a miscarriage.
It is also worth considering that with excessive use of pumpkin or products from it, false carotene jaundice may appear due to the high content of carotenoids. This is manifested in the form of yellowing of the skin and their excessive dryness.
Cooking Pumpkin
Many dishes can be prepared from pumpkin, but desserts remain an advantage due to the sweet taste.
Sweet milk porridge is made with pumpkin. You can make jam. For 3 kg of pulp, you need to take a kilogram of sugar. Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and, falling asleep with sugar, put on fire. 10 minutes after boiling add chopped lemon or orange for additional taste and aroma. In an hour, the jam is ready.