Pumpkin Seeds Benefits for Men: Top 5 Health and Libido Benefits

Pumpkin Seeds Benefits

Do you know about the numerous Pumpkin seeds benefits for men? Pumpkins seeds otherwise known as “pepitas,” contain many nutrients that are important for male health and virility, such as vitamins E, C, D, K, and B, which can help provide the nutrition men need for optimal health.

Pumpkin seeds also have lots of calcium, potassium, copper, niacin, phosphorous, manganese, iron, and zinc, as well as some omega-3 fatty acids.

Just one cup (64 g) of pumpkin seeds contains: 44% of the recommended daily value (DV) of zinc, 22% DV of zinc, 22% DV copper, 42% DV magnesium, 16% DV manganese, 17% DV potassium, and 17% of the DV for iron.

Pumpkin Seed Benefits For Men

Here is a list of the top 5 health and libido benefits of pumpkin seeds that are supported by science.

Pumpkin Seeds – Magnesium

Being magnesium-rich, just ¼ cup of pumpkin seeds can supply almost half of the recommended daily amount of magnesium. This is important, as much of the population is deficient in magnesium today.

Magnesium does many things, including regulating other nutrients in your body, synthesizing DNA and RNA, supporting bodily enzyme actions, and supporting heart health, bone health, and dental health.

Together with zinc, magnesium works to increase testosterone levels and sperm count.

Pumpkin Seeds – Zinc

More pumpkin seeds benefits for men come in the high levels of Zinc they contain.

Zinc does many things in the body, including supporting the immune system, supporting healthy cell division and growth, healthy sleep, healthy mood, maintaining skin health, and regulating insulin.

In men, zinc is an especially important nutrient for the production of sperm, for maintaining a healthy prostate and supporting male sexual health and functioning.

Another great benefit of Zinc is how it works to prevent the conversion of too much testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the body.

A deficiency of zinc in the body can lead to too much DHT conversion, which can lead to premature balding and the enlargement of the prostate. An enlarged prostate can eventually lead to prostate cancer in older men.

Zinc works together with magnesium in the body to increase testosterone levels and sperm count.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Tryptophan

Pumpkin seeds contain good amounts of the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, as well as tryptophan.

Among other health benefits, such as helping to reduce inflammation in the body, omega-3s help the body to form prostaglandins, which are important for increasing sex drive and supporting sexual health.

Tryptophan is also important for the production of serotonin in the body, which is then turned into melatonin.

Serotonin helps to elevate mood and promotes relaxation, and melatonin is important for restful sleep.

Without a doubt, a relaxed and elevated mood, as well as being well rested can help to support a healthy sex drive.

Phytosterols

Pumpkin seeds contain two phytosterols that help to block DHT. Phytosterol beta-sitosterol inhibits the enzyme 5-alpha reductase, which acts to convert testosterone into DHT, and Delta-7-sterine, which appears to block DHT by competing with its receptor sites, like in the prostate and in hair follicles.

Good Fats

Pumpkin seeds are rich in fat. Each cup of pumpkin seeds contains approximately 11.97g of saturated fat, 19.68g of monounsaturated fat, and 28.85g of polyunsaturated fat.

That not only makes pumpkin seeds an energy-dense food, but it also supports the building of hormones, since fats are one of the important building blocks of healthy hormone levels in the body, including our precious testosterone.

How To Get Pumpkin Seeds into Your Diet

There are a number of ways that you can include pumpkin seeds in your diet. The idea here is to make your testosterone-boosting foods taste good, whilst also enjoying the health-giving benefits as well.

Pumpkin seeds can be added to sautéed vegetables, sprinkled on top of fresh green salads, chopped up and added to hot or cold cereal, added to cookies, granola, or homemade granola bars, ground up with a blender and then mixed into some ground beef or ground turkey for an additional testosterone-boosting benefit for your meatloaf or burgers.

Pumpkin seed protein powders are available on the market as well if you want to add them to your smoothies and protein shakes.

Pumpkin seeds are ideally consumed raw, as this helps to preserve the healthy fats.

If you purchase pumpkin seeds make sure they are organic, be sure that whatever seeds you purchase smell fresh, or else they could be rancid or harboring fungal mycotoxins.

Pumpkin seeds, like all other nuts and seeds, contain certain anti-nutrient properties that make them less digestible and also make the nutrients less available to your body.

Soaking or sprouting the pumpkin seeds before you eat them will help to make the seeds easier to digest, and then you could dehydrate them in an oven at a low temperature or in a dehydrator to enhance their flavor.

And, of course, pumpkin seeds can also be roasted and eaten as a post-workout snack or enjoyed anytime that you need some extra nutrition and protein. And, your sex drive and overall health will benefit too.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds:

1. Get some certified organic raw pumpkin seeds to reduce your exposure to agricultural chemicals and to retain the highest amounts of nutrition. You can purchase the raw pumpkin seeds in their shells or without their shells, but you will need to remove any shells first before using this recipe.

Getting the seeds from organic pumpkins that you grew in your own garden is even better.

2. Toss pumpkin seeds with a healthy fat such as virgin coconut oil (optional).

3. Put the shelled pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast them at 160-170 degrees F (75 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes. Do not roast the seeds for longer than 20 minutes to best protect the fragile unsaturated fats in the pumpkin seeds.

4. Lightly sprinkle the roasted pumpkin seeds with enough sea salt to taste. If you want to spice things up a bit, you can add different natural seasonings to your roasted pumpkin seeds, such as chipotle pepper, cinnamon, and red pepper.

5. Eat them right away, or store your roasted pumpkin seeds in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Because we know testosterone is helpful in losing weight and building muscle, consuming pumpkin seeds and other testosterone-boosting foods could be very useful for bodybuilders and anyone looking to get lean and strong.

As you can see there are many pumpkin seeds benefits for men because they contain some important nutrients that are proven to help increase testosterone and improve men’s health.

So it makes a lot of sense to incorporate some of these powerful seeds into your diet straight away.

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