Calorie and nutritional value of pumpkin

Traces of pumpkin spread lead us three thousand years ago. According to scientists, the birthplace of the plant is America.In Asia and Europe, the fruit became known before our era. The man originally used pumpkin to feed livestock, make drinking bowls, dishes, decorations. Later - musical instruments, medicines. On the territory of Russia pumpkin appeared in the sixteenth century. Suitable climatic conditions, its beneficial properties, good preservation contributed to the spread of culture.

Pumpkin - a plant with large hairy leaves, creeping branches, in which the ripe fruit reaches ten kilograms, and often you can see much larger. The yellow vegetable of the pumpkin family is abundant in wholesome, juicy pulp. It contains in large quantities vitamins A, E, K, T, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, water-soluble vitamins C, B2, B5, B6, B9, such minerals as iron, zinc, potassium, calcium, magnesium. Low calorie content makes it possible to attribute pumpkin to dietary products, 100 grams of it contains BJU (in grams): proteins - 1.3, fat - 0.2, carbohydrates - 7.7.

Pumpkin is rich in the following vitamins and minerals.

• Has antioxidant qualities vitamin A, ensuring the normal functioning of the body, supporting the reproductive system, eye health, clean skin. Beta-carotene has similar qualities, the content of which in the product reaches thirty percent.
• Available in a pumpkin vitamin E protects the body from early aging, improves biochemical processes, has a positive effect on the functioning of the male body, the endocrine system, prevents thrombosis. As an antioxidant works to reduce cholesterol levels, improves skin quality, enhances the ability of cell regeneration.
• In the work of the gallbladder, liver and kidneys are actively involved vitamin k. It normalizes the regenerative processes in the synthesis of proteins of the lung and heart tissues, improves blood clotting.

• Vitamin B2 able to maintain skin, hair, nails healthy, stimulate the thyroid gland, improve the quality of vision, strengthen the nervous system, reduce the level of anxiety.
• Benefit vitamin b5 is to help the assimilation of other substances by the vital organs, including the work of the adrenal glands, in the fight against inflammatory foci, with irritations.
• Vitamin B6 warns against diseases of the skin, helps the body to cope with stressful moments. When toxicosis, during pregnancy, with air sickness reduces nausea.
• It has a beneficial effect on the digestive system contained in the plant. vitamin b9, supports the development of tissues, takes part in blood formation.
• Magnesium, obtained from the use of pumpkin pulp, regulates blood pressure, improves the quality of blood vessel activity, promotes cell growth and cell regeneration, helps to cope with fatigue and irritability. Positive macro-effect on the lungs in asthma and bronchitis.
• Iron present in the blood. The tissues are enriched with oxygen due to its function of transporting the element to the cells of the body. Iron plays an important role in the functioning of the thyroid gland, increasing the body's resistance to various diseases, supports the immune system, and has a positive effect on the skin.

• When eating a fruit, we get potassiumactivating the intestines. It is required for excretory renal function, and is actively involved in regulating cardiac muscle contractions. With a lack of potassium, dry skin and brittle hair may appear. The recommended daily intake for a person is two grams. Potassium normalizes protein metabolism, the water balance in the cells and the acid-base balance of the blood.
• Improves the quality of metabolism, stimulates the absorption of nutrients, enhances the process of saturation of the body with oxygen, which is part of the pumpkin copper.
• Main function of calcium - construction and maintenance of bone tissue, its formation and good nutrition. Thanks to the element, muscular tissue is correctly reduced, the work of the cardiovascular system is normalized, which normalizes blood pressure.

With all the obvious benefits of the presence of fiber in the pumpkin slightly reduces the percentage of absorption of substances, as the transit takes food into the intestine.

The value of pumpkin is described in many books and treatises. Due to the dietary properties of the popular plant in demand in cooking. It can be used fresh, boiled, baked stew. The product containing a rich composition of vitamins and trace elements has an energy value of 28 kcal per 100 grams. Edible fruit contains about ninety-two percent of water and a lot of dietary fiber, which positively affects the gastrointestinal tract, normalizes metabolic processes.

Several methods of processing pumpkin (steamed, baked on the grill or in the oven, boiled, fried) make it possible to use it in dietary dishes, baby food, as the vegetable is easily digested by the body and has a low calorie content.

• Raw pumpkin used with cottage cheese, in various salads, with honey. Pulp or juice is used as a laxative, with inflammation of the kidneys, hypertension. Calorie raw fruit - 28 kcal per 100 grams.
• Boiled pumpkin - A dietary and healthy dish, including for people on a diet, has a total of 24 kilocalories in one hundred grams, it refers to a healthy diet. Preparing the dish is very quick and easy.
• Baked Pumpkin has a slightly higher caloric content than raw and boiled. The energy value of cooked in the oven pumpkin - 27 kcal. With this treatment, the vegetable gets a bright taste, it becomes denser. Any side dishes and ingredients included in the recipe increase its caloric content.
• Very easy to digest by the body is the fetus when stewing. With this method of preparation, nutrients and taste are maximally preserved. The calories of such a pumpkin will be 30 kilocalories.

The energy value of the pumpkin is easy to calculate, since in any kind of processing, these figures are not very different. They also depend on the pumpkin variety: sweeter contains more calories.

The glycemic index is the absorption rate of carbohydrate products that increase blood sugar levels in the blood, it is not related to the caloric value, it can be as much as one hundred units. Foods with high fiber content are slower processed by the body, with high GI - quickly. Fast-digesting foods worsen blood sugar levels, contribute to the accumulation of fat in certain parts of the body. Currently, there are tables with glycemic index numbers in the products used.

Pumpkin refers to the "right carbohydrates", has a value of GI - 75 units. Depending on the method of cooking rate varies. Short-term blood saturation with sugar can lead to a glycemic jump, which is undesirable for people suffering from diabetes, an ulcer of the gastrointestinal tract, and diseases of the pancreas.

Orange nutritious, meaty and healthy vegetable contributes to the fight against obesity. The percentage of fat in pumpkin is minimal, a small amount of protein and a large proportion of carbohydrates, low calorie. Dietary product for weight loss is allowed for consumption, as at the same time it provides nutrition for the body and ensures its recovery.

The glycemic index is high and equal to 75 units, respectively, the pumpkin is better to eat in the morning.The composition of the nutrients contains vitamin T, which helps the absorption of heavy foods, the breakdown of fats, respectively, the fight against excess weight. Cellulose helps to normalize the processes of digestion, intestinal work. Pumpkin pulp has diuretic properties, which removes puffiness and excess fluid from the body.

The presence of pectin is manifested in the laxative properties of pumpkin, in cleansing the intestines from toxins and toxins, in accelerating the metabolic process. Low calorie content allows you to eat the product in the desired quantities, thereby reducing the consumption of other less useful food.

Dietary dishes in the form of soups, salads, casseroles, cereals, drinks, side dishes for weight loss will be indispensable. Breakfast is easy to make in the form of a salad of three hundred grams of pumpkin, one apple, one carrot, half a lemon or an orange. Add one tablespoon of honey and walnuts. Grated ingredients can be filled with yogurt for a change. This dish will fill the body with vitamins and energy.

Pumpkin soup at lunch will be a special and nutritious dish. It includes a kilogram of pumpkin, two onions, two cloves of garlic, one glass of cream, ground pepper to taste, nutmeg and salt, two hundred grams of peeled tomatoes, a glass of pure water. All components need to boil for thirty minutes, allow to cool, then mix in a blender.

When losing weight, pumpkin tea, which normalizes metabolic processes, will not be superfluous. Ingredients: one hundred milliliters of pumpkin juice, ten milliliters of sugar syrup, a bit of lemon with zest, a sprig of rosemary, a box of star anise. The entire composition pour two hundred milliliters of boiled water and let it brew for fifteen minutes. Strain the tea into the cup through any device, for example, a sieve. The result of losing weight will be improved when combining nutrition with sports loads.

About calorie pumpkin, see the following videos.