A friend recently shared her pumpkin soup recipe with me because she had told me the easy benefits that it had for her family. So once I found a pumpkin that I was comfortable with prepping for a soup, I knew I had to jump on this pumpkin soup train. Honestly, you could use any pumpkin soup recipe, except for one thing. So what was so special about it that I just HAD to make it? Well... she had one main ingredient that is well-known for taking on parasites.
Raw pumpkin seeds!
See, we all have some level of parasites. In fact, some sources will tell you that over 85% of Americans have a parasite of some kind. If you have an animal in the home or on your homestead, then your chances of having parasites increases. Notice how the vet will encourage you to "de-worm" your animals annually? Well, that should include you too! Additionally, if you garden, you could be exposed to soil-transmitted helminths that live in the intestine. The fact is that if you're in nature.... nature is probably in you too.
The most common parasites in humans are tapeworms, pinworms, ascaris, hookworms, intestinal trematodes, and entamoeba histolytica. I won't give you the heebie-jeebies talking more about these, but just to give you a place to start your own research on eliminating them.
Let's get back to what is GOOD though. So, how do we use pumpkin seeds to get rid of parasites??
Well, first of all, with the pumpkin soup, the instructions call for air-drying (not baking) the seeds, then grinding them into a powder and adding them to the soup at the end. Pumpkin seeds are able to kill parasite eggs because they contain a natural fat that is toxic to parasite eggs. Curcurbitin in pumpkin seeds has shown anti-parasitic effects, since it has the ability to paralyze worms so they drop off the intestinal walls. And there's proof! Check out this article where they talk about raw pumpkin seeds and tapeworm! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22910218/
If you've followed me for a while, you know I LOVE lists. So here's 19 other reasons to eat raw pumpkin seeds:
Provides benefits for heart & liver health
May help improve insulin regulation
Prevents calcium oxalate kidney stone formation
Rich in B-complex
Excellent source of plant-based omega-3s
Antimicrobial & anti-viral
Good source of Vitamin K
Good for prostate health
Good source of Vitamin E
May reduce levels of LDL cholesterol
Has a diuretic effect
3.5 ounces provides 30 g of protein, 110% RDA of iron, 31% RDA of niacin, 17 % RDA of selenium, and 71% RDA of zinc
1/4 cup contains nearly 1/2 of RDA for magnesium
Excellent source of tryptophan which converts to GABA in the brain
Helps with sleep
Anti-inflammatory properties
Antioxidant properties
Anti-fungal & anti-parasitic properties
Good source of dietary fiber
Honestly, I thought the soup was good, but my family disagreed. Whoops! It wasn't much to look at. I really think food coloring has skewed our view of how food should look, because it was yummy. However, my family is also not much into savory soup.... so I'll need to sweeten it, maybe...
I think in the future, I'm just going to use the pumpkin for baked goods and then use the raw seed flour as topping for other things we eat - it was pretty tasteless, so it could easily be added to yogurt or other snacks. We love topping our yogurt with chia, cacao nibs, or berries, so this would be an easy addition!
If you love this article, I recommend checking out my other nutritional articles like my write up on Fulvic Acid or my daily fiber - ICP Daily!
And as always, if you'd like to see what we do on a daily basis, give us a follow on Instagram at MyLivingRenewed!