Halloween is one of our favourite holidays we love the scary movies and Halloween decorations.

Halloween is also the a big sugar high season with bags and nags of sweets on offer in every supermarket. And while it’s pretty hard to avoid sweet treats, having altogether, it is possible to make better choices and not overdo it. Having Healthy snacks available and healthy options helps the kids not overdo it on the sugary treats and with Pumpkins widely available this time of year we should make the most of them.

Health benefits and nutritional breakdown

Many people think of pumpkins as little more than a Halloween decoration and if you make it a family event and crave the pumpkins you most likely dump the insides of the pumpkin on the bin.But a Pumpkin is a highly nutrient-dense food. It is rich in vitamins and minerals but low in calories. Pumpkin seeds, leaves, and juices all pack a powerful nutritional punch.

Health Benefits

• Support Prostate Health
• Protect againist Diabetes
• Lowers Cholesterol by 13%
• 100g seeds provide 30g Protein
• High in zinc
• Regulating blood pressure
• Help supplement the fiber shortage
• Pumpkin can protect immunity.

Nutritional breakdown

According to the USDA National Nutrient Database one cup of cooked, boiled, or drained pumpkin without salt contains:

• 1.76 g of protein
• 2.7 g of fiber
• 49 calories
• 0.17 g of fat
• 0 g of cholesterol
• 12.01 g of carbohydrate

This amount of pumpkin also provides:

• more than 200 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin A
• nineteen percent of the RDA of vitamin C
• ten percent or more of the RDA of vitamin E, riboflavin, potassium, copper, and manganese
• at least 5 percent of thiamin, B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, niacin, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus

Preparing fresh pumpkin at home will deliver the most benefits for your health.Steer clear of canned pumpkin pie mix. This is usually placed next to the canned pumpkin in grocery stores, and is sold in a similar can. It contains added sugars and syrups.

Adding Pumpkin into your diet

There are many ways pumpkin can be incorporated into desserts, soups, salads, preserves, and even as a substitute for butter. We love roasting seeds and roasting pumpkin seeds is very easy.

Roasted Pumpkin seeds –

Wash the seeds. This is easiest just after you’ve removed the seeds from the pumpkin, before the pulp has dried. Put the pulp and seeds into a large bowl of cold water.

Boil seeds in salted water. Simmering them first, in salty water for about 10 minutes, solves this problem helps them roast evenly. Dry the seeds Drain the seeds in a sieve and dry with towels. Place them on a baking sheet

Drizzle the seeds with about 1 teaspoon of oil. If you prefer, omit the oil and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with Achill sea salt and bake at 325 degrees F. Roast until toasted, about 25 minutes. Stored in an air-tight container, your pumpkin seeds will keep for 1-2 months in the refrigerator, or at room temperature for about a week.