20 August 2018 Tanya Malan

Seeing that we are starting our HATCH-A-PUMPKIN-PATCH challenge (find the competition details on the Homeschool Heirloom Gardeners Facebook page), I thought it appropriate to tell you about the amazing benefits of pumpkins!

Before we speak about the benefits of pumpkins, let’s just take note that squash and pumpkin are part of the same family being the Cucurbitaceae Family and just on an interesting point, they are all actually considered fruit!

Throughout history pumpkins has had many uses. Remember Jonah in the Bible? He sat under the shade of a gourd to relieve his sunstroke! In some countries dried gourds are used for bottles and containers and who does not remember the bowl of dried gourds on grandma’s table?

However the medicinal properties far outweigh their practical uses. The main reasons for this is:

  1. Pumpkins are very low in fat and sodium.
  2. Pumpkins are very high in beta-carotene, potassium and calcium and contains a fair share of soluble fibre.

As a result of this pumpkins are beneficial for:

  1. Hypertension
  2. Coronary affections and arteriosclerosis
  3. Renal disorders
  4. Stomach disorders
  5. Constipation
  6. Disorders of the eyes
  7. Cancer prevention

Don’t forget to eat their flowers! They are particularly rich in beta-carotene and flavonoids which are potent antioxidants!

Their seeds have locked up treasure which most people discard out of ignorance. They are not just very rich in Vitamin E, linoleic acid, zinc and iron they also paralyze parasitic worms in the intestine which can then be expelled with a laxative.

So get those recipes out and start cooking! Buy your pumpkins, squash and gourds from our online shop.