At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, it is the time for all the melons and melons to gather. The melons and melons on the dining table are too many to see.
Garlic pat cucumber, balsam pear brew meatball, vinegar slip zucchini, but the finale is steamed pumpkin.
You don’t need to do too much seasoning, just cut the pumpkin and steam it in a pan, which is a delicious dessert. Soft glutinous pumpkin meat with slightly powdered pumpkin skin, if you like, you can also put it in the refrigerator and chill it slightly, which is a pleasure in the autumn days.
However, pumpkin is not something what people can eat freely!
Pumpkin, north melon and old Japanese melon are all one family.
There are a lot of pumpkins in the market. Although they look different, some are long and some are round, but the taste is similar.
There are only two common pumpkins in the market, Chinese pumpkins (pumpkins) and Indian pumpkins (squash). The main difference between the two is at the fruit stalk. Pumpkins are trumpet-shaped and squash is straight tube-shaped.
Speaking of which, these names are somewhat banter. Both Chinese pumpkins and Indian pumpkins come from the American continent, where pumpkins have been planted for more than 5,000 years. However, it was not until the 16th century that European explorers brought them back to Europe and carried them forward. As for the Chinese eating pumpkins, it was already after the Ming Dynasty.
However, this does not prevent them from becoming the darling of Chinese dining tables.
Full of carotene
The pumpkin we often eat has orange-red pulp, which comes from carotene.
The content of-carotene is 3,100 micrograms per 100 grams of pumpkin and the content of vitamin A is 369 micrograms, which is equivalent to 46% of the daily intake.
We often recommend you to eat vegetables of various colors, and orange is also essential. Carotene and vitamin A have many important functions in the human body. The first manifestation of vitamin A deficiency is that you cannot see clearly at night, which is also called night blindness.
It is often said that carrots need to be fried with oil to absorb carotene, but why is this pumpkin steamed?
-The absorption and non-absorption of carotene have nothing to do with whether to add oil or not. Health Headline (Micro Signal: Baojiandaifu) reminds you, in fact, don’t add too much oil to eat carrots!
In addition, there is another interesting thing: if you eat too much carotene, you may turn yellow all over. But don’t panic too much, after a period of time, you will recover yourself…
Can pumpkins lower blood sugar?
The sugar (carbohydrate) contained in every 100g pumpkin is 6.5 g, including a large amount of starch, 1.36 g of soluble sugar such as sucrose and fructose, and 0.5 g of polysaccharide dietary fiber.
Among them, pumpkin polysaccharide is believed to have the ability to reduce blood sugar. In some animal experiments, pumpkin polysaccharide can stimulate islet activity and increase insulin secretion, thus reducing the blood sugar level in animal extracts. Unfortunately, this mechanism has not been confirmed in human experiments.
On the contrary, it should be noted that although pumpkin polysaccharide may have the ability to reduce blood sugar, the large amount of starch and soluble sugar in pumpkin cannot be ignored.
These sugars are no different from those in rice steamed bread, so pumpkins are also a standard high glycemic (GI) food. Cooked pumpkins have a glycemic index of 75, which is equivalent to rice and white bread. Just because pumpkins have slightly higher water content, they look more when eaten.
However, don’t eat with your belly open, not to mention the risk of raising blood sugar. These rich sugars may also be the main culprit of obesity.
Is pumpkin seeds good
Compared with pumpkins, pumpkin seeds with high fat, high protein and low sugar are an option for people with hyperglycemia.
In addition, pumpkin seeds have long been considered as an effective insect repellent, and pumpkin seed amino acid is considered as an effective component to repel tapeworms, pinworms, roundworms and other parasites. However, there is still no evidence.
However, eating a handful of various nuts every day is still very good for your health.
Tips for Eating Pumpkin
If you are a person with normal weight or over-weight, you can replace some of the staple food with pumpkin, which can reduce the amount of calories you eat in the staple food every day and achieve the effect of losing weight.
For people who are thin and malnourished, taking pumpkins as vegetables or snacks after meals is also a good way to supplement their bodies.
However, no matter how you eat, don’t put any more sugar!