Pumpkin Seeds – weird edible aphrodisiac
Have you ever known that inexpensive and easily accessible pumpkin seeds are the most powerful edible aphrodisiac? Actually, they are much better than any stimulating pills. They are absolutely natural, edible, and with no side effects. Weird!
What a magical love potion they hide inside that arouses man’s romantic desire and performance? Let’s see what science says.
Zinc supports normal growth and development for all ages because it is required for the function of over 300 enzymes, but it is especially important for the men’s health. Zinc helps improve sex drive working as natural aphrodisiac. About 2-4 grams of zinc are distributed throughout the human body: in the brain, muscle, bones, kidney, and liver, with the highest concentrations in the prostate.
The Daily Value (DV) for zinc is 15mg. Foods providing 20% or more of the DV are considered to be high sources of this nutrient. A serving of 100g of pumpkin seeds provides 80% daily value of it, making pumpkin seeds one of the best sources of zinc.
- Zinc improves testosterone and sperm production: Zinc is necessary for the production of healthy, abundant, and potent sperm.
- Pumpkin seeds trigger production of testosterone: With greater levels of testosterone comes increased sperm production.
- Pumpkin seeds help improve prostate health: Semen is particularly rich in zinc, a key factor in prostate gland function and reproductive organ growth. Published in 2008 in the “Urology” journal, a randomized, placebo-controlled study treated 476 patients with lower urinary tract symptoms and benign prostatic hyperplasia with pumpkin seeds [3]. The results showed an improvement of 6.8 points, which was 1.2 points over the placebo group (the results of that size is rarely achieved).
Pumpkin seeds are packed with amino acid arginine, which is converted in the body into nitric oxide – NO. Nitric oxide plays a crucial role in the process of preparing a man for his romantic date. It widens and relaxes arteries and blood vessels, improving blood flow to the organ in question making it big and hard.
Because the amino acid lysine uses the same transport system as arginine, arginine availability can potentially be affected by lysine. Pumpkin seeds have the best arginine to lysine ratio.
Do you know that famous stimulating pills attempt to accomplish exactly the same effect but in a chemical and unnatural way? They all have warnings about 4-hour erections and many other serious side effects. Maybe better not play games with your health?
Also, arginine increases the levels of sperm motility. It is a common practice in India to make the bride and the groom drink a glass of milk each, boiled with raisins, which are also rich in arginine, and a pinch of saffron on their wedding night.
Serotonin is a well-known hormone of happiness. It is a main contributor to many biochemical and physiological functions, including sexual. Serotonin produces your happiness, and amino acid tryptophan produces serotonin.
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid and biochemical precursor for serotonin. It cannot be produced in our body and must be part of our daily diet. If you are in a good mood, you’ve got serotonin to thank; if not – you’ve got serotonin to blame. The major amount of serotonin exists in the intestine, and is governed by your state of hunger. Feel happier after lunch? That’s why.
The recommended daily intake for tryptophan is 4mg per kilogram of body weight (1.8mg per pound). So, a person weighing 70kg (about 154 pounds) should consume approximately 280mg of tryptophan per day. And the best source of tryptophan ever are pumpkin seeds – 576mg of tryptophan per 100g (206% DV), or 161mg of tryptophan per ounce (28g) (58% DV).
A 100-gramm serving of pumpkin seeds provides 155% of magnesium daily value! One-quarter cup of them contains nearly half of the recommended daily amount of magnesium, which participates in a wide range of vitally important physiological functions, including the creation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate, the energy molecules of your body), the synthesis of RNA and DNA, the pumping of your heart, proper bone and tooth formation, relaxation of your blood vessels, and proper bowel function. Yet, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), an estimated 57% of Americans are deficient in this important mineral.
Magnesium has many duties in our body and calming down our nerves is one of them. Magnesium counterbalances calcium, thus helping to regulate nerve and muscle tone. It can affect muscle relaxation through direct action on cell membranes. Magnesium ions close certain types of calcium channels, which conduct positively charged calcium ions into neurons. By blocking calcium’s entry, magnesium keeps our nerves relaxed. With an excess of magnesium, more channels will be blocked and nerve cells activity will decrease.
Pumpkin seeds are a superfood for everyone
We’d like to call pumpkin seeds a superfood, even though the term is just a commercial trick. Pepitas (the other name for pumpkin seeds) are one of the healthiest foods. The only “side effect” of eating too many pumpkin seeds (really, looooots of them) at one sitting may cause digestive problems due to high contents of fiber. If it’s the case, don’t go far from the washroom.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a healthy daily serving is approximately 2 tablespoons of raw pumpkin seeds.
