It is pumpkin time in Wisconsin. There are piles of pumpkins in stores, farmers markets and carved on porches. This is the time for pumpkin pies, soups, pumpkin flavored beverages and roasted pumpkin seeds. The pumpkin is a favorite symbol of the harvest season.
Most people buy pumpkins for decoration. Pumpkins are grown throughout the world, mostly as a food crop for humans as well as livestock. Like many foods the pumpkin is also being looked at in regards to health benefits.
Traditional herbal medicine looks to the yellow/orange spices and fruits (squash and pumpkins specifically, are technically fruits) as helpful to the digestive process. There is some research into how compounds in pumpkins affect the pancreas.
In China, ground pumpkin seeds were used to treat parasites. Pumpkin seeds in high doses tend to kill tapeworms and round worms. The pumpkin seeds were then followed by harsh herbs that would expel the contents of the digestive tract.
It is often the case that anything harsh enough to kill parasites or bacteria is also harmful to the human body. For those who like pumpkin seeds there is little to worry about. The level at which pumpkin seeds start being harmful to the body is well beyond what a person might eat. At average snack quantities, pumpkin seeds are seen as very helpful to digestive health as well as helping promote lactation.
Overall, pumpkins are a very tasty and nutritious food that really should find its way to the dinner table as often as it finds its way to the front porch as a scary decoration.
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