Healthbolt

Oh Pumpkin, I Love You

by Liberty on June 24th, 2008

Image details: Portrait of an aging man looking proudly at a pumpkin served by picapp.com

If you want a little more out of “pumpkin” than to use it as a sappy nickname, start by eating the seeds.

Why? Because pumpkins pack even more amounts of tryptophan than a whole turkey dinner. And we all know the magic of tryptophan from Turkey Day 101, right? Feelings of relaxation and peacefulness. Ahhhh…

Well, tryptophan works by morphing into seratonin, (which is known for fighting depression, reducing anxiety, and minimizing anger), making tryptophan pretty much the Wonder Amino Acid. In fact, in a recent study, folks who were asked to give a speech after eating a pumpkin seed bar had much lower heart rates and anxiety an hour later than those who didn’t have the seeds.

So now you have a reason to love the pumpkin.

You don’t have to wait for Halloween to stock up either. Most grocery and health food stores sell both the seeds (which make for a great, crunchy snack), and the afore-mentioned pumpkin seed bars as well.

Bon Apetit, Pumpkin.

Pssst! If pumpkin’s not your thing, check tryptophan’s Wiki page for more food sources