Tired of a dormant or stagnant sex drive slowing you down? Long to be more libidinous, but lack the energy or the means to do so? Well, good news! We’re only a little while away from the first day of fall, a time for colder weather, beautiful autumn foliage of golds and yellows, and, of course, pumpkins! You’re probably wondering what that has to do with your libido. Don’t worry. Today’s blog isn’t about carving up a jack-o-lantern for a festive, front doorstep decoration, nor am is it about the copious amounts of flavored foods and beverages prefaced with pumpkin spice. Today we’ll be discussing pepitas, or pumpkin seeds, and their sexually fortifying properties. In other words, it can kick your sex drive back into gear.
At a Glance:
The topic of today’s discussion is:
- Pumpkin seeds and the advantages they bring your libido, as pumpkin seeds help with sexual health.
- The nutrients, minerals, and vitamins found in pumpkin seeds, and which ones are crucial to promoting a healthy libido.
- How to take pumpkin seeds, both as a healthy, in between meal snack and as a water-soluble supplement.
- The daily allowance of pumpkin seeds, when you should take them, and if there are any side effects to be aware of.
- The other health advantages pumpkin seeds offer you, outside of revitalizing a dormant sex life.
Pumpkin Seed Benefits
These babies are more than just a crunchy snack. Pumpkin seeds are also great for your libido! Yes, you read correctly. For over 6,000 years, this has been a natural sexual stimulant used to help keep your prostate healthy, and the libido active.
Research has found that these nutrient-rich seeds can help with several aspects of sexual health in both men and women, as well as help to improve overall health and lower the risk of disease, and many countries in Asia and Europe have utilized the sexually fortifying properties of it for years. And when we say nutrient-rich, we mean nutrient-rich.
Pumpkin seeds contain sterols, beta-carotene, tocopherols, and squalene. It also contains minerals magnesium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, zinc, and calcium, as well as vitamins A, B, C, and E. Additional vitamins include folates, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamin, riboflavin and pyridoxine. And if you need a good source of antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty acids, look no further than pepitas.
So now that we know a little on what’s on the inside of these healthy morsels, let’s talk more about how it fortifies sexual vitality. The nutrients of pumpkin seeds can help prevent or address a myriad of sex-related issues, including:
- Erectile dysfunction (ED)
- Impotence
- Infertility
- Premature ejaculation
- Low sex drive
- Bladder problems (which often interfere with sexual function)
For years, they’ve been used in the prevention and treatment of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH), which can result in frequent urination, due to the swelling of the prostate glands. By eating, at the very least, maybe a handful of pumpkin seeds a day, you can help reduce prostate related issues.
But how does it work? How do these little seeds we throw away after carving a pumpkin save our sex life? The answer lies in the nutrients and minerals.
Zinc plays a part in maintaining the functionality of our immune system, healing any wounds or lacerations, as well as the protection of our vision. Additionally, this mineral also helps maintain our levels of testosterone, the male sex hormone. It also increases the effectiveness and frequency of sex. And since zinc cells collect in the prostate in large quantities, about 15 times more than any other tissue in the body, it helps inhibit the expansion of tumors in the glands. And as if it weren’t essential to our sex life, it’s vital for creating life too, as it regulates sperm production, not to mention sperm mobility, in men. The levels of zinc in a man’s body depletes as we age. Pumpkin seeds can help restore those levels, combating the effects of time through just snacking.
Phosphorus is a nutrient that needs to be consumed in larger quantities to get any sexual or health benefits, as this is a macronutrient and it comes in short supply. Not only is it good for keeping teeth and bones strong and healthy, as well as expelling waste from our bodies via the urinary tract, but it helps us maintain an erection. It’s also good for preventing impotence, even the loss of your libido entirely.
Magnesium is important for more than 300 biochemical reactions in our body, so to say it’s an important mineral for our body even feels like an understatement. If you aren’t already aware of how essential it is, try checking out our blog post from a couple days ago regarding magnesium deficiency and the health issues related to it. In summation, magnesium is great for lowering blood sugar, regulating stress hormones, inhibits chronic urination, and, most importantly, essential for a healthy heart.
However, that blog entry fails to mention the sexual benefits we drive from magnesium, as it has certain aphrodisiac effects since they help in the production of the neurotransmitters, epinephrine, and dopamine, that make us want to have sex. It contributes a good bit to our sex lives, supporting stronger muscles, and promoting longer sex. This mineral is also needed to produce male and female sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen respectively. How does magnesium support a stronger sex drive?
This mineral helps maintain more testosterone in our bloodstream, instead of allowing them to bind to proteins; therefore, giving us an urge for sex. So, if you’re suffering from a low sex drive or a lack thereof, it could be that you need to boost your magnesium levels. You should anyway, as you more than likely don’t meet the recommended daily allowance of magnesium
Pumpkin seeds also contain omega three fatty acids, which help in the production of sex-like hormones, prostaglandins, essential for an active libido. Omega three fatty acids, or fish oil, helps prevent impotence and promotes healthy, sexual function. It also improves the quality of sperm and its production. And lastly, omega three helps lower blood pressure, as well as cortisol levels, putting less strain on our cardiovascular system, and helping blood circulate everywhere through the body, even the lower extremities. To put it bluntly, a happy heart is a happy penis.
Before we continue any further, let’s review what pumpkinseeds can do for your sex drive for both men and women, in case anything was left out.
Pumpkin Seeds Can Really Benefit Men
To say that pumpkin seeds can work wonders on male sexual health would also be an understatement. Not only do these seeds contain vitamins B, C, D, E, and K, along with several other micro-nutrients, which all play a role in libido, they are also high in zinc which is key in keeping testosterone levels elevated.
Zinc levels naturally decline in men as they age, and this goes hand in hand with declining testosterone levels. This can cause a man’s sex drive to decrease, as well as lead to prostate problems and even a low sperm count and fertility issues.
How Pumpkin Seeds Can Boost Female Libido
While pumpkin seeds appear to have the most benefit for male sexual health, this tasty treat isn’t without benefits for the ladies. A woman’s sex drive is dependent on hormonal balance, and this includes testosterone as well as estrogen. Pumpkin seeds can help to raise a woman’s testosterone levels enough to help boost her libido, not only because of the zinc, but also the omega-3 fatty acids found in the seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids act as a precursor of prostaglandins, which are hormone-like substances that play a key role in sexual health and may boost sexual desire and function. And, pumpkin seeds help with lubrication production in women which is also crucial for enjoyable sex.
How to Eat Pumpkin Seeds
These high calories snacks can be ingested raw as a delicious and nutritious snack. And by raw, we mean raw. When you’re carving out a Jack-o-lantern this year, set aside the seeds and wash them off for a snack later if you don’t want to eat the fleshier parts of the pumpkin that is. It won’t hurt you either way.
They can be cooked in many ways also. Try them toasted, roasted and fried, thrown in a salad, whatever. As far as nutrition goes, keep in mind that roasting pumpkin seeds might kill the fatty acids you want, and even the vitamin E. But hey, they’re delicious and easy to eat.
Unlike sunflower seeds, you can even eat the shell. Great if you’re feeling lazy and don’t want to take the time to get the pepita out. Also, try throwing them on top of a salad occasionally, for additional nutrition. Make pumpkin seed peanut butter or pumpkin seed dip. There are plenty of delicious recipes available online, but these seeds will only be available in plentiful supplies for a short time. So, go nuts. Keep in mind, as mentioned before, pumpkin seeds are high in calories, meaning, they’re high in fat, so their shelf life is about three to four months.
Pumpkin Seed Supplements
Not a fan of the taste, but still want to reap those sexually fortifying benefits? Good news! There are, of course, natural supplements available for sale wherever vitamins at sold, including your local grocer. Pumpkin seed extract and oil are available as soft gels and capsules, as well as liquids. In fact, the pumpkin seed oil has seen a surge in popularity as of late and has subsequently become more widely available at both in-store and online retail markets.
Proper Pumpkin Seed Dosage and Possible Side Effects
Studies available online say that at least two 1000 mg taken daily, with meals. If you suffer from BPH, try taking it with every meal. Be aware though that if taken in high volumes, the side effects can include gastrointestinal distress and even premature ejaculation in men.
Even just eating excessive quantities of pumpkin seeds can have some nasty side effects. Since it is rich in high-fat content, you run the risk of weight gain. Also, if you have hypertension and a history of high blood pressure, make talk a little with your doctor, especially if you’re currently on any sort of medications to prevent exacerbation of the symptoms.
If you are pregnant or currently breastfeeding, then it might be advisable to keep ingestion to a very small minimum, if not just cut it out altogether. There’s no concrete, scientific research to confirm whether they’re actually harmful, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. In fact, keep this away from infants and small children altogether. It’s not like they’re super toxic or anything, but due to the fact they contain high volumes of fatty acids, not to mention the fiber can cause serious stomach issues for your little ones like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Pumpkin Seeds Have Many Other Benefits
Alright, enough of the bad. Let’s get back to the positives of pumpkin seeds. Having some very impressive benefits on our sexual health isn’t all that pumpkin seeds can do for you. They’ve also been shown to provide benefits regarding other aspects of your health as well. Some of these benefits include:
- Support in bladder function
- Help managing cholesterol levels
- Kidney stone prevention
- Osteoporosis prevention
- Cancer prevention
- Heart disease prevention
- Increases antioxidant activity
- Helps with insomnia
- Reduces arthritis symptoms
- Gets rid of parasites (like tapeworms and pinworms)
And, pumpkin seeds have also been found to have natural anti-inflammatory properties which can prove beneficial in the treatment and prevention of several health conditions and symptoms.
So, don’t wait until Halloween to get started with these nutrient-dense seeds! Start now and your health (and your partner) will thank you for it.
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