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Should you eat pumpkin seeds raw or roasted?

Pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, boost your intake of several essential nutrients. While both raw and roasted pumpkin seeds offer health benefits, raw pumpkin seeds offer more nutritional value because some nutrients are destroyed during the roasting process.

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Nuts and seeds make up part of a healthy and balanced diet. Pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, boost your intake of several essential nutrients. While both raw and roasted pumpkin seeds offer health benefits, raw pumpkin seeds offer more nutritional value because some nutrients are destroyed during the roasting process.

Pumpkin Seed Benefits

Raw pumpkin seeds provide a rich source of fiber, a type of carbohydrate that prevents constipation and benefits digestive health. The seeds also boost your intake of protein -- each ounce of seeds provides almost 9 grams of the nutrient. You also increase your mineral intake when you eat pepitas. The seeds contain iron, a mineral important to red blood cell function, as well as potassium, phosphorus, zinc and magnesium. Because fiber, protein and minerals are not destroyed by roasting, these nutrients are found in roughly equal amounts in both raw and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Vitamin E

One benefit of selecting raw pumpkin seeds over roasted seeds is vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin. Vitamin E helps keep your cardiovascular system healthy -- it dilates your blood vessels to help lower blood pressure, and thins your blood to reduce your risk of harmful spontaneous blood clot formation. The nutrient also protects your cells from reactive oxygen species, or free radicals, harmful chemicals you produce as a toxic by-product of your metabolism and when exposed to sunlight and environmental pollutants. Raw pumpkin seeds contain 0.6 milligrams of vitamin E per ounce, or 4 percent of your daily vitamin E requirements, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Roasted pumpkin seeds contain just 0.2 milligrams of the vitamin.

Vitamin K

Raw pumpkin seeds also contain more vitamin K than their roasted counterparts. Vitamin K helps stimulate blood clot formation after tissue damage, helping your blood cells aggregate to prevent bleeding. The vitamin also helps your skin heal after injury, and contributes to bone growth and maintenance. Raw pumpkin seeds contain 2 milligrams of vitamin K per 1-ounce serving -- approximately twice as much as roasted pumpkin seeds. Adding an ounce of raw pepitas to your diet provides approximately 2 percent of your daily recommended vitamin K intake, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.

Eating More Raw Pumpkin Seeds

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Can pumpkin seeds cause kidney stones?

Two trials in Thailand have reportedly found that eating pumpkin seeds as a snack can help prevent the most common type of kidney stone. Pumpkin seeds appear to both reduce levels of substances that promote stone formation in the urine and increase levels of substances that inhibit stone formation.

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