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Which is better roasted or raw pumpkin seeds?

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 I eat raw pumpkin seeds?

Pumpkin seeds can be eaten raw, roasted, or sprouted. With any of these options, you'll want to decide if you're going to eat the pumpkin seeds with the shell or without. Pumpkin seeds in the shell have more fiber than unshelled, but the shells are chewy and may take some extra time to break down.

Eating pumpkin seeds may improve sleep thanks to an essential amino acid called tryptophan5 . Pumpkin seeds contain a high level of tryptophan, which is necessary for our body to prepare for sleep. Tryptophan is also in turkey, which could explain the food coma after Thanksgiving dinner. The body turns tryptophan into a B vitamin called niacin, which helps the body create serotonin. This is important because serotonin is a chemical that plays a critical role in sleep and regulating our melatonin levels. So, incorporating more tryptophan into our diet via pumpkin seeds may improve our sleep quality. Wondering how much you need to eat for quality zzz's? A study found that consuming 1 gram of tryptophan6 may be enough to improve sleep quality. This is beyond what you could reasonably eat in one sitting (it means you'd need to eat about 200 grams of pumpkin seeds, or almost 1 cup of seeds)! You could consider incorporating small amounts of pumpkins seeds into your meals throughout the day and see how far you get. If you can't quite reach a cup, you can feel good knowing that pumpkin seeds are also high magnesium, which is also known to help improve sleep quality.

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