6 Key Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds (And How to Add More to Your Plate)

Macronutrients: we’re talking about protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Pumpkin seeds have a mix of them all. One ounce of pumpkin seeds gives you nearly nine grams of protein. That ounce of pumpkin seeds also has three grams of carbohydrates, two grams of which come as dietary fiber (hello, happy gut). But the real highlight of pumpkin seed macros is the mono- and polyunsaturated fats, aka the good types known to promote heart health.

Pumpkin seed nutrition doesn’t end with macronutrients: they’re a strong source of micronutrients too.

Let’s start with iron. A one-ounce serving of pumpkin seeds gets you about 14% of the daily value of this essential mineral. We need iron to help carry and store oxygen in the body and to make and repair DNA. Iron also plays an important role in energy metabolism.

Next up: zinc. Pumpkin seeds have a lot of it—one ounce gives you 2.21 mg of zinc---the daily value for zinc is 11mg (so that's 20% btw). This essential mineral plays a vital role in immune function, growth and development, vision, neurotransmission, and a whole lot more.

Pumpkin seeds are also loaded with copper, needed for energy production, central nervous system function, and gene regulation.

But wait, there’s more. Well, one more. The seeds also sneak in magnesium, a mineral involved in hundreds of metabolic reactions.

How to eat ‘em

Add them to salads for texture, sprinkle on soups (hello, butternut squash soup), they’re also great as a topping for stir fry and bowls.

Phenolics are compounds unique to plant foods. We don’t need them like we need macro and micronutrients (we won’t develop a deficiency without them), they just help kick our health up a notch. The ones found in pumpkin seeds can help keep cells healthy and protect against cell damage.