Sleep little pumpkin
Halloween is not far away, but the best thing is it might remind us about the benefits of pumpkins. Pumpkin seeds are a sleeping aide.
The best part of carving pumpkins is roasting the pumpkin seeds. Here is a recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin sees are loaded with Tryptophan.
Tryptophan has been available in health food stores as a dietary supplement. Many people found tryptophan to increase brain levels of serotonin (a calming neurotransmitter when present in moderate levels) and/or melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to darkness or low light levels).
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- One medium sized pumpkin
- Salt
- Olive oil
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Cut a pumpkin, separate the seeds from the stringy core and rinse the seeds.
3. In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a half tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
4. Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed or eat whole.
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