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PEPITAS (pumpkin kernels) - are they underrated?


vege
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I was researching about protein content and quality in different plant foods and found out that pepitas are the most complete protein source (amino acid score is 136, more than chicken breasts), and they have 25 g of protein per 100 g. How come then almost nobody is talking about pepitas as reliable protein source for vegans. Firstly, they are cheap! Secondly, they taste great!

So, is there something I don't know about pepitas? Are there any bad sides that make pepitas underrated, comparing to soy, peanut, etc?

Not only that pepitas are complete protein source, they are packed with magnesium, iron and L-arginine (4333 mg, compared to 1748 mg in chicken breast for example). And bodybuilders use arginine to increase muscle growth, right?

I started to use 100 g raw pepitas, blended with water, sugar or dates, and cocoa powder, as my post-workout drink. What do you folks think about that? I mean, it's 25 g of COMPLETE PROTEIN, not denaturated, but raw and ready to use, and plus I get my iron, magnesium and L-arginine.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3066/2

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Pumpkin seeds are also a source of omega 3 fatty acids, iron and zinc.

 

There are two troubles with pumpkin seeds that I see off the bat:

 

1. The commonly available ones are in shells and highly salted. Not everyone has natural food stores near them to get the shelled and unsalted varieties.

 

2. Pumpkin seeds are high in fat, making them very high calories....too high for many people. 1 cup has an impressive 34 grams of protein, but also a whopping 747 calories:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3066/2

 

Organic soy beans, by comparison, give 29 grams of protein for only 298 calories:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4376/2

 

I agree that pumpkin seeds are fantastic.

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Pumpkin seeds are also a source of omega 3 fatty acids, iron and zinc.

 

There are two troubles with pumpkin seeds that I see off the bat:

 

1. The commonly available ones are in shells and highly salted. Not everyone has natural food stores near them to get the shelled and unsalted varieties.

 

2. Pumpkin seeds are high in fat, making them very high calories....too high for many people. 1 cup has an impressive 34 grams of protein, but also a whopping 747 calories:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3066/2

 

Organic soy beans, by comparison, give 29 grams of protein for only 298 calories:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4376/2

 

I agree that pumpkin seeds are fantastic.

 

Here they sell them raw, unsalted and shelled on every corner Organic are bit expensive, 10 dollar a pound, and you have to go to special stores for those.

So, if I'm skinny and trying to get more mass (both fat and muscles) pepitas are great!

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Here they sell them raw, unsalted and shelled on every corner Organic are bit expensive, 10 dollar a pound, and you have to go to special stores for those.

So, if I'm skinny and trying to get more mass (both fat and muscles) pepitas are great!

 

Nice. I'll buy some to eat as a bulking food!

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Here they sell them raw, unsalted and shelled on every corner Organic are bit expensive, 10 dollar a pound, and you have to go to special stores for those.

 

The price of organic raw unsalted here is so reasonable I never bothered to notice the price per pound. FWIW, organic soybeans here are about $1.65 a pound.

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Yeah, I'm a fan. It's easy to make your own tofu with them too! Just make a really thick pumpkin seed milk (1 cup seed to 2 or 3 cups water max), boil it and then let it simmer for 5 or 6 minutes as the curds thicken, then drain it, getting out as much water as possible and pour it into a mold to cool. It's more crumbly than soy tofu but still good for tofu scrambles/stir fries, veggie burgers, etc.

 

Or you can just drink the pumpkin seed milk!

 

edit- also they're relatively high in omega 3 fatty acids. Not quite as good as hemp seed and nowhere near flax seed, but significantly better than sunflower seeds or peanuts (though some sites like nutritiondata give a lower estimate than other sites- it probably varies by the strain of seed).

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Yeah, I'm a fan. It's easy to make your own tofu with them too! Just make a really thick pumpkin seed milk (1 cup seed to 2 or 3 cups water max), boil it and then let it simmer for 5 or 6 minutes as the curds thicken, then drain it, getting out as much water as possible and pour it into a mold to cool. It's more crumbly than soy tofu but still good for tofu scrambles/stir fries, veggie burgers, etc.

 

Or you can just drink the pumpkin seed milk!

 

edit- also they're relatively high in omega 3 fatty acids. Not quite as good as hemp seed and nowhere near flax seed, but significantly better than sunflower seeds or peanuts (though some sites like nutritiondata give a lower estimate than other sites- it probably varies by the strain of seed).

, what do you use like thickener for that pepitas tofu? Nigiri or calcium chloride? Or something else?

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Yeah, I'm a fan. It's easy to make your own tofu with them too! Just make a really thick pumpkin seed milk (1 cup seed to 2 or 3 cups water max), boil it and then let it simmer for 5 or 6 minutes as the curds thicken, then drain it, getting out as much water as possible and pour it into a mold to cool. It's more crumbly than soy tofu but still good for tofu scrambles/stir fries, veggie burgers, etc.

 

Or you can just drink the pumpkin seed milk!

 

edit- also they're relatively high in omega 3 fatty acids. Not quite as good as hemp seed and nowhere near flax seed, but significantly better than sunflower seeds or peanuts (though some sites like nutritiondata give a lower estimate than other sites- it probably varies by the strain of seed).

, what do you use like thickener for that pepitas tofu? Nigiri or calcium chloride? Or something else?

 

It actually thickens and solidifies without a coagulant but it would be interesting to experiment with nigari and/or calcium chloride to see if it gets even firmer. There's a company in the US that makes a peanut based tofu ("nufu") and I believe they use nigari. You can read about that here -

 

http://www.vegnews.net/?p=51

 

and here

 

http://therepublicofbunny.blogspot.com/2009/08/nufu-tofu-and-sweet-potato-cakes.html

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I've bought pumpkin seed Protein powder. I didn't taste it yet. I'll post a photo soon. Its wrtten "over 68% protein on it. I dont think its raw though, its been partially defatted, and doesnt mention 'raw' or 'cold processed'. It is one of the cheapest protein powder I've found: 13$ for 700 grams. In comparaison , hemp is about 18$ for 500 gr if i remember well.

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  • 2 months later...

Here I go again with my favorite PEPITAS, aka dried pumpkin kernels

I looked on one typical BCAA product how much of Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine it contains per serving

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/9994/picture2zg.jpg

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

and then I looked at Nutritiondata the content of those amino-acids in pepitas

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5406/picture5v.jpg

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

So, my conclusion is that 100 g of pepitas contains even more of Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine than the average BCAA product!

I understand that in BCAA products those amino-acids are available in free form, ready for absorbtion. But, aren't they also available in free form in RAW pepitas, I mean they should be, since the protein is RAW and not cooked (coagulated).

Could I just grind 100 g od pepitas ad eat it in my meal after workout, instead of using BCAA?

The reason I'm asking this: there are no vegan BCAA here where I live, and I prefer eating to supplementing.

I know there is also lots of calories in 100 g of pepitas, but they have 25 g of COMPLETE protein (amino-acid score is 136, almost like beef). And I need calories, I'm bulking anyway...

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It won't be quite the same because of all the fat and the fact that even in raw pumpkin seed kernels, amino acids are packaged in proteins which take a little longer to digest than free form BCAAs (these are not encapsulated within protein). I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for you to try your idea but it won't be the same as BCAAs.

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It won't be quite the same because of all the fat and the fact that even in raw pumpkin seed kernels, amino acids are packaged in proteins which take a little longer to digest than free form BCAAs (these are not encapsulated within protein). I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for you to try your idea but it won't be the same as BCAAs.

You're right. But I'll try. I mean - if I eat pepitas in the evening, the amino-acids will be free and ready to be used in my body after the morning workout

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK, today I finally decided to try to make pepitas tofu, using Vegimator's recipe. I forgot to ask if I should strain my pepitas milk before cooking it, so I decided not to strain it. So, I cooked it for 5 minutes and it did actally curdle. Then I put the curdled mass in strainer and pressed it. I didn't like the fact that the water under the strainer was white, because I guess white is the sign of proteins, so i just mixed everything again together (strained water and the crdled mass from the strainer).

My kitchen was already in a mess, so I decide to make it even messier I chopped some onions and fried it a little on coconut oil. Then I put that onion in the mass I got from pepitas. I put also some finely chopped garlic, cumin, pepper, salt, sweet paprika and thyme. I also put tender rolled oats, just enough to make the whole thing dry enough to make burgers. Then I fried the burgers in a non-stick pan for 15 minutes, on very low flame.

Result: I made all kinds of veggie burgers, from lentils, beans, chickpeas, etc. But pepitas burgers are the best! It tastes really nice. The problem is greenish colour. For me it is not a problem, since I don't care for the looks of the food I eat, but I guess for better presentation, it would help to put some more paprika, or some finely grated beet-root, to make it red and more meaty.

I will make this again, very soon.

 

SO, Vegimator:

Do you strain pepitas milk before cooking it and making tofu? And do you soak pepitas before making a milk? Thanks

 

Here are my pepitas burgers.http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1636/pepitasburger.jpg

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Hey vege, those burgers look excellent! I'll have to try that.

 

I have a nice high speed blender so I find that just blending the hell out of the pepitas (usually without soaking, though you'll absorb more of the iron, etc if you soak them and they'll blend easier) for 1-2 min dissolves them enough that I don't feel the need to strain before making the tofu. I know what you mean about the worry when you're pressing the tofu (the liquid that comes out isn't clear) but I discard it anyhow.

 

Well done!

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Thanks a lot, Vegimator! Idea about pepitas tofu is really great. Where did you hear about it? I can't find anything similar on the internet...

Tommorow I'm making "meat-balls" in the same way, and I'm going to bake them in the oven. Then I will toss them in tomato sauce and serve with spaghetti

God help me

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  • 1 month later...

I recently discovered the wonders of pepitas as a source of protein. I have a long list of food allergies(whey,soy,gluten,etc) and it limits my protein sources greatly so to find a new source really makes a difference. What I have found though is much more than a "supplemental" protein.

There are certain effects that I have found that are directly related to my daily consumption of these seeds. The most impressive feat is the incredible and very apparent boost in energy and strength levels. Within the first week of eating these daily I have been lifting more than I ever have for much longer durations. This has helped with weight loss as well which seems to be contradictory to the consensus that these seeds have "too much" fat. Maybe the extra performance negates the fat calories? Another effect I found was hunger suppression, or to be more specific craving supression. They seem to really satisfy you throughout the day. And the last effect I found is they seem to accelerate muscle recovery time. This was a welcome surprise as well.

I am not a Vegan nor a Vegetarian dues to my food allergies however my diet is light on the meat side which typically is limited to only one meal a day with any meat at all. That being said I strongly recommend these to any vegetarian who has any fitness goals in mind. There are some very good recipes out there if you look hard enough. My only regret is not knowing these things existed before. To me they are a Godsend.

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