This article is reprinted from: Life Times
From the Northern Song Dynasty more than a thousand years ago to the present, the snacks like melon seeds have appeared in various situations: friends gathering, holiday tables, chasing drama and gossip… Can be described as the national “number one snack”.
Although melon seeds are cheap and simple in appearance, they are a “treasure snack”, full of nutrients.
Life Times (Search for “LT0385” in WeChat to follow) to interview experts, Interpret the nutritional characteristics of common melon seeds, and teach you how to eat melon seeds healthily.
Expert interviewed
Liu Pingping, Chinese registered dietitian
Postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, USA , Professor Zhang Xuexin of the Department of Psychology of Fudan University
Guangzi, a well-deserved national snack
As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a “first month” in nursery rhymes. Eat melon seeds and fly hares (kites) in February”.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, melon seeds were eaten all over the country. Since the late Qing Dynasty, pumpkin seeds became popular, and sunflower seeds appeared in the Republic of China were very popular.
Chinese people like melon seeds, perhaps because of their frugality at first, and then they went deep into the level of food culture. The nibbling of melon seeds was probably the earliest in the north.
This is not only because the records of eating melon seeds are mainly found in northern historical documents, but the more objective reason is that the winter in the north is cold and long. During the slack farming, everyone stays at home all day to avoid the cold. The main way to kill time is to eat melon seeds and chat .
After arriving in China in the mid-19th century, the French missionary Gubercha described the Chinese custom of eating melon seeds as follows: “Whether you are on the street or on the side of the trail, you can buy melon seeds everywhere.”
The custom of eating melon seeds is popular for several reasons: Hospitality is very convenient, and subtly eating melon seeds has become a pleasant social interaction tone.
Eating melon seeds can be broken down into several small movements. These movements are simple and easy, which makes people feel pleasant, and can relieve each other’s tension during the eating process.
Eating melon seeds is a kind of eating behavior in small amount and many times. You can stop at any time, or you can pick it up and continue to eat it at any time. It prolongs the time of eating and can provide enough time for social activities.
The three kinds of melon seeds each have nutritional specialties
There are many kinds of melon seeds family, the common ones are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and watermelon seeds. Since they are all fruit seeds, there are some similarities in nutrition:
The fat content is about 50%, of which sunflower seeds are 53.4%, pumpkin seeds 48.1%, watermelon seeds 45.9%, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Contains more protein, including 19% sunflower seeds, 33.2% pumpkin seeds, and 32.4% watermelon seeds, which can supplement plant protein;
rich in dietary fiber, of which sunflower seeds It is 4.5%, pumpkin seeds 4.9%, watermelon seeds 5.4%, which help to relax the bowels and laxatives.
In addition, they also have their own nutritional specialties:
Sunflower seeds
Rich in vitamin E, has Helps anti-aging
Sunflower seeds are the seeds of the Compositae sunflower, containing a large amount of vitamin E (79 mg/100 grams). Eating 10 grams of sunflower seeds a day can meet half of the vitamin E for a day. requirements (advisable daily intake for adults is 14 mg).
Supplementing with vitamin E can reduce the formation of lipofuscin (commonly known as age spots) in human cells, improve skin elasticity and improve immunity.
pumpkin seeds
rich in potassium, Helps control blood pressure
Pumpkin seeds are the seeds of cucurbitaceae pumpkin, which are rich in potassium (672 mg/100 g). Potassium is one of the key nutrients for the body to function properly and can help reduce high blood pressure caused by too much sodium.
Because potassium can promote the excretion of sodium from the urine and inhibit the renin-angiotensin system, thereby reducing vascular pressure. This system is an important humoral regulation system in the human body, and its over-activation is one of the causes of high blood pressure.
Therefore, friends with high blood pressure can usually eat more pumpkin seeds.
watermelon seeds
rich in linoleic acid , help protect blood vessels
Watermelon seeds are the seeds of cucurbitaceae watermelon, which contain a high proportion of linoleic acid (67% of total fatty acids).
Linoleic acid has the functions of lowering blood lipids, improving blood circulation, inhibiting platelet aggregation, inhibiting the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and thrombosis in the human body, and has a good preventive effect on cardiovascular diseases.
How to eat sunflower seeds without harming your body
Some people eat The melon seeds can’t be stopped, which may not only cause “fire”, but also increase the load on the temporomandibular joint in severe cases.
How much melon seeds is considered “excessive”?
No matter what kind of melon seeds, don’t eat too much. The average adult eats 50~70 grams of nuts per week. Calculated at an average of 10 grams per day. shell sunflowerSub 20~25 grams (about 1 and a half).
If you eat too much, you should reduce the intake of other fats in your diet accordingly, and obese people should pay more attention.
How to eat melon seeds without “getting angry”?
People who are easy to “get angry” by eating sunflower seeds, it is best to peel the sunflower seeds by hand or with the help of tools. After eating melon seeds, drink more boiled water, or drink some light tea (such as green tea, chrysanthemum tea).
People with oral and throat discomfort (such as oral ulcers, pharyngitis), diarrhea, and gastrointestinal discomfort should eat sunflower seeds with caution.
In addition, a healthy way to eat melon seeds is recommended: add them to cold salad dishes, and at the same time pay attention to using less or no cooking oil, or make soy milk together with soybeans.
The following points should be paid attention to when choosing sunflower seeds:
Try to Buy melon seeds with complete packaging in large regular shopping malls, and pay attention to check the production date, shelf life, ingredient list, manufacturer and other information.
If you buy melon seeds in bulk, pay special attention to the cleanliness of the store and the containers for the melon seeds, and the personal hygiene of the staff. If there is an excessively strong taste, haram, or even moldy, don’t buy it. .
Try to choose original, less processed melon seeds, and less seasoned types (such as caramel flavor, sea salt flavor, crab roe flavor, salt and pepper flavor, five-scented melon seeds), which often contain sugar and salt. It is very high, and it is very unfriendly to special groups such as obesity and the third grade.
It is best to choose melon seeds with independent small packages. On the one hand, it can help control the amount of consumption, and on the other hand, it can also avoid the oxidation and deterioration of the large package of melon seeds that can not be eaten at one time. ▲
Editor of this issue: Zhang Yu
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