What is pumpkin milk? Caloric content and chemical composition, the main useful properties. Who is the drink contraindicated for? How to prepare and use it in cooking? The benefits of pumpkin milk for different groups of people:
| Benefit | Characteristic |
| For kids | Strengthening the nervous system, improving brain activity |
| For women | Prevention of reproductive organs disorders, improvement of skin and hair condition |
| For men | Prevention of reproductive organs disorders, regulation of the cardiovascular system |
| For the elderly | Prevention of osteoporosis and the development of severe diseases |
Note that these are only the main beneficial properties of the drink, in fact, its beneficial effect extends to all body systems, it helps in the treatment of various diseases and strengthens the immune system in general.
Contraindications and harm of pumpkin milk
But with many positive properties, pumpkin milk, like any other product, has contraindications, however, fortunately, there are not so many of them.
You will have to give up a healthy drink:
- People with severe gastrointestinal diseases - high acidity, chronic diseases in the acute stage, intestinal obstruction, etc.
- With individual intolerance to the components - if the use of pumpkin milk causes one or another allergic reaction or unpleasant manifestations from the gastrointestinal tract, of course, you should refuse to introduce it into the diet.
Here, in fact, are all strict contraindications, however, there are, let's say, relative ones. There is a fine line between the benefits and harms of pumpkin milk in terms of the norms of use and the rules for introducing into the diet. Since this product is new to many, you need to start drinking it in small doses, and then gradually increase the amount, but you should not drink more than a glass a day.
Note! If you have serious illnesses of one nature or another, not listed above, be sure to consult your doctor before introducing pumpkin milk into your diet.
How to make pumpkin milk?
Surely, ready-made pumpkin milk can be found in specialty health food stores, but it is best to prepare it yourself, in this case you can be sure of the quality of the product and the absence of special additives.
Consider how to make pumpkin seed milk at home:
- Soak pumpkin seeds in clean room temperature water. A couple of hours is enough, but it is best to soak them overnight.
- In the morning, transfer the prepared seeds to a blender and cover with water. Approximate proportions are 1: 4, that is, 400 ml of water will be required per 100 grams of milk.
- Turn on the blender - the water will quickly turn white, but do not rush to turn it off, the finer you grind the seeds, the more nutrients will "move" from them into the drink.
- Turn off the blender, pass the liquid through a sieve to weed out the unmilled pieces.
That's all! Healthy milk is ready, you can drink it and / or cook different dishes with it.
Please note that at the stage of whipping, you can add certain ingredients to the drink according to your taste preferences: nuts, honey, berries, sesame seeds, cinnamon, etc. Thus, you can not only change the taste of the drink, but also enhance one or another of its useful components. We gave an analysis of the chemical composition of the product using the example of a drink with dates. If you are wondering how to make pumpkin milk with them, read this guide:
- Soak pumpkin seeds in room temperature water for at least a couple of hours, dates in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
- Transfer the ingredients to a blender, cover with water and whisk.
- Strain the finished drink.
Approximate proportions for the preparation of such a drink: 400 ml of water, 80 grams of seeds and 30 grams of dates.
Note! After cooking, pumpkin milk must be poured into a bottle (preferably glass), tightly closed and put into the refrigerator. You can store it for 3-5 days. It is advisable to drink a drink to which sweeteners and other ingredients are added immediately or store it in the refrigerator for no more than a day.
Pumpkin Milk Recipes
The drink has a very interesting taste: bright pumpkin on the one hand, and pronounced nutty on the other. As you already understood, it can be drunk neat or with the addition of various sweeteners and other favorite ingredients. However, this is far from all of his culinary abilities.
In fact, pumpkin milk may well replace cow's milk; on its basis you can prepare delicious smoothies, healthy cereals and soups, and original pastries.
Let's take a look at several uses in pumpkin milk recipes:
- Pumpkin smoothie … Pour milk (150 ml) into a blender. Peel, coarsely chop a banana (1 piece) and an apple (1 piece), put in a blender. Whisk the cocktail. Add cinnamon and honey to taste.
- Rice porridge with raisins … Pour milk (1 cup) into a saucepan, bring to a boil. Add rice (3 tablespoons). 5-7 minutes before the rice is cooked, add raisins (20-30 grams) and salt to taste. If the porridge is not sweet enough, add honey as well.
- Orange-chocolate cocktail … Pour milk (150 ml) into a blender, add peeled and coarsely chopped banana (1 piece) and pear (1 piece). Squeeze orange juice (4 tablespoons) and add cocoa (1 teaspoon). Whisk the cocktail, dilute with water to taste if necessary and add honey.
- American pancakes with vegetable milk … In one bowl, combine pumpkin milk (170 ml), olive oil (50 ml) and agave syrup or liquid honey (100 grams). In the other - whole grain flour (180 grams), buckwheat flour (50 grams), soda (1 teaspoon) and vanilla to taste. Mix everything thoroughly, and then combine the wet and dry ingredients, beat with a mixer until smooth. Bake pancakes as usual in a hot skillet, serve with honey and berries.
- Berry chia pudding … Mix pumpkin milk (80 ml), put chia seeds (1 tablespoon) in it, leave for an hour. In a blender, mix the berry mix (150 grams), first put a layer of chia pudding in a glass, then the berry puree, then mix again. Chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes and eat.
- Pumpkin puree soup … Peel and coarsely chop the pumpkin pulp (300 grams), do the same with potatoes (1 piece), put everything in a saucepan and fill with water so that it is one centimeter higher than the vegetables. Fry grated carrots (1 piece) and chopped onions (1 piece) in a pan. Add to pumpkin and potatoes, cook until tender, add pumpkin milk (50 ml) and beat the soup with a blender. Serve with fresh herbs and lightly toasted pumpkin seeds.
As you can see, pumpkin milk is very easy to introduce into the diet, it will be an excellent addition to many dishes - they will turn out not only more original, but also much healthier.
Interesting facts about pumpkin milk
As we have already said, the taste of pumpkin milk is ambiguous, someone says that it is pronounced pumpkin-seed, someone calls it nutty, and especially "romantic" natures assure that this healthy drink tastes like gingerbread.
Pumpkin milk is a great replacement for cow milk for those who are lactose intolerant. Today there are more and more children with this diagnosis. In order not to torment the kids with porridge on the water, replace the latter with pumpkin milk, it will turn out to be very fragrant, healthy, tasty and satisfying. If you add pumpkin puree to pumpkin milk, you get an original cream that will perfectly complement your PP baked goods.
How to make pumpkin milk even more fun? To set off the flavor of a drink based on a bright orange vegetable, you can add another plant milk to it - it goes especially well with almond milk.
If the resulting drink seems too fat and dense to you, you can dilute it with water to taste.
How to make pumpkin milk - watch the video:
Pumpkin milk is a type of plant milk, a good alternative to cow milk. The product has a wide range of useful properties, with regular use it can not only prevent certain diseases, but even treat them. Unfortunately, the drink has contraindications, but there are few of them, and if they do not apply to you, we highly recommend that you prepare pumpkin milk and evaluate the beneficial effects of this product on the body.
