Pumpkin seeds vs sunflower seeds: calories compared

For snacks or salads the two are close, and each wins on something different. Per 1 oz (28 g), pumpkin seeds give about 8.4 g of protein and 2.3 mg of iron, against 5.3 g and 1.2 mg in sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds bring more fiber and about three times the calcium.

Eight USDA samples of raw pumpkin seeds held 469 to 511 mg of magnesium per 3.5 oz (100 g), while the UK food table lists 270 mg, so read that as high but uncertain. In one study of 10 adults, copper from sunflower seeds was absorbed about as well as from a reference dose by one labeling method, 52% against 54%, but only 32% by another. Manganese came out far lower, 1.71% against 8.90% from a manganese salt.

Allergy is the real caution. In one Turkish clinic, 64% of 25 children with pumpkin seed allergy had anaphylaxis, and all of them ate pumpkin flesh without trouble. In one pediatric clinic, the odds of a sunflower seed allergy diagnosis rose 21% a year from 1995 to 2021. A UK survey of retail seeds found unsatisfactory E. coli in 1.5% of samples, pumpkin and sunflower among them.

Eat whichever you enjoy, or mix them. One case report blamed years of eating sunflower seeds for worn biting edges on a woman's front teeth.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level E Eight USDA Foundation samples of raw pepitas held 469 to 511 mg magnesium, 1120 to 1190 mg phosphorus and 7.8 to 9.4 mg iron per 3.5 oz (100 g), while selenium ranged from 0 to 65 micrograms. USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, FDC 2515380, release 2026-04-30
2. Level E The UK food composition table lists pumpkin seeds at 270 mg magnesium and 850 mg phosphorus per 3.5 oz (100 g), roughly half and three quarters of the USDA Foundation values for raw pepitas. CoFID 2021 (Public Health England), code 14-842, OGL v3.0
3. Level C True copper absorption from intrinsically labeled sunflower seeds was 52% in 10 adults, close to the 54% reference dose, while the same seeds labeled extrinsically gave 32%. Eur J Clin Nutr, 2005
4. Level B Manganese absorption from sunflower seeds was 1.71% against 8.90% from a manganese chloride control in adult men and women. J Nutr, 1991
5. Level D In a Turkish clinic series of 25 children with IgE-mediated pumpkin seed allergy, 64 percent had anaphylaxis, and every child still tolerated pumpkin flesh. Allergy Asthma Proc, 2026
6. Level C In one pediatric allergy clinic 235 children were diagnosed with sunflower seed allergy between 1995 and 2021, and the odds of diagnosis rose by 21% a year (odds ratio 1.21, 95% CI 1.17-1.25). J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract, 2024
7. Level C A UK survey of 3,735 retail dried seed samples found E. coli in 9 percent and unsatisfactory levels in 1.5 percent, pumpkin seeds among them. Food Microbiol, 2009
8. Level D Long-term habitual cracking of sunflower seeds with the teeth was reported as the cause of incisal edge abrasion in one woman, and her family and neighbors were said to carry similar lesions. J Conserv Dent, 2017

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

Read more about these foods

• Pumpkin seeds: a magnesium food whose best trial is about the oil
• Sunflower seeds: strong on copper, thin on evidence

What the studies say

• Pumpkin seeds in pregnancy: a fine food, but no trial shows they help the baby

Rankings and guides

• Calories: what it does and what the evidence shows
• Which foods give the most protein for the fewest calories?
• Dietary fat: what it does and how much you need

• Pumpkin seeds: USDA FoodData Central, Seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), raw, FDC ID 2515380 · all forms of pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds: USDA FoodData Central, Seeds, sunflower seed, kernel, raw, FDC ID 2515381 · all forms of sunflower seeds

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.