Before you reach for that second (or third) serving of candy corn, reach for the superfood: low-calorie pumpkin. Fresh or canned, pumpkin packs in a lot of dietary fiber, minerals, three times the daily requirement of vitamin A, and the anti-oxidant fighting beta-carotene. Pumpkins, native to North American, are a squash-like fruit in the gourd family that were used first by Native Americans about 7,000 years ago.Not just the jack-o-lantern on your porch or the pie at Thanksgiving, pumpkin is truly super because most parts are edible and dense with nutrition. This superfood is packed with health-promoting, disease-fighting ingredients in its pumpkin flesh, seeds, oils, and flowers.
Mash, roast, steam, or puree pumpkin into soup, breads or muffins, or ravioli, or serve plain. A number of medical studies have shown that the seeds, called pepitas, contain magnesium, phosphorous, and zinc that can improve bone density, heart health by lowering LDL cholesterol, and bladder function.
Eat raw or roasted. Rich in tryptophan, pumpkin seeds may help boost serotonin levels and thus help lessen anxiety. Pumpkin seed oil, rich in fatty acids, is anti-inflammatory (easing arthritic inflammation) and anti-hypertensive.
Ready to skip some or all of that Halloween candy with sugar, corn syrup, wax, artificial coloring, and binders? Choose the superfood pumpkin, making it a regular part of your diet this Halloween and for year-round health benefits.
— Mary Kemper