Food and Nutrition
It's Pumpkin Time!
By
Oct 12, 2008 - 9:21:21 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Yes, it's pumpkin time, Halloween is almost here, and pumpkins of all sizes are on full display. I personally love to go pumpkin picking, and I love carving one into the traditional "jack-o-lantern" like most of us. But what I really love is using the whole pumpkin, seeds and all. So, before we discard the pumpkin meat and seeds, let's take a look at the pumpkin's nutritional value plus the extra fun we can have by using its pulp and seeds.

For our purposes, sugar pumpkins (these are the smaller sweeter variety) are better for cooking. They should have a rich orange color, which comes from their high amount of Beta Carotene, one of the disease fighting phytochemicals Mother Nature has provided us with. Beta Carotene is also used by our body to make Vitamin A, the vitamin that keeps our skin, eyes and mucous membranes smooth and supple (important for our health & beauty!). Let's not rush out to buy in a supplement, because Vitamin A can be toxic if we take it in high dosages. But the really great news is that Beta Carotene does not carry the same toxicity risk that Vitamin A carries (We usually don't have to worry about toxicity when we eat our vitamins and minerals in food!). Vitamin A is also used by our immune system, and it joins other nutrients such as Vitamin D to make up the raw materials necessary for the health of our bones and teeth.

The other really great news is that cooked pumpkin is only 20 calories per cup (can we think of many other foods that are this low in calories?). Pumpkin is a high quality complex carbohydrate food, is high in vitamin C and has no fat! Pumpkin meat can be baked, boiled or microwaved. We do the scooping out to make our lantern, so why not just use it! We can make a pumpkin pie, soup, muffins, and even cupcakes too. Like pumpkin seeds? Let's try roasting or toasting them! Have a favorite pumpkin pie recipe? Let's make one pie a "healthy low fat pumpkin pie" by substituting evaporated low fat milk for heavy cream, and 3 egg whites for every 2 whole eggs. We can save additional calories by making a graham cracker crust with a reduced fat butter instead of the traditional flour crust (I'll post a low fat pumpkin pie recipe this week on junefit.com's recipe page).

Pumpkins can be fun to carve, and they can be fun and nutritious to prepare and eat. And it's not hard to do. Canned pumpkin of course is nutritious too, but why not get the whole family involved to make a home cooked "from scratch" pie! Want more info on how to cook or puree the pumpkin meat? Check out www.marthastewart.com recipe finder or paste this link for lot's of pumpkin recipes (http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe-finder?vgnextoid=23c7fdaef3f36110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&startSearch=true&searchTerm=pumpkin&source=dummy&cuisine=dummy&cookingTime=dummy)!

Here's to pumpkin time!

June M. Lay M.S.
www.junefit.com
Look for my pumpkin pie recipe this week at my recipe page.

June is Lifestyle Columnist at www.healthnewsdigest.com/

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