Pass the pumpkin please

This Thanksgiving, if you have pumpkin pie on the menu, go for it!High in protective carotenoids, pumpkins are one of nature’s superfoods.  In fact, pumpkins are one of the most nutritionally valuable foods known to humankind. Inexpensive, available year-round in canned form, they are high in fiber and low in calories making this superfood hard to ignore. Pumpkin packs an abundance of disease-fighting nutrients including pantothenic acid (B2), magnesium, vitamins C and E.

Pumpkin, a type of squash, is a fruit not a vegetable, and like melons are a member of the gourd family.

Pumpkin is so rich in bioavailable carotenoids, just half a cup pumpkin gives you more than double the daily requirement of alpha-carotene and 100% of the daily requirement of beta-carotene. Carotenoids are the deep orange-, yellow-, or red-coloured, fat-soluble compounds that occur in a variety of plants. Just as they protect the plants from sun damage, so they also protect human skin and eyes from the damaging effects of ultraviolet light from the sun.

Higher concentrations of beta-carotene and other carotenoids obtained from foods are associated with lower risk of several chronic diseases. Foods rich in carotenoids have been shown to decrease the risk of various cancers, particularly breast cancer. Beta-carotene has been shown to have very powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These fat-soluble carotenoids are needed to protect fatty areas in the skin, heart, eyes, brain and liver. 

When you consume foods containing carotenoids, the human body converts them to vitamin A. Unlike animal sources of vitamin A, these plant sources cannot deliver a toxic amount of the vitamin. Carotenoids are concentrated in a wide variety of tissues, where they help protect us from free radicals, modulate our immune system response, enhance cell-to-cell communication, and possibly stimulate production of naturally occurring detoxification enzymes.

North Americans tend to over-sweeten pumpkin in desserts, masking the flavour. Experiment with less sugar if using sweet recipes, and enjoy the many health-giving qualities of the powerful pumpkin! Oh yeah, and they're also great in smoothies!