As fall approaches, so does everyone's appetite for pumpkin! Not only is pumpkin delicious, it is also a wonderful super-food with some incredible health benefits. A one cup serving of mashed pumpkin contains 245% of your daily value of Vitamin A, which helps to improve your vision, especially at night. A serving of pumpkin also has 19% of your daily value of vitamin C and replenishes your body with 564mg of potassium. That's more potassium than is found in a banana! Pumpkin is also rich in the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene. Among the numerous health benefits of beta-carotene is that it helps protect the skin from harmful UV rays, which keeps the skin looking young and wrinkle free and may also help prevent certain types of cancer. Pumpkin is also a great source of fiber and, at only 49 calories per serving, will fill you up without packing on the pounds!
Let's not forget the health benefits of the pumpkin seeds as well. Pumpkin seeds are naturally rich in phytosterols, which have been linked to lowering bad cholesterol. They are also a good source of tryptophan, which the body uses to produce serotonin, which helps to improve your mood. The body then, in turn, uses serotonin to produce melatonin, which the body needs to develop a healthy normal sleep cycle. Pumpkin seeds also contain a very high zinc content which is important for prostate health, and anything that is good for your prostate during National Prostate Cancer Awareness month is definitely a plus!
So just to recap, pumpkin keeps you healthy, happy, and beautiful and, oh by the way, it's delicious! Here is a link to some wonderful pumpkin recipes that are also quite healthy: