Think of the word pumpkin and images of jack-o-lanterns and whipped cream covered Thanksgiving pies will probably pop into your mind. Pumpkin is traditionally considered a holiday food and is a staple in our kitchen pantries and freezers during that festive time of the year. However, did you know that pumpkin now heralded as one of the Super Foods?
According to Dr. Steven Pratt, author of SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, Well, pumpkin is one of the most nutritionally valuable foods known to man. Moreover, its inexpensive, available year round in canned form, incredibly easy to incorporate into recipes, high in fiber, low in calories, and packs an abundance of disease fighting nutrients.
What exactly makes pumpkin so super? The powerful antioxidants known as carotenoids give this food its super status. Carotenoids have the ability to ward off the risk of various types of cancer and heart disease, along with, cataracts and macular degeneration. Dr. Pratt mentions many other disease fighting super foods in his book as well, but we are most interested in pumpkin because of the year-round availability and ease of use in canned form....