Her Majesty The Pumpkin: The Fall's Power Food

Pumpkins are best known for Thanksgiving pies and jack-o-lanterns, but you can do so much more with them. Its many health benefits definitely justify the pumpkin's reputation as a true power food for the fall and beyond. Why should you include pumpkins in your diet, and how can you prepare them without getting bored?

Why You Should Choose to Add Pumpkin to Your Diet

Summer is the season of fresh fruits and vegetables, and if you are someone who prefers to buy seasonal produce, you'll be disappointed that fall has arrived. Mashed potatoes, cabbage soup, apple pie, and whatever you call those white carrot-like things that are supposed to be good in soups but never really look all that appealing? It is hard to put nutritious and tasty meals on the table every day during the colder months of the year. To make cooking and eating more enjoyable, don't forget to explore everything you can find at the farmer's market — and you will, without a doubt, find pumpkins in abundance.

You don't have to be a seasonal-produce only consumer to enjoy pumpkin, though. Halloween may be over, but there is so much more you can do with pumpkins than carve jack-o-lanterns out of them. Don't let Thanksgiving pumpkin pie be your next association either. The pumpkin is incredibly versatile, and there is no need to get bored with the fruit even if you eat it every week. It can be a hearty soup just as easily as a sweet pie, and that is only the beginning. The fact that a whole, intact pumpkin can keep for months is perhaps the fruit's greatest practical advantage. Of course, the fall's power food will also do plenty for your health.

Pumpkins are high in taste, and low in calories. Yet, they are extremely satisfying. If you have ever had pumpkin soup, you'll know that the pumpkin can be extremely filling. You can definitely not come away from a pumpkin meal feeling like you've had a low-calorie snack.

In part, pumpkins are great because of what isn't in them. What is in there there is also pretty impressive, starting with lots of natural anti-oxidants. Vitamin A appears in pumpkins in huge quantities. This vitamin contributes to the health of your skin, mucus membranes, and eyes. It also helps to keep your immune system strong, and is one of the essential vitamins during pregnancy, so if you need a disease-fighting vegetable, add pumpkin to your menu.

Next, there is vitamin C, which is universally recognized as a very important vitamin — not only does vitamin C do wonders for your immune system, it also helps prevent strokes, cardiovascular problems, eye disease, and other serious health problems. Some research even suggests that vitamin C offers some protection against certain forms of cancer.

Vitamin E is often used in facial creams, and is perhaps most well-known for its anti-aging effects. Eating pumpkin regularly just might make you look younger (I really have to fight the urge to insert a winking smiley here!), but vitamin E is definitely a powerful anti-oxidant with a great capacity to the fight free radicals that invade your body.

Folate, the natural form of folic acid, is another nutrient you'll benefit from if you eat pumpkin regularly. Folate keeps your blood healthy and repairs your DNA, and this B vitamin is crucial if you are trying to conceive because it helps prevent birth defects.

The minerals calcium, potassium and phosphorous. Calcium maintains strong bones and teeth, potassium is good for your heart, kidneys, and other internal organs, and phosphorus plays a role in everything from DNA to digestive function and even cancer prevention. Pumpkin is also high in fiber, which keeps your digestive system running smoothly.

Fresh produce is usually much healthier than the canned variety, but pumpkin may be an exception. There is no doubt that fresh pumpkin is much tastier than canned pumpkin, and that you can do a whole lot more with a whole, unprepared pumpkin than you possibly could with purée from a can. Amazingly, however, the nutritional value of canned pumpkin is comparable to that of fresh pumpkin, so if you can't find fresh pumpkin, don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy that, too. 

Healthy And Yummy Pumpkin Recipes

Did I mention that pumpkin is incredibly versatile? I will give you some ideas for pumpkin meals in a minute, but before that, pumpkin seeds also deserve a mention. They may be small and humble, and if you are cutting a pumpkin up you're most likely to discard them by throwing them into the trash, but the seeds are really nutritious and worth saving.

Pumpkin seeds are a wonderful source of zinc, and they also have plenty of iron, magnesium, vitamin E, and other nutrients. You can roast the seeds at home very easily — a great bonus if you are already preparing pumpkin and really don't want to waste any food.

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin soup is a classic, and you can make it in many variations. My personal favorite includes onions and red bell peppers. Fry those in a bit of olive oil to start off with and add cumin, curry, turmeric, or whatever other spices you love. Salt and pepper too, obviously. After your onion has been frying for a while, add cubes of pumpkin and fry them for a while too. Then add water, let simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, and mix with an immersion blender. Yum! You can add cream in too, if you like.

Pumpkin Penne

Pasta and pumpkin make a surprisingly good combination. This dish calls for puréed pumpkin, which you can buy canned or make yourself without much effort (but with a blender). Add olive oil, a healthy dose of garlic, pepper, a little chicken or vegetable broth, nutmeg, and Parmesan cheese. Royally distribute chopped parsley over the dish, and you're done. My kids love this, even the youngest who is in a I-hate-healthy-food phase right now. It looks rather a lot like mac and cheese, you see?

Pumpkin Protein Shake

Are you a fitness freak? Then you'll love a pumpkin protein shake! Start off with your regular or vanilla whey powder, and add half a cup of (preferably home-made) pumpkin puree, cinnamon and sweetener to taste (honey or stevia), and a ¼ cup of almond milk. It's almost like that pumpkin spice latte coffee shops love so much.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Pumpkin ice cream sounds really fancy, and it tastes that way too. It would be a fantastic dessert to serve when you have guests over. The secret behind pumpkin ice cream is rather shameful, we'll warn you. Do you want in on the dirty secret? Buy a simple tub of vanilla ice cream, let it soften a little, and stir pumpkin purée into it. Home-roasted pumpkin takes some of the shame away. It will taste great if you use canned pumpkin as well, though. Sprinkle some grated black chocolate on top.