Pumpkin: Health Benefits and Recipes

by | Oct 27, 2017 | Eat, Recipes | 6 comments

October is considered pumpkin month. Just look around they are everywhere! Carving pumpkins is a tradition in many homes, but what about eating pumpkins? Pumpkin pie is what most people think about if they are going to eat pumpkin, but did you know that pumpkin is actually a power-pack fruit (yes, pumpkin is actually a fruit)?
So what nutrients are in pumpkin?

Pumpkin is an awesome source of vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, potassium, copper, and mangnesium. Just 3.5 ounces of pumpkin (which is just under ½ cup) has 148% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin A. The bright orange color is full of the beneficial phytonutrient carotene. This then converts to vitamin A which equals a whole lot of antioxidants to help prevent heart disease, cancer, and many degenerating signs of aging. Vitamin A is good for vision, too.

Pumpkin seeds pack a healthy punch | American Heart Association

Now not only is the “meat” of the pumpkin filled with nutrients, but so are those seeds. They are a concentrated source of minerals, especially zinc (check out my post on zinc) and vitamins. They also have the amino acid tryptophan which helps to relax the body, calm the nerves, and improve sleep.
Through our CSA this year we received three sugar/pie pumpkins. I needed to roast them in order to use in recipes. This yielded about 8 cups of pumpkin puree. And by the way, the homemade pumpkin puree is delicious. Since I am limiting sugar in my diet, I needed to find recipes other than pie or sweet treats for all this pumpkin puree. So below you will find a recipe for making pumpkin puree and some of the recipes that I tried. A few might challenge your taste buds, but I like to experiment with healthier recipes. Recipes are gluten free (except one), dairy free, some are paleo, and some meet autoimmune protocol. If you have some baking pumpkins, you may want to give them a try.

I have provided links to all the recipes I tried, just click on the recipe. Let me know which is your favorite. Mine is the Banana Pumpkin Breakfast Smoothie Bowl.

Check out the slide show below of some of the recipe results.

Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin Cheese

Pumpkin Granola

Pumpkin Spice Macaroons

Pumpkin Seeds

Banana Pumpkin Breakfast Smoothie Bowl

Pumpkin Pear Gummies

Pumpkin Pie Butter

I made all these recipes, and I still have about four cups of pumpkin left! I will be searching for more recipes. What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?
Sources

http://foodfacts.mercola.com/pumpkins.html

https://www.nutrition-and-you.com/pumpkin.html

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6 Comments

  1. Anisha Anand
    Anisha Anand on November 4, 2017 at 9:24 am

    Ooh!! did you say pumpkin cheese and macaroons?:) very nice!!

    Reply
    • Heather
      Heather on November 4, 2017 at 2:20 pm

      The macaroons are yummy! Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  2. Mira Dessy, The Ingredient Guru
    Mira Dessy, The Ingredient Guru on November 4, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    Great article. Pumpkins are one of my favorite fruits and I always find it sad that they get wasted and thrown out just for carving for Halloween. Thanks for the list of recipes, the pumpkin granola looks very interesting

    Reply
    • Heather
      Heather on November 4, 2017 at 7:12 pm

      Thanks for commenting. My hubby said the pumpkin granola was good. I am on an autoimmune protocol right now so no granola for me!

      Reply
  3. Nancy DeSteno
    Nancy DeSteno on October 13, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    I can get your other recipes, but not the pumpkin spice macaroons.

    Reply
    • Heather
      Heather on October 14, 2021 at 12:09 pm

      Nancy,
      Thank you for letting me know that link did not work! I have updated the link to the recipe.
      Heather

      Reply

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