Pumpkin is often relegated to the holiday seasons only, but there are more than a few reasons that you should consider adding pumpkin to your diet on a regular basis throughout the year.
When you think of pumpkin, you likely think of pumpkin pie, and that's something you usually only eat around Thanksgiving, right?
Health And Vitamins
Or maybe you are thinking Halloween and a jacko'lantern? Which, sadly enough, is often made of the shell and most people just throw out the insides.
At least you probably don't think of the pumpkin the way Koreans do. In Korea, the pumpkin is the symbol of being homely.
What a waste!
The pumpkin is your friend; cute or beautiful or not :-)
That jacko'lantern was once filled with phytonutrients before it was nothing more than a gaping mouth and a blank stare.
Phytonutrients help to keep your skin young looking and can protect it from sun damage as well.
Pumpkin is also a great source of fiber, vitamins C and E, and potassium. Pumpkins taste great and are chock full of caratenoid pigments like alpha-carotene,along with beta carotene and lutein.
Before you go off thinking that it is going to be difficult to you to incorporate pumpkin into your regular eating habits, don't get too worried about it. In fact, there are lots of great ways to add pumpkin to your diet too that do not include pies and whipped cream (though that's okay too for most people if they don't overdo it). You can enjoy pumpkin as bread, or in muffins, in pumpkin rolls, or even in pumpkin casseroles.
Don't be a pumpkin head, but head for pumpkin the next chance you get.