Pumpkins are BIG
Pumpkins are tasty,
Pumpkins are healthy
Pumpkins are MAGIC?
Everyone loves pumpkins, whether you are growing an 1800 pound whopper, or you are reaching for your second piece of pumpkin pie, or you are enjoying the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits from this alkaline squash.
Strangely enough, the pumpkin more than any other vegetable is associated with the supernatural.
Pumpkins are Big:
The biggest fruit/vegetable ever recorded in the world was by Jim and Kelsey Bryson, from Ormstown, Quebec.
You can see just how big here: Giant Pumpkin.
Jim revealed that his secret fertilizer for this 1818.5 pounds monster was maple syrup!
Even the word pumpkin is derived from Greek phrase ‘large melon’.
Up to ten thousand hobbyists around the word enter giant pumpkin contests each year, sometimes paying up to $1500 for a single giant pumpkin seeds.
All the giant pumpkins now can be traced back to seeds developed by another Canadian, Howard Dil, from Nova Scotia.
Pumpkins are Tasty …and American
The first domesticated pumpkin ever was recorded over 5000 years ago in Central America.
Seeds from related plants have been found in Mexico, dating back over 7000 years to 5500 B.C
Maybe that is why we have such a love for pumpkin pie.
Pumpkins make an idea filling because they are already so sweet.
You can also eat the leaves and seeds and even the flowers!
Pumpkins are Healthy for You
- Low Fat food: Less than 15% of calories come from fat (if you don’t have a scoop of ice-cream on it)
- High in Antioxidants: From the deep orange colour you might guess that pumpkins are full of betacaroteen. It turns out that they are also rich in alpha- carotene and other carotenoids. no single food provides a greater percentage of certain carotenoids than winter squash.
- Anti-inflammatory: Pumpkins have a significant amount of Omega 3 essential fatty acids. One cup of baked winter squash will provide you with approximately 340 milligrams of omega-3 fats in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
- Great for your Skin: The anti-oxidants vitamins A and C, as well as zinc and alpha-hydroxy-acids helps to reduce the signs of aging.
These are just the benefits of the fruit. Even more powerful benefits come from pumpkin seeds.
For detailed nutritional composition click here: pumpkin nutritional facts
Pumpkins are Magic…
For some reason pumpkins have been associated with the supernatural.
Maybe it’s because the average pumpkin is the size and shape of human head.
- The common custom of Jack-o-lanterns comes from the old tradition of hollowing out gourds and even turnips to ward off evil spirits.
- Witches were thought to turn people into pumpkins
- In literature, pumpkins play strongly into the stories like Cinderella, Harry Potter, The Great Pumpkin, the Headless Horseman, Sleepy Hollow. The Nightmare Before Christmas, and ‘Pumpkin Juice”.
Pumpkin Recipes:
Pumpkin Soup This is already very healthy
What is YOUR favorite way to eat pumpkin?
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I do not like Pumpkin anything execpt the Seeds
We don’t have pumpkins here in the Philippines but aren’t these similar to squash? I like squash custard (very much like Mexican flan) except I substitute boiled, mashed squash for some of the eggs and milk needed. As a side dish, squash cooked in thick coconut milk flavored with pork or shrimps is tops!
Cora, an orange squash will have similar flavour.
LOVE! LOVE! PUMPKIN-SUMTHIN’-ANYTHING!!! Did I tell you how much I love pumpkin? ;o)
Sharon! I HEAR YOU! 🙂 I love pumpkin too.
My mother use to tell all my family how, as a young 2 or 3 year old I would get a chair, climb and take a whole pumpkin pie in my hands and eat all the filling.
I have always been passionate about pumpkin pie. My mom use to say that it was the smell.
Thanks mom, I am sorry for the messes I made.
I love pumpkin pies just as much today.
1) I am healthy
2) I am 59 and still getting healthier
3) I eat smart and pumpkins are a very smart food.
Thanks for sharing Randy & Diana
That is a sweet story Pierre; thank you for sharing it. 🙂
Yes getting on in age does not necessarily mean feeling old in the body. I know that you eat real food and that is why you are getting healthier.
I eat a handful of Pumpkin Seeds every day.
Love Pumpkin Pie and anything Pumpkin.
Never tried soaking the seeds or roasting
them myself but will try both.
I have just started toasting pumpkins seeds and I’m addicted! However, I was sad to read online everywhere that you can’t eat the carving pumpkins, so sadly I threw out the gourd last night when I made some seeds (a friend was kind enough to let me take it from her porch since she had no intentions of using it for anything other than decoration she was still enjoying). Should I have roasted the goard and made soup or ate it?? I don’t see you discouraging us from eating carving pumpkins. Do you eat them?
I would be very grateful to have veriety of punkin seeds potential for good health.
I have tried raw as well as roasted pumpkin seeds. But I love the raw ones eat them and enjoy.