I love pumpkins and other winter squash with their imperfect asymmetrical beauty. I love their bright embodiment of summer in the remembrance of the the flowers that once graced their vines. They last so long and keep so well that their flavour and colour can brighten meals throughout the winter. Heirloom pumpkins are particularly exciting with their knobby, warty, blue, orange, red, huge and tiny shapes and sizes.

Not only are pumpkins beautiful but they are excellent sources of some very important nutrients. Pumpkins are high in vitamin K, the carotenoids (vitamin A precursors), vitamin E, potassium, choline and magnesium.

Iron

One cup of raw pumpkin provides between three and four milligrams of iron depending on the source of the information. Let’s split the difference and say three and a half which would be 20% of the RDA for iron daily. When thinking about juicing pumpkin we know that it would be easy to juice several cups of tiny pumpkin cubes at once. It would also be fabulous to use the pumpkin juice in a chia pudding or add some greens and lemon or orange to the juice to provide even more iron for yourself from multiple sources. Pumpkin also plays well with some other high iron raw foods such as sprouted lentils and pulses. There are many ways to use pumpkin to meet your daily iron needs.

Beta Carotene

More and more vegans and raw food educators are talking about vitamin A and our different abilities to convert beta carotene to vitamin A which has led to some deficiencies. Through studying a bit about genetics I have come to the realization that any impairment in the conversion of beta carotene to vitamin A is a percentage. This means that if s persons’ conversion is impaired by say 40% and they are smart and they are aware they just need to eat twice as much as they would normally be expected to. I dislike using the RDA as a barometer for healthy intake but as an example our cup of pumpkin pieces contains seven times the RDA for daily intake for beta carotene. This is great news. Studies have also suggested that pairing beta carotene with a fat source such as avocado, flax or coconut for example can dramatically increase the conversion rate. found a 12-fold increase in the efficiency of conversion when pairing carrots with avocados.

Beta carotene provides antioxidant activity and vitamin A is important for immune system function, for skin integrity including in the digestive tract and for eyesight among many other uses. You never have to feel powerless or be guessing whether you are getting “enough” vitamin A. By focusing on those carotenoids like in our soup and by optimizing their conversion you are taking charge of your health.

Manganese

We spend so much time talking about magnesium and potassium, two other minerals found in good quantities in pumpkin, that I would love to talk about manganese today. We don’t need much of it but we do need it! Our cup of pumpkin pieces provides 20% again of our daily requirement. Manganese is very important for collagen production in the skin and for blood sugar regulation. It is important in gluconeogenesis, in which we convert amino acids in times of stress to sugars to fuel the fight or flight mode. When this is not regulated it can lead over time to high blood sugar levels. More research is necessary in order to determine exactly what is going on with this deficiency.

Hazelnuts, spinach and kale are some other good raw sources of manganese. Garnish your pumpkin soup with kale or add kale pieces throughout and garnish with pumpkin seeds to add even more manganese to your meal.

The more we know the more empowered we will be to take action daily and take back our health. Both knowledge and action on their own are not enough, we need both. Let us start this week with the pumpkin.