How Pumpkin Helps Promote a Healthy Lifestyle : RiskAverse

How Pumpkin is Good For Your Health

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*All nutritional information found at (1)

Pumpkin prevents several chronic diseases that plague America today. Most notably, pumpkins helps to prevent cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Pumpkin is a great resource to incorporate into your diet to prevent various cancers.

Pumpkin is extremely high and rich in antioxidants. As mentioned with other fruits, antioxidants are especially important for cancer prevention due to their ability to fight off oxidative stress and free radicals.
Specifically, pumpkin contains the antioxidants alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. These can neutralize excess free radicals and prevent damage to your tissues/cells. (2)
Studies have shown that high intake of these antioxidants can reduce your risk of stomach cancers, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and throat cancers. (3, 4, 5)

Pumpkin is a very dense and nutrient-rich food. So, it is naturally packed with fiber and low in calories and sugar. The fiber in pumpkin leaves you feeling fuller without adverse intake of many calories or sugars, and prevents you from overeating during meals. In this way, pumpkin can help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes because eating pumpkin helps you regulated blood sugar levels.

Blood Pressure: Pumpkin is rich in potassium, vitamin C, and fiber. All of these nutrients have been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease. Sufficient consumption of potassium helps reduce blood pressure. (6)
Cholesterol: Our diets typically include foods that are high in bad LDL cholesterol. An increase in LDL cholesterol can in turn increase risk of heart disease. Pumpkin is rich in antioxidants which may help lower bad LDL cholesterol levels and prevent LDL cholesterol from oxidizing. This prevents the LDL cholesterol from clumping together and sticking to your blood vessels, taking strain off your blood vessels and minimizing stiffness of the arterial walls. (7) Ultimately, pumpkin helps reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. (8)

Pumpkins not only help to prevent diseases, but support and promote the function of several important systems in our bodies.

Pumpkin is loaded with vitamin A. Vitamin A strengthens your immune system and fights against infections. (9)
Similarly, pumpkin is rich in vitamin C, which has been shown to increase white blood cell production. White blood cells are important for fighting against infections and help heal the body from wounds. (10)
Also, pumpkins are a good source of vitamin E, iron, and folate. All of these have been shown to improve your immune health. (1)

Vitamin A is great in fighting cataracts, which is a common cause of blindness. Antioxidants also prevent against stress and damage near the eyes. (11)
Pumpkin is one of the best sources for lutein and zeaxanthin–two carotenoids significantly linked to improved vision, lower risk of age-related macular degeneration, and cataracts. (12)

Vitamin A is incredibly beneficial for skin health. These carotenoids, like beta-carotene, act as natural sunblock and help keep your skin rich and healthy. (13)
Also, pumpkin is rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C helps make collagen, which is an important protein that keeps your skin strong. (14)
Lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin E, and other vitamins have also been shown to help prevent sunburns and help keep your skin healthy.

Pumpkin is considered a mild diuretic. This means that high consumption of pumpkin can lead to expulsion of a lot of water and salt through urine. This can harm people who are currently taking certain medications like lithium.