PUMPKIN

Canned pumpkin provides as much beta-carotene as lightly cooked carrots. It also provides Vitamin E. Remember though, that beta carotene is better absorbed when pumpkin is cooked as in the recipes in this book. It is better not to cook pumpkin a second time, as in pie, at a high temperature. According to a report in Consumer Reports On Health, September 1991, canned pumpkin has the highest amount of Vitamin A (beta-carotene) of all the foods listed. The next highest being carrots, and then sweet potatoes. The National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, after looking at approximately 100 fruits and vegetables, singled out pumpkin as a particularly concentrated carrier of beta-carotene. Note my recipes in this book that include pumpkin.

As noted in my chapter, Beta-Carotene, in this book, we need to eat the foods rich in beta-carotene as they contain over 500 carotenoids as well as alpha-carotene. Supplements do not contain the other important carotenoids. Researchers tell us that pumpkin is an important source of these carotenoids. An article in Your Health, November 5, 1991, states that Michelin Mattes-Roth, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, states that "Pumpkin deserves to be eaten year-round, it’s so rich in carotenoids."