Pumpkin Nutrition and Health Benefits: Is it Good for You?

We’ll take pumpkin in any form, from sweet spiced desserts to savory salads, coffee, cocktails, and even casseroles—but is pumpkin good for you? Pumpkin is a delicious, affordable, and versatile ingredient, and it’s also incredibly healthy. We asked experts to give us the scoop on pumpkin nutrition. Here are some top pumpkin health benefits and some recipes to incorporate it more into your diet.

Pumpkin Nutrition Facts

“Pumpkin is bursting with health benefits beyond what you might think!” says Maggie Michalczyk, RDN, author of Once Upon a Pumpkin. It comes in at around 50 calories per cup and packs vitamins E, C, and A, as well as potassium and fiber. Here's a look at the nutritional value of pumpkin.

• Water - 91.6 grams
• Energy - 26 kcal
• Protein - 1 grams
• Fat - 0.1 grams
• Carbohydrates - 6.5 grams
• Fiber - 0.5 grams
• Sugar - 2.76 grams
• Calcium - 21 milligrams
• Iron - 0.8 milligrams
• Magnesium - 12 milligrams
• Phosphorus - 44 milligrams
• Potassium - 340 milligrams
• Sodium - 1 milligram
• Zinc - 0.32 milligrams
• Copper - 0.127 milligrams
• Vitamins A and K
  

Health Benefits of Pumpkin

Pumpkin is versatile enough to use in all kinds of recipes, whether you want to use it for a sweet dish or a savory meal. However you choose to incorporate it, it offers loads of health benefits. Here are some of the best benefits of pumpkin.

Antioxidants

Pumpkin packs plenty of antioxidants, including beta-carotene (which gives pumpkins their orange hue), alpha-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin. All of these help to neutralize free radicals in your body and may offer strong cancer-fighting properties, too.

Immunity

With the cold and flu season ramping up in the fall, there's even more reason to add pumpkin to your diet. We know that vitamin C helps to strengthen the immune system (it encourages white blood cell production). And beta-carotene gets converted into vitamin A in the body, which studies have shown helps strengthen your body’s immune system and fight infections.

Eye Health

“Vitamin A is very important for eye health and lowering your risk of sight loss,” Michalczyk says. Pumpkin is also a great source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that are very important for the health of our eyes and may reduce the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts.

Heart Health

Pumpkin contains a variety of nutrients that can improve heart health, including fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. The antioxidants in pumpkin may also prevent LDL cholesterol (the "bad" kind) from oxidizing in the body, which lowers your risk of heart disease.

Glowing Skin

Studies have shown that beta-carotene acts as a natural sunblock. The antioxidants in pumpkin are also good for skin texture and appearance, which is especially great in the fall when temps start to dip. The vitamin C in pumpkin helps to stimulate collagen production in the skin, too.

Protein

Whatever you do, don’t toss those pumpkin seeds: They’re a good source of protein, iron, magnesium, and fiber. “Think outside the box this fall by roasting your pumpkin seeds with turmeric and black pepper or matcha powder and coconut flakes,” Michalczyk says. Pair your snack with a TAZO Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea latté—pure pumpkin bliss.

Pumpkin Seed Nutrition

Pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil are nutritious, too. Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are rich in protein, healthy fats, and important minerals like magnesium, zinc, and iron. They are also full of fiber and antioxidants like vitamin E.

Pumpkin seed oil, which is extracted from the seeds themselves, is high in unsaturated fats like omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids. These can help boost heart health. Pumpkin seed oil also contains vitamins A, C, and E, which enhance skin health and improve immune function.

How to Add Pumpkin to Your Diet

Looking to add pumpkin to your diet? There are tons of easy recipes to introduce more pumpkin to your diet. There are tons of easy dessert dishes that call for pumpkin.

No-bake pumpkin pie, for example, isn't your traditional pumpkin pie. But a press-in graham cracker crust, white chocolate, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, and warm spices make this no-bake pie a crowd-pleaser. Meanwhile, pumpkin cream sandwich cookies take just 30 minutes to pull off. Canned pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice combine with other key baking ingredients to make pumpkin cookies you'll smoosh together with cream cheese. You can't go wrong with warm pumpkin bread either.

Pumpkins aren't only ideal for dessert dishes. You can also make lunch and dinner meals, like pumpkin chili with turkey. The pumpkin puree pairs well with cannellini beans and ground turkey, topped with cilantro, for a warm and savory soup. Pumpkin puree can even double as a butter, oil, and egg replacer when modifying recipes for dietary restrictions. “Simply sub 1/4 cup for one egg in baked goods,” Michalczyk recommends. For all things pumpkin, give these recipes a try.

Pumpkin also makes for a great drink ingredient (and not just for pumpkin spice lattes). A pumpkin martini, for example, is a cozy cocktail that combines canned pumpkin with half-and-half, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and vodka.