At the center of your holiday table, there will probably be a bird–be it turkey, duck, goose or pheasant. On the periphery will be several foods that are ranked among the healthiest on the planet. Look for the rich orange color–sweet potatoes, pumpkin and squash–and you will be rewarded with ample quantities of carotenoids...as well as eating pleasure.
Precursors of vitamin A, carotenoids are deep orange, yellow or red compounds that protect plants from sun damage and help attract birds and insects for pollination. Eat adequate quantities of foods high in carotenoids, and, according to current research, you’ll be protecting yourself against heart disease, certain types of cancer and even some of the degenerative aspects of aging. In the Nurses’ Health Study, women with the most carotenoid-rich diets had the lowest risk of breast cancer.
Thanksgiving is a celebration of the harvest, and these three brightly colored foods–sweet potatoes, pumpkin and squash–represent some of the healthiest fare you can find.
SWEET POTATOES are...sweet. But the sweet taste is natural, and it was overkill when your late Aunt Millie baked them with maple syrup and marshmallows as “candied yams.” When they are not dressed to resemble dessert, sweet potatoes actually help regulate or even improve your blood sugar–even if you have type 2 diabetes.
As a starchy root vegetable, sweet potatoes have a glycemic index rating of medium, similar to beets, corn and leeks. Yet they are also high in fiber, slowing the pace of digestion.
Diabetics usually have lower than normal blood levels of adinopectin, a protein hormone produced by fat cells. And some studies have found that sweet potato extracts are capable of significantly increasing blood levels of adinopectin in persons with type 2 diabetes.
The most important health benefit of the sweet potato, however, derives from its ability to deliver high levels of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. According to research, there is enough vitamin A in a 3.5 ounce serving of sweet potato to meet 35 to 90 percent of your daily need. Vitamin A is particularly beneficial to the eyes and skin.
If you can’t get your kids to eat spinach, give them sweet potatoes. Studies in Africa, India and the Caribbean have found this food to be a highly effective and widely available source of vitamin A for school-age children.
Sweet potatoes are also high in vitamins C, D and B6 and have important antioxidant and antiinflammatory qualities.
Anthocyanin pigments are usually found in the skin of fruits and vegetables–often discarded. But in sweet potatoes these antioxidants may be even more concentrated in the flesh than in the skin, particularly the purple-fleshed variety.
These anthocyanins are also valuable for their antiinflammatory properties. Animal studies have found reduced inflammation in brain and nerve tissue following sweet potato consumption.
Sweet potatoes and yams are completely different foods, but the terms are often used interchangeably on food labels. Commercial production of yams in the United States is rare so in most grocery stores, you can usually assume that you are buying sweet potatoes, even if the sign says “yams.”
WINTER SQUASH: The winter harvest at your local farmer’s market includes butternut, acorn, Hubbard, spaghetti, sweet dumpling, kabocha and turban squash plus various types of pumpkin. With the wide variety of sizes, shapes, textures and colors, an overflowing bowl makes a great decoration for the holiday table.
Select your favorite, take it to the kitchen, peel off the hard outer shell, and you’ll find the bright orange color that suggests that it’s teeming with carotenoids. Winter squash is one of the best food sources of alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin–carotenoids with strong antioxidant potential. One large epidemiological study found that persons with a high intake of beta-cryptoxanthin were 30 percent less likely to develop lung cancer.
Butternut squash has a rich, buttery flavor; it’s flavorful and filling but has relatively few calories (75 calories per cup) and is high in fiber. Two important antioxidants in butternut squash are lutein and zeaxanthin, both protective against eye problems such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
Acorn squash is another popular option. It’s rich in taste, slightly sweeter than butternut but even lower in calories. Compared to sweet potato and butternut squash, acorn squash provides less vitamin A but delivers 35 percent of the body’s daily requirement of vitamin C. All three foods are high in fiber, potassium and magnesium.
If you are accustomed to having mashed potatoes on your holiday table, consider mixing in some butternut or acorn squash. Or simply substitute the squash dish for the potatoes.
PUMPKIN pie, slathered with whipped cream, is likely to be the finale of your Thanksgiving meal. Sugar, butter and cream are not health foods, but it’s a holiday, after all, and the healthy pumpkin should assuage some of your guilt.
Pumpkin is a type of winter squash, high in alpha-carotenoids, potassium, fiber and all the other good stuff mentioned above. The filling for pumpkin pie typically comes straight from a can, though, not from the flesh of your Halloween jack-a-lantern.
That’s a positive rather than a negative because canned pumpkin is maybe the healthiest processed food you can buy–better even than fresh pumpkin. The process involves pureeing the pumpkin and boiling it down to remove the excess water. The result is the reduced, concentrated goodness of the pumpkin–a smooth, rich texture; creamy, buttery flavors; and more nutrition per spoonful than you would get by eating straight from the pumpkin shell.
Canned pumpkin is low in calories, high in fiber and nutrients and rich in flavor. A wedge of pumpkin pie (without the whipped cream) is only about 315 to 330 calories–relatively low for any dessert.
Pumpkin pie has become popular as a Thanksgiving dessert for the same reason that sweet potatoes and winter squash have become staples of the regular holiday menu. The rich, orange color reflects the tenor of the Fall harvest as well as providing a cornucopia of good nutrition.
REFERENCES:
Sarah Bill, “Squash vs. sweet potatoes,” LiveStrong.com, last updated August 16, 2013.
“Butternut squash nutrition and what makes them so good for you,” HealthiestFoods.co.uk.
Michelle Schoffro Cook, “9 health benefits of sweet potatoes,” Care2.com, November 15, 2011.
Jeanie Lerche Davis, “Pumpkin recipes packed with nutrition,” WebMD Archive, reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, M.D., September 29, 2009.
Michelle Kerns, “Healthy facts about acorn squash,” SF Gate Health Eating.
“Pumpkin as a super food,” SuperFoodsRx.com.
Allan Robinson, “Acorn squash nutrition information,” LiveStrong.com, last updated December 18, 2013.
“Squash, winter,” World’s Healthiest Foods, The George Mateljan Foundation.
“Sweet Potatoes: what’s new and beneficial about sweet potatoes,” World’s Healthiest Foods, July 28-August 3, 2014.
“Sweet potato, acorn, or butternut,” AskGeorgie.com, November 30, 2009.
“Winter squash for October,” California Department of Public Health Network for a Healthy California.
10/22/2014
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