Superfoods for Looking Good and Feeling Great
Antioxidant rich pumpkin is an excellent superfood for disease prevention, better digestion and glowing skin. There are also some great tasting pumpkin recipes and how to cook pumpkin for maximum nutrition.
Pumpkin face masks are popular but here’s a simpler way to use pumpkin skin as a facial treatment that is quicker and I think more effective than regular masks.
You’ll need three ingredients for this facial treatment:
I keep the pumpkin rinds, with most of the pulp removed, from Read more »
Pumpkin and other winter squash are a good source of a variety of nutrients for better skin. Here’s why healthy pumpkin is such a great superfood for improving your skin’s tone and appearance.
Alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and other carotenoids found in the bright orange pulp of pumpkins can help defend your skin cells against oxidative damage. Free radicals from environmental pollutants and UV light can start to break down the connective collagen and elastin that Read more »
Here’s a recipe for a great tasting pumpkin and mushroom risotto using BPA-free canned pumpkin and very healthy shiitake mushrooms.
Alternatively, fresh steamed pumpkin is great in this risotto recipe if it’s in season. Butternut squash also makes a fine replacement.
For the mushrooms you can also use other stronger tasting varieties such as portobellos, but shiitake mushrooms are best if you can find them. Read more »
This curry pumpkin soup is a combination of my regular pumpkin soup made with coconut milk and steamed pumpkin and a Thai yellow curry recipe I learnt recently on a visit to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. It’s a spicy and healthy meal to warm you up during the colder months.
Unfortunately, pumpkin season doesn’t last that long. With good storage they can be kept for several months before using them, but even then we are still left with a long part of the year without this extremely nutritious superfood.
Given this, many people turn to pumpkin in cans for their recipes. Canned pumpkin is convenient and actually potentially relatively healthy. There’s just one big problem – BPA. Read more »
Pumpkins are one of the best sources of the antioxidant alpha-carotene. This carotenoid is often found alongside the more well known beta-carotene, but new research is suggesting it may be an even more powerful antioxidant for cancer prevention.
Good levels of alpha-carotene are believed to help protect our cells DNA from oxidative damage and enhance cellular communication. A large recently released medical study entitled Read more »
This soup combines healthy pumpkin with the extremely nutritious broccoli, bell pepper for vitamin C and extra carotenoids, coconut oil and coconut milk for beneficial medium chain fatty acids, and garlic and turmeric for even more antioxidant kick.
You’d be hard pressed to make up a pumpkin soup that tastes this good while being this good for you.
I actually came up with this recipe trying to get more broccoli into my diet. I knew how good it was from a health perspective and would have it occasionally in Read more »
This is a great tasting recipe for getting more pumpkin into your diet. It’s full of superfoods, very healthy and very filling as well.
If pumpkin is not in season, butternut squash might be and makes a good alternative with a great taste and a similar nutritional profile.