“It’s never too late or too early in the season for pumpkin” – @bulletproofcoffee
I’ll agree!
Pumpkin isn’t just the signature squash of many fall festivities and recipes, it’s also packs some powerful health benefits — like promoting healthy vision, glowing skin and regular bowel function!
Below, I’ve put together some of the wonderful health benefits of pumpkin to celebrate the season coming to an end!
Health Benefits of Pumpkin
- Eye Sight: A cup of cooked pumpkin contains more than 200 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A. This fat soluble vitamin aids vision, particularly in dim light. (1)(2) Pumpkins are also rich in carotenoids, the compounds that give orange and yellow foods their color. This includes beta-carotene, an antioxidant, which the body converts into a bio-available form of vitamin A.
- Healthy Skin: The skin is up against all sorts of environmental and internal stressors that can damage it’s appearance. Pumpkin is rich in antioxidants that help neutralize free-radical damage. These carotenoids can help keep the skin wrinkle-free, which is usually a result of oxidative stress. (3)
- Immune Health: Pumpkins are a great source of vitamin C, which is essential for healthy liver function and immune function. The liver producers interferon, the body’s natural germ killer. It also produces plenty of antibodies. One cup of cooked pumpkin contains more than 11 milligrams, or nearly 20 percent of the 60 milligrams the IOM recommends women need daily. (Men should aim for around 75 milligrams.) (4)(5)
Okay, enough nutritional facts, let’s make some mallows!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- An electric mixer
- A 9×12 in. glass pyrex baking dish
- Parchment paper
- 3 cups of water
- 1/4 cup organic pumpkin purée
- 1 cup of maple syrup.
- 6 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin
- 1 tbsp organic marshmallow root
- 1 tbsp organic licorice root
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp of fresh, ground Vanillamax
Here’s how you make them:
- First things first, take your 3 cups of water and make a tea with the marshmallow and licorice root. Simply, bring the water to a boil, add in the marshmallow root then steep on a low simmer for 20 minutes to make a decoction.
- Next, in a large glass mixing bowl (get a big one because the mixture will grow 3 times it’s size) add 1 cup of the tea mixture to 6 tablespoons of gelatin and your vanilla and mix slowly. Do this until it’s thickened up a bit into a gel.
- Now with what is left of the tea (should have reduced down to about 1 cup) pour in your sweetener and mix together. If using raw honey, leave it in the mixture just long enough to mix the tea with the honey. If using maple syrup, you will want to reduce it down some. So you will leave it in a bit longer until it’s a thicker consistency. Be sure to stir slowly and continuously through this process.
- Once the sweetener and tea mixture is ready, while mixing the gelatin and tea, slowly pour the sweetener in.
- From this point, you will just be mixing for about 5-10 minutes looking to achieve a fluff — what would resemble a sort of marshmallow jet-puff whip.
- When your mixture is light and fluffy you can start adding your pumpkin purée slowly. Make sure your pumpkin is room temp so it does not solidify the gelatin too quickly.
- Once the pumpkin is incorporated, you can add your marshmallow fluff into your baking dish. First, line your baking dish with parchment paper, then using a rubber spatula, pour the fluff into your glass dish.
- Store it in the fridge for about 2 hours and then carefully not eat them all in one sitting.