Squash is an ideal low-calorie food to help maintain weight by providing fiber, vitamin A, potassium and vitamin C – essential elements to any healthy diet plan.
Regular squash play helps burn calories while improving strength, cardiovascular health levels, balance and hand-to-eye coordination as well as mental fitness.
Low in Calories
Squash is an nutrient-rich low-cal food with only 83 calories in one cup of cooked squash, providing your diet with essential vitamins, minerals and fiber benefits. By including squash in your daily meal plan you may help with weight loss while reaping important health benefits!
Squash makes for a delicious, nutritious meal when combined with protein-rich foods like beans or tofu, while its abundance of dietary fiber promotes feelings of fullness while decreasing overall calorie consumption – an ideal combination for anyone trying to either lose weight or maintain their current weight status.
One cup of cooked acorn squash provides an abundant source of dietary fiber at only 83 calories, boasting potassium, magnesium and vitamin C to support proper blood pressure management, cholesterol regulation and inflammation protection.
Kabocha squash is another popular winter variety, featuring orange flesh with green to yellow skin that ranges in hue. Thanks to its low glycemic index and nutritional benefits such as fiber, calcium and vitamin A content, this nutritious food can fit easily into most diets that restrict carbohydrates.
Yellow squash can provide you with an excellent source of iron and folate. Just one serving provides 9 percent of your daily iron requirement and 14 percent of folic acid; both nutrients are particularly crucial during gestation as they help prevent anemia, support normal red blood cell development, reduce risk of macular degeneration and cataracts and support eye health.
High in Fiber
Yellow squash is an incredible summer vegetable, packed with vitamin C and essential nutrients such as fiber. When prepared right it can bring many health benefits – be it from grilling to diced salads to pureeing as soup bases to spiralizing as pasta alternatives – yellow squash will do nothing but enhance its health benefits!
Squashes contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, helping reduce cholesterol levels, promote weight loss, improve digestion and promote regularity. Furthermore, eating squash often as part of high-fiber diets can also lower blood sugar levels while helping prevent post-meal energy dips that could otherwise lead to overeating or unhealthy cravings.
squash’s high fiber content makes it an especially helpful food source for people living with diabetes, helping to balance out blood sugar levels. Furthermore, squash helps lower glycemic index levels – important in managing early symptoms such as hypoglycemia – while managing disease in its later stages.
One cup of cooked squash provides over 50% of the recommended daily dose of Vitamin C – an antioxidant which protects the body from free radical damage while supporting an effective immune system.
One cup of cooked squash also provides small amounts of protein, an essential nutrient necessary for maintaining and repairing tissues within the body and fueling cognitive activity. In particular, protein may help lower cholesterol levels and decrease heart disease risk.
Squash is an excellent source of magnesium, potassium and iron. Folate, an important B vitamin that plays an integral part in preventing certain birth defects like spina bifida as well as maintaining normal blood cell production and lowering homocysteine levels that increase heart disease risk, is also found in abundance in this tasty vegetable.
High in Vitamin A
Squash contains an abundant supply of vitamin A; one cup provides approximately 90 micrograms, or 10 percent, of the Daily Value for adults. Vitamin A plays an integral part in skin, eye, heart and lung health as it regulates blood sugar and cholesterol levels and plays an essential role in cell development and absorption of other essential nutrients like iron.
Squashes contain carotenoids such as lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-carotene which act as antioxidants to fight off oxidative stress and help protect macular degeneration and cataracts from further development. Furthermore, squashes promote immune health while decreasing inflammation levels as well as blood sugar levels and other markers associated with inflammation.
Nutritionally speaking, squash is an excellent source of potassium – with one cup providing approximately 582 mg. Potassium helps balance out sodium’s effects on blood pressure while supporting heart health and helping your kidneys eliminate excess sodium and water from your system.
Butternut squash contains B vitamins that are necessary for red blood cell formation and metabolism. It is an excellent source of folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 and pantothenic acid.
One cup of cooked squash offers approximately 7 grams of dietary fiber – more than most Americans consume on an average day! Soluble fiber found in squash helps digestion slow down while keeping blood sugar stable, leading to weight loss. Incorporating foods high in fiber into your diet may also protect you against cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses.
Low in Cholesterol
Squash is an excellent source of low-fat fiber. A medium yellow squash provides 4 grams per serving. Fiber in squash can help promote weight maintenance by keeping you feeling full for an extended period and aiding digestive health; additionally it fulfills daily requirements of both soluble and insoluble fiber intake.
One cup of sliced yellow squash provides you with 9 percent of your daily iron requirement and 14 percent of folate intake, two essential nutrients for maintaining healthy red blood cells and warding off anemia. Folate is especially essential during pregnancy to promote optimal fetal development and brain functioning.
Squash boasts an abundance of potassium, an essential mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and heart health while supporting skin and bone health. Furthermore, when combined with Vitamin C it strengthens immunity against free radical damage while providing other health benefits.
Cucurbita maxima is an adaptable vegetable, suitable for preparation in many ways, from roasting or sauteing to snacking on raw. Packed full of essential dietary fiber, potassium, Vitamin A and C; plus beta-carotene for eye and skin health!
Kabocha squash contains potassium, which helps the body maintain normal sodium levels and lower blood pressure. Furthermore, its rich fiber content aids in keeping cholesterol and glucose levels within acceptable limits while providing essential antioxidant protection from free radical damage. Vitamin A and C provide eye and skin health benefits while potentially decreasing cancer risks; additionally it contains tryptophan that is converted to beneficial GABA neurotransmitters within your brain.
High in Carotenoids
Squash nutrition offers an excellent source of carotenoids – powerful antioxidants that protect cells from damage. Consuming just one cup of cooked squash provides nearly 1200 milligrams of these carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin) is estimated to provide nearly 1200 milligrams; these nutrients may reduce macular degeneration risk by helping protect from cataracts or age related blindness; additionally they lower blood pressure by decreasing cholesterol oxidation that leads to heart disease risk.
Yellow squash contains not only eye-healthy carotenoids, but also provides vital vitamin C. Vitamin C plays an essential role in helping the body absorb iron while also supporting gums, teeth and skin health as well as red blood cell formation and immune function. One cup of cooked squash provides around 24% of daily recommended value of vitamin C.
Yellow squash is an excellent source of magnesium, potassium and vitamin B6 – three nutrients essential for bone health, nerve function and energy metabolism. In particular, vitamin B6 plays an integral part in normal brain functioning as well as red blood cell formation – one cup of cooked squash provides 14 percent of your daily required dose!
Squash is an ideal low-calorie vegetable to add variety and nutritional benefits to meals, serving as a healthy replacement for corn and potatoes that contain more calories. Plus, its abundant source of fiber aids digestion while simultaneously supporting colon health. Finally, squash has diuretic properties which may help flush away toxins and excess fluid from your system while improving hepatitis by decreasing levels of the liver enzyme gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). (1)