The Health Benefits of Summer Squash

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This squash is in the same family along with buttercup, hubbard, cushaw, acorn, summer, autumn and winter squashes, pumpkins, and zucchini.

It’s rich in vitamins A, B6 and C, fiber, manganese, magnesium, folate, riboflavin, phosphorus, and potassium. These nutrients are what gives it the antioxidants needed to give your immune system a boost.

For more information, let’s start with this main idea of the health benefits of summer squash, on World’s Healthiest Foods:

What are some of the nutritional benefits of summer squash such as zucchini?

Although summer squash has long been recognized as an important food source of carotenoids, only recently have research studies documented just how fantastic summer squash can be when it comes to these key antioxidants. For some groups of study participants, summer squash turns out to be the primary food source of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene in the entire diet! Read more…

Moving on, here are the top six benefits of this nutrient-rich vegetable, as listed by Margaret Nearing on Best Health:

6 health benefits of summer squash

Summer squash is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin—the main carotenoids in the lens and macular area of the eye. A study in Archives of Ophthalmology followed more than 35,000 women for an average of 10 years. Those with the highest amounts of these two pigments in their diet (6,716 mcg per day) had an 18 percent lower risk of cataracts than those with the lowest (1,177 mcg per day). A medium squash has 4,165 mcg. Read more…

Finally, here’s a mouthwatering dish to try, on The New York Times:

Summer-Squash Casserole

“Why don’t you just cook something that tastes really good?” Julia Reed’s mother said that, chiding her daughter, a writer of uncommon style and wit who used to contribute food essays and recipes to The New York Times Magazine, for spending too much time thinking about complicated, over-the-top recipes at the expense of simple, honest American cooking that draws compliments not because it looks amazing, but because it’s delicious. Read more…

To sum it up, this healthy vegetable assists your body in weight loss, boosts eye health, and keeps cancers away. It also helps boost cardiovascular health, regulating your blood circulation, and reducing your risk of heart attacks and stroke. And ladies – it also helps ease PMS symptoms, so you may want to load on it when that time of the month comes.

There are so many benefits of summer squash that will make you love them, not to mention the fact that it’s really tasty in a lot of dishes. You can add it in stews, soups, salads, and casseroles. And in case you haven’t tried, it’s also great when marinated and grilled!

You can purchase it at the farmers market or the local grocery store. For more benefits, choose the organic type. It contains more antioxidants than the regular, and it’s way more delicious.

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