Vegetable of the Day!

I'm such a fan of Dr. Oz who recently highlighted 3 "vital" vegetables for women.  Butternut Squash, Brussel Sprouts and Avocado. Two out of the three of these were vegetables that I haven't seen on any of the publicized "super" foods lists.  It made me want to dig deeper into "a" vegetable rather than list many.  So today the focus is on . . . . .

Butternut Squash  

Dr. Oz offered up Butternut Squash as vital for vision because of its abundant vitamin A.   Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant that is great for not only vision. . . . . . but skin, preventing inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, lowering cholesterol levels,  the prevention of lung cancer, artherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease, and more.  Not bad.   One cup of butternut squash contains only 63 calories and almost 150% of your daily recommended amount of Vitamin A .

In addition to Vitamin A, 1 cup of butternut squash contains 32% of your daily recommended amount of Vitamin C.   We probably all know the role that Vitamin C plays in slowing the rate of free-radical change.  It's those nasty free radicals that dry our skin and damages the collagen causing  fine lines and wrinkles.   Research also suggests that Vitamin C may reduce sunburn caused by ultraviolet B radiation and prevent the consequences of long-term exposure which can lead to skin cancer. 

That's not all. . . . butternut squash offers fiber (6 gms),  potassium, manganese, omega 3 fatty acids, several vitamin B's and copper.  It's no wonder Dr. Oz's opening comment on this segment was "I believe vegetables are as powerful as drugs."  I'm with you Dr. Oz!

P.S. I viewed pictures of butternut squash and most of them were accompanied by recipes.  I was excited at the many many recipes and variations there are to preparing a butternut squash -  from sweet to savory.