Share the health benefits of pumpkin with your four-legged friend.
Spicy pumpkin pies and jack o’lanterns…this time of year, these are the images pumpkins conjure up. But this fat orange vegetable is more than just a Thanksgiving and Halloween staple. It’s actually one of the world’s healthiest foods – both for us and our companion animals.
Pumpkin has a colorful history, dating all the way back to the Aztec civilization of 1300 to 1500 AD. Throughout the ages, many cultures – including Native American, Eastern European, Mediterranean, and Indian – have prized it as both a dietary staple and for its medicinal properties.
Healthy and nutritious
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, pumpkin has a Cooling nature. It helps relieve Damp conditions, including dysentery, eczema, and edema. It supports the spleen and the pancreas. It helps regulate blood sugar levels and promotes the discharge of mucus from the lungs, bronchi, and throat.
It is great for diarrhea – and amazingly, it’s just as good for constipation. There are seven grams of soluble fiber in each cup. It helps coat and soothe irritated gastrointestinal systems, and is an excellent source of potassium, which is so critical when valuable electrolytes are lost due to diarrhea.
It is also packed with many other nutrients, including vitamins A, B6, C, E, K, calcium, copper, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin and thiamin – and, from the rich bright orange color, beta carotene.
Pumpkin seeds, extract and oil
Pumpkin seeds also are mini-powerhouses of nutrition. They are a valuable source of zinc, which is concentrated in the very thin layer found underneath the shell, called the endosperm envelope. The seeds also contain vitamin E, including alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, alphatocomonoenol and gamma-tocomonoenol, as well as manganese, phenolic antioxidants and antioxidant phytonutrients like lignans, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, and iron.
Pumpkin seeds, extract, and oil have been found to have anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and antiviral properties. Cooked pumpkin is a good remedy for intestinal worms, though the seeds have been found to be more effective than the flesh. The seeds are not commonly allergenic and do not contain measurable levels of oxalates.
Preliminary studies have demonstrated that pumpkin seed extract and pumpkin seed oil improve insulin regulation in diabetic animals, and support kidney function. A decrease in oxidative stress was also observed.
By incorporating pumpkin into your recipes, you can harness the power of pumpkin for your dog or cat!
AUTHOR PROFILE
Audi Donamor has been successfully creating special needs diets for companion animals for two decades. She founded the University of Guelph’s Smiling Blue Skies® Cancer Fund and Smiling Blue Skies® Fund for Innovative Research. She is the proud recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and was honored with the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for her work in cancer, from the University of Guelph/Ontario Veterinary College. The Smiling Blue Skies Cancer Fund is also the recipient of the “Pets + Us” Community Outreach Champion Award.
