• Just how healthy is that pumpkin scone, latte or pie?

    pumpkin-oct14

    It’s everywhere during the fall, almost singlehandedly taking over the food industry. It’s in bread, pie, lattes, cookies, ice cream, coffee creamer – and tomorrow, Oct. 21, is National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day.

    Pumpkin. With its numerous nutritional benefits – filling fiber, eyesight-improving nutrients, and immune system-boosting minerals – it could probably be considered a super fruit (yes, pumpkin is a fruit). So we shouldn’t feel so guilty eating dozens of pumpkin goodies this season — right?

    Maybe not.

    Baylor dietitian and professor Suzy Weems warns that not all those goodies live up to the pumpkin’s reputation. “It’s important to notice how much pumpkin there really is in it – and that it’s not just the flavoring,” she says, urging individuals to take the sugar, carb and fat count of the food into account. “Doughnuts still have sugar,” she notes, and pumpkin-laced candy “is still candy.”

    Many pumpkin-flavored foods and drinks don’t even contain actual pumpkin; Starbucks, for instance, took some flack earlier this fall regarding their popular pumpkin spice lattes. (Naturally, no real pumpkin means no pumpkin nutrition benefits.)

    Dr. Weems, BSHE ’65, earned her bachelor of science from Baylor and has professional experience in wellness, weight management, diabetes care, eating disorders, cardiovascular health and sports dietetics. She’s a consulting dietician for hospitals and extended-care facilities across Texas and has served on numerous state and national dietician boards and committees.

    Sic ’em, Dr. Weems!