Halloween is upon us. Boo. Halloween means people inviting me to haunted houses I’d never go inside of and lots of candy I refuse to eat. I am essentially a Halloween Scrooge. I mean, why would I walk in some janky house and have people in costumes jump out and frighten me? And I find candy to be gross. Don’t get me wrong, I love deserts, just not candy. And unless the old folks start handing out cheesecakes when trick or treat up in the neighborhood, I am pretty much not interested. But, that doesn’t mean I hate every aspect of Halloween. I enjoy fun parties. I like horror flicks. And I love the benefits of pumpkin. And when this time of year comes around, that means more pumpkin for everyone.

The benefits of pumpkin are so powerful, a part of me wants to call the pumpkin a superfood. So is pumpkin a superfood? Technically, no. But then again, there truly is no technical definition of what is or isn’t classified as a superfood. So maybe that said, the powerful benefits of the pumpkin warrant a higher level of classification.

Let’s get off of labels and classifications for a moment and focus on why I love pumpkins. First, I love the taste. I love pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin puree. My dog eats pumpkin when he has an upset stomach because he ate a portion of my sofa. But the inner-working of pumpkin is truly where its greatest blessing is held. Pumpkins are stacked with glorious nutrients that can help to elevate our health. I think pumpkin would go nicely with any of our top superfood green drinks.

The Benefits Of Pumpkin

There are a great many health benefits received from eating pumpkin. A pumpkin can, in fact, help to remove the ‘scary’ from your health (see what I did there?).

Pumpkins Improve Vision

Pumpkins are renowned for their ability to help a person maintain healthy eyesight. This is because the pumpkin contains twice the vitamin A recommended daily. Vitamin A tends to help vision thrive, particularly in lower light settings. Additionally, pumpkins, much like carrots, contain a load of carotenoids. This is what makes carrots and pumpkins orange, it also converts into vitamin A. You see….Pumpkins are good for your vision.

Pumpkin Seeds And Heart Health

Pumpkin seeds are an amazing source of fiber, as well as an amazing source of omega 3 fatty acid. Yep, cheaper than fish, pumpkin seeds can help reduce inflammation and improve heart health, all the while causing you to feel full. You can grab pumpkin seeds at most grocery stores. They taste good and they are a perfect snack to curb a naughty appetite that a ghoul might have while trying to score some candy from the neighborhood.

Pumpkins Might Reduce Cancer

Cancer is a devastating disease that affects millions of people around the world on a daily basis. The cure, as fortune would have it, is in prevention. And prevention comes from eating a healthy diet and avoiding processed junk foods. The antioxidant beta-carotene is known to possibly reduce cancer risks, at least according to a fact sheet on cancer.gov. There is truly no downside to consistently eating foods that may help you defend yourself against degenerative disease.

Pumpkins Are Good For Skin

Those same carotenoids, which are antioxidants, do a good job at fighting off free radicals that tend to wreak havoc on skin. Want healthy, glowing skin? Eat your pumpkin as much as possible. There is no excuse anymore, considering that pumpkin is available in almost every grocery store this time of year!

Pumpkin Make You Happy

Pumpkins contain the amino acid tryptophan, which is known to make you feel tired. Um, not the total story, though. The amino acid tryptophan is also a precursor to serotonin, which tends to improve your mood. You can get these benefits by eating pumpkin seeds, as well.

Pumpkins Help Immunity

Winter is near, which means your kids are going to start back to school and be exposed to lots of nefarious germs. They are going to be sick. But what if pumpkin could help them be sick a little less? Well, it can, and that’s due to pumpkin containing a decent amount of vitamin C. And I think we all know that vitamin C is great for the immune system. Cooked pumpkin contains almost a quarter the recommended amount of vitamin C. How amazing is that?

How To Protect Your Pumpkin

If you do buy a pumpkin this year, just eat it. If you set it outside as decor, you risk the bad kids in the neighborhood coming around and smashing it. Don’t allow your superfood pumpkin any opportunity to be exposed to such nefarious intentions! Remember, pumpkins can improve your health, they are by far not just some Halloween decor. And they certainly aren’t just for carving or smashing around.

How To Carve A Pumpkin

Ok, ok, I was a bit drab in this article, so maybe I should lighten up and let the kids have some fun. How much could it hurt? Well, I still plan to eat what’s carved out!

 

The other day, I noticed a rash of people in my Facebook feed sharing an article that had the headline saying “superfoods are overrated.” The inner-workings of the article claimed that many superfoods were being heavily marketed in ways which embellished their true, verifiable and scientific abilities. I saw a few more crop up as well.

“Don’t Believe The Hype Around Superfoods,” one article shouted. “Superfoods were never around when I was a kid,” another proposed.

One reason given in the first article is that the label, “superfood,” contributes to people eating “too much of that food.” This, of course, is blasphemous. The article gives an example of an acai granola bowl that contains 13.5 teaspoons of sugar. The claim, of course, is that the sugar is harmful. Here’s the thing with that: That’s not a ton of sugar, comparatively speaking. But aside from that, acai isn’t a bowl. The bowl was created using a true superfood. Your problem is with the bowl of added ingredients, not the core marketed ingredient, which is acai. The writer egregiously falls into a fallacy and inappropriately condemns a super healthy food source.

In the second article, Australian website owner (The Alchemists), Ondine Puriton-Miller, says, “There were never superfoods or clean-eating in my house as a kid. It was just food. I didn’t know you could choose not to eat vegetables.”

“It’s not that fads are bad … but I think it’s important to acknowledge what’s behind it and your motivation for doing it. Fads are fads, they come and go … but wellness should always be a part of a person’s life. The minute it becomes an obsession is a whole different story.”

It might be that Puriton-Miller is just attempting to latch on to the trend of calling out superfoods as hype and getting a little hype of her own. Maybe I can’t blame her. Maybe. But her statements really are a bit misleading. I, like her, grew up in a world without superfood labels as well. Or did I? Oranges were known to cure common colds. Apple Cider Vinegar was known to help settle a stomach. An apple a day? Maybe the exact label and term weren’t applied, but we certainly did have superfood types. We understood that natural fruits, vegetables, fermented vegetables, and herbs, could certainly be highly beneficial to our health. And because of that, we sought them out.

So what’s the difference today? We now label them as superfoods after science and research confirm their extraordinary health benefit profiles. We categorize them under a more exact name. I’m not sure that’s criminal.

Yes, my work doesn’t come without bias. I run a superfood green drink review website. Fair enough. However, I’m not alienating the status quo of scientific confirmation as a way to get more eyeballs. This article simply doesn’t have the same pop or appeal as an article calling superfoods as “hype” does.

Superfoods are amazing for us, neither article attempts to spin any different angles. I think it is obvious that eating a healthy, balanced diet is what is best for us. But that shouldn’t imply that purchasing additional superfoods that are now conveniently available to us in stores and online isn’t beneficial. That’s where these headlines mislead us. Sure, as kids, goji berries weren’t growing in my grandmother’s backyard. But had they been, we’d had eaten them daily (or when available). And had we been able to order them online, we would have. If we’d been able to sprinkle goji berries in a superfood shake, well, of course, we would have. That’s just common sense.

This latest “hater” push on superfoods is just a small portion of people who are tired of hearing about superfoods. But the fact is, superfoods do work by benefiting our health and that’s why they are so “hyped.” Supplement manufacturers want to cash in on a trend, but hey, their production of superfood powders is a testament to the power of superfoods. It shouldn’t be considered a condemnation. No one is being forced to buy a superfood supplement, you can buy many superfoods in the produce section of your local grocery stores.

You know what else is good? Cars. Cars allow us to go 10 miles across town in 20 minutes, rather than walking it in a day and ending up with a nasty sunburn and a pair of bad knees. Cars are legit awesome. And car manufacturers know this, so they hype up cars in advertisements. Because cars truly add value to our lives, manufacturers want to make cars and get us to buy those cars and leave them with a profit. America, folks, it is awesome. This shouldn’t take away from how great a contribution cars are, should it? Nope, and it doesn’t. So it shouldn’t take away from how beneficial superfoods are for us.

So let’s finally stop the lunacy and headline baiting and get back to living lives with healthy superfoods in them!

So you love your superfood bowl you make every morning. You feel like a true superfood bowl artist. Well, your ego is about to take a little bruising, unfortunately. We’ve found some true Instagram superfood bowl champions. And we’ve featured seven of the most reason amazing concoctions that have all the likes!

Truth is, I normally start the day off with my top superfood green drinks, but sometimes, it is fun to take the path of slightly less convenience and put together a true superfood masterpiece. You an also mix your green drink mix into a superfood bowl (I hope you enjoyed that pro-tip).

Don’t feel down if your superfood bowls don’t turn out like these do, just get inspired!

8 Amazing Instagram Superfood Bowls

Want some probiotics? This bowl has you covered. Yogurt is the mainstay base of this superfood beauty. The yogurt appears to be blended with peanut butter. It is topped with pumpkin seeds, cacao and rock salt.

Yogurt, , pumpkin seeds, cacao nibs, rock salt and peanut butter #mykindofdessert #recoveryfuel #happyhealthyme @happyhealthymeorganics #superfoodbowls

A post shared by Samira Abraham (@samira.abraham) on Jun 4, 2017 at 6:10am PDT

Got superfood fiber? Now you do. This bowl features a slew of grains topped with blueberries and strawberries. This bowl was created by local superfood bowl makers at Columbus’ very own Native Cold Pressed.

When @lauren_daigle & her crew come through town, the bowl game is STRONGThanks for always keeping it Native while you’re in Columbus!⭐️#tourlife #keepitnative #superfoodbowls #sunshinebowl #allthetoppings

A post shared by Native Cold Pressed™ (@nativecoldpressed) on May 3, 2017 at 8:21am PDT

Fermented granola, strawberries, bananas, kale, goji berries and coconut mean great things for your gut health. This is a powerhouse nutrtion explosion all in one bowl. This is seriously impressive!

Here’s a customer creation we’re drooling over: our Fermented Granola served in a strawberry-banana-kale-acai bowl with chia seeds, help seeds, goji berries, coconut and honey. So much nutrition in one bowl! Original post and by @gwinnin_ .. thanks for sharing!

A post shared by Todd Vincent (@fermentedfarmer) on May 1, 2017 at 1:31pm PDT

This next bowl is not only spectacular for your health, but it is also easy on the eyes. It is beautifully composed! Its superfood orchestra! The granola that its based in is baked. The apples, strawberris and coconut water make it fruity. The mint leaves give it an extra kick! What a way to start off the day!

Tropical Passion from @saladstopid Passion fruit and manggo blended with coconut water, topped with green apple, kiwi, mint leave, strwberries and sprinkled with baked granola and coconut shavings . . Clean Eating Challenge : Day 2 #tropicalpassion #instafood #saladstop #vegan #vegetarian #veganfood #vegetarianfood #yummy #happytummy #healthyeating #eathealthy #healthyfood #foodporn #organic #organicfood #healthydigestion #cleaneating #cleanfood #foodjournal #foodgsm #foodphotography #instafood #superfood #cleaneatingchallenge #superfoodbowls

A post shared by Lauwrencia (@ms.lauwren) on Sep 12, 2017 at 9:18pm PDT

This superfood girl is getting her almond butter on. She’s also topped cinammon maca and acai. I am a big fan of starting my day with cinammon.

Superfood acai bowls from @livebeaming topped with cinnamon maca @jemorganics almond butter in the company of @whithelena make me very happy .

A post shared by m e r e d i t h g n a u (@boho_fit_girl) on Sep 8, 2017 at 2:27pm PDT

Coconut shreds, granola, acai and a number of other fruits pack down this amazing superfood bowl.

After a nice relaxing day off we are back !! Wednesday Dreamers Hill 10-4 #acai #acaibowl #vegan #healthy #granola #fruit #superfoodbowls #breakfast #lunch #konjoeshealthshack #fitness #karratha #vegankarratha

A post shared by Açaì & Cocowhip▪️KONA JOES (@konajoes_healthshack) on Aug 9, 2017 at 5:22am PDT

Pecans are one of the most underutilized superfood bowl ingredients around. That may be because they are pricey, it also might be because they are less practical. All the same, nice to see them being given some of the love which they deserve.

Rise&Shine Fancy a berry smoothie bowl this morning? Recipe- Handful of blueberries Handful of strawberries Half cup of ice 1/4 cup of milk or water 1 scoop vanilla protein I’ve used @vegavero_gb which I love! 1tbsp chia seeds 1tsp super green blend 1tsp maca powder 1tbsp Greek yogurt Blitz all together & then decorate I used Coconut strawberries pecans and figs to top #smoothiebowls #smoothie #superfood #superfoods #smoothies #berrysmoothierecipe #berrysmoothie #berrysmoothiebowl #acai #berries #superfoodbowls #healthybreakfast #healthybreakfastideas #health #healthyrecipes #healthyblogger #fitfood #fitgirl

A post shared by Chlöe Amor-Hurd❣️ (@nourishingnaturallywithchloe) on Aug 3, 2017 at 1:16am PDT

Now THIS is a true breakfast of champions right here, folks. Yeah, it isn’t as eye popping as all the rest of the bowls we’ve seen and certainly not as sweet, but it is still pretty darn awesome. This is every good protein you can imagine all packed into one awesome superfood bowl.

Superfood Quinoa Bowl. It is as good as it looks! . . . . . #superfood #superfoods #superfoodbowl #superfoodbowls #lunch #lunchwithfamily #lunchwithnieces #quinoabowl #superfoodforlunch #friedeggontop #southernbelle #glutenfree #gf #glutenfreeliving #glutenfreeeating #glutenfreelunch #celiac #goodfood #goodfood

A post shared by Ann Herman Wayne (@wayneann) on Jul 24, 2017 at 3:59pm PDT

Anyone got a bowl of their own they’d like to show us? Toss up a link to your pictures in the comments. Don’t worry, we won’t judge you “too” harshly.