111 Canned Pumpkin Nutrition Facts: Benefits, Harmful Effects, And More

Pumpkins are popular fruits used for making delicacies like pumpkin pie and soups.

But sometimes it's hard to get your hands on a pumpkin, especially if it's not the season for pumpkins. That is where canned pumpkin comes to the rescue.

Canned pumpkins give us the opportunity to eat pumpkin foods at a time when we are craving them, and they are easy to store too. This pumpkin is filled with nutrients and minerals. The canned pumpkin is also rich in nutrients and minerals. What are some other facts that we should know about canned pumpkins? Are there any harmful effects if you eat this canned food? Let us learn some canned pumpkin nutrition facts along with some other fun information.

If you enjoyed reading this article, you must also check out canned pears nutrition facts and canned peaches nutrition facts.

Fun Facts About Canned Pumpkin

The canned pumpkin that we buy from the grocery stores has a lot of fun facts behind it. Some you might be familiar with and some that might surprise you.

Almost 85% of the canned pumpkin sold in the whole world is from a single company, Libby's pure pumpkin. It is an American brand that manufactures canned pumpkin and sells it globally. What is more interesting is the fact that the pumpkins that we see, the medium-sized pumpkins that are orange in color, are not the pumpkins used for canned foods.

Dickinson pumpkins or Dickinson squash are the pumpkins used for this. They are tan-colored, smooth, and large pumpkins. In fact, Libby's company has their own pumpkin variety called 'Libby's special seed' from which they manufacture the canned pumpkin. Even with no preservatives added, a canned pumpkin can last up to 24 months on the shelf. Since the majority of the canned pumpkin is made by the Libby brand, it would come as no surprise to learn that 75% of America's canned pumpkin is grown on Libby's farm.

The farm is located in Morton, Illinois. There were many controversies surrounding canned pumpkin foods, mainly because of the fact that the pumpkin used in the manufacturing was not exactly the pumpkin that we thought of. But when you consider the taste of field pumpkins and the squash used in canned pumpkins, it is better to choose the squash. Field pumpkins would not have made the tasty pumpkin pie that the canned ones make. Sometimes, it is better the way it is.

Nutritional Facts About Canned Pumpkin

For anyone who is wondering what the health benefits of canned pumpkins are, there are plenty of health benefits to say. Canned pumpkins have great nutritional value that we can benefit from to have a healthy life. It is a great source of nutrients and vitamins.

The nutritional information on a canned pumpkin will show you the nutrients and vitamins that it contains. If your body lacks fiber, then canned pumpkin is a great way to go. It contains dietary fiber that is needed for the human body. Women need to take 0.88 oz (25 g) of fiber and men need to take 1.34 oz (38 g) of fiber in daily value. But this amount is sometimes not met. In this case, canned pumpkin comes to the rescue. A half-cup of canned pumpkin has almost 0.14 oz (4 g) of fiber in it.

So, including canned pumpkins in your diet can increase the daily value of fiber intake. Fiber is not the only healthy part of canned pumpkins. Pumpkins are a great source of vitamins.

Canned pumpkin also has vitamin A. Pumpkins have an important antioxidant called beta-carotene. The beta carotene in pumpkin is converted into vitamin A by your body. This vitamin plays an important role in eye health, skin health, and hair health.

The skin tissues are repaired by this vitamin. It also helps in reducing any skin inflammation that the body might experience. A cup (128 g) of canned pumpkin has plenty of vitamin A to keep your body happy and healthy. Apart from vitamin A, pumpkin also contains vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin B2. Vitamin C helps in the increase of white blood cells. The vitamin C in pumpkin thus helps with immunity. Vitamin E in pumpkin also plays an important role in immunity.

One of the biggest concerns when consuming canned food is sodium. Normally, canned food contains high amounts of sodium. But canned pumpkin actually has lower sodium. When you eat sodium-containing foods, there is a bloated feeling. Since canned pumpkin is a food that is low in sodium, bloating is not an issue in this case. But sodium is not the only thing that this pumpkin is low in. It is also low in calories. The carbohydrate, sugar, and fat content in canned pumpkins are low.

If you were to take a half-cup (64 g) of canned pumpkin, there would be around 0.35 oz (10 g) of carbohydrates in it. The sugar amount would be 0.14 oz (4 g) and the fat would be none. If you want to reduce the sugar and fat in your food, then eating pumpkin is a great idea. It is a great way to limit your calorie intake. Canned pumpkin is low in calories and high in beta carotene. So, you can have healthy skin without worrying too much about calories and sugar. Pumpkins are rich in antioxidants like alpha-carotene and beta-carotene.

They play an important role in protecting the body from heart disease or cancer. Potassium is among the nutrients found in pumpkin. Potassium is beneficial for heart health. High potassium is said to cause low blood pressure, which decreases the chance of strokes also. The iron that the pumpkin contains is also good for your health. Iron helps with the immunity of the body. In short, the health benefits of canned pumpkins are many because there is plenty of pumpkin nutrition to benefit from.

Harmful Facts About Canned Pumpkin

Although pumpkin is packed with nutrients and minerals, some people could be harmed by consuming this food. The chances are very slim, but there are side effects to pumpkins. What are some of the harmful effects of consuming canned pumpkins?

First of all, sugar. Yes, sugar can be a big threat in canned pumpkin foods. Normally, pumpkin has a very low sugar content. But to give the food a sweet taste, some canned foods containing pumpkin can have sugar, which can further raise blood sugar levels. This might be harmful to the body, especially if you like pumpkin pie or some other sweet food with pumpkins. To keep your blood sugar in check, it is better to avoid sweet baked goods made from canned pumpkins.

Another fact is the diuretic nature of pumpkins. Anyone who takes medicine like lithium can find foods like pumpkin to be allergic to. For these people, it is better to avoid these foods. Finally, the common allergy that people have to some foods. If one of the foods that cause you an allergic reaction is pumpkin, then it is unfortunate for you because it is better to avoid canned pumpkin. Pumpkin seeds are also edible and are sometimes used in canned foods.

Pumpkin seeds can cause certain side effects, like stomach aches and allergies. If you find pumpkin meals causing any side effects to your health, it is better to avoid canned foods of pumpkin also.

Facts About Canned Pumpkin's Preparation Process

What are the steps involved in making a canned pumpkin? How does the pumpkin end up in the can? The famous canned pumpkin manufacturer, called 'Libby's pure pumpkin' follows the below-mentioned process.

The steps involved in canned pumpkin manufacturing are relatively simple if you think about it. Firstly, the pumpkins are harvested. We know by now that the pumpkin used in canned pumpkin foods is actually squash or Dickinson pumpkins. The harvest occurs in August in order to prepare canned foods for the fall. The harvested pumpkin is then checked to ensure that there are no bad ones. After the quality inspection, the pumpkin is then mashed up in machines.

The excess water from the pumpkin is removed with a squeezer. The rind and seeds are also removed from the pumpkin by a grinder before the final stage of the process. The final stage is filling the can. The cans are filled with creamy, soft pumpkin puree and cooked. The cooking is done after putting the puree in cans in order to get an extra flavor. Finally, the canned pumpkins are ready to be used in your recipes.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 111 canned pumpkin nutrition facts: benefits, harmful effects and more, then why not take a look at canned corn nutrition facts, or canned beets nutrition facts.