Summer squash is incredibly flavorful while also being wonderfully nutritious. In this post, we’ll share numerous health benefits of a particular type of summer squash—zucchini—(and you can find more information about squash’s overall health benefits in our recent post at The Chef’s Garden).
According to Healthline.com, zucchini has health benefits, including improved digestion and better gut health. It can also help lower blood sugar and insulin levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Zucchini can help prevent blood sugar spikes after meals and boost insulin sensitivity, which in turn may lead to a reduced need for diabetes medicine.
Summer squash may lower the risk of heart disease, largely because of its high fiber. It is especially effective at helping to lower total cholesterol levels and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. The potassium in it may help to lower the risk of having high blood pressure, which plays a key role in heart health.
Zucchini can help to protect your vision, even improve it; assist in weight loss, with all the benefits that come with being at an optimal weight; boost bone health; perhaps help to limit the growth of certain cancer cells; stabilize thyroid hormone levels; and more.
VeryWellFit.com points out that eating zucchini can also help you have better-looking skin. That’s because its vitamin C plays a role in producing collagen, your skin’s main protein.
Squash Recipes to Enjoy
We’ve got plenty of squash recipes to share, including these:
- Summer Squash Tart Recipe
- Baked Ricotta Squash Blossom With Squash Attached
- Seared Summer Squash
- Squash Blossom Quesadilla
- Squash Blossom Tomato Herb Focaccia
- Summer Succotash with Squash Blooms
Plus, you can use a mandoline slicer to create zucchini noodles (“zoodles”), which are a healthy alternative to pasta in dishes. Here’s more info about veggie carbs and their benefits.
Summer Squash: Fun Facts
Summer squash seeds, 10,000 years old, were found in Mexican caves, and in Ecuador, they were found to be 12,000 years old.
A Native American name for this delightful food was “askutasquash,” meaning “eaten raw.” That alone reveals how flavorful fresh summer squash can be.
Get ready for an upcoming holiday: August 8th, National Zucchini Day (also known as Sneak a Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day). As The Old Farmer’s Almanac shares, “To celebrate it, you simply wait until the dead of night and quietly creep up to your neighbor’s front doors, leaving plenty of zucchini for them to enjoy.”
Squash grows like crazy in warm weather and, therefore, needs to be picked each day. Otherwise, they can grow too big and take up too much of the sun’s energy.
As a youngster, Farmer Lee Jones didn’t like to pick squash. Enjoy it at lunch, sure! Enjoy it at dinner! Pick it, no. To avoid getting red and irritated skin from tiny prickers on squash, he needed to wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt on hot days.
Order Your Farm Fresh Summer Squash
You can order summer squash here. Plus, it’s often part of our seasonal vegetable boxes right now.
Order! Prepare. Enjoy. Repeat! (You can also buy extra squash to celebrate Sneak a Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day in style.)