FoodReference.com reports that spaghetti squash is native to the Americas, but no one is sure exactly where it originated. Sometimes called vegetable spaghetti, noodle squash and squaghetti, this is a unique squash that separates into strands that can be served like spaghetti. One small serving of spaghetti squash provides virtually all vitamins and minerals, with an added benefit of dietary fiber.
Definition
Spaghetti squash is a member of the winter squash family, which makes it a relative of the melon and cucumber. It's oval shaped and about 8 to 10 inches long; it can be ivory, pale yellow or orange. The squash can be baked, boiled or microwaved. Once it's cooked, you can clean out the seeds and pull a fork lengthwise across the flesh and it will fall into strands that resemble spaghetti. The seeds can be roasted just like pumpkin seeds.
Basic Nutrition
A serving of cooked spaghetti squash, 1 cup, has 42 calories. It has 10 g of carbohydrates--3 percent of the recommended daily value (DV) for a 2,000-calorie diet. It also is very low in fat (0.40 g, or 1 percent of the DV). The fat content consists of 0.1 g of saturated fat and 0.2 g of the more healthy polyunsaturated fats. It also supplies a small amount of heart healthy fatty acids: omega-3 (121 mg) and omega-6 (72.8 mg). Spaghetti squash is not a complete protein, but it provides sufficient quantities of eight amino acids and gives you 1 g of protein (2 percent DV). Spaghetti squash is a great source of dietary fiber. Just 1 cup provides 2 g, or 9 percent DV.
Vitamins
This squash is considered a good source of vitamin C (5.4 mg, or 9 percent DV), vitamin B6 (0.2 mg, or 8 percent DV), niacin (1.3 mg, or 6 percent) and vitamin B5 (0.5 mg, or 6 percent). It also supplies between 1 and 4 percent of thiamine (0.06 mg), riboflavin (0.03 mg), folate (12 mcg) and vitamins A (170 IU), E (0.19 mg) and K (1.2 mcg).
Minerals
A serving of spaghetti squash provides 181 mg of potassium (5 percent DV) and 0.17 mg of manganese (8 percent DV). It also supplies all of the essential minerals. It provides 33 mg calcium and 0.5 mg iron, 3 percent DV of those minerals, as well as 0.17 mg of magnesium (4 percent DV), 22 mg of phosphorus (2 percent DV), 0.3 mg of zinc (2 percent DV) and 0.05 mg of (3 percent DV). Good news for those watching salt their intake: This squash is very low in sodium (28 mg, or 1 percent DV).
Carotenoids
Alpha and beta carotene are carotenoids that are converted into a usable form of vitamin A in the body. A cup of spaghetti squash contains about the same amount of beta carotene as one raw orange and as much alpha carotene as a cup of broccoli.
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