Pumpkin pie: a sugary dessert that also carries vitamin A

The firmest evidence near this page is about beta-carotene pills, and it cuts against the idea that more carotene means more protection. Across 31 randomized trials in 216,734 adults taking beta-carotene supplements for a median of 3 years, overall mortality did not fall (risk ratio 1.02, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.05), and lung cancer deaths rose by 14% (risk ratio 1.14, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.27). Those were high dose supplements, so none of it transfers to a slice of pie. The pie itself is a dessert. In the US survey database a regular 5.3 oz (150 g) slice carries about 374 calories, 36.8 g of sugars, 378 mg of sodium and 2.5 g of fiber, figured from a generic recipe that does not separate homemade from shop pies. The same slice holds about 3.8 mg of beta-carotene, or 490 micrograms RAE of vitamin A. Nobody has run a trial, cohort or meta-analysis on pumpkin pie as a food, so everything else here is borrowed from pumpkin, squash and carotene.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• A regular 5.3 oz (150 g) slice of pumpkin pie carries about 374 calories, 36.8 g of sugars and 378 mg of sodium in the US survey database. — USDA FNDDS Pie, pumpkin, food code 53347000 (fdc 2708011) (n = 9 measures) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: 249 calories, total sugars 24.55 g, sodium 252 mg, fiber 1.7 g; regular slice 150 g: 373.5 calories, 36.8 g sugars, 378 mg sodium, 2.5 g fiber; whole 8-9 inch pie 1200 g: 2988 calories
• A regular 5.3 oz (150 g) slice of pumpkin pie holds about 3.8 mg of beta-carotene, or 490 ug RAE of vitamin A, in the US survey database. — USDA FNDDS Pie, pumpkin, food code 53347000 (fdc 2708011) (n = 9 measures) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: beta-carotene 2530 ug, vitamin A 327 ug RAE; mini slice 75 g 245 ug RAE; regular slice 150 g 3795 ug beta-carotene, 490.5 ug RAE; large slice 250 g 817.5 ug RAE

What your body absorbs

• Carotene-rich vegetables including squash raised serum beta-carotene fivefold and doubled the total-body vitamin A pool in 9 weeks, with similar gains at 7, 15 and 29 g of fat a day. — Filipino schoolchildren aged 9-12 years, standardized meals 3 times a day, 5 days a week, 9 weeks (n = 116) Evidence B source
  Serum beta-carotene 5-fold, total-body vitamin A pool 2-fold, similar at 7, 15 and 29 g fat per day

What cooking and storage change

• Baking keeps 85 percent of vitamin C and folate and all of the potassium, iron and calcium in the USDA vegetable group pumpkin belongs to. — USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors Release 6, group Vegetables and Vegetable Products, method VEG,OTHER,BAKED, code 3771 (n = 16 nutrients in the method row) Evidence E source
  Vitamin C and folate 85% retained, thiamin 90%, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 95%, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper 100%
• Laboratory digestion of baked goods made with butternut squash released under 1.3% of their alpha- and beta-carotene, against up to 10.28% of lutein. — pumpkin-enriched porridge, cookies and sponge cakes, in vitro digestion with Caco-2 cell uptake Evidence D source
  Bioaccessibility in baked products: lutein up to 10.28%, alpha-carotene 1.22%, beta-carotene 0.88%; alpha-carotene cell uptake 2.33% (cookies with butter) vs 1.38% (vegetable oil)

Safety, limits and interactions

• In 35 young children with yellow skin from heavy eating of carrot, pumpkin and papaw, serum carotenoids fell after those foods were stopped while vitamin A stayed stable. — 35 hypercarotenemic children followed for 2 to 3 months, stools from 5 cases and 8 controls (n = 35) Evidence C source
  Serum carotenoids declined over follow-up, vitamin A maintained
• A young woman who ate mostly pumpkin daily for 2 years developed orange skin and abnormal liver tests, and later vitamin A poisoning after also eating liver and laver. — one 20-year-old woman with an eating disorder, Japan (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Aurantiasis cutis, abnormal liver function, later hepatic injury, resolved with diet change

What people believe that the data does not support

• Across 31 RCTs in 216,734 adults, beta-carotene supplements did not lower overall mortality and raised lung cancer mortality by 14%. — adults with any health condition, beta-carotene supplements vs placebo or no intervention, median treatment 3 years (n = 216734) Evidence A source
  All-cause mortality RR 1.02 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.05), lung cancer mortality RR 1.14 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.27)
• The EU did not authorize the claim that beta-carotene is an antioxidant that protects the body's cells, so pumpkin foods cannot carry it in Europe. — EU Register on nutrition and health claims, substance Beta-Carotene Evidence E source
  Status Non-authorized

Who this works differently for

• In dewormed Bangladeshi schoolchildren, serum beta-carotene rose in every arm over 6 weeks, including a sweet pumpkin meal with 1.5 mg beta-carotene, while leafy greens with 4.4 mg gave the largest rise. — 110 children aged 8-12 years in Bangladesh, one meal 6 days per week for 6 weeks (n = 110) Evidence B source
  Serum beta-carotene rise 0.44 micromol/L (95% CI 0.32 to 0.55) leafy vegetables vs 0.20 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.26) control, P = 0.002; pumpkin arm not reported separately

The bottom line

How much of that carotene your body gets from pie is unclear, and the reason is that nobody has measured it in pie. In laboratory digestion of porridge, cookies and sponge cakes made with butternut squash, under 1.3% of the alpha- and beta-carotene came out in usable form, against up to 10.28% of lutein. That was a test tube and cell model, with baked goods that are not a custard pie. Real children do absorb carotene from these vegetables. In a randomized trial in 116 Filipino schoolchildren aged 9 to 12, nine weeks of meals built on carotene-rich vegetables, squash among four of them, raised serum beta-carotene fivefold and doubled the total-body vitamin A pool. The gain was similar at 7, 15 and 29 g of fat a day. In a trial in 110 dewormed Bangladeshi children aged 8 to 12, serum beta-carotene rose in every arm over 6 weeks, including a sweet pumpkin meal giving 1.5 mg a day. The pumpkin arm was not reported as its own number, and leafy greens with 4.4 mg gave the largest rise (0.44 micromol/L, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.55, against 0.20 in the control arm). USDA retention factors for baked vegetables keep 85% of vitamin C and folate and all of the potassium, iron and calcium. That row covers a whole vegetable group and pie is not in it, and it has no carotene figure at all. The EU did not authorize the claim that beta-carotene is an antioxidant that protects the body's cells, so pumpkin foods cannot carry it there. That means the evidence did not meet the bar when it was assessed. Who should be careful. Eating a lot of carrot, pumpkin and papaw can turn skin yellow. In 35 young children with that yellow tinge, serum carotenoids fell once those foods were stopped while vitamin A stayed stable, in an observational follow-up of 2 to 3 months with no control group. One 20-year-old woman in Japan with an eating disorder ate mostly pumpkin for 2 years, developed orange skin and abnormal liver tests, and later vitamin A poisoning after adding liver and laver. That is one case, and the liver counts as much as the pumpkin. We found nothing on pumpkin pie in pregnancy or with medicines. The pie also carries egg and dairy, and we have no card on those here.

Sources

1. ppie-daily-r7-01 · reference dataset
   Pie, pumpkin, fdc 2708011: Energy 249 KCAL | Total Sugars 24.55 G | Sodium, Na 252 MG | Fiber, total dietary 1.7 G per 100 g | 1 mini/small slice 75 g | 1 regular slice 150 g | 1 large slice 250 g | 1 regular pie (8-9 in dia) 1200 g
   USDA FNDDS, Pie pumpkin code 53347000 · checked 2026-09-29
2. ppie-daily-r7-02 · reference dataset
   Pie, pumpkin, fdc 2708011: Carotene, beta 2530 UG | Vitamin A, RAE 327 UG per 100 g | 1 mini/small slice 75 g | 1 regular slice 150 g | 1 large slice 250 g
   USDA FNDDS, Pie pumpkin code 53347000 · checked 2026-09-29
3. ppie-daily-r7-04 · RCT
   Similar increases in mean serum beta-carotene (5-fold), alpha-carotene (19-fold), and beta-cryptoxanthin (2-fold) concentrations; total-body vitamin A pool size (2-fold); and liver vitamin A (2-fold) concentrations were observed after 9 wk in the 3 study groups
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2007 · checked 2026-09-29
4. ppie-daily-r7-03 · nutrient retention factor dataset
   USDA-RETN-R6:3771 | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | VEG,OTHER,BAKED | vitamin_c_mg 85% | folate_total_ug 85% | thiamin_mg 90% | riboflavin_mg 95% | niacin_mg 95% | vitamin_b6_mg 95% | calcium_mg 100% | iron_mg 100% | magnesium_mg 100% | phosphorus_mg 100% | potassium_mg 100% | zinc_mg 100%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007) · checked 2026-09-29
5. ppie-daily-r7-06 · in vitro
   However, lutein displayed a significantly higher bioaccessibility compared to α-carotene and β-carotene in baked products (up to 10.28% compared to 1.22% and 0.88%, respectively).
   Food Chemistry, 2022 (Rosul et al.) · checked 2026-09-29
6. ppie-daily-r7-07 · longitudinal study
   Hypercarotenemic subjects (n = 35) were tested on reporting for a 2-month to 3-month period. ... Longitudinal studies indicated that serum carotenoid levels declined while vitamin A levels were maintained.
   Int J Food Sci Nutr, 2011 · checked 2026-09-29
7. ppie-daily-r7-08 · case report
   A 20-year-old Japanese woman had been eating pumpkin and only a very limited amount of other foods on a daily basis for 2 years. ... Aurantiasis cutis and abnormal liver function tests were noted by her family doctor in 1995 when she was 18 years old.
   J Hepatol, 1999 · checked 2026-09-29
8. ppie-daily-r7-09 · meta-analysis
   In a random-effects meta-analysis of all 31 trials, beta-carotene supplements were found to have no preventive effect on mortality (risk ratio 1.02, 95% confidence interval 0.98-1.05, I 2 = 42%).
   Front Med (Lausanne), 2022 · checked 2026-09-29
9. ppie-daily-r7-10 · regulatory decision
   POL-HC-6702 Beta-Carotene Is an antioxidant that protects the body’s cells. Can protect you from free radicals. Can protect your cells and tissues from oxidation. Can contribute to the total antioxidant capacity of the body. Protects the body's cells. Non-authorised
   EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6702, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29
10. ppie-daily-r7-05 · RCT
    (2) 1.5 mg beta-carotene from sweet pumpkin (n=36, 18 dropouts); ... Significant increases (P < 0.001) in mean serum beta-carotene concentrations were seen in all three study groups, with a statistically higher increase (micromol/l) in the DGLV group (0.44; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32, 0.55) compared to the control group (0.20; 95% CI 0.14, 0.26; P = 0.002).
    Eur J Clin Nutr, 2001 · checked 2026-09-29