Forget apple pie. it's pumpkin pie that has become the American tradition. And guess what? This confection of creamy pumpkin is actually good for you.

Pumpkin pie is wonderful, says Robin Vitetta, M.S., the author of numerous cookbooks and a contributing writer to Cooking Light magazine. It's loaded with beta carotene and vitamin C.

Beta carotene is a powerful antioxidant that researchers say may help protect you from certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. If you opt to use sweet potatoes or butternut squash as a substitute for the pumpkin in your pie, you're still in luck. As other orange vegetables, they, too, contain beta carotene.

A slice of pumpkin or sweet potato pie can provide the same amount of beta carotene as a carrot.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the typical pumpkin pie can be full of fat. However, you can reduce a fair amount of that fat and bake up a beautiful guilt-free pie by following these tips, Vitetta says:

Use evaporated skim milk or fat-free non-dairy creamers as substitutes for cream or condensed milk. (Some cooks even substitute firm silken tofu, which has the health benefits of soy.) These substitutes can save you about 90 percent of the fat.

Make a single-crusted pie, or make a lattice top by crisscrossing dough strips. Or, use a low-fat pie shell or one made with graham crackers.

Joan Hill, R.D., certified diabetes educator at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, says even diabetics at the holiday table should give themselves permission to indulge in a slice of pumpkin pie. Desserts typically used to be out, but now they're something people can fit into their meal plan, she says.

Hill says other ways she saves calories in pumpkin pie is to make a low-saturated fat pie crust using canola oil instead of shortening and to use a sugar substitute in mixing up the pumpkin filling.

OK, so you may cheat a little. Look at it this way. Eating pumpkin is still healthier than death by chocolate!