Courgettes are mostly water and some carbohydrate, but they also contain vitamin C, folate and zinc. Zinc is a very important antioxidant and is required for lymphocyte development, essential fatty acid metabolism and maintaining and protecting the thymus. A deficiency of zinc is loss of taste and smell, poor appetite, recurrent ear infections and white spots on the nails. When my eldest was a toddler, his favourite snack was courgettes cut into rounds then lightly steamed. Now he loves them raw, cut in to sticks and he dips them into hummus.