“Respect the pumpkin! Respect the pumpkin!” Pitiful
thing! The pumpkin wants to share its healthy gifts with us! What do we do? We carve
it into scary, fun, goofy images
for Halloween and mash it up for a Thanksgiving pie! Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation
is playing with the pumpkin’s quandry and confesses
to enjoying the pumpkin fun while also appreciating
its edible, healthy aspects for our
Carrolltown chiropractic patients who are undergoing chiropractic care for back pain or neck pain and their supportive families.
RESPECT FOR THE HEALTHFUL PUMPKIN
Appreciation for the pumpkin grows
and grows! The well recognized pumpkin or squash of the
cucurbita moschata species of fruits is insect-, disease-, and hot-tolerant…as well as the most common ingredient for tasty
pumpkin pies! (1) Well-known for being nutrient-full
and recipe-flexible, the pumpkin is described as a potent
source of proteins, metabolites, carbohydrates, monounsaturated fatty acids,
polyunsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols, carotenoids, tryptophans, sterols, and
more. Some of its most promising functional
properties recognized today are wound healing, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory,
antioxidative, anti-ulcerative, spermatogenesis-enhancing, and more.
(2) The scent, flavor, and color traits of the pumpkin
- terpenoids (oxygen-containing metabolites that contribute to aromatic scent
and flavor and even color) and carotenoids (tetraterpenoids responsible for
color) - are quite healthful. (3) All this in the beautiful
fall fruit we cut into jack-o-lanterns that young
and old alike enjoy…including Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation and our Carrolltown
chiropractic families!
AGE MATTERS
Age counts in the pumpkin's and the human's lifespan! For the
pumpkin, the mature stage of its ripening – as opposed to the
young and ripened stages – proved to have the greatest
phenolic and flavonoid content (33 compounds!), the highest
antioxidant activity, and the highest antibacterial activity. (4)
For the human, aging brings more and more
molecular damage to cells in response to
oxidative stress due to environmental, lifestyle, and disease factors.
A key to proper diet as we age is an adequate
intake of antioxidants. The cucurbita fruits (varieties of pumpkin/squash)
are high in these antioxidants as well as in zinc and copper. Researchers
even proposed that these should be consumed every
day! (5) Our aging cells would appreciate that! In
a study of extracted seed oils like pumpkin, melon, and black cumin,
researchers found a treasure trove of beneficial
cytoprotective – cell-protecting - properties linked to preventing age-related diseases triggered
by oxidative stress. (6) Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation is in favor of
protecting cells and the well-being of our Carrolltown
chiropractic clients.
CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates the importance of managing
inflammation as well as chiropractic spinal manipulation treatment with The Cox® Technic System of
Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Carrolltown chiropractic
appointment now. Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation respects
the pumpkin for all its nutritional value. And we still anticipate the annual cutting, decorating, and baking!