Every year around this time, pumpkins
are everywhere! We enjoy them for décor, but
they offer so much more! News of late highlights
the benefits of their leaves to slow disc degeneration
and even possibly encourage regeneration. That’s news
to your Carrolltown chiropractor’s ear…and without doubt to
our Carrolltown back pain and neck pain patients’ ears, too!
THE DISC – Healthy and Degenerated
Most treatments of
back pain focus on easing the pain and returning function
without a thought about how
to reduce the speed of the degenerative process and/or promote
regeneration. The intervertebral disc has an inner core
(nucleus pulposus) made of proteoglycans and a layered outer rim (annulus
fibrosus) rich in collagen. Combined, these two work
as a shock absorber and stabilizer for the spine. Treatment options
for the degenerated disc come from being aware of the
processes that lead to degeneration in order to
help alleviate discogenic pain more effectively. (1) Your
chiropractor probes these mechanisms all
the time!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND CAROTENOIDS
It's recognized that pumpkin products and
by-products (like leaves!) contain major carotenoids - β-carotene, α-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin – with β-carotene
being the main one in most pumpkin types. The
total content of carotenoids rests on a variety of
factors, one being the extraction process. Functional
foods are advanced from carotenoids which are said to add
significantly to the many health benefits of the foods.
(2) Nutrition can plan a role in disc health. Let’s put our Carrolltown pumpkins and their by-products to work
for us!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND COLLAGEN AND PROTEINS AND DISC CELLS
One way to put pumpkins to work for us is described in a recent study about how
the leaves of pumpkins may help. The acetone extract from Violina pumpkin
(curcurbita moshata) leaves generated a significant
increase in extracellular matrix components like aggrecan and collagen
type II as well as other proteins and stress
response regulators in the degenerated intervertebral disc cells taken
from degenerated disc tissues of spinal surgery patients. Markers noting
the presence and activity of stem cells were significantly higher as well. This news excited the researchers to declare
that the hypothesis about how enough stimuli can support
resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thereby sustained.
The report overall determined that data point
to the discovery of molecules that may
effectively slow disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin
that most of us get rid of as waste – the
leaves! (3) Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation bets you will look at the
pumpkin leaves differently this season!
CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates how nutrition may slow and possibly
avert degeneration and stimulate regeneration via ingredients
like chondroitin sulfate based on years of research performed
already and how nutrition in combination with The Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management decrease and control
spine pain. We’ll keep watching the pumpkin leaves’ research as it evolves!
Make your Carrolltown chiropractic appointment
soon to visit us this pumpkin season!
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the
DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by
Dr. James M. Cox I."