“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, silly looks
for Halloween and puree it up for a Thanksgiving pie! New Roads Chiropractic Center
is making light of the pumpkin’s plight and confesses
to enjoying the pumpkin fun while also valuing
its tasty, healthy features for our
New Roads chiropractic patients who are undergoing chiropractic care for back pain or neck pain and their supportive families.
RESPECT FOR THE HEALTHFUL PUMPKIN
Respect for the pumpkin keeps growing! The well recognized pumpkin or squash of the
cucurbita moschata species of fruits is insect-, disease-, and hot-tolerant…as well as the essential ingredient for tasty
pumpkin pies! (1) Recognized for its 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. A few of its most favorable functional
properties recognized today are wound healing, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory,
antioxidative, anti-ulcerative, spermatogenesis-enhancing, and more.
(2) The scent, flavor, and color qualities 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 pretty
fall fruit we cut into jack-o-lanterns that young
and old alike appreciate…including New Roads Chiropractic Center and our New Roads
chiropractic families!
AGE MATTERS
Age is of importance in the lifespan
of the pumpkin and the human! For the
pumpkin, the mature stage of its ripening – versus the
young and ripened stages – proved to have the greatest
phenolic and flavonoid content (33 compounds!), the greatest
antioxidant activity, and the greatest antibacterial activity. (4)
For the human, aging brings more and more
molecular harm to cells in response to
oxidative stress from environmental, lifestyle, and disease issues.
A key to proper diet as we age is an adequate
intake of antioxidants. The cucurbita fruits (varieties of pumpkin/squash)
are great in these antioxidants as well as in zinc and copper. Researchers
even suggested that these should be consumed daily! (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 the prevention
of age-related diseases precipitated
by oxidative stress. (6) New Roads Chiropractic Center is all about
protecting cells and the health of our New Roads
chiropractic patients.
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates the importance of controlling
inflammation as well as chiropractic spinal manipulation treatment with The Cox® Technic System of
Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your New Roads chiropractic
appointment soon. New Roads Chiropractic Center appreciates
the pumpkin for all its nutritional benefit. And we still anticipate the annual carving, decorating, and cooking!