Benefit for St Peters Degenerated Discs from Pumpkin Leaves
This time of year, 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 St Peters chiropractor’s ear…and without doubt to our St Peters back pain and neck pain patients’ ears, too!
THE DISC – Healthy and Degenerated
Many back pain treatment approaches focus on relieving the pain and returning function without a thought about how to slow the degenerative process and/or encourage regeneration. The intervertebral disc is made up of an inner core (nucleus pulposus) made of proteoglycans and a layered outer rim (annulus fibrosus) rich in collagen. Combined, these two act as a shock absorber and stabilizer for the spine. Treatment choices for the degenerated disc come from understanding the processes that lead to degeneration in order to help alleviate discogenic pain more effectively. (1) Your chiropractor studies these mechanisms a lot!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND CAROTENOIDS
It's well-known that pumpkin products and by-products (like leaves!) have 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 depends on a variety of factors, one being the extraction process. Functional foods are developed from carotenoids which are said to add significantly to the multiple health benefits of the foods. (2) Nutrition can plan a role in disc health. Let’s put our St Peters pumpkins and their by-products to work for us!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND COLLAGEN AND PROTEINS AND DISC CELLS
A unique way to put pumpkins to work for us is well explained in a recent study regarding how the leaves of pumpkins may help. The acetone extract from Violina pumpkin (curcurbita moshata) leaves induced 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 removed from degenerated disc tissues of spinal surgery patients. Markers noting the presence and activity of stem cells were significantly increased, too. This news excited the researchers to state that the hypothesis about how adequate stimuli can support resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thus sustained. The report overall concluded that data indicate that the breakthrough that molecules may effectively reduce disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin that most of us get rid of as waste – the leaves! (3) Old Mill Chiropractic bets you’ll look at the pumpkin leaves differently this season!
CONTACT Old Mill Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates how nutrition may decelerate and possibly stop degeneration and stimulate regeneration via ingredients like chondroitin sulfate based on years of research performed already and how nutrition combined with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management reduce and manage spine pain. We’ll keep watching the pumpkin leaves’ research as it evolves!
Schedule your St Peters chiropractic appointment soon to see us this pumpkin season!
