“Respect the pumpkin! Respect the pumpkin!” Poor
thing! The pumpkin wants to share its healthy gifts with us! What do we do? We cut the pumpkin into spooky, funny, silly images
for Halloween and puree it up for a Thanksgiving pie! Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center
is making light of the pumpkin’s plight and admits
to enjoying the pumpkin fun while also valuing
its edible, healthy aspects for our
Pensacola chiropractic patients who are being treated for back pain or neck pain and their supporting families.
RESPECT FOR THE NUTRITIOUS PUMPKIN
Appreciation for the pumpkin grows
and grows! The well recognized pumpkin or squash of the
cucurbita moschata species of fruits is hot tolerant and resistant
to insects and disease…as well as the essential 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 favorable 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 nutritious. (3) All this in the beautiful
fall fruit we cut into jack-o-lanterns enjoyed by young and old…including Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center and our Pensacola
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 increasingly more
molecular damage to cells in reaction to
oxidative stress from environmental, lifestyle, and disease factors.
A key to proper diet as we age is an appropriate
intake of antioxidants. The cucurbita fruits (types of pumpkin/squash)
are high in these antioxidants as well as in zinc and copper. Researchers
even proposed that these should be eaten daily! (5) Our aging cells would appreciate that! In
a study of extracted seed oils like pumpkin, melon, and black cumin,
researchers found a bunch of useful
cytoprotective – cell-protecting - properties related to preventing age-related diseases precipitated
by oxidative stress. (6) Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center is all about
protecting cells and the health of our Pensacola
chiropractic patients.
CONTACT Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes the importance of managing
inflammation as well as chiropractic spinal manipulation treatment with The Cox® Technic System of
Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Pensacola chiropractic
appointment soon. Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center appreciates
the pumpkin for all its nutritional value. And we still look
forward to the annual carving, decorating, and cooking!