“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, funny, silly looks
for Halloween and mash it up for a Thanksgiving pie! Johnson Chiropractic
is playing with the pumpkin’s plight and admits
to enjoying the pumpkin fun while also appreciating
its tasty, healthy aspects for our
Richmond chiropractic patients who are undergoing chiropractic care for back pain or neck pain and their supportive families.
RESPECT FOR THE NUTRITIOUS PUMPKIN
Respect for the pumpkin keeps growing! The commonly known pumpkin or squash of the
cucurbita moschata species of fruits is insect-, disease-, and hot-tolerant…as well as the most common ingredient for amazing
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 known 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 pretty
fall fruit we cut into jack-o-lanterns that young
and old alike enjoy…including Johnson Chiropractic and our Richmond
chiropractic families!
AGE MATTERS
Age counts in the pumpkin's and the human's lifespan! 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 highest
antioxidant activity, and the greatest antibacterial activity. (4)
For the human, aging generates increasingly more
molecular injury to cells in response to
oxidative stress due to environmental, lifestyle, and disease issues.
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 suggested 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 discovered a bunch of beneficial
cytoprotective – cell-protecting - properties related to the prevention
of age-related diseases brought on
by oxidative stress. (6) Johnson Chiropractic is in favor of
protecting cells and the well-being of our Richmond
chiropractic clients.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
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.
Make your Richmond chiropractic
appointment now. Johnson Chiropractic respects
the pumpkin for all its nutritional benefit. And we still look
forward to the annual cutting, decorating, and baking!