Benefit for San Jose Degenerated Discs from Pumpkin Leaves
Every year around this time, pumpkins are everywhere! We like them for décor, but they offer so much more! News of late focuses on the benefits of their leaves to reduce the speed of disc degeneration and even possibly support regeneration. That is news to your San Jose chiropractor’s ear…and without doubt to our San Jose back pain and neck pain patients’ ears, too!
THE DISC – Healthy and Degenerated
Most treatments of back pain focus on relieving the pain and returning function without consideringa way 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 choices for the degenerated disc come from understanding the processes that precede degeneration so as to help relieve 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 foremost one in most pumpkin varieties. The total content of carotenoids rests on many factors, one being the extraction procedure. Functional foods are advanced from carotenoids which are said to add significantly to the numerous health benefits of the foods. (2) Nutrition can plan a role in disc health. Pumpkin and its by-products shouldn’t just be thrown away!
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 induced a significant increase in extracellular matrix components like aggrecan and collagen type II in addition to other proteins and stress response regulators in the degenerated intervertebral disc cells taken from degenerated disc tissues of spinal surgery patients. Markers indicating the presence and activity of stem cells were significantly increased, too. This news motivated the researchers to state that the hypothesis about how adequate stimuli can support resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thereby reinforced. The report overall determined that data point to the discovery of molecules that may effectively reduce disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin that most of us get rid of as waste – the leaves! (3) Chiropractic Solutions bets you’ll look at the pumpkin leaves differently this season!
CONTACT Chiropractic Solutions
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how nutrition may slow 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!
Make your San Jose chiropractic appointment today to visit us this pumpkin season!
