Benefit for McHenry Degenerated Discs from Pumpkin Leaves
This time of year, pumpkins are everywhere! We like them for décor, but they offer so much more! Recent news focuses on the benefits of their leaves to reduce the speed of disc degeneration and even possibly encourage regeneration. That is news to your McHenry chiropractor’s ear…and surely to our McHenry 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 consideringa way to reduce the speed of the degenerative process and/or encourage 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 options for the degenerated disc come from understanding the processes that lead to degeneration so as to help ease discogenic pain more effectively. (1) Your chiropractor probes these mechanisms a lot!
PUMPKIN LEAVES AND CAROTENOIDS
It's well-known that pumpkin products and by-products (like leaves!) contain 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 rests on many factors, one is the extraction procedure. Functional foods are advanced 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. Pumpkin and its by-products shouldn’t just be thrown away!
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 about how the leaves of pumpkins may help. The acetone extract from Violina pumpkin (curcurbita moshata) leaves generated a significant rise 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 as well. This news excited the researchers to declare that the hypothesis about how adequate stimuli can support resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thus sustained. The report overall determined that data point to the breakthrough that molecules may effectively slow disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin that most of us get rid of as waste – the leaves! (3) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic thinks you’ll look at the pumpkin leaves differently this season!
CONTACT OrthoIllinois 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 avert 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 decrease and manage spine pain. We’ll keep watching the pumpkin leaves’ research as it evolves!
Make your McHenry chiropractic appointment soon to see us this pumpkin season!
