“Respect the pumpkin! Respect the pumpkin!” Poor thing! The pumpkin wants to share its healthy gifts with us! What do we do? We carve it into scary, fun, silly images for Halloween and puree it up for a Thanksgiving pie! New Hampshire Spine and Sport is playing with the pumpkin’s quandry and admits to liking the pumpkin fun while also valuing its edible, healthy features for our Southern New Hampshire 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 commonly known pumpkin or squash of the cucurbita moschata species of fruits is insect-, disease-, and hot-tolerant…as well as the essential ingredient for great pumpkin pies! (1) Recognized for its being nutrient-dense and recipe-flexible, the pumpkin is said to be 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 enjoyed by young and old…including New Hampshire Spine and Sport and our Southern New Hampshire chiropractic families!
AGE MATTERS
Age is of importance in the pumpkin's and the human's lifespan! For the pumpkin, the mature stage of its ripening – versus the young and ripened stages – had the highest phenolic and flavonoid content (33 compounds!), the highest antioxidant activity, and the greatest antibacterial activity. (4) For the human, aging generates increasingly more molecular damage to cells in reaction to oxidative stress from 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 proposed that these should be consumed every day! (5) Our aging cells would appreciate that! In a study of extracted seed oils like pumpkin, melon, and black cumin, researchers discovered a cornucopia of beneficial cytoprotective – cell-protecting - properties linked to preventing age-related diseases triggered by oxidative stress. (6) New Hampshire Spine and Sport is all about protecting cells and the health of our Southern New Hampshire chiropractic patients.
CONTACT New Hampshire Spine and Sport
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates the importance of managing inflammation as well as chiropractic spinal manipulation treatment with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Southern New Hampshire chiropractic appointment today. New Hampshire Spine and Sport appreciates the pumpkin for all its nutritional value. And we still look forward to the annual carving, decorating, and baking!