“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, funny, goofy images
for Halloween and puree it up for a Thanksgiving pie! Pflugerville Wellness Center
is making light of the pumpkin’s quandry and confesses
to enjoying the pumpkin fun while also appreciating
its tasty, healthy features for our
Pflugerville chiropractic patients who are being treated for back pain or neck pain and their supportive families.
RESPECT FOR THE NUTRITIOUS PUMPKIN
Appreciation for the pumpkin keeps growing! 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 most common ingredient for tasty
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. Some 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 healthful. (3) All this in the beautiful
fall fruit we cut into jack-o-lanterns that young
and old alike enjoy…including Pflugerville Wellness Center and our Pflugerville
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 greatest
antioxidant activity, and the highest antibacterial activity. (4)
For the human, aging brings more and more
molecular damage to cells in response to
oxidative stress from environmental, lifestyle, and disease factors.
A key to proper diet as we age is an adequate
intake of antioxidants. The cucurbita fruits (varieties of pumpkin/squash)
are high in these antioxidants as well as in zinc and copper. Researchers
even suggested that these should be consumed daily! (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 useful
cytoprotective – cell-protecting - properties related to preventing age-related diseases triggered
by oxidative stress. (6) Pflugerville Wellness Center is in favor of
protecting cells and the well-being of our Pflugerville
chiropractic patients.
CONTACT Pflugerville Wellness Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes the importance of containing
inflammation as well as chiropractic spinal manipulation treatment with The Cox® Technic System of
Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Pflugerville chiropractic
appointment now. Pflugerville Wellness Center respects
the pumpkin for all its nutritional benefit. And we still anticipate the annual carving, decorating, and cooking!