Benefit for San Jose Degenerated Discs from Pumpkin Leaves

This time of year, pumpkins are all over the place! 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 encourage regeneration. That is news to your San Jose chiropractor’s ear…and surely to our San Jose back pain and neck pain patients’ ears, too!

THE DISC – Healthy and Degenerated

Many back pain treatment approaches focus on easing the pain and returning function without a thought about how to reduce the speed of the degenerative process and/or promote regeneration. The intervertebral disc is made up of 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 in order to help alleviate discogenic pain more effectively. (1) Your chiropractor reads about these mechanisms a lot!

PUMPKIN LEAVES AND CAROTENOIDS

It's recognized 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 types. The total content of carotenoids depends on several factors, one being the extraction process. Functional foods are advanced from carotenoids which are said to add significantly to the many health benefits of the foods. (2) Nutrition can plan a role in disc health. Let’s put our San Jose pumpkins and their by-products to work for us!

PUMPKIN LEAVES AND COLLAGEN AND PROTEINS AND DISC CELLS

One way to put pumpkins to work for us is well explained in a recent study regarding how the leaves of pumpkins may help. The acetone extract from Violina pumpkin (curcurbita moshata) leaves provoked 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 noting the presence and activity of stem cells were significantly higher as well. This news excited the researchers to state that the hypothesis about how enough stimuli can support resident cells to repopulate the degenerated discs was thus reinforced. The report overall determined that data indicate that the breakthrough that molecules may effectively slow disc degeneration using a part of the pumpkin that most of us throw in the trash as waste – the leaves! (3) Chiropractic Solutions thinks you will 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 done already and how nutrition combined with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management reduce and control spine pain. We’ll keep watching the pumpkin leaves’ research as it evolves!

Schedule your San Jose chiropractic appointment now to visit us this pumpkin season!