Montreal Peppermint Comes to the Aid of Cognition & Appetite Regulation!
Peppermint candy canes...don’t these just bring back childhood holiday memories?! Amazingly, peppermint is being shown in today’s research to in fact be good for memory and cognition (and appetite control). The whiff of peppermint pervades holiday décor, stockings, cocoa, and more! Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic hopes for a peppermint-filled holiday for our Montreal chiropractic patients that will make their journey to Montreal back pain relief and neck pain relief more pleasant!
PEPPERMINT, BRAIN, COGNITION
Researchers and healthcare professionals taking care of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment welcome effective, simple, safe-to-use-long-term therapies. Essential oils are potentially just such treatments. Essential oils are extracted from nature’s herbs of which there are many sources low in toxicity. Researchers offer that these perform by reducing the neurotoxicity of amyloid beta (Aβ), anti-oxidative stress, managing the cholinergic (the part of the nervous system that processes acetylcholine) system, and boosting neuroinflammation that involves microglia (brain and spinal cord immune cells). (1) In a mice experiment, researchers tested how smelling peppermint essential oil improved learning and memory ability as seen in hippocampal CA1 region neurons reverting back to normal and Aβ deposition falling among other changes that may enhance cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease. This experiment also inserted a new term – metabolomics, the study of chemical processes involving metabolites (small molecules). In this study, such metabolites involved were arginine, proline, inositol phosphate, cysteine, and methionine. (2) We at Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic found these quite interesting!
PEPPERMINT, BRAIN, APPETITE
Much like cognition and memory are linked to the brain, appetite is, too. Diseases like obesity, diabetes, anorexia, bulimia nervosa are a few diseases associated with appetite dysregulation. An assessment of published studies, many of which were studies done with mice, regarding essential oils or fragrant compounds that were said to control food intake and energy. Their findings: 11 essential oils and 22 fragrant compounds increased appetite; 12 essential oils and 7 fragrant compounds decreased appetite. How? Numerous processes engaging the sympathetic/parasympathetic nerves, leptin protein hormones, and more. They also stated that fragrance memory and cognitive processes may also play a role in appetite regulation. Nonetheless, they exposed hope for appetite regulation and eating disorders control using essential oils and fragrant compounds. (3) (We all realize that being a bit overweight isn’t good for us, particularly not for those of us with Montreal back pain even though Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic is very good at managing that!) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic would think our Montreal chiropractic patients may be more inclined to enjoy peppermint this holiday season!
CONTACT Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Rudy Kachmann, a neurosurgeon, on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates the connection between diabetes and back pain as well as a variety of other conditions like inflammation, back surgery, etc. He talks about the beneficial role chiropractic has in healthcare and back pain care. Dr. Kachmann has presented at conferences on The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Montreal chiropractic appointment soon. Want to share a peppermint candy cane at your next appointment?!
