Benefits Of Pumpkin Seed Oil For Skin And Hair

Pumpkin seeds make an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and beta-carotene. Its very fine oil functions well in many applications as a health and beauty aid, food, medicine, and supplement.

In this article, we will explore the history of pumpkin seed oil (PSO) and explain why adding it to your daily health, fitness, and personal care routine serves as a good idea. Read on to learn more about the benefits of pumpkin seeds and its essential oils.

anti bacterial pumpkin seed oil, seeds and pumpkin

Can You Get PSO From Any Pumpkin Seeds?

Not all pumpkin seeds produce this marvelous oil. The specific pumpkin used for this purpose is the Styrian pumpkin (aka: Cucurbita Pepo). This smallish pumpkin shows an attractive green, ochre striped skin, and fairly soft, deep yellow flesh.

Its seeds are dark and plump and without shells, so it is easy to press the oil from them. These seeds are just chock full of nutrition. They boast high doses of vitamins A, C and E, as well as Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, beta-carotene, amino acids, lysine, tryptophan, zinc and much more.

The oil pressed from these seeds contains an interesting characteristic known as dichromatism. This makes it appear with two different colors depending upon the depth of the oil. A thin layer of PSO appears to be greenish or yellowish; however, a thick layer will appear to be red. The reasons for this quality are nicely explained in this interesting video.

The rare property of pumpkin seed oil – dichromatism

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The Styrian pumpkin originally hailed from the “New World” and Christopher Columbus brought it back to Europe. The people of Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, and Croatia enjoy its tasty, healthful seeds as a snack, addition to cereals, baked goods, and other dishes ever since.

The seeds look unusual as they look dark, plump, and no hull. They resemble very large watermelon seeds.

You can find lighter colored seeds in many stores. However, they do not contain the same nutritional value as dark seeds and do not produce the same high quality of oil. After harvesting, farmers retain the largest, plumpest, and darkest seeds, and plant them for next year’s harvest.

You can get PSO oil from this: Vivapura Organic Raw Styrian Pumpkin Seeds.

The Styrian pumpkin started growing in southeastern Austria farms since the very late 1600s. Locals cherished it for its health, beauty and culinary value. For a time, they only used the seed oil for medicinal uses by decree of the Austrian Empress, Maria Theresa. In March of 1773, she issued an edict stipulating exclusive production and selling of Styrian by apothecaries as medicine as it’s too precious to become a food product.

Styrian pumpkin, also known for its Latin name Cucurbita pepo. Its oil may be referred to as:

  • Pumpkin Seed Oil (PSO)
  • Calabaza Seed Oil
  • Green Gold Oil
  • Pepo Oil

We use these terms interchangeably throughout this guide.

To produce high quality Styrian Cucurbita Pepo oil, manufacturers roast its dark and plump seeds before cold-pressing. The resulting oil comes perfect for use in homemade personal care products such as lotions, creams, soaps, and more.

Pumpkin seed oil also makes an excellent addition to any kitchen due to ease of use as a flavorful oil in a wide variety of dishes. You don’t need the skills of a chef to use it as you can just drizzle it over salads and rice. It also tastes great on desserts such as ice cream for a satisfying, nutty flavor, and an effective nutrition boost. Don’t use it as a cooking oil as heating or browning it tends to reduce its nutritional value.

Watch this charming video that provides a complete history of the Styrian pumpkin and its importance in Austria.

The Green Gold – P.G.I. Pumpkin Seed Oil of Styria, Austria

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The Properties & Qualities Of Styrian Pepo Oil

Pure natural “green-gold oil” varies in shade from light yellow through shades of green to deep reddish brown. The color comes from chlorophyll. It always carry along a delicious nutty scent, and a smooth, light texture.

The PSO holds a fairly short shelf life if not refrigerated. You can store it in a cool, dark place for about 6 months. You can further extend its shelf life by keeping it in the fridge.

The oil possess a low comedogenic rating of 2, which means it may clog pores. Nonetheless, it makes an effective acne treatment agent when used in combination with light oils, such as jojoba or sunflower seed oil.

Because of its high nutrient value, along with its powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-fungal, and antibacterial properties, PSO delivers a wealth of benefits to skin, hair and nails when applied topically. It contributes greatly to overall good health when added to the diet and taken as a supplement.

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Below includes the components of pure Calabaza Seed Oil from Austria:

  • Omega 6 fatty acids
  • Omega 3 fatty acids
  • Arachidic acid
  • Beta-carotene
  • Linoleic acid
  • Myristic acid
  • Palmitic acid
  • Stearic acid
  • Zeaxanthin
  • Phytosterols
  • Tryptophan
  • Folic acid
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  • Phosphorus
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin K
  • Oleic acid
  • Vitamin B
  • Magnesium
  • Manganese
  • Selenium
  • Copper
  • Lysine
  • Zinc
  • Iron

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Pumpkin Seed Oil For Skin And Hair

The Anti-Aging Properties of PSO

With bountiful amounts of essential fatty acids, antioxidants and nutrients, pumpkin seed oil makes a perfect choice for care of mature skin. Its high vitamin E content nourishes and heals the skin, and the light easily absorbed oil provides excellent hydration. Used both topically and as a supplement, pepo oil helps promote healthier, younger-looking skin.

The Moisturizing Properties of PSO

The light, smooth texture of PSO gets easily absorbed by all skin types. It provides hydration and nourishment to dry skin, damaged skin, acne-prone skin, and to those suffering from chronic skin conditions.

The Wound-Healing Properties of PSO

Applied topically and taken as a supplement or addition to your diet, PSO can help wounds heal faster. Its rich vitamin K content helps blood clot effectively, thereby helping wounds to heal more quickly. PSO also helps prevent skin lesions caused by inflammatory, chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Add it to your diet, infuse your personal care products with it, and apply it full strength to injuries, abrasions, and scars to promote faster and more effective healing.

The Skin Toning Properties Of PSO

The high vitamin content of pumpkin seed oil effectively improves the suppleness of the skin and evens the pigmentation. Vitamin C comes especially helpful in brightening and lightening skin tone, and all of the vitamins contained in this nourishing oil effectively promote the production of healthy skin cells. If you got a patchy skin tone or you got “ashy” skin, add pepo oil to your daily diet and add it to your skincare routine. Consistent use will bring about positive improvements.

Skin Renewing Properties Of PSO

Adding pumpkin seed oil to your personal care products and your daily diet will help encourage skin cell turnover. This means that your body will slough off old, dead skin cells and replace them with new, vibrant ones more frequently and more efficiently.

How Does Pumpkin Seed Oil Benefit Hair?

For hair care and general hair health, PSO works great for both topical applications and as a nutritional supplement. Its high folic acid and vitamin B content promotes healthy hair, skin, and nails. As a scalp treatment, it helps cleanse, protect and hydrate hair follicles, and it promotes shine as a hair tonic. Also, PSO gives awesome benefits for conditioning and healing over-processed hair.

Men having problems with hair loss caused by male pattern baldness can exploit the benefits of green-gold oil. This oil works effectively in inhibiting the enzyme and 5-alpha reductase which slows hair growth by engaging testosterone to produce DHT.

In 2014, the publication known as “Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine” published results of a clinical study which concluded that consistent use of 400 mg of PSO as a dietary supplement consumed twice daily for a period of 6 months helped men suffering from androgenetic alopecia to increase hair count by 40%. [source]

Experts also found calabaza seed oil effective against central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA), a condition which frequently affects African American women. It shows as repetitive hair loss that manifests as itching, inflammation, and irritation at the crown of the head. Moreover, rapid hair loss will set in a circular pattern emanating at the crown and spreading outwards until the patient becomes totally bald. This pattern repeats itself in a cyclical manner. [source]

Doctors prescribe anti-inflammatory medications to treat this condition. Anecdotal evidence shows that the natural anti-inflammatory effects of calabaza seed oil brings a powerful and positive affect on this painful and aggravating condition. Researchers found both topical treatment and nutritional supplementation with PSO to help soothe the inflammation and irritation and promote lasting hair re-growth and scalp healing.

How Does Pumpkin Seed Oil Compare With Prescription Hair Growth Products?

Male pattern baldness, also known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA), comes as a very common problem among men of a wide variety of ages. In fact, it affects about fifty-million men in the United States. This type of baldness usually begins at the hairline and works its way back to the crown leaving a bald pate with a fringe of hair around the sides and back of the head. [source]

There is a very strong genetic component associated with AGA which involves production levels of the androgen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT). When DHT levels increase in the body, testosterone levels decrease and this can lead to hair loss and the stoppage of new hair growth.

In recent years, scientists developed pharmaceutical treatments for AGA. They include Finasteride (aka: Proscar or Propecia) and Minoxidil (aka: Rogaine). Finasteride works as an oral medication that binds to the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone into DHT. Minoxidil is a topical application that works by stimulating the hair follicles.

Like all prescription pharmaceutical solutions, these medications can have serious side effects and come with a high price tag. While both are somewhat effective, they take quite a while to work and should not be used on a regular, ongoing basis.

By contrast, Austrian green-gold oil is completely safe, easy to come by, inexpensive and entirely beneficial. It has been clinically proven effective against male pattern baldness and has been used to combat hair loss of all types for centuries.

You certainly have nothing to lose by giving PSO a try (both as an oral supplement and as a topical treatment) before embarking on a course of prescription drugs. Even if you don’t get the hair growth results you hoped for, you will still get benefits when you add this nourishing, healing substance to your daily nutrition, health, and personal care routines.

How Do You Use Pumpkin Seed Oil For Hair & Scalp?

Because of its powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties, calabaza seed oil makes a valuable tool in keeping your scalp clean and healthy and your hair follicles unclogged. Regular use and regular consumption as a supplement and a food can only lead to better overall health and improved condition of skin, hair and nails. [source]

Not only will PSO help you grow more hair, it will improve the condition of the hair you have. Below includes a few easy tips to help you reap the most benefits for your scalp and hair.

  1. Deep condition scalp and hair once or twice a month. For deep hair and scalp conditioning add pepo oil to a carrier oil that is appropriate for your hair type at a rate of 6 drops per ounce. Unless you have very long hair, an ounce should be plenty. You needn’t have oil dripping from your hair. Massage the oil into your scalp and comb it through your hair. Put on a shower cap or wrap your hair in plastic wrap and leave the oil in place for half an hour or so.
  2. Wash as usual. If you feel concerned about getting excess oil in your shower stall or drain, “dry shampoo” your hair with cornstarch before washing with water. To do this, just sprinkle a bit of cornstarch over your oily hair and distribute it evenly with your fingertips. Allow it to sit for about 5 minutes and then comb it out. Your hair will still be somewhat oily, but the cornstarch will absorb quite a bit of the excess.
  3. Shampoo once or twice a week. Add PSO to your shampoo at a rate of 6 drops per ounce and smooth a few drops onto your damp hair after washing as an effective leave-in conditioner that calms frizz and adds shine. Take care not to shampoo too often. The western habit of shampooing daily is really counterproductive to healthy hair growth and maintenance. Kick that habit and reduce shampooing to once or twice weekly instead.
  4. Take your vitamins and your green-gold oil! To be sure of getting enough PSO daily to really benefit your hair, purchase gel caps to take with your regular multi-vitamin every day. Be sure to look for supplements that are pure, organic, expeller-pressed, unrefined calabaza seed oil. You can take up to 2000 milligrams every day. Remember to store all your supplements in a cool, dark place to retain maximum effectiveness.
  5. Keep a bottle of delicious Austrian green-gold oil in your fridge. Learn about the many ways you can add PSO to all sorts of dishes for a delicious, nutty zing. Add it to your smoothies, pour it over ice cream, make salad dressings, top off meat dishes and more.

Oil Rinsing: Using Pumpkin Seed Oil

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What Are The Skin Benefits Of Pumpkin Seed Oil?

As a topical skin care oil, light, non-greasy PSO absorbs quickly and helps heal damaged, cracked, dry and flaky skin. It hydrates the skin and holds in existing moisture to plump up wrinkles and fine lines. When used regularly for oil cleansing, it can help reduce bacteria on acne-prone skin to prevent breakouts, heal blemishes and reduce scarring.

Because calabaza seed oil is so very rich in vitamins, fatty acids, antioxidants, minerals and more, it serves as a powerhouse when it comes to moisturizing, healing, combating free radicals and providing effective anti-aging benefits. Its powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties make it a good choice as an ingredient in oil cleansing for acne. Added to coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) it makes a fine component in stretch mark and scar treatments.

How To Use PSO For Skin Care

You can use pepo oil as a main oil in a wide variety of homemade personal care products such as soaps, lotions, creams and scrubs. Watch this interesting video demonstrating how easy can you make a simple, 2-ingredient green-gold oil and baking soda facial scrub.

Pumpkin Seed Oil Face Scrub

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You can also use it as you an essential oil in preparations such as hot oil treatments for hair and scalp or in oil cleansing. Using it in large amounts for these types of preparations would overkill the process.

When using calabaza seed oil as an essential oil mixed with a carrier in a hot oil application, do not to heat the PSO. Instead, heat the carrier oil on its own and add green-coldoil at a rate of six drops per ounce to the heated oil. Always be careful not to heat oil for personal care use excessively. Burning yourself is counterproductive to good skin care!

Pumpkin Seed Oil Skin Care Recipes & Tips

Below lists a few simple recipes and ideas you can use to make the most of PSO for skin care.

Pumpkin Seed Oil Cleansing

The idea behind oil cleansing is to clean your skin gently with organic oil instead of using harsh, oil stripping cleansers and water. Even though it might seem this would make your skin more oily, it actually does the opposite. When you keep your skin cleaned and well-moisturized with an organic oil, it will be less likely to produce excess oil on its own. Oil cleansing softens and removes oil plugs from your pores and helps prevent blackheads, white heads and pimples.

To clean your face with oil, you would simply pour a small amount of the oil of your choosing into the palm of your hand, rub your palms together and massage the oil into your face and neck. Massage well for several minutes to stimulate good blood circulation.

Soak a face towel in hot water and lay it over your face and neck for a few minutes. When it cools, rinse it in hot water again and wipe the oil off your face and neck gently. Finish up with a splash of warm water followed by a splash of cool water.

When using pepo oil for oil cleansing, treat it as an essential oil. Select an appropriate carrier oil, such as jojoba oil or sunflower seed oil (both light non-comedogenic oils) and add pumpkin seed oil at a rate of about a half-dozen drops per ounce. If measuring into the palm of your hand, you can estimate that your palm holds about a teaspoonful of carrier oil. Add 3 or 4 drops of pepo oil.

Make A Face Mask With PSO

When you give your hair a hot oil treatment, you can also treat yourself to a homemade pumpkin seed oil face mask. This is an excellent opportunity to put your feet up, rest, relax and rejuvenate.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Half a teaspoonful of jojoba oil or sunflower seed oil
  • About 3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree
  • A tablespoonful of plain yogurt
  • A tablespoonful of raw honey

Here’s what you’ll do:

  1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl and stir thoroughly. Use a fork to ensure that the ingredients are well-mixed.
  2. Smooth the mixture over your face avoiding the eye area. You may wish to put a little pure pepo oil around your eyes before applying the mask to give that area some extra moisturizing treatment. If you find calabaza seed oil a little irritating around the eyes, use plain vitamin E oil or some other very mild oil. Placing used, chilled chamomile tea bags over the eyes is also very soothing.
  3. Rest and relax for 15 or 20 minutes and then rinse your face with warm water followed by cool water. If you are applying this mask while applying a PSO oil treatment to your hair, naturally, you would just hop in the shower to rinse the mask off. Remember to finish up with cool water for both hair and face because this tones the skin and smoothes the hair.
  4. No matter what your skin type, you will see improvements from regular use (once or twice weekly) of this mask. Its nourishing ingredients work equally well to help improve skin tone, prevent breakouts on acne prone skin and reduce wrinkles. Try this Piping Rock Virgin Pumpkin Seed Oil Cold Pressed 100% Pure 16 fl oz.
  5. Take a PSO bath. For all-over moisturizing of skin, hair, and nails add a teaspoonful of Austrian green-gold oil to a comfortably warm bath and take a nice, relaxing soak. It’s a good idea to shower first so that you can finish up with your soak without using soap or shampoo while bathing. Just soak for half an hour or so and dunk your head under the water to distribute PSO evenly over your skin and hair. Pat your skin dry afterward, and wrap your hair in a warm towel to soak up excess water. This is a great all-over, bedtime treatment.
  6. Add a few drops to your makeup and/or apply a few drops directly to your skin before applying makeup to moisturize, even out skin tone and attain a smooth, luminous finish.
  7. Remove eye makeup and grow great lashes! Try using pumpkin seed oil as an eye makeup remover. It is less messy and easier to use than castor oil and provides the same eyelash growth stimulating properties as this classic standby.
  8. Nourish sparse eyebrows. Like castor oil, pepo oil can be very effective in encouraging sparse eyebrows to grow. Remove eyebrow pencil with PSO and massage the oil into the brow area to promote blood circulation and encourage new hair to grow. Because this oil is light, non-sticky and fast absorbing, it is a better choice for use at bedtime than castor oil.
  9. Treat cold sores and blemishes. Use a cotton swab to dab a bit of pure PSO onto cold-sores or blemishes several times daily to ease inflammation and accelerate healing. This treatment is especially effective at bedtime.

Culinary Uses For Pumpkin Seed Oil

You can easily add PSO supplements to your everyday vitamin routine, but that shouldn’t stop you from also enjoying it at your dinner table. Try these easy, fun ways to add this nourishing taste treat to each and every meal. A few dishes to get you started on this:

Simple Styrian Style Pumpkin Soup

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A large Dutch oven or similar cooking pot
  • A couple of tablespoons of stable cooking oil (e.g. coconut)
  • One medium onion – diced
  • One medium Styrian pumpkin – peeled and chopped into chunks
  • Pure, filtered water
  • Three tablespoons of white wine or white wine vinegar
  • One heaping teaspoonful each of curry powder and chili powder
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Five tablespoons of PSO
  • Roasted pumpkin seeds

Here’s what you’ll do:

  1. Place your cooking pot over low/medium heat and add your cooking oil. While it is warming, dice your onions and chop your pumpkin. If you are a slow dicer and chopper, do this in advance.
  2. Sauté the onions in the warmed oil for about 3 minutes and then add the chopped pumpkin. Cover the pot and let it cook for 5-7 minutes.
  3. Remove the lid, stir, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes longer. Test the pumpkin with a fork to see if it is “fork-tender”. If it’s still hard, stir and cook covered for another 5-7 minutes. When the onions and pumpkin are soft and slightly browned, you can proceed to the next step.
  4. Add enough pure, filtered water to just cover the pumpkin chunks. Replace the lid and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes or until the pumpkin is easy to mash. Remove the pot from the heat and add the spices and vinegar or wine. Mash the mixture thoroughly with a potato masher.
  5. Add the calabaza seed oil and blend the mixture with a hand-held blender or mixer.
  6. Dish out into shallow soup plates and drizzle with a little green-gold oil. Sprinkle with whole, roasted pumpkin seeds and serve. Makes approximately 4 helpings.

Note that Styrian pumpkins are not always available in the US and other non-Austrian parts of the world. You may be more likely to find them at health food stores. Additionally, they sometimes make an appearance at supermarkets as ornamental pumpkins in the autumn.

If you cannot find a Styrian pumpkin, make a smart substitution with a pie pumpkin or acorn squash. Don’t use a jack-o-lantern pumpkin as they are not especially tasty. Do be sure to use authentic Styrian pumpkin seed oil and Styrian pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Seed Oil Salad Dressing

Make a simple oil and vinegar salad dressing using two parts apple cider vinegar (ACV) and one part PSO. Add salt and spices to taste if you wish. This make a great dressing for any salad, but it is especially fine for chef salads and others that include meat and eggs.

Choose Pumpkin Seed Oil Supplements Wisely

Although supplements made with authentic oil straight from Austria is the very best, a product offered by a well-trusted and established non-Austrian supplements manufacturer can easily be just as satisfactory if the supplement company correctly sources its oil.

Sometimes, you can save quite a bit of money by purchasing from an established company in your own country that has been able to obtain lower prices on raw materials by purchasing in bulk.

When purchasing gel caps, read the label carefully. Avoid formulations that have unnatural additives and preservatives. Make sure the materials used to great the capsule are organic and vegan safe (if that is a consideration for you).

Prices for liquid oil and for gel caps can vary quite a bit. As long as you do your homework and find a brand that satisfies all your requirements, you are sure to be a satisfied customer.

How & Where To Buy Pumpkin Seed Oil

When shopping for calabaza seed oil in liquid or gel cap form be sure to get the genuine article. You should look for Austrian pumpkin seed oil that originally comes from natural, family-run farms.

While it makes an important thing to look for organic labeling, you should know using pesticides on Styrian pumpkins happen rarely because the vines grow so quickly and rampantly. Due to this, it becomes difficult for the farmers to get into the fields to apply pesticides and other products.

As an alternative, they simply sow the biggest, darkest, plumpest seeds into organically enriched earth. They stand and wait to see what will happen next. With good rainfall and plenty of sun, harvesting comes as the next step.

Finding an Austrian green-gold oil made from genetically modified plants comes as a very hard task. The Styrian pumpkin is a traditional and revered heritage plant. Austrian manufacturers of green-gold oil strive far more for authenticity than mass production.

As with all sensitive, natural oils, only purchase the cold pressed ones. Use of heat or chemicals to express the oil from the seeds would damage the oil and detract from its natural benefits.

As with pesticides and GMOs, this point is of little concern if you buy genuine Austrian PSO made from Styrian pumpkin seeds. The fact that the seeds do not contain shells makes it easy to express the oil without the use of harsh chemicals or heat, and cold pressing is the traditional method.

When looking for oil for culinary purposes, seek out the darker oils as they have the richest, nuttiest flavor such as this Flora Certified Organic Pumpkin Seed Oil.

Remember that pepo oil can go rancid if stored improperly, so keeping your gel caps and your liquid oil in the refrigerator is always a good idea. Even so, it’s a good idea to use up your product within 6 months as it can lose aroma and flavor if stored for a very long time. [source]

What Are the Health Benefits Of Pumpkin Seed Oil?

PSO is a great tonic for overall glowing, good health. The conditions it has been proven clinically or anecdotally to benefit are many and varied. Among them are:

  • Arthritis & Other Inflammatory Conditions
  • Benign Hypertrophic Prostate (BHP)
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  • Internal Parasite Infestation
  • High Cholesterol Levels
  • Poor Blood Circulation
  • Macular Degeneration
  • Erectile Dysfunction
  • Eczema & Psoriasis
  • Brittle, Weak Nails
  • Arteriosclerosis
  • Kidney Stones
  • Brittle Bones
  • Depression
  • Cataracts
  • Hair Loss
  • Diabetes
  • Acne

One of the most important beneficial qualities of PSO is its anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is the basis of all pain and illness, and the abundant phytosterols found in PSO help soothe and heal a wide variety of ills.

The zeaxanthin found in this healthful oil promotes eye health. It ifights off the development of cataracts and such serious vision problems as macular degeneration.

7 Ways Pumpkin Seed Oil Supports Your Health

Minerals

Plants pull minerals from the soil, and this makes them a very good source of minerals for people and animals. Pumpkins, their seeds and the oil that is made from them are rich in magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, copper, iron and zinc.

Antioxidants

PSO is similar to oils such as evening primrose oil in that it is rich in lignans and phenolic antioxidants, as well as some uncommon forms of vitamin E that are accessed and used by the body in unique ways. Antioxidants help protect against the ravages of aging and the development of cancer and other chronic, life-threatening conditions.

Anti-inflammatory

Calabaza seed oil has been revered for its medicinal value for centuries. Its anti-inflammatory properties come from generous amounts of linoleic, oleic, stearic and palmitic acids. This is what makes this wonderful oil a time-honored, traditional treatment for problems such as leg ulcers, acne and sores caused by viruses and sexually transmitted diseases. Anti-inflammatory properties also support good gut health, which results in strong immune function.

Prevent Diabetes & Enhance Treatment

Use of PSO can help improve insulin regulation and prevent problems associated with diabetes, such as kidney dysfunction. [source]

Fight Off Infection

The powerful antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial properties of this all-natural oil boost your immune system and help you stay strong to fight off all manner of infection. They also make this oil a top choice in treating skin conditions, dandruff and other problems caused by infection of various types.

Address Some Forms Of Cancer

Green-gold oil contains a great deal of lignan, which has been shown to be effective in combating prostate cancer and breast cancer. [source]

Ease Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

The phytosterols and zinc found in PSO have been shown to successfully address the estrogen induced swelling associated with BPH. [source]

It is abundantly clear that adding pumpkin seed oil to your daily diet is a smart idea. No matter what your age or level of health, its rich mix of nutrients and beneficial properties can help strengthen your body and boost your immune system. A strong immune system can protect you from a wide range of conditions ranging from cancer to central nervous system dysfunction to memory loss and learning disability.

Does Pumpkin Seed Oil Have Any Side Effects?

Generally speaking, this gentle, natural oil is safe for all skin types; however, some people with sensitive skin and/or nut allergies have reported irritation and inflammation. As with any product, it is always wise to perform a patch test before applying calabaza seed oil to a large area of skin. To do this, apply a few drops of PSO to the thin skin of your inner arm. Leave it in place for 24 hours. If no irritation occurs, you can safely use pepo oil on your skin.

When taken as a nutrition supplement, pumpkin seed oil may act as a diuretic and may affect your body’s efficiency in processing lithium. This could present serious health risks. If you are taking lithium or if you are simply concerned about this, you should consult your doctor before consuming calabaza seed oil. Likewise, if you have a nut or seed allergy, or if you are pregnant or nursing a baby talk with your doctor before using this oil.

Who Should Use Pumpkin Seed Oil?

The simple answer to this question is “Everyone should use PSO!” It is beneficial to people of all ages and all levels of health. It is a wonderful personal care and beauty aid for every skin and hair type, and it is truly delicious in combination with such a wide variety of foods that it would be very difficult to find any person who would not enjoy it.

Most especially, people suffering from hair loss should partake of PSO. As both a topical treatment and a nutrition supplement, this marvelous oil has been proven to address hair loss caused by a wide variety of conditions.

It is also an excellent skin moisturizer for people wishing to combat the ravages of aging. Its antioxidant properties make it very effective in healing and soothing worn skin and plumping and lessening the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

People suffering from a wide variety of skin conditions can benefit from topical use of green-gold oil. As an addition to oil cleansing for acne-prone skin, its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, nourishing and healing properties make it especially valuable. It is also very effective when added to preparations for treating skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

In short, Styrian pumpkin seed oil has something of value for everybody. Adding this nourishing, tasty oil to your everyday diet and your everyday personal care routines is an enriching and enjoyable way to improve your quality of life and your quality of health.