On a popular episode of Dr. Oz show, the good doctor shared two of his “best-kept health secrets”. While I did not watch the show myself (I’ve only watched 2 of his shows ever), several readers emailed me about it and I confirmed the topic selection by checking his blog post of the same day. Apparently, Dr. Oz is now a big fan of pumpkin seed oil.
In fact, he is so taken with this supposed “health secret” that he described pumpkin seed oil as being in the same league with coconut oil and olive oil.
Not sure what planet Dr. Oz is coming from with that statement, but he sure isn’t in Kansas anymore!
Here’s what he had to say about pumpkin seed oil in his blog post:
“My next health secret can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s a cooling oil that has joined the ranks of olive and coconut oil at promoting longevity. It’s pumpkin seed oil. It has a nice nutty flavor with earthy tones. Not only is it a great source of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, it’s also been shown to lower blood pressure and increase HDL or good cholesterol. The essential fatty acids also work with the HDL to lower cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease.
Use pumpkin seed oil with some fresh lemon, ginger and garlic to make your own salad dressing. You can also use it as a garnish for starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes or use as a substitute for butter.”
Dr. Oz clearly does none of his own research before putting out this type of confusing and extremely misleading health information. Lower blood pressure, cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease? Talk about being stuck in a 1950’s mental time warp.
Cholesterol level is not a good indicator of heart disease risk and many doctors and researchers are now actually warning people about the dangers of lowering cholesterol. In fact, it is a complete MYTH that people with high cholesterol are more prone to heart attacks!
The truth is that young and middle-aged men with cholesterol levels over 350 are only slightly more at risk for heart attacks. Those who have cholesterol levels just below 350 are at no greater risk than those whose cholesterol is very low. For elderly men and for women of all ages, high cholesterol is associated with a longer lifespan.
Pumpkin Seed Oil Full of “Good” Fats? Not So
Regarding Dr. Oz’s assertion that pumpkin seed oil is a good source of omega-3 fats – I found very conflicting information on this. Some sources claimed that there were hardly any omega-3 fats in pumpkin seed oil and others claimed up to 15%.
No doubt the truth depends on the type of pumpkin seeds the oil comes from, but the bottom line is that you really can’t be sure how much omega-3 is in pumpkin seed oil. Most of the sources I checked claimed that there was little to none.
The label isn’t going to help you either as omega-3 and omega-6 fats are lumped together and listed as “polyunsaturated”. In addition, if the pumpkin seed oil is not cold-pressed, any omega-3 fats present will be rancid and dangerous to consume anyway!
Relying on pumpkin seed oil as a source for your critically important omega-3 fats is not a good idea, Dr. Oz!
Now for the real sticking point.
Pumpkin Seed Oil is NOT as Good as Olive Oil and Coconut Oil
Dr. Oz’s claim that pumpkin seed oil has “joined the ranks” of olive oil and coconut oil is nothing short of completely ludicrous. The reason is that both olive oil and coconut oil are extremely low in inflammation triggering and backside building omega-6 fats. Moreover, coconut oil is loaded with incredibly healthy and beneficial medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) that help you lose weight and fuel your brain optimally.
Pumpkin seed oil has no MCT’s at all!
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats are those fats that are used everywhere in processed foods (think chips, cookies, crackers, muffins – the stuff most people eat way too much of) and when these types of fats are consumed to excess, they contribute to inflammation and chronic illness.
Additionally, while a very small amount of omega-6 fats are necessary for health, when excessively consumed as happens in the Western diet, vegetable oils contribute to the overproduction of neuromodulatory lipids called endocannabinoids that are responsible for signaling hunger to the brain.
Guess what these little guys do? They give you the munchies!
You may wonder why the word endocannabinoid sounds a bit like cannabis (weed). Weed is famous for giving people the munchies too so you can consider omega-6 vegetable oils the marijuana of fatty acids and pumpkin seed oil is loaded with it.
Omega-6 Fats in Pumpkin Seed Oil are the Ones to Avoid
Omega-6 fats are the type of fats that health-conscious people want to avoid with their oils of choice. Why? They are already getting plenty of it in their diet and only a small amount is needed for health, so no need to get more with the oils they are choosing to cook and make salad dressing with at home.
How much omega-6 does pumpkin seed oil actually have? How about up to a whopping 64%!
According to the Australian Pumpkin Seed Company, pumpkin seed oil has the following lipid breakdown (note that there are no omega-3 fats listed):
Fatty acid profile of Pure Pumpkin Oil
- Linoleic Acid (Omega 6 PUFAs) 64.2%
- Oleic Acid (Omega 9) 11.3%
- Palmitic Acid (saturated) 14.6%
- Stearic Acid (saturated) 9.9%
Even more conservative estimates of the omega-6 composition of pumpkin seed oil list anywhere from 42-57% which is still far too high for this oil to even be considered for home use. Next to the very unhealthy fatty acid profile of grapeseed oil which clocks in at 65+% linoleic acid, pumpkin seed oil has the most unbalanced fatty acid profile of omega-6 fats I’ve ever examined.
By comparison, olive oil has 3-21% omega-6 fats, canola has about 20%, and coconut oil has about 2%.
Should you follow Dr. Oz’s advice and use pumpkin seed oil? Or, another one of his favorites – CLA safflower oil supplements for weight loss. Seriously? Sure, do as he says if inflammation, chronic illness, and metabolic syndrome are your goals.
Pumpkin seed oil is no way, no how in the same league as olive oil and coconut oil!
I will say one positive thing about Dr. Oz and his love of pumpkin seed oil. At least he doesn’t suggest that people cook with it. He suggests to use it for salad dressing which would be the least damaging way to use it as a polyunsaturated fat like pumpkin seed oil should not be heated or used for cooking.
On the other hand, he doesn’t say not to cook with it either! Maybe he made that clarification in the actual show. I hope so!
Let me suggest a piece of friendly advice. Skip the Dr. Oz Show. While he seems to be a really nice guy and does give out good information once in a while (and has had some good guests on in the past like Dr. Mercola and Dr. Kaayla Daniel), when it comes to listening to him for consistently correct health information, his advice does nothing but confuse and ultimately harm his viewers.
He is obviously trying to please both the health community and his Big Food, Big Pharma sponsors by sitting on the fence. A tough spot to be in to keep your job, so make sure your health isn’t a casualty of this back and forth battle.
Want to Know the Real Skinny About Fats?
If learning more about fats is of interest to you, my book Get Your Fats Straight, gives you the lowdown so you know which ones to eat and which ones to avoid.
References
Pumpkin Seed Oil Analysis
Why Women Need Fat, William Lassek MD
The Oiling of America
My Best Kept Health Secrets
More Information
Myths and Truths about Cholesterol
Is Rice Bran Oil Healthy?
How Argan Oil Benefits Health
Red Palm Oil Benefits Rival Coconut Oil
Walnut Oil: Healthy Sub for Flax Oil
Palm Oil
Once I saw a show from dr. Oz with a group of firemen, trying to lose weight. They weren’t allowed to eat meat anymore, only veggie’s, etc. Yes, with that kind of diet you have enough energy to control fires….
I am 59yrs old and have been a vegan for 25yrs and a vegetarian for 30yrs. I am a letter carrier at the Post Office on an all walking route. None of the other younger meat eaters want anything to do with my route. So much for meat eaters having more energy!
I lost all respect/trust for him when he became a sell out regarding organic foods
He also had a show where he promoted safflower oil. Isn’t that dangerous, too?
most likely. i only use it in lotion i make if i cant find organic sunflower for my lotion. its one some say it good others don’t….
When i looked through the bundle i couldn’t find your book listed. What is it called again?
Never mind, sometimes you can’t see the mountains for the trees!
Dr Oz used to say good things when he was on Oprah, but now that he has his own show he has caved in to what the establishement wants him to say. I heard he had some guests on and they were both lactose intolerant. He told them to completely cut out all dairy. He never mentioned that they might be ok on raw milk products.
I was not aware that pumpkin seed oil was an unhealthy oil and in fact have been using it in salads because I had read that it is very good for men for their prostate glands. I thought I was doing something good for my husband. Darn.
Saw palmetto is a very helpful herb for prostate health.
Why not add actual pumpkin seeds (preferably soaked and dehydrated) to your salads instead of a processed oil? That would be even better for the prostate and for overall health.
Pumpkin Seed Oil is a healthy oil. Many men taking our Australian Pumpkin Seed Company pumpkin seed oil take it for prostate problems and get great results from it (eg lower PSI, reducing prostate size, not having to get up to go to the toilet 10 times and night to sleep all the way through). Remember a while ago, when people started getting fat, all the talk was that saturated fats (especially coconut oil which is mainly saturated) were to blame and were the “bad” ones…. surprise, surprise, now they say some saturated fats are actually GOOD for you! Now the push for something to blame has turned to Omega 6. There was probably some study with conclusions that are not fully told or not accurate that started this talking. Omega 3 and 6 are said to be essential fatty acids, meaning we need to get them in our diet as our body cannot produce them, like it can produce Omega 9 (the main fatty acid in olive oil). Go to http://www.brianpeskin.com for some good information on fats, benefits etc. The problem with people now ‘getting too much Omega 6’ is that its all the cheap highly processed stuff. In the chips, cakes, sauces and just about any processed, made up foods on the supermarket shelf that has fats in it is most likely not using a good quality unrefined oil as it increases the price. We all demand cheaper food and that is what we get – if you don’t pay for quality food now you will be paying expensive medical bills later. The ‘vegetable’ oils used in processed foods or fast food/takeaway places is the cheap stuff which is usually RBD – refined, bleached and deoderised! Sounds great for your health! NOT! Its the processing methods of Omega 6 fats/oils thats contributing to peoples health issues, not good quality pumpkin seed oil!. The movement for people to cut fat out of their diets has resulted in people getting fatter. Fats are used by our bodies to produce hormones and are components of body tissues, muscles, brains etc, cut them out and you do more damage. What about sugar??? I could go on and on. Its not just one food, element or nutrient causing peoples unhealthiness, its a combination of a lot of things including the modern faster, cheaper, easier processing methods. We use a long, slow 300 year old method to make a healthy pumpkin seed oil… in my opinion based on the many testimonials we get and research 😉
I like Styrian pumpkin seed oil on occasion. Don’t see it as a health negative.
I like Hungarian pumpkin seed oil. My father and grand and great grandfather did. We didn’t see it as health negative. They worked hard all in their life until being 90 y.o. I have three uncle and two aunty. they are not ill.
No. Seed oils suppress thyroid function, upset digestion and promote the growth of cancerous cells.
And it doesn’t matter at all that the stuff you’re hawking is refined by a “long, slow 300 year old method;” with that concentration of omega-6, the oil will easily oxidize at body temperature and as it reacts to the oxygen in our tissues.
Please, take your fallacious and harmful advertisements elsewhere.
Then does that mean that seeds too “suppress thyroid function, upset digestion and promote the growth of cancerous cells”? What if I enjoy eating a couple of handfuls of raw pumpkin seeds from time to time?
Geez Jade, Maybe you should reduce the amount of lemons in your diet, it might make you less sour.
There are plenty of studies to say that Omega-6 is good for your body and this is backed up by The American Heart Association, the World Heath Organization, The Food and Agricultural Organization, among others. There are some inflammatory components in Omega-6 but the anti inflammatory components overide this quite substantially.
Sharan, you have made some good points.
Are you able to get a copy if this to Dr. Oz? Or perhaps he’s already a subscriber 🙂 he needs a wakeup call!
Oz gets it wrong most of the time.
Hi Sarah,
I have an unrelated question. I have a 19 month old who is nursing 6-8 times a day still. I am taking 2 tsp. of FCLO/FSLO (they were out of the HVBO when I ordered). By the time evening comes I am CRAVING cream. Not just a bit but heavy cream, the kind most gag on. When I have a mouthful or two I am content, no drive for anything else to eat or drink. Do you think I am missing something in my diet that is needed or is it just a craving?
You just need the cream .. you are nursing after all! I craved cream too when I was nursing. Just eat and enjoy! 🙂 Hopefully your child is eating a good amount of solids at 19 months though. 6-8 times a day nursing at that age is a lot.
Thank you for your reply. She does eat some solids. I have taken the approach of letting her eat what she can from the family meals. She has a definite milk allergy (hives on contact from pasteurized and raw milk, no problems with cream, whey, and butter) numerous chemical sensitivities (bandades, lotions, even “safe” baby washes). We are beginning GAPS June 1 in hopes of healing these, scalp psoriasis in our older two, and numerous complaints from my husband that appear to be addressed by GAPS. I know it won’t hurt me any either! I may keep up my pint of kefir a day though. I have to look in to that one still.
Babies are all different, my little guy was still nursing a ton at that age and not a lot of interest in table food until around 21 months, our doctor was supportive and encouraged me to listen to my babies preferences for milk…he was very healthy and so I did. Let your little one proceed as nature directs it–it will know best. “IF” your milk is providing what is needed the baby may still prefer your milk over other foods…or if its not then it will eat more and require less milk. Bottom line listen to your body and your cravings and feed your self really well and nutrient dense. What ever your eating or not eating is what your baby ultimately gets through your breast milk.
Yes, all 6 of mine including my 22 month old nurse tons at this age. They all preferred it to solids. All healthy and fine. I’d say my 22 month old nurses 10-12 times a day or so.
Dr. Oz is constantly spewing misinformation and contradicts himself from each episode to the next.
I think Dr Oz is just desperate for anything new to promote to keep his show up there in the ratings and if that means giving out misinformation or creating controversy, fine, as long as he’s being talked about 🙁
Yes, his show seems to be a joke now even though he seemed to be a good man with a good holistic view to healthcare. No telling what the network makes him do. Sad.