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
Hello Sarah. Do you know anything about PARENT efa’s? If not I suggest you do some research because there is a VAST difference between the adulterated omega 6 (especially) and 3’s that is in so much junk food from the supermarket and the efa’s found in seed and plant based foods that are cold pressed and unadulterated. It really is like comparing apples with oranges.
Ummm. I’ve done my research. Did you know I’ve written an entire BOOK on fats?
Fresh pressed oil is much better, yes, but you still should NEVER supplement, make salad dressing or otherwise use omega-6 heavy oils in the kitchen. It still triggers inflammatory issues. ALmost everyone gets far too many in our diet as it is … even if we eat zero processed foods.
If one doesn’t eat a typical “modern diet”, what would you consider a good source of omega 6 fatty acids? I’m considering adding a little pumpkin seed oil. Thank you!
Why would anyone want to eat the “modern diet”?
Pumpkin seed oil is a must for men. I cant speak for women but men who want zinc and want to protect their Prostate then you WANT pumpkin seed oil and the seeds. I know it also gives me a middle aged man that erection in the morning I lost years ago:) Wives tell you men to get on this hahaha
Pumpkin seed oil actually has some excellent therapeutic properties. Usually men use because it contains compounds that inhibit DHT production, but can also be used by women with high androgens (as in PCOS), as part of a larger protocol.
With all respect, but you don’t know much what you are talking about. Pumpkin seed oil, especially Austrian, Slovenian and Croatian are very healthy oils! There were tonnes of researches done on Pumpkin seed oils and it’s proven that it has a lot of health benefits!
First of all is an amazing product to use for prostate and urinary health. In your text, you are trying to persuade people to stay away from the Dr Oz Show and at the end of the text, you are asking them to buy your book?! Why do you think that you are better than others? This is a really wrong way to promote yourself on the others people back. My warm advice for you is to do your job and let the other people do their job. But at the end, this is an era of the internet freedom it’s on the people to choose who is right and who is wrong.
Pumpkin seed oil is fine, but it is far too high in polyunsaturates to be considered appropriate within the modern diet. Please re-read the article. I don’t believe you got the gist of it.
With all due respect, I think Sarah has it all wrong. The form in which Omega 6 is ingested is
critical. Processed foods—in particular, frozen foods, and restaurant cooking oils—have increasingly incorporated trans fats and other unhealthy fats and oils. Moreover, when heated in air, the Omega 6 in these oils changes to hydroperoxides, which are biochemically damaging to the body. That is the kind of bad Omega 6 Sarah refers to but it has nothing to do with the healthy Omega 6 critical to the body. Pumpkin oil contains healthy Omega 6. I know nothing of Dr Oz, but if he’s promoting pumpkin oil, he’s hit on a winner.
While processed omega-6 fats are definitely worse than cold pressed … they are rancid on top of it all, even cold pressed omega-6 fats are problematic. Again, the issue is that the Western diet already contains an excessive amount of these fats. Supplementing with them on top of that can be disastrous over the long term, exacerbating inflammation issues.
Thank you – I am so glad I read your comments about pumpkin seed oil. I have been taking these as capsules and could not work out why my hunger levels had increased dramatically. You mentioned getting ‘the munchies’ and now it makes sense. Thanks for an informative blog.
Hi
Thanks for this.
I will like to know if same applies when the pumpkin seed oil is taken in capsules (supplement).
I was planning to buy the supplement. I had read online of its efficacy at treating hair loss.
Do the same risks apply when the supplement is taken according to recommended daily doses.
This is a really nice post and it really made things about pumpkin seed oil more clear for me. Thanks for sharing!