Pumpkin Seed Oil: Prostate & Hair Benefits, Dose & Side Effects

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Pumpkin seed oil is pressed from the seeds of pumpkins, and the traditional Austrian kind is hard to mistake. It's dark green with a reddish glow and a deep, nutty taste, because the seeds are roasted just before they go into the press, and the color comes from carotenoids and chlorophylls carried over from the seed.3

Europeans have used pumpkin seed as a urinary remedy for centuries, and Europe's herbal medicines committee recognizes the oil as a traditional remedy for the urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate and an overactive bladder.32 On my show, I've said that pumpkin seed oil and flaxseed oil probably rank right behind extra virgin olive oil for health benefits.6

Did you know?

• About half of a pumpkin seed's weight is oil, usually somewhere between 45% and 60%.3

• Styrian pumpkin seed oil, Steirisches Kürbiskernöl, has been a protected regional food in the European Union since July 2, 1996.7

• Cucurbita pepo, the pumpkin species in Europe's herbal monograph, was the earliest domesticated plant identified at Mexico's Coxcatlan Cave, with remains dated to roughly 8,000 years ago.82

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What is pumpkin seed oil?

You'll find it in four forms, and each behaves a little differently:

What's in pumpkin seed oil?

Like every oil, pumpkin seed oil is almost pure fat: one analyzed oil, pressed from a related species, Cucurbita maxima, held 99.9 grams of fat per 100 grams.11 What sets it apart is the mix. In the Styrian oil, 80.65% of the fatty acids are unsaturated, and a small fraction of minor compounds carries its tocopherols, sterols and squalene.3

Composition of Styrian pumpkin seed oil, from Europe's herbal assessment report. Amounts vary with the pumpkin variety and how the oil is made.39

The oil's carotenoids include lutein and beta-carotene, in small amounts.12 A review of pumpkin seed oil's chemistry adds polyphenols and phytoestrogens to the list, and notes that most of their measured activity so far comes from lab studies.13

Is pumpkin seed oil one of the "bad" seed oils?

No. As I've written, a seed oil isn't automatically a refined oil. Cold-pressed flaxseed, sesame, hemp, pumpkin seed and black seed oils keep their antioxidants and can be nourishing.1 The seed oils to go easy on are the industrially processed ones, such as soybean, corn and cottonseed oil, which are extracted with hexane, bleached and deodorized, and often reheated again and again in deep fryers.6

Pumpkin seed oil's largest fat is linoleic acid, the omega-6 at the center of the seed oil debate. The way I've put it, the modern problem isn't only that we eat too much omega-6; it's that we eat too little omega-3 to balance it.1 Pair this oil with omega-3 foods such as wild salmon and ground flaxseed, and see how to balance omega-3, 6 and 9.

A short history of pumpkin seed oil

Pumpkin seed has a long medical history in Europe. According to Europe's herbal medicines committee, the seeds were used to promote urination and to expel worms from medieval times on, and European herbals described them from the 1500s onward.3 Germany's Commission E, the European scientific cooperative ESCOP and the World Health Organization have all published monographs on the seed.3

The oil became a medicine in its own right in the last century. In Germany, 1,000-milligram capsules of pumpkin seed oil have been sold as a traditional remedy "to strengthen bladder function" since at least 1976, and in 2012 Europe's herbal medicines committee published a traditional-use monograph that covers the oil.32

What is pumpkin seed oil good for?

How pumpkin seed oil works in your body

The best-mapped route runs through DHT, a hormone your body makes from testosterone, and the oil's unusual plant sterols. Each step below names the evidence behind it.

Pumpkin seed oil benefits, ranked by evidence

Ranked by evidence, pumpkin seed oil does the most for urinary symptoms in men with an enlarged prostate and for hair growth in men, with encouraging results for women's heart health and menopause symptoms, an overactive bladder and hair loss in women.

Does pumpkin seed oil help an enlarged prostate?

An enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), presses on the urethra and brings the familiar signs: a weak stream, frequent urination, trips to the bathroom at night and the feeling you haven't quite finished. Europe's monograph uses pumpkin seed oil for these symptoms once a doctor has ruled out more serious causes, and the warning signs that call for a prompt checkup are in the safety section below.2

The longest trial ran a full year. In a placebo-controlled trial of 62 Korean men with BPH, assigned to groups in the order they enrolled, 47 men finished. Those taking 320 milligrams of pumpkin seed oil a day, split between the morning and evening meals, saw their International Prostate Symptom Score fall from 20.7 to 8.7, a 58% drop, with significant improvement from the third month on. Their quality-of-life score improved 40.5%, and their peak urine flow rose 14.9%, a gain that was significant by six months.4 Prostate volume in the oil group went from 22.4 to 19.1 milliliters over the year, a change too small to rule out chance, and no side effects were reported.4

Pumpkin seed oil with saw palmetto

The same trial also tested saw palmetto oil, alone and together with pumpkin seed oil, at 320 milligrams of each. Symptom scores fell 50.3% on saw palmetto oil alone and 75.3% on the two oils together, the largest drop of the four groups.4 Scores also fell 39% in the placebo group, though only the three oil groups improved significantly from where they started, and none of the four groups differed significantly from another.4

If you'd like to use both, this trial gives you the amounts: 320 milligrams of each oil a day, taken after meals.4 For more on the herb itself, see saw palmetto benefits and beta-sitosterol, a plant sterol studied for the prostate.

Pumpkin seed oil vs. tamsulosin

Pumpkin seed oil has also been tested against tamsulosin, a drug doctors often prescribe for BPH. In a 3-month randomized trial, 80 men aged 50 and older took either 360 milligrams of the oil twice a day or 0.4 milligrams of tamsulosin at night, and 73 finished; the men knew which they took, while the staff measuring their results didn't. Both groups' symptom scores fell significantly.10 Tamsulosin's drop from the start was larger at one month and at three, though the two groups' scores weren't significantly different at any single visit, and from the first month to the third they improved at about the same pace. No one on the oil reported a side effect.10

Lower scores mean fewer symptoms and a better quality of life.10

Overactive bladder and nighttime trips

The oil has been studied for the bladder side of urinary symptoms as well. In a single-group study, 45 adults with an overactive bladder, 25 men and 20 women aged 41 to 80, took 10 grams a day of oil from a related pumpkin species, Cucurbita maxima, and all of them knew what they were taking; 4 dropped out and 3 were excluded for taking too little oil. Their overactive bladder symptom score fell from 4.4 to 3.5 by week 6 and to 2.7 by week 12. The oil was a product the researchers developed with a Japanese food company, and the parts of the score for nighttime trips (1.6 to 1.1) and urge leakage (0.7 to 0.3) improved, along with urgency.11

Chronic prostatitis

A third approach delivered the oil through the skin. In a randomized trial of 60 men with chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, ultrasound sessions five times a week for 3 weeks carried pumpkin seed oil through the skin of the perineum, a method called phonophoresis. In that group, the chronic prostatitis symptom score fell from 34.7 to 7.95, against 35.3 to 14.3 with ultrasound alone, urine flow rose from 11.75 to 20.35 milliliters per second, and leftover urine fell from 90.9 to 59.55 milliliters; men given a placebo version of the treatment didn't improve.17

For men, I've called pumpkin seed oil or pumpkin seed butter tremendously beneficial for prostate health.6 To match the year-long trial, take 320 milligrams of the oil a day in capsules; Europe's monograph lists 1 to 1.2 grams three times a day as its traditional amount.42 Every amount studied is in the dose section below.

Does pumpkin seed oil help hair growth?

The men's trial randomized 76 men aged 20 to 65, and 64 finished all 24 weeks; neither the men nor the researchers knew who got the oil capsule and who got the look-alike placebo. Hair counts rose 30% on the oil and 5% on placebo by week 12, and 40% against 10% by week 24.5

In before-and-after photos rated by reviewers who didn't know who got what, 17 of 37 men on the oil had improved at 24 weeks, against 3 of 39 on placebo, and the men on the oil rated their own improvement and satisfaction higher. Hair thickness didn't differ between the groups. The capsules were a commercial product supplied by the company that funded the trial, and side effects were about the same in both groups: one man in each group had itching, and one on the oil had mild stomach discomfort.5

Two later reviews weigh this trial heavily. A 2023 systematic review of 30 studies in JAMA Dermatology listed pumpkin seed oil among the supplements whose best evidence showed potential benefit for hair loss, and found side effects rare and mild across the therapies it evaluated.21 A network meta-analysis of 19 trials with 1,658 people with pattern hair loss found pumpkin seed oil improved hair density compared with placebo and ranked it first among the dietary supplements compared on ratings by physicians who didn't know who got what; its pumpkin seed oil data came from the trial above.22

Why would an oil help hair? DHT, the hormone 5-alpha-reductase makes from testosterone, is a major driver of male-pattern hair loss. Researchers propose that the oil slows that enzyme, and in rats, sterols from the oil lowered it.519 The men's hair trial didn't measure DHT, and free testosterone didn't change.5

Women have a trial of their own, with the oil applied to the scalp. In a randomized trial of 60 women with female-pattern hair loss, 30 applied 1 milliliter of pumpkin seed oil (about ⅕ teaspoon) and 30 applied 1 milliliter of 5% minoxidil foam, for 3 months. Under a dermatoscope, a magnifying skin camera, the oil group had fewer fine, wispy vellus hairs (22.5 down to 15.8). Those are the hairs that take the place of normal ones as pattern hair loss progresses. The oil group also had less variation in hair thickness (30.5% down to 24.0%) and more upright regrowing hairs (0.13 up to 0.9). The minoxidil group improved as well.16 The researchers concluded that pumpkin seed oil has a promising role in treating female-pattern hair loss.16

For more natural options, see these hair loss remedies and the vitamins for hair growth.

Is pumpkin seed oil good for women?

Yes, and the women's trials point to the heart and to menopause. In a pilot trial of 35 postmenopausal women, 21 took 2 grams of pumpkin seed oil a day and 14 took wheat germ oil for 12 weeks, and neither the women nor the researchers knew who got which. In the pumpkin seed oil group, HDL cholesterol rose from about 36 to 41 mg/dL (0.92 to 1.07 mmol/L), diastolic blood pressure fell from 81.1 to 75.67 mmHg, and the menopause symptom score fell from 18.1 to 13.2, with less severe hot flashes, fewer headaches and less joint pain.14 The researchers propose the oil's phytoestrogens, plant compounds with a structure similar to estrogen, as one reason.14

A second trial looked at blood pressure. In 23 postmenopausal women with elevated blood pressure, 3 grams of the oil a day, 1 gram with each meal, lowered systolic pressure over 6 weeks, measured both at the arm and in the aorta near the heart. It also reduced wave reflection, a measure of the extra work stiff arteries put on the heart, while arterial stiffness and heart-rate variability didn't change significantly in either group. None of these measures fell significantly on the placebo capsules, and the women didn't know which capsule they had.15

The free Perimenopause & Menopause protocol puts foods like this into a full plan, and you'll find more on relieving menopause symptoms and natural ways to lower blood pressure. For women with thinning hair, the scalp trial is in the hair section above.

Pumpkin seed oil or pumpkin seeds?

Both come from the same seed, and each brings something different to your plate. The whole seeds carry the protein, magnesium and zinc, and the oil concentrates the fats, tocopherols and plant sterols.113 Each has a year-long prostate trial behind it. In a 12-month trial of 1,431 men with BPH, 58.5% of those eating 5 grams of pumpkin seeds twice a day improved by at least 5 points on the symptom score, against 47.3% on placebo; the men eating seeds knew what they were eating, and a seed-extract capsule tested in the same trial didn't differ from placebo.23

For a prostate issue, I recommend a tablespoon of pumpkin seed butter a day.24 You can use both forms: a spoonful of seed butter in a morning smoothie and a drizzle of the oil on dinner. The pumpkin seeds guide covers the seeds' minerals and how to eat them, and the healthiest seeds to eat puts them in context.

How much pumpkin seed oil should you take a day?

Give it time. In the year-long prostate trial, symptom scores had improved significantly by the third month and kept falling through the ninth, and in the men's hair trial, hair counts were up 30% at week 12 and 40% at week 24.45 Plan on about three months before you judge it; if you stop at four weeks, you haven't given it a fair test.

Capsules make it easy to match the amounts in the trials. Each capsule trial split the daily amount into two or three doses, and the prostate, hair and blood pressure trials timed them around meals.104515 The bottled oil is the food form. Enjoy it for flavor and nourishment, and reach for capsules when you want a studied amount.

How to use pumpkin seed oil in your kitchen

Use pumpkin seed oil raw, or drizzle it over food after the heat is off. As I've said on my show, oils like this are more delicate than olive oil, so you don't want to heat them, but you can use them raw on salads and in other recipes.6 Heat wears them down. In lab heating tests, unrefined pumpkin seed oil lost part of its fatty-acid profile and its resistance to oxidation, and Europe's assessment notes that the traditional dark oil isn't used for cooking.253 For the oils that stand up to the stove, see healthy cooking oils.

Its deep, toasty flavor shines drizzled over soups, hummus, roasted vegetables or even vanilla ice cream, as I've written in my guide to seed oils.1 A few ways to start:

How to buy and store pumpkin seed oil

Look for these on the label:

• Unrefined, labeled cold-pressed or virgin, or for the dark roasted-seed oil, Styrian pumpkin seed oil (Steirisches Kürbiskernöl), a protected name in the EU.720

• A dark glass bottle and a recent pressing or best-by date.

• For capsules, the milligrams of pumpkin seed oil per capsule, so you can match a trial amount, and a shell that's plant-based or made from bovine or fish gelatin.

• Third-party tested for identity and purity.

For storage, my rule for cold-pressed seed oils fits this one: store it cold and finish it quickly.1 The dark Styrian oil is pressed from roasted seeds rather than cold-pressed, but it's unrefined too, and the same handling applies. In a storage study of cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil, polyunsaturated fats fell 5.72% over 8 months, and compounds that mark oxidation, the process that turns oil rancid, appeared.12 Keep the bottle sealed in the fridge once it's open, and if the oil smells bitter or like paint, toss it.

Pumpkin seed oil side effects & who should be careful

No side effects were reported in the year-long prostate trial or among the men taking the oil in the tamsulosin trial, and in the men's hair trial, side effects on the oil were about the same as on placebo.4105 Europe's monograph adds that long-term use is possible and that no overdose has been reported.2

• Urinary warning signs. See a doctor promptly if your urinary symptoms get worse, if you have a fever, spasms, blood in your urine or pain when you urinate, or if you can't pass urine.2

• Pumpkin seed allergy. It's rare but can be severe: in 25 children with a confirmed pumpkin seed allergy, 64% had anaphylaxis, 76% were also allergic to tree nuts and 72% to other seeds.26 The oil is pressed from the same seeds, so skip it if you react to pumpkin seeds. Know the food allergy symptoms, and get emergency care for hives, swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing.

• Stomach upset. Mild digestive complaints are the one common side effect in Europe's monograph, at about 4%.2 Taking capsules with meals, as the year-long prostate trial and the blood pressure trial did, is an easy way to start.415

• Pregnancy and children. As a food, Europe's monograph raises no concern about birth defects from pumpkin seeds or their oil. As a medicine, it isn't recommended in pregnancy or for anyone under 18, because the urinary symptoms it's used for need medical supervision in those groups.2

The bottom line

Pumpkin seed oil: frequently asked questions

References

1. Axe J. Seed Oils: Are They Bad for You? What the Research Really Says. DrAxe.com. September 2026.
2. European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC). Community herbal monograph on Cucurbita pepo L., semen. EMA/HMPC/136024/2010. Final, November 20, 2012.
3. European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC). Assessment report on Cucurbita pepo L., semen. EMA/HMPC/136022/2010. Final, November 20, 2012.
4. Hong H, Kim CS, Maeng S. Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Nutr Res Pract. 2009;3(4):323-7. doi:10.4162/nrp.2009.3.4.323 · PMID:20098586
5. Cho YH, Lee SY, Jeong DW, et al. Effect of pumpkin seed oil on hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:549721. doi:10.1155/2014/549721 · PMID:24864154
6. Axe J. You Were Lied To About Seed Oils! The Truth About Butter, Tallow & Olive Oil. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (Dr. Axe speaking at 25:49-26:10, 26:48-27:04 and 28:19-28:32; YouTube q4XHsYNQAZY).
7. UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Steirisches Kürbiskernöl: Protected Geographical Indication (Austria; registered with the EU July 2, 1996). Protected food name record, GOV.UK.
8. Smith BD. Reassessing Coxcatlan Cave and the early history of domesticated plants in Mesoamerica. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005;102(27):9438-45. doi:10.1073/pnas.0502847102 · PMID:15908505
9. Hu Z, Hu C, Li Y, Jiang Q, Li Q, Fang C. Pumpkin seed oil: a comprehensive review of extraction methods, nutritional constituents, and health benefits. J Sci Food Agric. 2024;104(2):572-582. doi:10.1002/jsfa.12952 · PMID:37650308
10. Zerafatjou N, Amirzargar M, Biglarkhani M, Shobeirian F, Zoghi G. Pumpkin seed oil (Cucurbita pepo) versus tamsulosin for benign prostatic hyperplasia symptom relief: a single-blind randomized clinical trial. BMC Urol. 2021;21(1):147. doi:10.1186/s12894-021-00910-8 · PMID:34666728
11. Nishimura M, Ohkawara T, Sato H, Takeda H, Nishihira J. Pumpkin Seed Oil Extracted From Cucurbita maxima Improves Urinary Disorder in Human Overactive Bladder. J Tradit Complement Med. 2014;4(1):72-4. doi:10.4103/2225-4110.124355 · PMID:24872936
12. Pușcaș A, Mureșan A, Socaci S, et al. Cold pressed pumpkin seed oil fatty acids, carotenoids, volatile compounds profiles and infrared fingerprints as affected by storage time and wax-based oleogelation. J Sci Food Agric. 2023;103(2):680-691. doi:10.1002/jsfa.12180 · PMID:36053837
13. Šamec D, Loizzo MR, Gortzi O, et al. The potential of pumpkin seed oil as a functional food-A comprehensive review of chemical composition, health benefits, and safety. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2022;21(5):4422-4446. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.13013 · PMID:35904246
14. Gossell-Williams M, Hyde C, Hunter T, et al. Improvement in HDL cholesterol in postmenopausal women supplemented with pumpkin seed oil: pilot study. Climacteric. 2011;14(5):558-64. doi:10.3109/13697137.2011.563882 · PMID:21545273
15. Wong A, Viola D, Bergen D, Caulfield E, Mehrabani J, Figueroa A. The effects of pumpkin seed oil supplementation on arterial hemodynamics, stiffness and cardiac autonomic function in postmenopausal women. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2019;37:23-26. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2019.08.003 · PMID:31445363
16. Ibrahim IM, Hasan MS, Elsabaa KI, Elsaie ML. Pumpkin seed oil vs. minoxidil 5% topical foam for the treatment of female pattern hair loss: A randomized comparative trial. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021;20(9):2867-2873. doi:10.1111/jocd.13976 · PMID:33544448
17. Tantawy SA, Elgohary HM, Kamel DM. Trans-perineal pumpkin seed oil phonophoresis as an adjunctive treatment for chronic nonbacterial prostatitis. Res Rep Urol. 2018;10:95-101. doi:10.2147/RRU.S167896 · PMID:30271759
18. Gossell-Williams M, Davis A, O'Connor N. Inhibition of testosterone-induced hyperplasia of the prostate of sprague-dawley rats by pumpkin seed oil. J Med Food. 2006;9(2):284-6. doi:10.1089/jmf.2006.9.284 · PMID:16822218
19. Kang XC, Chen T, Zhou JL, et al. Phytosterols in hull-less pumpkin seed oil, rich in ∆(7)-phytosterols, ameliorate benign prostatic hyperplasia by lowing 5α-reductase and regulating balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis in rats. Food Nutr Res. 2021;65. doi:10.29219/fnr.v65.7537 · PMID:34984064
20. Morrison MC, Mulder P, Stavro PM, et al. Replacement of Dietary Saturated Fat by PUFA-Rich Pumpkin Seed Oil Attenuates Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Atherosclerosis Development, with Additional Health Effects of Virgin over Refined Oil. PLoS One. 2015;10(9):e0139196. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139196 · PMID:26405765
21. Drake L, Reyes-Hadsall S, Martinez J, Heinrich C, Huang K, Mostaghimi A. Evaluation of the Safety and Effectiveness of Nutritional Supplements for Treating Hair Loss: A Systematic Review. JAMA Dermatol. 2023;159(1):79-86. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2022.4867 · PMID:36449274
22. Zhou L, Zhu W, Chen Y. Effects of dietary supplements on androgenetic alopecia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Front Nutr. 2025;12:1719711. doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1719711 · PMID:41561175
23. Vahlensieck W, Theurer C, Pfitzer E, Patz B, Banik N, Engelmann U. Effects of pumpkin seed in men with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia in the one-year, randomized, placebo-controlled GRANU study. Urol Int. 2015;94(3):286-95. doi:10.1159/000362903 · PMID:25196580
24. Axe J. The #1 Mineral for Sleep That 48% of People Lack. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. February 16, 2026 (Dr. Axe speaking at 31:26).
25. Flores M, Vergara C, Ortiz-Viedma J, Prieto J, Concha-Meyer A. Use of culinary ingredients as protective components during thermal heating of pumpkin oil. Food Chem X. 2025;26:102272. doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102272 · PMID:40060959
26. Acikalin B, Ocak M, Sekerel BE. Immunoglobulin E-mediated pumpkin seed allergy in children: Case series and narrative review with a structured literature search. Allergy Asthma Proc. 2026;47(4):e50-e56. doi:10.2500/aap.2026.47.260028 · PMID:42343505

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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