Pumpkin oil is universal - it is used to prepare various dishes, used in cosmetology and even drunk as a medicine. The liquid substance is obtained not from the amber pulp of a vegetable, as one might think, but from fried seeds, which only increases the value of the finished product. Real unrefined pumpkin oil, the benefits and harms of which are discussed today in this material, is one of the most expensive and often fake extracts.
Characteristic
The authenticity of the oil can be ascertained in several aspects, of which color is the most unstable and difficult to determine. A quality substance can be dark brown, dark green, bright orange, rusty and almost black - and all this will be a natural product with a wide range of valuable unique properties. Such a difference in the color scheme does not depend on the type of fatty substance, but on the angle of refraction of the light incident on the container with the liquid. The only condition for the color that the product of the highest grade will give out is its uniformity and saturation, without extraneous inclusions and turbidity.
Another point that helps to distinguish a natural product from a fake is its consistency. Real oil, if you drop it on your finger, does not spread, but hardens with a convex hemisphere and will remain in this form for a long time. The next step in determining authenticity is to bring an oil drop to your nose, smell it and taste it. Pumpkin oil, the use of which is due to its authenticity, has a slight nutty smell and a bitter taste.
You can evaluate the quality of the product without opening the bottle. You should pay attention to the label - it should indicate that the oil is unrefined and represents 100% pumpkin seed extract. Shelf life is an important factor when buying. Oil spilled in containers more than a year ago is not suitable for use, and if the purchase is made in a store where the correct storage conditions are in doubt, it is better to purchase a product that is no more than 6 months old.
The only container in which the quality of the oil will be as declared is a dark glass bottle with a volume of up to 0.5 liters. It must be stored at home at a temperature of 14-18 degrees. Use after opening is necessary in a short time - within 1-1.5 months. If stored in the refrigerator, the product thickens and a precipitate may appear. This affects the taste and aroma properties of pumpkin oil, but does not reduce its benefits.
The composition of pumpkin oil
With a zero protein and carbohydrate content, the oil content is almost 100% of the nutritional value of the product. This affects the high calorie content of the substance - 897 energy units per 100 g of extract.
The benefits and harms of pumpkin oil are expressed in its complex composition:
- vitamins: A, E, K, P, PP, B1, B2, C;
- carotenoids;
- flavonoids;
- phospholipids;
- polyunsaturated fatty acids from the Omega group (all three types);
- saturated fatty acids - palmitic, myristic, arachinic, behenic, stearic;
- monounsaturated fatty acids - oleic, eicosen, palmitoleic, erucic;
- trace elements: zinc, magnesium, selenium, iron, calcium.
How to apply pumpkin seed oil? First of all, you should know that this product is lighter than water and its compliance with standard weight measures is different. So, only 4.6 g of extract will go into a teaspoon, 13.5 g into a tablespoon, and 220 g into a regular glass.
The benefits and harms of pumpkin oil
In all cases, when the external use of the extract is indicated, it is recommended to use it inside, and the advice applies not only to the fresh product, but also to one of its pharmacy forms - encapsulated. The benefits and harms of pumpkin seed oil in capsules are similar to those that occur after using a liquid substance, with one difference - a pharmacy drug is more difficult to overdose.
The positive properties of the oil extract of pumpkin seeds are as follows:
- acceleration of the regeneration processes of the skin and tissues of internal organs;
- moderate antihistamine property;
- hormonal stabilization;
- decrease in the level of "bad" cholesterol in the vessels;
- decongestant effect;
- antiparasitic effect;
- elimination of dermatoses of various etiologies;
- enhanced immune defense;
- improvement of intestinal motility.
How to take pumpkin oil, the benefits and harms of which are considered in this material? A positive effect of the hood on a depleted body, exhausted by prolonged, poorly balanced diets, complex medical or surgical treatment, is noted. The high content of nutrients in the extract compensates for the organism’s vitamin starvation and helps it better cope with microdamages of the mucous tissues of internal organs. We will talk about the dangers of the product we are considering at the end of the article.
Pumpkin Oil for Men
If we say, bypassing the obvious benefits, about the dangers of pumpkin oil for men, there can be only one drawback for the product - its absence from the menu of the representative of the stronger half. Selenium, magnesium, zinc - these are the three most important elements that are part of the extract and are necessary for any man of reproductive age.
Hard physical or sedentary work can develop a man’s sexual fatigue and, as a result, lead to a decrease in sperm production and reduce the quality of intimate relationships. Taking the habit of daily adding pumpkin seed oil to fresh vegetable salads or drinking 1 tbsp. spoon of extract 3 times a day for half an hour before eating, a man within one month is able to restore libido and return to a full sexual relationship.
The treatment of the most common male disease - prostatitis, will also be much easier and will bring more results if you use oil therapy in combination with the prescribed drugs (of course, given all the factors of benefit and harm). How to take pumpkin seed oil? You need to drink the extract for the entire period of active treatment, when it is absolutely necessary to remove puffiness from the ducts of the prostate gland and restore normal, painless urine output. This will protect the body from the progression of the disease into a more dangerous form - prostate adenoma, which can provoke irreversible changes in health.
After consulting with a urologist and securing his consent, it is quite possible to replace some components of the complex therapy with pumpkin extract, for example, synthetic oil or gel used to stimulate the prostate during a massage procedure. Microclysters usually prescribed by doctors with Dimexide or hydrogen peroxide will bring more inconvenience than mildly acting oil. To prepare them, you need to mix a quarter cup of water of comfortable temperature with 1 tbsp. spoonful of pumpkin oil and inject liquid into the anus.
The benefits of oil for women
As is the case with the treatment of male diseases, the benefits of pumpkin oil for women and the harm from possible negative reactions to it are absolutely unequal. Sometimes a weaker sex prefers to transfer a mild form of allergy, suppressing it with antihistamines, than to introduce a valuable substance into its daily menu.
There is evidence, confirmed by science, about the benefits of pumpkin oil (and the harm from it at a negligible level) in the treatment of infertility associated with ovulation disorders. To regulate the egg maturation cycle, doctors advise taking 5 g of extract every morning before breakfast.
The laxative effect is the main benefit of pumpkin oil during pregnancy. Product damage is observed with excessive intake of the substance. A woman, especially in the third trimester of bearing a child, a small amount of oil consumed daily will help to cope with constipation and relieve tension from the abdominal wall. The light diuretic property of extracting pumpkin seeds will remove excess accumulated liquid and relieve swelling.
If the body perceives the substance well, you should not stop taking it after the birth of the child - you can reduce the volume of a single portion by half, and then gradually increase the dose to the usual amount.
Tampons with pumpkin oil, inserted by a woman into the vagina, will help to cope with dermatitis and violation of the microflora of the mucosa, and will remove a number of unpleasant symptoms of cervical erosion. In the climacteric period, regular treatment of the vagina with an oily extract is recommended for women especially, because at this time, diseases characteristic of age appear such as vaginitis, salpingitis. Drug therapy copes well with eliminating the cause of the disease, but entails (in 9 cases out of 10) either drying out the mucous membrane or excreting with an unpleasant odor. The treatment started with natural pumpkin oil in time removes these symptoms in a short period.
Pumpkin Oil in Diet
Women and men who independently develop diets for weight loss, often avoid including fatty oils in them, since the number of energy units in these extracts significantly exceeds the calorie content of many fatty foods. And nutritionists around the world, on the contrary, insist that the daily diet of losing weight contain at least 30 g of plant product. So what is pumpkin oil - a benefit or harm to the human body that is on a diet?
A diet devoid of fats and built solely on the use of pure proteins and coarse plant fiber is not able to form beautiful bodily forms, quickly depletes the body, makes it vulnerable to disease. A person who puts himself on such restrictions, as a rule, begins to suffer from constipation, his stomach acidity increases, gastritis develops. It is clear that the result of such weight loss is a complex restorative treatment, during which the patient returns all lost kilograms. How to avoid this?
First of all, the body needs to be prepared for the diet by cleaning it from toxins. They begin to do this 2-3 weeks before the diet begins to deplete in its usual foods. They take 5 g of oil, strictly at a certain time - in the morning, between 7:30 and 8:30, that is, before the pancreas enters the usual working rhythm.
When the preparation is over, and the body begins to receive less fat in the diet, the amount of oil is tripled and divided into three doses during the day. Instead of drinking the extract on an empty stomach, which not everyone can do, it is allowed to fill them with green salads or immediately seize the taken portion with a slice of brown bread. The course lasts 1 month, and is repeated in six months.
With the existing problems, often accompanying the so-called “drying of the body” - hemorrhoids, gastritis, constipation - the benefits of pumpkin oil are enhanced by diluting it 1: 1 with pure grapefruit juice. Drink this mixture in a quarter cup in one gulp, 30 minutes before meals for 14 days. In a serious condition (for example, developing intestinal obstruction), the same composition of oil and juice is additionally injected into the rectum with an enema.
Application in cosmetology
Pumpkin oil is rarely found in the formulation of ready-made cosmetics, as it is more popular as a food product and is not appreciated enough by manufacturers of caring cosmetics. However, for many women, based on the reviews they left about the benefits and harms of pumpkin seed oil, a bottle with a rich aromatic extract is an integral part of home beauty procedures.
For the fair sex, who want to prolong the youthfulness of the face, to eliminate peeling or to give shine to tired “gray” skin, just before bedtime rub 3-5 drops of pure oil between the fingertips and lightly “pat” it into the skin until completely absorbed. For additional nutrition, you can add a little honey and a drop of tea tree essential oil to the extract.
Directed face masks with several components:
- Whitening. 1 teaspoon of oil extract of pumpkin mix with 1 tbsp. a spoon of sour milk. Spread the mixture with a cotton pad over your face, rinse after 10 minutes.
- Cleansing. Grind 7 g of extract in palms with a small amount of coffee grounds. Apply the scrub with massaging movements to the face and rinse off after 12 minutes.
- Matting. Stir a tablespoon of oatmeal with 1 tbsp. spoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of pumpkin oil and 0.5 teaspoon of lemon juice. Withstand the mass on the face until it begins to dry, then rinse.
Hot oil compresses are considered particularly effective for restoring elasticity, eliminating fine wrinkles and restoring a healthy even color to the skin. They are made according to different algorithms - heating the oil and blotting a gauze cut in it, or separately warming up a dry rag and applying it to the face treated with oil, but the following option is most effective and economical:
- the face is liberally greased with pumpkin oil and for a minute they work the skin through the massage points, tapping them with the fingertips;
- then a piece of gauze prepared and folded in 6 layers is lowered into a container with very hot boiled water (as far as the hands stand), squeezed well and put this compress on the face for 10 minutes.
After the procedure, the skin is wiped with a dry paper towel.
For healthy hair
What about the benefits and harms of pumpkin hair oil? Acids contained in the extract (and there are more than ten) irritate the follicles, causing hair to grow, but this is only one of the properties of the saturated extract. Rubbing a small amount of liquid substance into the scalp at least once a week, it is not difficult to stop the itching, which torments many in winter due to wearing hats, to stop dandruff and exfoliate the ends of the hair.
To improve hair, having achieved the desired effect, you can use multicomponent compositions:
- Mask to strengthen the hair follicles - grate or squeeze 4 garlic cloves through a press, mix them with a mixture taken in 1 tbsp. spoonful of pumpkin and burdock oils and rub the mass into the scalp. Put the mask under the warming cap for an hour, then rinse.
- For dandruff - combine together 3 drops of rosemary essential and a tablespoon of ordinary pumpkin oil. Make a 10-minute head massage, rubbing the composition, then warm your head with a towel and pass for at least 40 minutes.
- To enhance hair growth - combine three types of oils: pumpkin, grape and walnut. All extracts are taken in a tablespoon. Apply the mixture to the hair, moving from the tips to the roots, and finally make an intensive head massage. After 40-50 minutes, you can wash your hair.
If there is no time for complex masks, you can add valuable extract directly to the hair rinse balm. For three tablespoons of thick balm, take 1 teaspoon of pumpkin oil, mix well and distribute it to your newly washed hair for 3 minutes. Rinse off such a composition with water slightly acidified with apple cider vinegar. According to reviews, the effect with regular use of such a mask shows an excellent result.
Preparation of the extract at home
Pumpkin oil, cooked at home, will not turn out to be as concentrated as that made in an industrial environment and will significantly differ from what was bought in taste and smell. The thing is that the maslodely keep such nuances as the time of roasting the seeds, the technique and the frequency of stirring the raw materials during the heat treatment in the strictest confidence, and all these aspects are very important to obtain a good result.
Judging by the reviews of the benefits and harms of pumpkin seed oil, a home-made product only vaguely resembles the original and is not worth the effort made to make it. But if the decision to try yourself in the role of butter-maker has already been made, then you should pay attention to the recipes below. To date, these two ways of cooking a product at home are considered the only ones:
- Cooking method (in water). The substance obtained after processing is more expediently called an oil infusion. Three kilograms of peeled pumpkin seeds are dried well, then ground in a coffee grinder to a state of coarse flour. Now the crushed seed needs to be calcined in a cast-iron frying pan, without ceasing to stir the dry matter. It is necessary to catch the right moment to remove the pan from the fire - at this moment the smell rising from the fry will intensify many times. The resulting hot flour is transferred to an enamel bowl and poured with water, coating the powder mass to the thickness of a finger. On low heat, bring the mixture to a boil and simmer under the lid for about 5 minutes. After cooling, the mass is well squeezed through cheesecloth and poured into a dark glass bottle.
- The method of oil extraction. A kilogram of peeled pumpkin seeds is dried, ground in a mortar and poured with 1.5 liters of odorless sunflower or linseed oil. The mixture is poured into a faience or glass container and heated in a slightly boiling water bath for at least an hour, making sure that the oil does not boil. After the required time, the mass is slightly cooled and squeezed under the press.
The ideal fraction size of the crushed seed, preserving all the benefits of the whole substance, is 2 mm. According to reviews, for the best result, it is better to crush the seed in a mortar, and then sift it, or use a manual chalk to achieve the desired grain size of the substance. The temperature regime of seed treatment is also very important and should not exceed 85 degrees during frying and 65 degrees during extraction.
Pumpkin Oil Harm and Special Notes
Most likely, the high cost of oil is to blame, but the attitude of people towards such a healthy and tasty product has developed a specific one - like a cough syrup or a medicinal elixir, which must be taken in a strict dosage. Already, many experts seriously warn against serious consequences that a person can overtake if, instead of a teaspoon of extract, he accidentally drinks two, but this is far from the case.
If the human body does not respond to the use of the oily substance with an allergic reaction and does not have medical contraindications to the components of aromatic and healthy pumpkin oil - how to take the extract, he can decide for himself. Of course, you should not get involved in drinking the product on an empty stomach - such an uncontrolled “treatment” will spoil even the most persistent organism, but you can safely add the substance to fresh salads from raw and boiled vegetables.
Health situations in which the benefit and harm of pumpkin oil for a particular person should be assessed by the attending physician:
- calculous cholecystitis;
- type 2 diabetes;
- allergy;
- gallbladder disease and inflammation of the bile duct;
- frequent diarrhea, vomiting, heartburn;
- abdominal cramps of unknown etiology;
- destabilization of the acidic gastric environment.
It is easy to exclude individual intolerance when using oil for the first time. It is enough to drop a few drops of dark extract on a small piece of bread and eat it. If the product is supposed to be used for external use, then you need to rub a small amount of oil on the inside of the wrist and evaluate the result after 15 minutes.