Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Of the 1431 participating men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), those who took pumpkin seeds for 12 months had a significant 10% improvement in BPH scored compared to placebo.  

As men age, one area of health concern is the health of their prostate. While prostate cancer is a significant concern, another much less serious prostate condition but which can adversely affect quality of life is benign prostatic hyperplasia where the prostate gland is enlarged but not cancerous (1).

The benign enlargement of the prostate caused urinary tract symptoms in as many as 14 million men in the United States in 2010. Benign prostatic hyperplasia affects about 50 percent of men between the ages of 51 and 60 and up to 90 percent of men older than 80 (1). 

Unfortunately, prescription medications for benign prostate hyperplasia can have side effects that include hives, shortness of breath, elevated and irregular heartbeat, rapid, pounding, or irregular heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness or blurred vision (1). As a result, more natural approaches to help men with benign prostatic hyperplasia are needed. Fortunately, pumpkin seeds may be an effective alternative approach.   pumpkins

In a 2015 study (2), 1,431 men aged 58 to 72 with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and lower urinary tract symptoms were put in 1 of 3 different groups for 12 months:

  • Pumpkin Seeds – 5 grams twice daily
  • Pumpkin Seed Extract – 500 milligrams twice daily
  • Placebo

Each man in the study had a score between 13 and 19 on the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) (3), a score of at least 3 on the IPSS-related quality of life questionnaire, urinating at night at least 2 times and peak urinary flow rate of less than 12 milliliters per second.

After 12 months, significant improvements were seen across all three groups. Pumpkin seeds were shown to be the most effective, with pumpkin seed extract slightly more effective than placebo. Specifically, those in the pumpkin seed group saw a 35.2% improvement in their prostate symptom score (15.8 to 10.4) compared to a 26.5% decrease in the pumpkin extract group (15.9 to 11.7) and a 25.2% decrease in the placebo group (15.9 to 11.9) (p < 0.05). Unfortunately, the researchers did not speculate why the placebo group had improved so much, only that “Overall, in men with BPH, 12 months of treatment with pumpkin seed led to a clinically relevant reduction in prostate symptom score compared with placebo”.

When suggesting how pumpkin seed improved urinary symptoms, the researchers suggested the an anti-inflammatory component due to fatty acid content of pumpkin seeds due to a fat called linoleic acid (4) as well as antioxidant effects of delta-7-sterols, tocopherols and micronutrients (5, 6).

For the researchers, “treatment with pumpkin seed results in a substantial improvement in lower urinary tract symptoms and a clinically significant improvement in quality of life” but that “these findings need to be substantiated in a confirmatory study or systematic review.”

Source: Vahlensieck, Winfried, Christoph Theurer, Edith Pfitzer, Brigitte Patz, Norbert Banik, and Udo Engelmann. “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.” Urologia internationalis 94, no. 3 (2015): 286-295.

© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel

Posted July 7, 2016.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

References:

  1. “Prostate Enlargement: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia” posted on the NIH website
  2. Vahlensieck W. 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. Epub 2014 Sep 5.
  3. “Appendix H: International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS)” posted on the NIH website
  4. Strobl M, Patz B, Bracher F: Kurbissamen bei Storungen der Blasenfunktion. DAZ 2004;144: 4010–4014.
  5. Fahim AT, Abd-El-Fattah AA, Agha AM, Gad MZ: Effect of pumpkin-seed oil on the level of free radical scavengers induced during adjuvant-arthritis in rats. Pharmacol Res 1995; 31: 73–79
  6. Abdel-Rahman MK: Effect of pumpkin seed ( Cucurbita pepo ) diets on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH): chemical and morphometric evaluation in rats. World J Chem 2006,1: 33–40