Wow! I've just been doing a quick bit of research on saw palmetto in relation to the Korean study. After reading the summary a couple of times, putting the results into the table below and discovering that our beloved pumpkin seed oil performed BETTER than saw palmetto, I was extra excited when realising the quantities used in the study were so small!

The results put two and two together as to why some of our customers who have tried saw palmetto with little result and had such great results so quickly after talking to us and taking pumpkin seed oil. I'll explain; the quantities taken in the study were 320mg per day of either pumpkin seed oil or/and saw palmetto oil. This is less than 1ml (0.32ml to be exact). 320mg per day is the average recommended dosage of saw palmetto oil used in studies and when buying capsules. At that rate you would have to take the saw palmetto for 12 months to be able to notice if it was working or not with regard to the 'Maximal urinary flow rate' measurement. (The 'International prostate score' and 'Quality of life' probably need to be measure by a specialist so I'm assuming these results would generally be unknown.) I don't know how long our customers who said they had tried saw palmetto were taking it for - possibly not 12 months. When asked we recommend taking anywhere from 1 teaspoon (5ml) to 2 dessert or tablespoons (30 - 40ml) depending on current eating habits and severity of complaint.... 1 teaspoon is just over 15 times the amount taken in the study, 30mls is over 93 times the same amount taken in the study! No wonder our customers get great results from pumpkin seed oil.

To take it a step further for this economic day and age I've compared pricing too...the results will blow you away. You can pay online anywhere from the equivalent of 56c - $1 a day for various size containers (20, 30, 60 capsules etc) for the same quantities used in the study (0.32ml) of saw palmetto oil. You can buy a 500ml bottle of Australian pumpkin seed oil for $42.70 which is an equivalent of 1,562 days at 0.32mg per day for just 2.7c per day - ridiculous isn't it ;)  Seeing it wouldn't be easy to measure out of the bottle that amount and you want to take the oil while its still fresh (1 bottle would last you 4.3 years), it would be better to work it the other way and you'll find that for the same 56c per day, 1 x 500ml bottle would last you 76 days and you would be taking 6.5mls or 20 times the daily amount used in the study or as recommended for saw palmetto.

From the great results some of our customers have received and the results of this study, if you or anyone you know has the same problem, wouldn't you want to know about pumpkin seed oil and be able to give it a go?

I was watching TV a week or so ago and there was a story on a guy who came out and said that its not the fat making people fat its the sugar. Hallelujah! The story went on to say that in Australia the average consumption of sugar today is 50Kg per year as apposed to 1Kg per year some 50 - 60+ years ago. No wonder people are having weight problems.
Sugar is a carbohydrate and can be used immediately by the body for energy or stored for later use. All those reading this who have been calorie counting will know that sugar has less calories, only 4, per gram as opposed to fat which has 9, so leaving the thought that fat is worse than sugar. I just read some more information and it stated that all excess fat will be stored, as carbohydrates and protein will be used for energy first. If you’ve been on a low fat or no fat diet and our body requires fat for many things eg hormone production, lubrication etc and you’re still having problems loosing weight, this should make you rethink the idea that eating fat is the problem. Now with the average population today is consuming an extra 49Kg of sugar per year, how much do you think is excess and stored? It seems with all the overweight people on low-fat or no-fat diets and still the obesity figures increasing, fat cannot be blamed for all the problems. Not only is obesity on the rise but also heart disease and cancer. Makes me ask the question: is it not all interrelated? Also makes me wonder why people seem to have gotten fatter and more unhealthy since the major push on fats being bad for us and we should go on low fat, no fat diets!!!??? (more on that next blog). Way back in time (or not so long ago) when there was no skim milk or low fat cheese there were also not so many people with obesity. Hmmmm....
Getting back to the calorie count of sugar - only 4 per gram.... but if you are consuming a 50Kg per year thats 200,000 calories per year just from sugar! To put that in exercise terms burning 180 calories for an hour of walking (based on this information) thats 1111 hours of walking or 3 hrs per day, every day of the year (no holiday exceptions!). My point is, if you have a weight problem you may want to look at your sugar consumption. Manufacturers are very good at adding it as most people are addicted to sugar so it keeps them buying their products. To know if you are addicted ask yourself how often that little thought voice in your head says "I just feel like something sweet".... to combat this little voice, whenever you hear it say that, follow it with "ok, i'm addicted to sugar so I'm going to have a nice big glass of water and go for a walk" then don't think any more and just drink that water and go for that walk. When you get back from your walk congratulate yourself for being powerful and taking a positive step towards taking control of your health and wellbeing.
Good Luck - I wish you all the best of health.
Sharan

When it comes to seeds and nuts ask which is the healthiest and most people will be quick to say raw - you get more enzymes, no nutrients are destroyed so raw is healthier. Right??
That’s one view point, however if we look at it from a different angle it may not be so. Many foods are better if they are cooked. The cooking helps to breakdown certain elements which makes the food more easily digestible and release more nutrients making them more beneficial. Cooking is something we do everyday without a second thought to many foods.  If you have been eating the raw ‘Natural’ seeds only  for the same assumption above, then you may like to experiment with the roasted pumpkin seeds (Original or Traditional).
Comments from customers brought to our attention that some people find they get more enjoyment and energy from eating the roasted pumpkin seeds.
How do raw or roasted pumpkin seeds affect you?  Please let us know by posting a comment.

One of the most fascinating things about Pumpkin Seed Oil is the colour! When first looking at it most people think it looks like balsamic vinegar as it can look almost black in a clear glass bottle, however if you look at it from the right angle it can have a reddish sheen to it and THEN when you put it on a salad or white plate it comes up a very dark green colour! So what colour actually is it?

Well, its actually two colours. The technical term for this type of colouring is Dichromatic or Polychomatic. A study at the University of Slovenia found that "When the layer of oil is less than 0.7 millimeter thick," the study notes, "the oil appears bright green, and in [a] layer thicker than this, it appears bright red." It all has to do with light waves passing through the oil and how our eye receptors process colours. For more detail visit our website or http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=traffic-light-on-a-spoon

We press all our oil ourselves in the traditional cold press way with lots of pressure (as done for the last 300 years in Styria). Our oil is pure pumpkin seed oil which can be identified by its deep colour consistency. Some  oils (especially if they are about half the price) are not pure and will not have the deep colour or same flavour as they have usually been processed with another type of white oil (eg canola or sunflower) to make them cheaper.

There can be many differences in flavours and quality due to the processing and addition (or not) of white oil. The seed is gently heated before being pressed - higher heat produces higher yield, higher roasted nutty flavour, lower nutritional value, lower cost and vice versa. The gentle heating is necessary as it releases the oil from the seed and from tests we have done, it also increases some of the nutrient transfer into the oil instead of remaining with the seed residue.

Another way I believe you may be able to get an idea of purity of pumpkin seed oil is to look at the Omega content. Pure pumpkin seed oil shows negligible amounts of Omega 3 (Linolenic Acid) and high Omega 6 (Linoleic Acid). There are plenty of websites that say pumpkin seed oil is a good source of Omega 3 however this is from the addition of another oil during extraction. We know a  manufacturer who adds Canola  oil specifically to increase the Omega 3 content. Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid and necessary in our diets. This may show it is not pure, however the benefits of getting some Omega 3 outweigh the fact that it is not pure.
 
Pumpkin seed oil that is not 100% pure does not mean it is not good - not at all,  as it can actually be enhanced through shelf-life, taste or nutrients with other oils. It also depends what you are using it for; flavour or nutrition? If you find a lower priced oil and you just want good flavour and it has it, then use it. If you want the nutritional quality then remember you get what you pay for.

Pumpkin seed oil with an Omega 3 content will go rancid more quickly as that is the nature of Omega 3.  Flax seed oil is a great source of Omega 3 and if it is fresh and good quality then it can last a good 3 months in the fridge. Pumpkin seed oil with a high Omega 6 content will last in the right conditions for 2 years. A small amount (eg 80ml) in a dipping bowl in the sun and airy place will go rancid in a couple of hours, that's what its meant to do (the reasons I will explain in another blog!).  If you are not sure what a rancid oil tastes like, put some on a spoon and leave it on the bench in an airy spot for a few hours and then dip your finger in to try it and you'll know.

To sum it all up: eating quality oils will help your health and well-being. The money spent on a good quality oil (and food in general) will be saved in other areas (expensive vitamin pills, doctors visits etc). Buy good quality and you'll get the flavour and nutritional benefits.



(Regarding the 250ml picture in the shopping cart of two different looking bottles. The orange label is our existing one and the other a design option similar (we have changed it a bit since this photo was taken) to a new label we will be using soon to make all our products come under the one consistent branding of 'Australian Pumpkin Seed Company'. We also have the 500ml size. )

Starting right at the beginning..... This picture is of two of the founding members John & Helen West, showing the wonderful Styrian variety of pumpkin seeds, from a pumpkin grown on the family farm.

Welcome to the Australian Pumpkin Seed Company Blog!

This is where new information, ideas, thoughts and feedback will be found on anything that can be related back to pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil.
New items will be posted to encourage feedback as more people can bring more information to share for the benefit of all who reads these pages.

I ask that if you have something to say, please send it through so it can be shared with fellow pumpkin seed enthusiasts.