Virgin Pumpkin Seed Oil Reduces Inflammation?

[blob69]

Does anyone have a take on this study?

"Virgin pumpkin oil strongly decreased liver steatosis and inflammation as well as atherosclerotic lesion area and severity."
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

I have read it once now and so far don't have any objections to the study design, and it is one of very few studies that examines an effect of refined vs. unrefined oil (vs. cocoa butter which gave the worst results).

Also, unrefined pumpkin seed oil is by far the best tasting PUFA oil out there as far as I'm concerned. Maybe there is something healthful in it?

But then again, why does the refined version seem to normalize fatty liver as well? And I remember other studies showing a beneficial effect of vegetable oils on fatty liver... Why could that be?

 

[judge]

Pumpkin is a super food. look it up! and i swear by my pumpkin seeds! I eat a couple handfuls a day and it really makes me feel better. It is the main ingredient in most saw palmetto supplements and My prostate love pumpkin seed oils!

 

[artist]

Aren't pumpkin seeds high in zinc

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Pumpkin seeds are high in PUFA.

 

[Richiebogie]

A study shows cutting your leg off can reduce weight and lower blood pressure!

These benefits were found to increase the higher up the leg you saw.

 

[judge]

yeah it is really high in PUFA but for some reason it really blocks DHT by blocking the enzyme 5-alpha reductasen that converts tetstosterone to DHT. so your prostate doesn't swell up If you are not suffering from any autoimmune symptoms i doubt it would hurt ya, Been used for prostate and urinary tract for over 100+ years!

 

[Pointless]

A quick search on the forum...

"Three recent scientific studies, surprisingly indicated that saw palmetto may actually harm your prostate health! These studies, which were investigating the effect of saw palmetto on prostate tissue all came to the same conclusion: Saw palmetto has an effect similar to chemotherapy on prostate cells - it kills both unhealthy and healthy cells!"

Saw Palmetto harms the prostate and does not block DHT

Have you heard of this guy Ray Peat? He's pretty rad...

 

[judge]

actually you are right about cutting yourself and lowering blood pressure. Donating blood is a great way to lower blood pressure! it really does work! Scientifically proven!

 

[judge]

I have to agree on the saw palmetto. I took several brands with little results. Finally had good results with a brand that had pumpkin seed oil as the main ingredient and had...some saw palmetto in it. Funny it used the advertising power of saw palmetto, but I think the pumpkin seed oil did the trick for me! :)

 

[Pointless]

DWR had good results with Pansterone for his prostate. It was backed up with labs and a doctor's examination.

 

[Westside PUFAs]

I eat a handful or two of these per week: Go Raw | Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds

as a source of pinoresinol, medioresinol, lariciresinol, beta-sitosterol, sitostanol, avenasterol and other special nutrients.

 

[judge]

i agree, i need to start sprouting! talk about super food!

 

[jyb]

But then again, why does the refined version seem to normalize fatty liver as well? And I remember other studies showing a beneficial effect of vegetable oils on fatty liver... Why could that be?

I'm used to studies claiming vegetable oils causes fatty liver, while saturated fats reverse it (it is actually one of rare solutions that I am aware of).

 

[blob69]

Thanks to everyone who commented. I asked Ray about this study, here are his thoughts:

Since people can be very allergic to cocoa butter, I assume it could increase inflammation in rodents. There are many indicators of inflammation, and people paid by Bunge Ltd would probably not want to study the mediators of inflammation that are increased by linoleic acid. The choice of control is important when a study intends to show that a product has “beneficial effects relative to control.”​

I wonder though, are allergenic impurities in cocoa butter enough to make it worse than an unrefined PUFA oil?

Or can some markers get worse and others better, with a net positive result?

 

[Makrosky]

I asked Ray about this study, here are his thoughts:

Since people can be very allergic to cocoa butter, I assume it could increase inflammation in rodents. There are many indicators of inflammation, and people paid by Bunge Ltd would probably not want to study the mediators of inflammation that are increased by linoleic acid. The choice of control is important when a study intends to show that a product has “beneficial effects relative to control.”​

Sorry I didn't see the study is sponsored by a company that has businesses in PUFA oils.This changes the context of Ray's answer.
Does that answer sound like a joke to anyone else ? What a way of dismissing a study that proves something you're against. All his concerns can be applied the other way around or to many other studies he cites to prove things.

 

[judge]

Does that answer sound like a joke to anyone else ? What a way of dismissing a study that proves something you're against. All his concerns can be applied the other way around or to many other studies he cites to prove things.

choice of control is HUGE and does make a difference in ANY study

 

[Makrosky]

choice of control is HUGE and does make a difference in ANY study

What's the problem with the chosen control of the study ?

The study itself hypothesizes some of the actions can be because of the phytochemicals in the virgin oil.

 

[Such_Saturation]

This study is funded in part by Bunge Ltd. PMS is an employee of Bunge Ltd.

Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PMS. Wrote the paper: MCM PMS RK.

2014 Bunge Annual Report

Higher margins and greater consistency of earnings also stem from where we choose to play. Increasing the share of value-added businesses in Bunge’s portfolio will accomplish both. Our goal is for Food & Ingredients to account for roughly 35 percent of total EBIT in the coming years. One portion of this increase will come through market growth—key oils and grains categories are expanding by 3 to 5 percent annually, depending upon channel and region. Another will come through expanding our portfolio of higher-margin products. We are targeting five key value drivers—functional performance, healthier choices, natural origins, sensory experience and innovation for convenience—that can generate unit margins several times those of base commodity products. Reduced-saturate oil in North America, sustainable margarine packaging in Brazil, and clean labels and flavored oils in Europe are all examples of this strategy in action.

 

[CoolTweetPete]

yeah it is really high in PUFA but for some reason it really blocks DHT by blocking the enzyme 5-alpha reductasen that converts tetstosterone to DHT. so your prostate doesn't swell up If you are not suffering from any autoimmune symptoms i doubt it would hurt ya, Been used for prostate and urinary tract for over 100+ years!

I would recommend looking up some of Haidut's threads on the benefits of DHT. Here are a couple,

DHT Is Estrogen "receptor" Antagonist
DHT Is A Glucocorticoid (cortisol) Antagonist
DHT does not have negative effect on prostate

 

[CoolTweetPete]

This study is funded in part by Bunge Ltd. PMS is an employee of Bunge Ltd.

Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PMS. Wrote the paper: MCM PMS RK.

2014 Bunge Annual Report

Higher margins and greater consistency of earnings also stem from where we choose to play. Increasing the share of value-added businesses in Bunge’s portfolio will accomplish both. Our goal is for Food & Ingredients to account for roughly 35 percent of total EBIT in the coming years. One portion of this increase will come through market growth—key oils and grains categories are expanding by 3 to 5 percent annually, depending upon channel and region. Another will come through expanding our portfolio of higher-margin products. We are targeting five key value drivers—functional performance, healthier choices, natural origins, sensory experience and innovation for convenience—that can generate unit margins several times those of base commodity products. Reduced-saturate oil in North America, sustainable margarine packaging in Brazil, and clean labels and flavored oils in Europe are all examples of this strategy in action.

Such, you sleuth, you.

From Bunge Limited Wikipedia,

Products
The company's operations include:[1]

• originating oilseeds and grains from the world's primary growing regions and transporting them to customers worldwide;
• crushing oilseeds to make meal for the livestock industry and oil for the food processing, food service and biofuel industries;
• producing bottled oils, mayonnaise, margarines and other food products for consumers;
• crushing sugarcane to make sugar, ethanol and electricity;
• milling wheat and corn for food processors, bakeries, brewers and other commercial customers; and
• selling fertilizer to farmers.