[Effects of Pumpkin Seed Extract] 3 Reasons Why Pumpkin Seeds are Good For Urinary Function

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

Is there anyone who suddenly feel a strong need to urinate or urinate very frequently? If you have these symptoms, you likely have an overactive bladder. Overactive bladder is a disorder that is accompanied by various urination-related symptoms without any specific disease. Symptoms include urinary urgency, which is an unbearably strong need to urinate, frequent urination, which involves urinating more than eight times a day, and nocturia, which is waking up during nighttime sleep due to the need to urinate. These symptoms greatly reduce the quality of life and cause difficulties in social life.

So today, I would like to introduce pumpkin seed extract, which can help with overactive bladder. Pumpkin seed extract is a functional ingredient recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as ‘can help improve urinary function of the bladder.’ There have already been several studies accumulated in academia on the effectiveness of pumpkin seed extract in relieving overactive bladder symptoms. Let’s take a closer look at it.

A typical symptom of overactive bladder is urinary urgency. Urinary urgency is when you feel the urge to urinate so intensely that you can't hold it in. In severe cases, if you do not urinate immediately, you may develop urge incontinence, which causes you to urinate against your will.

In relation to this, in 2014, a paper was published in the Journal of Functional Foods reporting that subjects with overactive bladder had improved symptoms of urinary urgency after consuming pumpkin seed extract.

The average number of times a healthy person urinates is 4 to 6 times while awake during the day and 0 to 1 time while sleeping at night. However, patients with overactive bladder commonly experience urinary urgency and frequent urination (urinating more than 8 times a day).

In the same paper, results showed that consuming pumpkin seed extract also reduced the frequency of urination.

Among men over the age of 50, some may have difficulty starting urination, or may have difficulty holding in urination, but may feel residual urine after urinating. One of the causes of these symptoms is benign prostatic hyperplasia. Prostatic hypertrophy refers to a disease in which the prostate enlarges with age and presses on the urethra, causing urination difficulties. If you have an enlarged prostate, you may also have symptoms such as a thinner urine stream.

A paper published in the Journal of Medical Food in 2019 reported that consuming pumpkin seed extract had a positive effect on improving quality of life by helping to improve symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Today we looked at the benefits you can get from consuming pumpkin seed extract. Lastly, we will tell you how to manage overactive bladder in your daily life. First, you should refrain from drinks that can promote diuresis, such as alcohol, coffee, and caffeinated drinks. Next, when the urge to urinate occurs, we recommend that you intentionally hold it for about 30 minutes and train to increase the holding time every two weeks.

I hope you have a healthy day both physically and mentally. This was Jinny.