What Are The Benefits Of Pumpkin Seed Oil For Hair Growth?
Pumpkin seed oil: A natural hair loss-preventing ingredient you need to know about
Hair loss. It’s an all-too common condition that can take a major toll on your confidence. When your hair starts thinning out, you might start thinking that there is no way to get back the healthy, full head of hair that you once had. But don’t give up – there is hope for your hair.
If you have been dealing with hair loss for some time, chances are you may have tried several solutions and treatments with varying degrees of success. However, one treatment you might not have thought of or tried yet is pumpkin seed oil. You may be wondering, how could pumpkin seed oil help with hair loss? While it may seem unlikely, the oil extracted from the seeds of a pumpkin can work wonders for your hair.
At this point in your battle with hair loss, you may be inherently skeptical of any new ingredient that you come across. We get it – a little bit of skepticism can be healthy. Not all hair loss treatments are created equal, and not everything that is advertised to give you great results really will do so.
However, the benefits of pumpkin seed oil for your hair are backed by science. It’s a natural ingredient with a unique ability to address one of the major causes of hair loss.
Pumpkin seed oil helps you get to the root of the matter – no pun intended – when it comes to hair loss. It’s a powerful ingredient that can be a huge help along the way as you work to prevent, and even reverse, hair loss.
Keep reading to learn more about how pumpkin seed oil can benefit your hair.
What is pumpkin seed oil?
To understand pumpkin seed oil, this comparison can be helpful: pumpkin seed oil is to pumpkin seeds what olive oil is to olives – it is cold-pressed from the seeds of a pumpkin and, like olive oil, has numerous purposes, including being used for cooking. The idea of putting a cooking oil in your hair might seem a bit outlandish, but pumpkin seed oil is useful for more than just its flavor.
Pumpkin seed oil has unique benefits for your hair, directly combating the root cause of hair loss and helping to increase your hair’s growth rate. To understand how pumpkin seed oil works to boost your hair growth, it is essential to first understand the underlying cause of your hair loss.
What is causing your hair loss?
Not every form of hair loss has the same root cause. However, for the majority of men and women, especially those over the age of 50, there is one primary cause for thinning hair – a condition called androgenic alopecia (AGA). AGA is more commonly referred to as pattern hair loss or pattern baldness. You may have heard the terminology “male pattern baldness” or “female pattern baldness” used to describe AGA. This is the most common form of hair loss in adults. AGA affects both men and women, but is twice as common for males as it is for females.
Androgenic alopecia does not make you go completely bald. AGA instead causes the hair on certain parts of your head to get dramatically thinner than the rest of your hair. In men, androgenic alopecia typically produces the classic “balding” look characterized by a receding hairline and thinning hair at the top of a man’s head. In women, androgenic alopecia can sometimes be more subtle, usually showing up most visibly in the “part” in a woman’s hair.
The best way to determine whether your hair loss is caused by AGA is by comparing the type of thinning you are experiencing to pictures of cases of androgenic alopecia. If you are male and are seeing your hairline recede and the top of your head thin out while the sides continue to grow normally, you are almost definitely dealing with AGA. If you are female and are seeing visible thinning in the part between the two sections of your hair, this is also a telltale sign of androgenic alopecia.
DHT: The Hormone Behind Hair Loss
The primary cause of androgenic alopecia is overproduction of a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in your body. DHT is an androgen, meaning it is a male sex hormone. Your body converts testosterone to DHT to serve important purposes. If you are a male, your body has higher levels of androgens like testosterone and DHT. However, womens’ bodies still produce androgens, albeit in smaller amounts.
As you age, your body’s conversion of testosterone into DHT can have a negative effect on your hair. Too much DHT production is associated with shrinking hair follicles. When your follicles shrink, it can cause your hair to grow shorter and thinner.
Can pumpkin seed oil help with DHT-related hair loss?
The thinning effects of DHT on your hair are definitely frustrating. However, pumpkin seed oil is a natural ingredient with inherent DHT-blocking properties. Pumpkin seed oil hinders your body’s conversion of testosterone into DHT, helping to prevent the constriction and shrinking of your hair follicles.
When you use a shampoo with DHT-blocking ingredients like pumpkin seed oil, you are doing your hair a big favor. As you get older and your body’s production of DHT increases, your hair needs your help to stay supplied with the nutrients that it needs to stay healthy and keep growing as well as possible.
Ingredients like pumpkin seed oil can have a major impact on your hair’s rate of growth and how thick and full it looks.
DHT-Blocking Shampoo: Does it work?
The results from using DHT-blocking shampoo can be astounding, producing a visibly thicker and fuller head of hair. DHT blockers like pumpkin seed oil, saw palmetto, stinging nettle and more make great additions to your hair care regimen, and a high-quality hair loss prevention shampoo should include all of these ingredients and more.
DHT blockers can work to enlarge your hair follicles, which can boost your hair’s growth rate. Hair loss is primarily caused by a disruption of your hair’s natural growth cycle. Using DHT-blocking ingredients like pumpkin seed oil can help to prolong your hair’s time in its anagen (growth) phase. Excess production of DHT can shorten your hair’s growth phase, inhibiting it from growing as long and full as you want it to.
Using a DHT-blocking shampoo is one of the most effective ways to work against the follicle-shrinking, growth-slowing effects of DHT.
Hundreds of men and women who have added groMD’s Hair Growth Shampoo & Conditioner, along with our Follicle Activator Spray, to their hair care routines have been astounded by the results, sending us testimonials celebrating their progress. Our formula is packed with DHT-blocking and growth-promoting ingredients that have yielded incredible results for many.
The Bottom Line: Pumpkin seed oil is an ingredient you should look for in your hair growth products.
The research about pumpkin seed oil’s benefits for your hair and its ability to prevent hair loss is extremely promising. We paired pumpkin seed oil with other natural DHT blockers, including caffeine, saw palmetto, stinging nettle, Korean red ginseng and more to create a highly potent blend that serves as the basis for our products.
If you are experiencing frustration and discouragement as a result of hair loss, don’t give up. Working against the root cause of your hair loss can make a huge difference in the health and growth rate of your hair, boosting your confidence in the process.
Dr. Amir Yazdan, MD, is an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon, expert guest on Dr. Phil and The Doctors, creator of the GroMD hair restoration product line, ISHRS member, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6823528/
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)61759-X/fulltext
https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/treatment-options-for-androgenetic-alopecia