Pumpkin Seed Extract for Urinary Tract Health

Research suggests that pumpkin seed extract and pumpkin seed oil may support urinary tract health across a range of conditions, including benign prostatic hyperplasia, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, and lower urinary tract symptoms, with the body of evidence including multiple randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and systematic reviews that collectively point in a supportive direction. Studies indicate improvements in standardized symptom scores, nighttime urination frequency, urinary leakage episodes, and quality of life measures in both men and women across several of these trials, with one long-term observational study reporting sustained benefits over 24 months in BPH patients. A 1987 randomized trial also found that pumpkin seed supplementation altered urinary composition in ways that may reduce kidney stone risk, and a 2024 network pharmacology study proposed plausible mechanisms for these effects, though such preliminary research cannot confirm clinical outcomes on its own. However, several of the supporting studies are small, lack placebo controls, or involve combination products rather than pumpkin seed extract alone, which makes it difficult to isolate the extract's specific contribution and warrants cautious interpretation of the overall evidence.