Celebrate Pumpkin: The Fall Superfood with Year-Round Beauty Benefits

"Pumpkin has so much more to offer than just a tasty latte in autumn. Read on to learn about the superfood benefits of pumpkin and the role it plays in skincare."

Pumpkin is a symbol of autumn. We obsess over it for a couple of months, use it as a Halloween decoration, or in our lattes and pies, and then forget about it until the leaves start to change again. Pumpkin is a superfood that deserves more! 

Since I’m someone who almost always has skincare on the brain, my thoughts are a little different when someone says pumpkin. That’s because inside every pumpkin there’s a truly amazing skincare ingredient waiting to be used. I’m talking about pumpkin seed oil!

Top 3 reasons to add pumpkin seed oil to your skincare routine

While pumpkin is considered a seasonal food, pumpkin skincare shouldn’t be seasonal. 

Fun fact: It takes about 2.6 kilograms of pumpkin seeds to make 1 litre of oil. That’s about five pumpkins, depending on the variety.

So what can pumpkin seed oil do for your skin? Well, let’s find out! Here are a few of the benefits:

Boosts Moisture. Pumpkin seed oil can act as an occlusive to help keep your skin moisturized. The essential fatty acids (palmitic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid) help create a protective layer on top of your skin that minimizes transepidermal water loss to keep the skin hydrated.

Reduces Acne. The rich profile of unsaturated fatty acids in pumpkin seed oil seems to help alleviate inflammatory acne, which are papules, pustules, nodules and cysts. It also contains vitamin A and alpha-hydroxy acids, which are known for their ability to increase cellular turnover. This means that it can also speed up the growth and healing process of acne, helping you to get rid of acne faster.  

Heals Wounds. Pumpkin seed oil may aid in wound healing thanks to its high content of vitamin A, vitamin E, fatty acids, sterols and phytosterols.

Want to know even more about the benefits of Pumpkin Seed Oil for your skin? Get the full in-depth breakdown here, along with science backed studies that prove pumpkin delivers the results you're looking for.

Pumpkin seed oil in Graydon Skincare products

At Graydon Skincare, we’re dedicated to results-driven, plant-powered ingredients. With such amazing skin benefits, we couldn’t resist incorporating pumpkin seed oil into our Face Glow.

Face Glow is a lightweight tinted moisturizing skin primer. A true multitasker, it delivers brightening and highlighting effects for an overall dewy and radiant complexion for the perfect no makeup makeup look. It’s won multiple awards and has over 100 five star reviews!

What are the dietary benefits of pumpkin?

Pumpkins are considered a superfood because they contain an abundance of compounds that our bodies need. 

Fibre helps maintain bowel health, control blood sugar levels and lower cholesterol.

Minerals including copper, zinc and iron help the body grow, heal and produce energy, enzymes and hormones.

Vitamins including B, C and E work together to help strengthen the immune system, convert food into energy and repair cellular damage.

Essential fatty acids including palmitic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid are necessary for good health and help reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases.

Antioxidants including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin, scavenge free radicals produced during the naturally-occurring oxidation process.

The word superfood is often used as a trendy marketing term. In many cases, these so-called superfoods don’t live up to their claims. That’s not the case with pumpkin! Pumpkins are certainly superstars that offer a myriad of health benefits thanks to their superb nutritional profile.

My favourite pumpkin recipe

With so many health benefits, it’s easy to understand why pumpkins have found their way into our hearts and foods. From pumpkin spice lattes, to pumpkin pies and pumpkin soup, they’re everywhere in the fall!

Here my favourite pumpkin recipe that I created so you can snack and sip at the same. I hope it inspires you to get into the kitchen right now! 

Vegan Pumpkin Fudge: As someone with a sweet tooth, this recipe is a fall staple for me. There's no baking required (hooray!) just a handful of ingredients, which you probably already have in your kitchen. Most importantly, this recipe is low glycemic so it won't spike your blood sugar. 

Get the recipe here!

Super Simple Pumpkin Spice Latte: How can we talk about pumpkin recipes and not talk about the latte? The pumpkin fudge doubles as an easy add on to your coffee to turn it into a pumpkin spice latte. Come on, you can’t not try this.

Get the recipe here!

Summary

• The nutritional profile of pumpkin is beneficial when applied topically as pumpkin seed oil.
• Pumpkin seed oil in skincare helps to moisturize and nourish the skin, relieve acne and support wound healing.
• Add pumpkin seed oil to your skincare routine with Face Glow.
• Pumpkin is a nutrient-rich superfood that can be incorporated into all types of sweet and savoury recipes.

This article was written by Graydon Moffat, founder of Graydon Skincare. It was first published in their Mindful Beauty Magazine on October 11, 2022.

Do you use products with pumpkin seed oil during your daily routine? Or do you have a favourite pumpkin recipe? We would love for you to share it in the comments. Or connect with us on Instagram @thetruthbeautycompany.