Pumpkin Seeds

Anything But Mid is hosted by Amy Edwards and Whitney Stropp. Neither host is a doctor and nothing here is medical advice. Lightly cleaned for readability.

Whitney: I'm Whitney.

Amy: And I'm Amy. And...

Whitney: They call it midlife.

Amy: They call it midlife. Look, we're still It's still a work in progress.

Whitney: But we got our names right.

Amy: We got our names right, and you're anything but mid. That's right. All right. So, You know, I feel like we need to preface everything in this I mean, by saying we are not doctors.

Whitney: We do not hold doctorates or medical degrees.

Amy: No, we do not.

Whitney: No. Uh-uh.

Amy: We're just two girls trying to figure it all out.

Whitney: That's right. This isn't medical advice. This is We're not doctors. And the point is it's life advice and internet research.

Amy: Yeah. And there's a lot a lot of stuff going on right now in the wellness field. And, You know, I feel overwhelmed a lot of the time, and so it's nice if, like, today, you're going to be telling me some things that I might not know. I I hope to.

Whitney: About pumpkin seeds.

Amy: I hope to. Yeah. So, that's what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about pumpkin seeds.

Whitney: Yeah, I want to hear.

Amy: What What do you know so far? Has anyone recommended pumpkin seeds to you, is my question.

Whitney: No. So, what I It It's so interesting that you want to talk about this, cuz the only thing that I know is I am losing hair. And so, I have been

Amy: Your hair is You have a nice head of hair.

Whitney: Well, it's It used to be better.

Amy: It's thick and lustrous.

Whitney: Thank you. I will take it. I will take it. But, and so, I've been down this rabbit hole of what to do for hair loss. Totally. And there's a lot of stuff out there. But pumpkin seeds were one of the things that I came across. And I didn't really attach to that, so I I must have, you know,

Amy: Really? For hair loss. Well, that might be in my book report today. We'll just have to wait and see. We'll just have to see. That's right.

Whitney: Yeah, that's all I know. And then we used to, you know, roast them.

Amy: Yeah, I Oh, yeah. Yeah. I know, right? I I dug up some of the ways that you can like bring them into your life, and roast them, or whatever you want to do.

Whitney: Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Amy: But, the reason I was fascinated by them is because I've had multiple people, like my functional nutritionist, Risa Groux, who was a guest on my show, she's fabulous. And then also Ways2Well, where I do my blood work and stuff. They've both recommended eating pumpkin seeds midday, or lunchtime, which I'm like, "Why?" And it helps balance hormones and stuff, so I was like, "What is the deal?"

Whitney: Yeah, why pumpkin, and why are why are we just learning about this? I mean, pumpkin seeds have been a part of my life throughout my whole life because we would roast them at Halloween. Nobody really told anyone about

Amy: I'm impressed. No one I never did that growing up. Never.

Whitney: Oh, really?

Amy: No. No.

Whitney: You did Did you not do it with your girls?

Amy: No.

Whitney: Oh, hilarious.

Amy: And that sounds like a lot of work. I just buy the raw ones. I know.

Whitney: It's not that bad, but

Amy: It's not.

Whitney: Yeah. I mean, it's not. You get gunky, you know, the pumpkin.

Amy: That's I don't like that. It's gross.

Whitney: Guts, yeah. It's not

Amy: So, I know, I'm just being a princess about it. So,

Whitney: They're delicious, so I'm glad. I mean, put some salt on those babies, and and it's good to go.

Amy: That's what I like.

Whitney: But I don't know why Yeah, I I don't know. Tell So, tell me what you know about pumpkin seeds.

Amy: Well,

Whitney: Especially with hair loss, cuz that's what I'm dealing with.

Amy: I know. Well, here we go. You know what? We may have to do a little on-the-fly research, we'll see about hair loss. Let's see. Listen. This is We're just getting started here, and this is I feel like I've done a book report, an oral book report, that I'm getting graded on, and I'm not as prepared as I should be. So,

Whitney: You're fine, but I am grading you.

Amy: Shit. Look, you you know what? At the beginning, you know, there's you've got to have room for improvement.

Whitney: Of course.

Amy: So, that's Okay. So, and the focus here is women in midlife, because I feel like it's like been recommended to me specifically because of my age, and hormones, and all this kind of stuff. So, um, so here if we want our nutrient profile, let's So, let's start there. Okay. So, pumpkin seeds are rich in healthy fats, right? So, we're talking unsaturated, linoleic, oleic acids.

Whitney: Ooh.

Amy: And by the way, I did do this research on the internet, and I do have citations for everything, so I will do my best to put those in the show notes, as apply, okay? They also contain proteins with essential amino acids and fiber. So, we like that, right?

Whitney: Mhm. Yeah. Amino acids, yes.

Amy: If you're looking for what vitamins are in there, Oh, here. Let me just You're about to find out. Let me rattle these off, because it's going to be It's like a little who's who of things that we want right now. Magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, iron,

Whitney: All right. Oh, my gosh.

Amy: I know. And manganese, I don't even know what that is, but yeah.

Whitney: And in the seeds, you don't get this from the pumpkin part.

Amy: Well, now, my report is not on pumpkins.

Whitney: Oh, you're right. I apologize. I ask a lot of questions, so.

Amy: I want you to. I want you to. And, um, so here, so it also says they provide antioxidants. Now listen, my pronunciations may not be great, and that's okay, right? We know that. We're not pronunce-

Whitney: Yeah. Nobody's going to judge you on that. No.

Amy: Well, they might.

Whitney: Well,

Amy: Yeah, they might. I judge people on that, but that's okay. Phenolic compounds, carotenoids, tocopherols, and other phytochemicals. So, that all sounds real good. Phytochemicals, sounds like something in the plant.

Whitney: Carotenoids, yeah.

Amy: I like it.

Whitney: I want Sounds like something like related to carrots. I don't know, maybe plant. Or that's going to vroom you up like a car.

Amy: Yeah. So, pumpkin seed oil concentrates many of these fat-soluble compounds, and may have additional effects, which we we'll talk about. So, this is influential. All of these All of that sums up to be influential in your metabolism, your hormones, your bones, and your cardio, yeah, cardiovascular system. So, that sounds pretty fucking good.

Whitney: Yeah, that looks good. That sounds good. Why? So, you and I know I'm interrupting your book report.

Amy: No, it's okay. I want to be interrupted.

Whitney: So, when you went to the nutritionist, is that something that she tells everyone to take, or was it specifically for something that you were dealing with?

Amy: It felt a little universal, you know? Like,

Whitney: Yeah. Well, with all those vitamins.

Amy: Like, it was just something healthy, but highly recommended. That's how it felt. Now, I can't answer exactly, but she was looking She was looking at my blood work for my hormones, and then my gut health and all that kind of stuff. But it it sounded like also a good thing to do.

Whitney: Well, it makes sense if if I was looking at it and it said something about hair loss, because the hair loss that I'm having right now is due to hormones. I didn't I don't have like pale pale male pattern balding.

Amy: Pale matter, pale men.

Whitney: I do have pale men. I don't have the the the pattern balding or any of that stuff. It's literally come on due to hormones.

Amy: So many people have that.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah.

Amy: I know. I've talked to so many people that talk about that.

Whitney: It sucks.

Amy: It does suck, and I probably have it. I just have all these extensions in, so I don't know.

Whitney: I've been thinking about it, but maybe I'll try pumpkin seeds first.

Amy: Well, um, I really like them.

Whitney: They taste delicious.

Amy: Oh, my god, they're so good! And I toast Oh, my god, I was going to make some! Damn it! So, what I'll do sometimes is I'll like roast them, and then uh and uh I don't really roast, I'll just throw them in a pan.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah.

Amy: No oil.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah.

Amy: And just like let them sit there and toast a bit, and throw some salt on. But I like to mix up some coconut oil and cocoa powder, and a little bit of monk fruit, and then like monk fruit sugar or whatever I use, like the the the Splenda one or something. And mix all that up, and toss them in there, and put it on a piece of parchment, and stick it in the freezer, and in 30 minutes, it is like like pumpkin seed bark.

Whitney: Chocolate?

Amy: Mhm.

Whitney: Okay. Wow.

Amy: Super healthy. That's what I was going to make you. Shit.

Whitney: I'm really disappointed that you didn't do it.

Amy: I am too!

Whitney: It really would have gone well with this, I can't lie.

Amy: Damn it. You know, I can't remember everything.

Whitney: You would have gotten a much better grade on your report.

Amy: Dang it. I knew it. So, okay. Well, that's my recipe, though. Like, that it's a really good trick. And then

Whitney: We're going to try We're going to have to try it.

Amy: Yeah. So, I keep like little toasty ones to throw on my salads every day.

Whitney: And you can just get them now at the grocery store in a bag.

Amy: Yeah. And I buy like, you could probably buy them in bulk, but I buy just like the thing at Randalls. It's like, which is like Safeway or whatever. I buy the container. It's like a plastic container, which is probably putting microplastics in them, but whatever. And they're just They say, "Raw." They say, "Raw." Don't get the pre-roasted ones because

Whitney: Yeah. We can't be perfect. Yeah. Right, right. You don't know what's in it.

Amy: we don't know what What oil they're using. Yeah, we don't want that.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That sounds delicious.

Amy: It's so good.

Whitney: And so, what is the recommended dose?

Amy: Okay, we're going to Let's just let's just keep let's keep talking.

Whitney: All right, I'm just going to Yeah.

Amy: So, in midlife, right, we have physiological changes and that's and declining estrogen. So, that's how pumpkin seeds can help, right? First of all, bone health and mineral support. I feel like we should do an episode on magnesium, but they do have magnesium in there, which helps bone formation? Like, who fucking knew?

Whitney: Yeah, magnesium is so important for

Amy: I know, but I thought it was about sleep. It's about bones, apparently.

Whitney: Yeah. Bones. Bones.

Amy: I'm already learning so much. So, that can help us with like regulate calcium metabolism, right?

Whitney: Since we're at risk for osteoporosis.

Amy: So annoying.

Whitney: And they told you to take this in that in the lunchtime, like mid afternoon?

Amy: They did. They did. They told me particularly, so. I mean, I don't know if it matters as long as you're getting some some of it, but I do put it on my Like, sometimes I just eat my big meal around 2:00 p.m. and I'll just like sprinkle it on.

Whitney: Right. But, also, that's just a nice little snack. I know, especially for moms that are driving everywhere, all day, with their kids, to have that in your, you know, purse or glove box or something. I don't know how long they keep, but yeah, that's a nice snack.

Amy: So smart. Mine keep a while. Like, I feel like I'll put them in a jar and they'll stay for I don't even know, like I'll leave them for a week. Yeah. I've had them for a while, and for better or worse, I'm going to I'm going to do it old-school. I'm going to get some pumpkins since we're in that season

Whitney: I love that.

Amy: and just scoop all those guts out, and And then what do you do? Do you have to like rinse them, clean them?

Whitney: Yeah, you rinse them, and then they have to dry out, and then you put them in the oven, or or the skillet, like you were saying.

Amy: Oh. I feel like they're bigger. I feel like they're bigger when you do that. Like, they're bigger than the ones I get at Randalls.

Whitney: Maybe so. I don't know.

Amy: Anyway.

Whitney: I haven't seen the ones from Randalls.

Amy: I wonder if they just taste better, too.

Whitney: So, I think you just feel like you're more Betty Crocker-ish.

Amy: I don't know. I bet they're better. I bet they're better.

Whitney: I think so. I would say yes.

Amy: And they're called They're called pepitas, also, by the way. So, if you see pepitas, that's the same thing. You didn't know that?

Whitney: I don't think I knew that. Oh, okay. See, this

Amy: When you see that like added at Tex-Mex restaurants,

Whitney: Those are baby pumpkins. Pepitas! Yeah. Okay.

Amy: They're probably They're probably the baby ones, which I don't like eating baby spinach, I don't like eating the baby vegetables, cuz I feel like you're not getting the fully formed nutrients. Anyway, could be mental, I don't know. So.

Whitney: Well, maybe that's why the pumpkins that you're eating are smaller than the ones I get out of the pumpkin, because

Amy: I know! I just thought of that. They're called pepitas, they're babies.

Whitney: It's fully grown. Yeah. They're babies.

Amy: Fuck me. God damn it.

Whitney: I'm learning so much.

Amy: Well, we got like eight more pages here, so just keep lining up.

Whitney: All right. Let's get into it. Okay.

Amy: All right. It also has trace minerals with phosphorus and manganese is involved in bone matrix formation, which sounds really important. So, that's good for us. Bones.

Whitney: Yeah. It's all about the bones.

Amy: Now, this I thought was super interesting, okay? This is a study in rats. So, pumpkin seed extract improved antioxidant status and lipid profiles, which could indirectly support bone health and metabolic health in menopause-like conditions, but that was in rats.

Whitney: Yeah, but they do all of that on rats. Like, I guess we're the closest The rats are the closest.

Amy: Yeah, they The rats are close to us. Yes. I think I looked it up.

Whitney: Which is weird.

Amy: Something about the way their bodies function and stuff like

Whitney: is similar to ours. Yeah.

Amy: Isn't that weird?

Whitney: And then, I mean, well, I'm not even going to say that.

Amy: So smart.

Whitney: So, I'm going to be like, and people are okay with rats getting tested on, maybe.

Amy: I mean, if we have to choose an animal, I guess.

Whitney: I Well, it's for the greater good.

Amy: I know, I'm not cool with any animals, really, but

Whitney: But these animals are getting better bones, they're getting, you know, healthy, uh, metabolically, I don't know.

Amy: Yeah. They're strengthening their bones.

Whitney: That's right. So, it's good.

Amy: Those rats are growing old with their grandchildren.

Whitney: Growing old gracefully.

Amy: With their great-great-grandchildren, I'm sure.

Whitney: Yes, yeah.

Amy: So, okay. Plus, it's helping cardiovascular and metabolic health. Now, when I hear metabolic health, I like that, right? Lipid profile, so that means it improves your cholesterol.

Whitney: Yeah. Okay.

Amy: HDL, LDL.

Whitney: And you know what's weird? I have high cholesterol, and I don't do anything that creates high cholesterol.

Amy: Me too. Me too. Fucking genetic.

Whitney: It's so annoying.

Amy: I do too. I like When I eat really vegan, and cut out like butter, and stuff like that, it's so much better, but it's

Whitney: Really? I'm not cutting out butter.

Amy: Yes. See, that's it.

Whitney: I mean, this is the problem, and this is kind of what we're going to weed out for people, is like, you can't You have to pick and choose. Otherwise, it's you're just you There's no fun.

Amy: You can't do it all. You can't fucking do it all. I know.

Whitney: Cuz I want some butter. I want to have popcorn at the movies, and I'm not going to live my life without it, so.

Amy: You know, do do the good stuff. Here's what I always say. Do the good stuff more often than you don't. That's my philosophy.

Whitney: That's fair. I like it. I like it. And now you're going to eat more pumpkin seeds, so you can have that butter.

Amy: I already eat quite a few.

Whitney: Yeah, I didn't know.

Amy: Like, I'm proud of myself. That's why the No, I I've just been like I already had prepped some stuff about this, cuz I was like, "I need to be I need to do a YouTube whatever on my channel and talk about pumpkin seeds." A reel, and though anyway, so I was already like into this, so. Okay, it's also been linked to better blood pressure, likely due to magnesium.

Whitney: Well, and I have high blood pressure.

Amy: You do?

Whitney: It's genetic.

Amy: Shit.

Whitney: I know. And I'm doing all the right things. I like I work out, I'm eating right,

Amy: You're Yeah.

Whitney: you know.

Amy: You're fit.

Whitney: Fit. But my genes are crappy, I guess.

Amy: Your genes are like, "Fuck off."

Whitney: But that's the thing that I'm wondering about. Like Like, at first second, I was like, is anything going to help if it's genetic? But that doesn't make sense.

Amy: It will. It will, I think. I mean, but you don't take any medication for it.

Whitney: It will. Yeah, I do.

Amy: Oh, you do?

Whitney: Yeah, I have to take lisinopril, 20 mg.

Amy: Dang. Every day?

Whitney: Yeah, but then I I decided that I didn't Now, I'm on minoxidil too, for hair.

Amy: For hair?

Whitney: Mhm.

Amy: Oh! We should talk about that sometime.

Whitney: Yeah, so that is actually And, by the way, nobody told me this, but minoxidil lowers your blood pressure. And when I was doing

Amy: That's a nice side effect.

Whitney: Like, when I'm putting in all of my supplements and everything, I put it into ChatGPT, and I'm like, "Am I overdoing it? Am I underdoing something? Like, what"

Amy: What a good hack! Holy shit.

Whitney: Yeah. Super good hack.

Amy: I should put my blood work in there, too.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah. I just I listed all my supplements, and then as I add things in, so like now I'll go in and be like, "And I'm going to eat this, you know, and I'm going to put pumpkin seeds," and they'll be like, "Oh, you already have this much magnesium, so be careful,"

Amy: And it'll be like, your body can only absorb so much, and you have high blood pressure, and

Whitney: Yes. So, when I put it into my list, it told me, "Hey, minoxidil lowers your blood pressure." So, I started going like I do the lisinopril like every other day now. So, yeah.

Amy: You're microdosing.

Whitney: I'm

Amy: You're microdosing lisinopril. All right, that is fascinating. Okay, so it's been linked to better blood pressure, likely due to magnesium, potassium, and

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: endothelial effects. I don't know what that means.

Whitney: Endothelial.

Amy: Endothelial. Pretty. Endocrine system? I don't know.

Whitney: Oh, does it start with an E?

Amy: Wild guess. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. There's evidence for improvements in cholesterol in postmenopausal women consuming pumpkin oil. We kind of covered that. And, um, the fiber and protein content also supports satiety, helping mitigate weight gain tendencies in midlife when metabolism slows down. Yes, you had me at sa- satiety.

Whitney: Satiety. Okay, so how long if you been taking these pumpkin seeds?

Amy: At least a year.

Whitney: Really?

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. And I wouldn't say I do it every single day, but I do it a lot, and I do it with your favorite nutritional yeast. So,

Whitney: That stuff is disgusting.

Amy: I love it.

Whitney: You're still eating that.

Amy: Fucking love it.

Whitney: That's hilarious.

Amy: I love it. I love it.

Whitney: You bring it, yeah, to work, and No.

Amy: Nooch. Yes, aka nooch. I know, it's the worst nickname.

Whitney: That's terrible.

Amy: Okay, so, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, which I love. We all want to be less inflamed, so obviously, when we get older, we have higher oxidative stress, like there are antioxidants in pumpkin seeds. So, when we hear antioxidants, that's related to free radicals, and reducing chronic inflammation, which is like

Whitney: Okay. Yeah, that's the cause of everything.

Amy: the number one. Yes, it's like that's like our like worst villain.

Whitney: Yeah, it is. It is.

Amy: So,

Whitney: Wow, these little things pack quite a punch.

Amy: Yep. Okay, now this is These pumpkin seeds packing a punch. This is a big sentence that I'm about to read. It's got a lot of big words, okay? But this is related to the rat study.

Whitney: Oh, okay.

Amy: So, I like the rat study. I found it very interesting. I was going to try to read the whole thing, but I didn't. So anyway, "In the ovariectomized" That means they had something about their ovaries, yeah. "rat model, antioxidant activity was one of the mechanisms by which seed extract ameliorated menopause-like changes." So basically,

Whitney: Ameliorated.

Amy: yeah, so basically it helped alleviate. I mean, they ameliorated, it lessened It lessened menopause-like changes in these rats.

Whitney: Okay. Oh.

Amy: Which is pretty fucking cool.

Whitney: Well, I am going to start taking them, because I am changing all of my hormonal stuff. Like, I got completely off testosterone right now, and I've upped my estrogen, because my because all my blood work over the last year has just been up and down, the testosterone. And I'm like, I'm tired of like either it's too high, too low. I'm like, "I'm getting it off of it, and let me get back to base level, and then I can slowly start to increase it." But, and then they upped my estradiol, and I'm on a patch

Amy: Why? Ooh.

Whitney: instead of orally. And I just went on a trip, and I didn't realize at the time, like we talked about it later, but I was really teary.

Amy: Aw.

Whitney: Like, I cried on the way to the airport, which is kind of a bummer when you're like going on a girls' trip and somebody's crying on the way to the airport. My dog threw up right before I like Literally, they text me and go, "We're here," and my dog vomits all on the carpet, and he's sick, and, you know, and I just I'm on the way to the airport, and I'm crying, and I'm like, "I don't know why I'm crying." And then, later on on the trip, I started crying again, and I'm like, "What is happening?" And my friend goes, "You need testosterone!" And I was like, "Oh, my gosh, it was It's 100% hormonal." Cuz it just started. I've just changed it. And in the last week, when I'm on a girls' vacation, I'm crying.

Amy: Did you Sidebar.

Whitney: So, Yeah.

Amy: Did you watch the Charlie Sheen documentary on Netflix?

Whitney: Oh, my gosh.

Amy: His testosterone It was like 4,000.

Whitney: It was like out of control. But just side note,

Amy: It's so good.

Whitney: please go watch that documentary. It was so good.

Amy: So good. Well, I mean, our gen loves Charlie.

Whitney: Well, I thought it was going to be, and look, it was a shit show. It was a little bit of a shit show.

Amy: And way to pull it out, and stay alive, and redeem yourself.

Whitney: But, yeah. I thought it he was he handled it so well, he was so gracious, and the people around him were so gracious. Like, that I got teary. Did you cry?

Amy: I I cried. I think I cried. Okay, good.

Whitney: Okay, good. I cried, and I just was so touched at how everyone was so willing to forgive, and show him grace, and then he just

Amy: Mhm. But talk about a guy that failed upward over fucking over.

Whitney: He just comes across Yeah. He's just so likeable. And I re- I remember when all of that was like the winning, I remember that, and winning, and making fun of it, and not really thinking, "Oh, this guy is in crisis." I never thought of that.

Amy: Oh, yeah. Winning. Yeah. Oh, I I thought he was a wild mess, and probably had

Whitney: I just thought, how funny. Winning. Winning.

Amy: I was like, he is fucked up, and I I wanted nothing to do with him, and that's why watching this, I had to push through a little bit of like how my judgment around him had changed. But anyway, his testosterone was off the fucking charts.

Whitney: Yeah. He needs pumpkin seeds. Oh, yeah, yeah. Off the charts. Well, and and by the way, hair loss and testosterone are related. If you have too much testosterone, you you can lose your hair.

Amy: What a bummer for dude.

Whitney: So, I'm like, yeah, the bald men have the most testosterone. Exactly. They make up for it in other areas, but so, yeah.

Amy: So, yeah. I love it. Anyway, I love that.

Whitney: Anyway, I loved that documentary. And yes, my testosterone I'm I've taken it off

Amy: Well, I'll

Whitney: the menu for now.

Amy: I took it off, too. I think I told you this. I stopped Oh, my god, you guys, everybody.

Whitney: Okay, so yes.

Amy: It was making my labia turn dark.

Whitney: You did tell me that.

Amy: And I didn't like it.

Whitney: And then I ran home, and I was like, "Is mine changing?"

Amy: Whole nother conversation, but and my nipples too, they got darker. And I was like, I I'm not here for this right now.

Whitney: "Is my..." No.

Amy: And plus, I don't know, taking hormones is jacking with me in a whole different way. The I've My face was breaking out. So, I just stopped taking everything, cuz I was like, "What the hell is making my my cheeks were breaking out." And so, I was pissed. So, I was like, "I can't." I just cut everything out and I'm like slowly introducing it, and get getting to baseline. The other night, I was like, "I'll take my nighttime supplements," which includes some progesterone or something, I don't know. We'll go through that another day. But anyway, it includes something. Let me tell you, I sweated all night. I was wearing a t-shirt, cuz Justin wasn't home, so I was like, I like to wear a t-shirt and shorts. Soaking.

Whitney: At night.

Amy: I was And that was

Whitney: because of progesterone?

Amy: I don't know! The only thing I changed was that I took some nighttime supplements, and I was like, okay, can cannot. So anyway, I don't know.

Whitney: Yeah. So, you're not on testosterone?

Amy: Not at the moment.

Whitney: And do you feel tired?

Amy: No, I feel great. It's really more related to what I eat and how I take care of myself.

Whitney: Yeah, I mean, I'm losing hair back here, and then maybe one or two black hairs over here, and I was just like I can't. And it was so fluctuated, so

Amy: Oh, I have so many hairs on my chin. Oh, my god.

Whitney: Oh, really?

Amy: Yes. My kids are under strict instructions that if I go into a coma, they have to come with tweezers and pull the hairs out. They know.

Whitney: We have the same instruction. But maybe now that you're off testosterone, you won't have those.

Amy: They might be a little bit better, yes. But they're still there.

Whitney: Well, but there's good things about testosterone. That's why I got on it in the first place, but anyway.

Amy: We'll do an episode on that.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah. So, the pumpkin seeds

Amy: Back to pumpkin seeds.

Whitney: are helping with hormonal, uh, regulate.

Amy: Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, there haven't been major human trials on this, but it is suggested that there are phytochemicals Phytochemicals? Phytochemicals.

Whitney: PHY. PHY. Phyto. Phyto, I think it's phyto.

Amy: We'll go with phyto. Phytochemicals in pumpkin seeds.

Whitney: We're not doctors.

Amy: We're going to go with that. Again, not medical advice here.

Whitney: We're not doctors.

Amy: Everybody, this is comedy wellness. There are phytochemicals that may have mild estrogen modulating or phytoestrogenic yeah, effects. For example, in rats, phytoestrogen components from pumpkin seed extracts Who's doing all these? I know. Improved uterine weight, like how much your uterus weighs, mammary gland changes, and bone density. So anyway,

Whitney: Mm.

Amy: I really think I I mean, I guess I should have called my nutritionist, but anyway, I didn't feel like making an appointment, but

Whitney: nutritionist,

Amy: Um, but I think that that was a big reason. It was like they they think that it could help. It's kind of like mod- modulating your estrogen, like helping balance your estrogen when you're having all these swings.

Whitney: Right. Right. I I'm getting some pumpkin seeds immediately, and they taste good.

Amy: Yes, you are.

Whitney: But I I think I I need it. It's I But, yeah, who decided that?

Amy: You're convinced. You're sold already. And I still have like fucking, I don't know how many pages.

Whitney: I'm sold. Your book report is stellar.

Amy: Thank you!

Whitney: All right.

Amy: Oh, my god, I feel so good!

Whitney: A so far. Well, yeah, A-minus cuz you didn't bring any pumpkin seeds to eat.

Amy: I can make it right afterwards.

Whitney: All right.

Amy: Okay. So, let's see. In the same study, it also improved some menopause-related markers like oxidative stress and lipid profile. Pretty cool, right?

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: That study is super interesting, but I only have the CliffsNotes. Sorry, it was like a whole medical thing, so.

Whitney: Yeah, it's hard to read those medical

Amy: Well, I just didn't have time. I've been busy, okay? So, this is what we're doing here. We're busy people.

Whitney: results. We're busy people. We let the rats do the hard work.

Amy: We are. We got things going on.

Whitney: And we you just slide in at the end.

Amy: That's right. That's right. Okay. So, um, so, they did have a human trial, I'm going to tell you about.

Whitney: Okay. Okay.

Amy: Postmenopausal women taking pumpkin seed oil, now, that's I don't know if that's included with just eating pumpkin seeds.

Whitney: Right, that's different.

Amy: I think it is. I like it, right?

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: They did experience improved cholesterol and they im- improved their metabolic and hormonal influence, whatever that means. So, So, uh, also, it can help. There are some sources that say it can help with vaginal

Whitney: Sources say.

Amy: Sources say vaginal dryness and dryness in general, because everything dries out when you're in menopause, apparently, which is super fucking annoying.

Whitney: Yes. Just all the moisture gets sucked away.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. They also contain, and I haven't mentioned this yet, tryptophan. Tryptophan, of course, we know from like

Whitney: I don't know.

Amy: turkey. What? Oh.

Whitney: Oh, it makes you sleepy.

Amy: Sleepy, yeah. So, it can help with mood and sleep regulation. So cool, right? It's the same with magnesium.

Whitney: So, these This All of this is in one seed.

Amy: I know. It's wild, like, that we have a whole episode that you can chit-chat about it for like an hour. The magnesium in it, of course, also supports sleep quality, muscle relaxation, and nervous system regulation.

Whitney: Mhm. Wow.

Amy: No joke, right? No wonder they're They're like a magic pill.

Whitney: I know. I'm wondering if there's one group of people that like eats a lot of pumpkin seeds, you know, cuz like pumpkins grow in Pumpkin seed-aholics? Or Well, like that that like where they live, their habitat is like, you know, like Ireland has all the potatoes. Like, I wonder if there's a group of people that just, you know,

Amy: If you're listening and you know anything about this, email us at anythingbutmidpodcast@gmail.com.

Whitney: That's right.

Amy: Yes, we we

Whitney: We want to know about the I've heard of pumpkin pounders.

Amy: What?

Whitney: That's what they What? I I had I was just told this the other

Amy: Is someone that fucks the pumpkin?

Whitney: No, a redhead.

Amy: So, I have Everyone in your life has been a pumpkin pounder, hello?

Whitney: I know a thing or two about the pumpkin pounders. I don't know much about the pumpkin seed eaters. Is that what Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater was? He liked redheads? Maybe. Or maybe he really ate pumpkin. Or maybe he was a pumpkin eater, but maybe his his people were the pumpkin people were trying to find. Peter,

Amy: Give us a call.

Whitney: give us a call. Okay, this is amazing. Amazing. All right. Pumpkin pounders. I know, isn't that hilarious?

Amy: It's hilarious.

Whitney: I had never heard it.

Amy: I've heard of like uh Sauer-

Whitney: SauerKraut.

Amy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I've heard of. Okay. So, it also might be benefish- beneficial for urinary tract or bladder function.

Whitney: Okay. Well, that also is an issue when you're a lot of women are menopausal.

Amy: Yeah, in midlife women, bladder and urinary incont- incontinence

Whitney: Yeah, we're so fun.

Amy: becomes more common, although direct human trials are limited, but we like that. And, um, yeah, you know also, this is a sidebar again, you're not supposed to pee standing up in the shower, because it trains you to have more incontinence, because your bladder gets used to releasing when you're standing up. You should only do it sitting down.

Whitney: What? Um, I don't

Amy: You don't pee standing up in the shower?

Whitney: No.

Amy: Good.

Whitney: Good for you. Don't do it. I have, maybe once or twice in my life.

Amy: Ever in your life?

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: Oh. Wow.

Whitney: Is that Is that a common occurrence for you?

Amy: You know what? It wasn't, until it was. And then, once it was, it was all the time.

Whitney: Oh, interesting.

Amy: And then I had to stop.

Whitney: Yeah. You're like, "This is getting out of control."

Amy: Well, then I heard that

Whitney: Oh, right.

Amy: it can be bad. So, don't do that if you're experiencing incontinence.

Whitney: Right. Well, that is a good little tidbit. It is. Don't pee in the shower.

Amy: I know, I heard it on a a random podcast.

Whitney: I wonder if that's for men, too, cuz you know

Amy: No, I think men, they do it standing up, they're fine.

Whitney: Oh, right.

Amy: Super annoying. All right, let's keep going. Zinc content in them supports immune functions, skin health, wound healing, and maybe your libido. Who fucking knew? Who fucking knew? These things are crazy.

Whitney: Pumpkin seeds are the magic They're the magic seed.

Amy: You are convinced. If I was trying to sell you pumpkin seeds, which maybe I should sell you pumpkin seeds.

Whitney: I'm going to get Yeah. I would. We need to bottle them up and sell them for $100.

Amy: These would be the best pumpkin seeds you could possibly

Whitney: That Those magical, you know,

Amy: The magic seeds. The fiber in them helps digestive health and regularity, often more challenging an aging. Yep. And then, um, possibly anti-cancer potential.

Whitney: Yep. Yep.

Amy: How about that?

Whitney: That's awesome.

Amy: I know. I know. So, um, a lot of this comes from animal studies and these rats, of course, these ovariectomized or whatever. So, it doesn't always translate to humans, but they are supposing a lot of this.

Whitney: Yeah, the main

Amy: So, they haven't seen symptom relief for like hot flashes and stuff like that, so that's like But they do so much other stuff, so I'm like fine, I don't care. So, don't over consume, because they have a lot of calories. So,

Whitney: That's still so good. Yeah. Well, that's that's what I keep going back to, it's like, how many of these pumpkin seeds do you have to eat in order to get the benefits? Cuz they're tiny. Even the fully grown ones, they're not, you know. It's not like you got a pickle.

Amy: I go with a handful. Just like a little chk, handful.

Whitney: Just a hand- Once a day?

Amy: Once a day. Mhm. Any seed or nut that you over-

Whitney: eat is going to be bad, right? Like, you're going to It's so then it gets fattening. It's like eating like really when you're eat and they're like, "Eat almonds every day," and it's like I overeat, personally. And so, I have to like Then I'm like, "Oh, you mean 10 almonds?" Like, what? Yeah. So, anyway.

Amy: For sure. So just a handful. Oh. Yeah. No. I love I love pumpkin seeds over almonds because pumpkin seeds are flat Yeah.

Whitney: and you're not going to crack a tooth.

Amy: Oh, oh, yeah.

Whitney: You can crack a tooth on an almond.

Amy: Oh, dear God. Yeah. Something to look forward to. Especially if we're you're grinders like you and I are. Yeah.

Whitney: Your teeth are already kind of getting worn down.

Amy: We should do one on teeth grinding.

Whitney: Oh, yeah, let's do it. Write it down.

Amy: Okay. Yeah. Copyright. Oh yeah, Anything But Mid copyright, by the way.

Whitney: Copyright.

Amy: Uh, yeah, we needed to do that. That's, it's just TCB. Okay.

Whitney: Yeah, we definitely need to do that. Yeah.

Amy: So also, I would encoura- I love your ChatGPT hack, because if you're on certain medications, then interactions or effects on absorption might need monitoring. So, uh there's just that's just a little sidebar, but that is such a cool hack.

Whitney: Yeah. Yes. Yeah, I'm going to have to, you know, when I when we're off the air, I've got to get my phone and put it in my notes and see what it says about pumpkin seeds being added. Cuz I do get a lot of the things that you're mentioning already in other stuff. Like, supplements. But I'd much rather get it from like the pumpkin seed.

Amy: Though, there's something psychological. There's something psychological for me. I don't know if it's better or not from food, but like I feel like my body's going to respond to food better.

Whitney: Yeah. No, I Yes. I 100% think that eating it getting of- everything you need from food rather than popping pills, that's got to be better.

Amy: It's got to be, right?

Whitney: If you're getting, you know,

Amy: I don't know, though. I've heard mixed things, so I don't know.

Whitney: organic pumpkin. I don't know.

Amy: Okay, so uh you were asking about like, are there people that eat a lot of them?

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: Well, it's native to the Americas, so it's really like Mexico, South America, and like Eastern US. So, goes back thousands and thousands of years, yeah. And indigenous peoples used all parts of the squash and pumpkin plant. So, we're talking like the whole enchilada.

Whitney: Mhm. Yeah. Where it's pumpkin. In fact, Yeah. The stem,

Amy: So Yeah. They used it for food, medicine, and materials. And these were consumed sometimes used in medicinal applications. They knew it.

Whitney: Right. Well, that's another crazy thing. Like, all this stuff that we're like discovering, they knew thousands of years ago, and then it got died off because we started using, you know, like Tylenol or, you know, penicillin, and all that stuff, so they didn't go to the foods. Anyway, I didn't live during that time, so I'm just guessing.

Amy: You might have. You might have.

Whitney: I'm mid, anything but. Okay, did you find out anything about using the oil? Cuz I know, you know, we talk a lot just the two of us, like, "Oh, I'm taking that in an oral way." "Oh, I'm I'm using it as a lotion." "Oh, I'm I've got a serum," or, "I'm injecting it," like.

Amy: Little bit. Little bit, okay?

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So, you can use a cold press at home or small home oil press machine and you can extract pumpkin seed oil yourself, which is kind of cool, right?

Whitney: Wow, yeah.

Amy: So, I mean like that would be like if you took it in sort of a little capsule or something like that. So, you know, that's a little harder, labor-intensive, so I suppose you can just buy it, you know?

Whitney: Right.

Amy: You can use it in dressings, you can use it in dips, you can you It's not a high heat thing, it's not like avocado oil, so you would want to use it more like on a salad, just drizzle like to make in a dressing.

Whitney: Yeah. Right. Right. Okay.

Amy: Did that satisfy your, uh?

Whitney: I believe it did.

Amy: Fabulous.

Whitney: Rats aren't eating a salad with pumpkin oil, so that's why we know so much about seeds.

Amy: You don't know that. Rats may fucking love salads, you don't know.

Whitney: Like, how do you know? I mean, I only know Ratatouille, and he liked to stew, so.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. Now, I don't have a good thing about its shelf life. I don't have a good take on that, but I do know it can go bad, and I have had mine taste weird before, and I threw them away. So, anyway.

Whitney: Oh, yeah. Be aware, if it tastes funny,

Amy: Yeah, and I didn't get sick or anything like that. So,

Whitney: don't eat it. Right.

Amy: uh okay. So, I I do believe that uh there's one more thing I want to share about it that kind of helps me. And let me see if there's anything I missed. Oh, improve fertility, so if you're still feeling fertile, I don't know. Whatever. So, um have you heard of seed cycling?

Whitney: No. I've not.

Amy: Okay. Well, if you're having a period still, are you?

Whitney: No.

Amy: No. Okay, I am. So,

Whitney: Stop bragging.

Amy: Well, it it helps menopause too, perimenopause and menopause, and it can help men too, I'm not neglecting men, but um you can seed cycle, which is a thing where you eat certain seeds during your follicular phase and then other seeds during your luteal phase.

Whitney: Okay. Right. Oh.

Amy: So, days 1 through 14 is like estrogen support, so that would be pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, right? And then, in your luteal phase, which is the second half, 15 through 28, days 15 through 28 or whatever, I might irregular, so whatever. But then it would be sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. But you're probably having some fluctuations where you have different

Whitney: I don't have the cycle, so that's another question, like, for a doctor.

Amy: Mhm. Yeah. It is.

Whitney: If you're menopausal, then are you there's no fluctuation anymore. Except, I'm on hormones, so I'm creating

Amy: You're creating something, yeah.

Whitney: something. Yeah.

Amy: So, since you're actually menopausal, then that's good that you're just kind of getting to a baseline and then going to proceed from there. That's really good, cuz I'm still perimenopause, so mine are still all over the place.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I it's just it's so confusing, and after a year of, cuz I've done so many blood tests, and it just all over the place. I'm like, "I got to"

Amy: When did you hit menopause?

Whitney: Well, I hit at 50, I had my last period on my 50th birthday.

Amy: Stop it!

Whitney: Mhm. So, 51 would have been when I was in menopause. But then,

Amy: Right, officially. Cuz it has to be a year or you're not.

Whitney: Yeah, you have to be without a period for a year. But then, 6 months later, I started bleeding, cuz I got on hormones, and I wasn't getting enough progesterone with my estrogen. And my doctor didn't even say anything. You know what she did? She said, "You need to schedule a sonogram or an ultrasound, cuz something must be going on in your uterus."

Amy: Oh, for fuck's sake.

Whitney: Instead of saying, "Let me get a blood test and see where your hormones are." I never got any blood tests done before I got on hormones. And then And then I go in and I do that whole ultrasound, and she's like, "It's fine."

Amy: Yeah, it's kind of a bummer, too, cuz then you don't have that baseline from before you got on hormones. Like, you don't have a read for that.

Whitney: Right. Right. Then after that, I did go and get blood work done. I was excited to see my uterus, cuz I hadn't seen it in a long time.

Amy: Aw. How was she?

Whitney: My son was 19. She looked good.

Amy: Oh, that's great.

Whitney: Yeah. But, then I go to this functional health doctor, and he tells me, "There's nothing wrong with your uterus, you you need more progesterone," cuz progesterone thins out the lining of the uterus. And when you're getting estrogen, it's increasing the lining of your uterus, so you have to do the progesterone to even it out.

Amy: Makes sense.

Whitney: But my own OB/GYN didn't tell me that. So, I was a little annoyed. But I did get to say hello to my uterus, so that's the positive.

Amy: Well, there's a little silver lining in your uterus.

Whitney: Got to see my girl. Silver lining, utero lining.

Amy: Yes. And I would just say, too, advice corner. If you're listening to this and you're not on any hormones, then maybe get your blood work done, and like get a baseline.

Whitney: Yeah. Look, I I think regardless, like I want to get my all my kids' blood work done, do like that Function Health app that I do, and you get all these tests run, and then you have a baseline for what where you are. It doesn't make sense to me that they're throwing medication at people without knowing what's actually going on in your body.

Amy: So agree. Preach. Yes.

Whitney: Can I get an amen? Okay, yes, you can. Amen. Amen. Yeah.

Amy: All right. So, uh, I don't want to neglect those with penises. So, um

Whitney: Well, we talked about pumpkin pounders.

Amy: Story of your life. Okay. So, um, he the the the it can help men as well. So, if you have a man in your life or you're a man listening, so it supports testosterone production, which seems like it would help us too. I don't know why. I don't have that in the women part. Uh, boosts sperm health and fertility because of the zinc and selenium. Uh, it aids prostate health, it reduces the inflammation. And it regulates their estrogen levels, so that's pretty cool. And helps, of course, sleep and things like that. So, anyway, men can apparently seed cycle too, which I don't even understand why you would, but whatever. So, I'm I'm not getting into that. Um, and and there we are. And there we are.

Whitney: And there we are.

Amy: I did it.

Whitney: Well done on your pumpkin seed report. Yeah. I learned a lot.

Amy: Really? Thank you. Thank you. You know, I really enjoyed it.

Whitney: I'm going to start eating them.

Amy: Good. Good. I think uh I think you will see some benefits. I don't know.

Whitney: Well, I'll tell you.

Amy: It's hard to tell the benefits when you have 18 different things you're doing.

Whitney: I know. But here's the truth. I'm going to go I'm going to be getting more blood work done in October, cuz I'm coming up on the year for the func- Oh, yeah, duh. Yeah. We're recording this October.

Amy: It is October. See,

Whitney: I really need some pumpkin seeds. Does it help with mental focus?

Amy: No. I didn't see anything about mental focus.

Whitney: Oh, see, I forgot that part. Anyway, um, yeah, well, I've got to schedule it. And then, I'll see like I'll I'll wait and I'll take pumpkin seeds for maybe a couple weeks, and then I'll go do the blood work.

Amy: Actually, that's a brilliant idea.

Whitney: Tell you if anything changed.

Amy: Guinea pig that for us.

Whitney: Yeah. I will be the red rat. The red-headed rat.

Amy: Guinea pig rat. You'll be the ovariectomized rat.

Whitney: Exactly. All right. Well, thank you so much, Amy, for your book report.

Amy: You're welcome.

Whitney: I found it very enlightening.

Amy: Thank you. Thank you. Did you have a midlife moment?

Whitney: I just did. You saw it. I forgot it was October.

Amy: Let's see. What was mine? Um, oh. Oh, my fucking god. I'll tell you mine. I went I got invited to a party last weekend. It started at 10:00 p.m.

Whitney: Oh, no. That's a hard one.

Amy: It was. But I wanted to go. It was a 50th birthday party, and for someone that I like,

Whitney: Where was it?

Amy: but I'm like, "You're 50, we don't do this anymore."

Whitney: Start at 10:00.

Amy: No!

Whitney: Winding down at 10:00.

Amy: Right! I am washing my face.

Whitney: I'll start at 10:00 a.m.

Amy: Yes! That sounds way better to me. Anyway, so we go.

Whitney: I mean, yeah. Okay.

Amy: I was ready to leave at 11:30. Anyway, it just got we got out of like the holding pen, and into where the the night club was, and there was a DJ, and all this, it was so.

Whitney: So, she was down to party. So, she was at the club. At the club.

Amy: She was Big time. I ran into the club owner, and he was like, "Oh, I hope you're here for it, because she told me stay up until 3:00 a.m." And I was like, "No."

Whitney: What club?

Amy: The Mayfair.

Whitney: Mm. Was it

Amy: Yeah. It was fun. Oh, it was super fun.

Whitney: fun? I mean, if it had been at 10:00 a.m.,

Amy: Music was am-

Whitney: party, you'd have had a blast.

Amy: Oh, my god, if it had been 10:00 a.m., I would have just like tore it up!

Whitney: And they were playing good music, though, so that's

Amy: Bob Moses. DJ Bob Moses. They're a duo. They're freaking amazing. It was great. But, um, but I was just toast, right? I was so tired. So, and you know, my husband's 15 years younger, so he can handle it a little longer than me, but I didn't have a drink. I had two NA beers, Heineken 0.0s. Nothing to drink,

Whitney: Yeah. Right.

Amy: nothing no other substances, no. Water. I didn't have any sugar. There was no cake. I didn't have any sugar. Next day, so we finally leave, like I was ready to go way before I said I was ready to go, and then I still gave him a little time. But

Whitney: Cuz he was having a great time?

Amy: Well, he was being a good sport, but he was ready to go, too. I was thrilled.

Whitney: Yeah. He was ready. Yep.

Amy: And, um, so we finally leave at about 12:45, and or close to 1:00. And and I mean on the way home, I'm like in the car. That was me, eyes closed, mouth open. And, uh, anyway, I went straight to bed, got up the next day, totally hungover. Totally. I felt like my body was made of lead.

Whitney: You felt like crap, and you didn't even drink anything?

Amy: Yeah. Oh, my god, it makes me so mad!

Whitney: Okay, but let's think let me ask you a couple questions. What shoes were you wearing? Cuz you've got fabulous shoes. Were they too high?

Amy: No, I wore low heel. I had a low heel bootie.

Whitney: You wore sensible. Oh, okay.

Amy: Low-heel, kind of cool, Golden Goose bootie that was like maybe this tall, that I can I can party and I've had them for years.

Whitney: Okay. Yeah, that's not bad.

Amy: I know. No, footwear is a big component. Thank you for thinking of that.

Whitney: Yes, I just wanted to make sure, cuz why else would you be hungover? That's crazy.

Amy: Mhm. Mhm. No, my body felt horrible. Justin did, too.

Whitney: That's not fair. No!

Amy: I mean like, uh my friend texted me and was like, "I feel like shit today." And I was like, "At least you got the joy of drinking, because like why am I paying this price?"

Whitney: Well, what time did you wake up? Cuz that if you, you know, you're you are always an early riser, and you're now in a

Amy: Yeah. I got up a little I got up a little early, maybe 8:00.

Whitney: Yeah, I mean, your body is used to getting up early.

Amy: Yeah. But still, I don't feel like I should have to pay that price. So, that was a bummer. So, that was my midlife moment. I guess that's just what happens now. Like, I literally cannot stay up late.

Whitney: That was a bummer. Sleep Yeah, no, sleep is a big thing now. We've got to get it. We've got to get it. So,

Amy: So I I It made me just mad, like mad. Like, I thought, I did everything right and I'm still hungover.

Whitney: You were a good little girl, and your body was like, "No."

Amy: And like the that like my body felt like it was 1,000 lb. I was like It just It felt like it my blood was filled with like steel, I don't know.

Whitney: Ew. Yeah.

Amy: Yeah, not fun.

Whitney: No. I'm sorry.

Amy: Anyway.

Whitney: Well, and I told you some of my other moments. I cried on my girls' trip.

Amy: Yes, you did. That's right. You cried. You cried.

Whitney: I cried. But I also did a lot of drinking and I didn't have a hangover, so.

Amy: Dang it.

Whitney: I think I was still drunk. That was it. And then we'd just start again, so.

Amy: Lucky you. Lucky you.

Whitney: Yeah, it was fun.

Amy: I may just have to take up drinking again, I don't know. Maybe it's

Whitney: Don't do it. I'm trying to quit. Don't do it.

Amy: Really?

Whitney: Yeah, I I told you, I'm sober curious. All right, stay tuned for that.

Amy: Oh. All right. Anything else? Anything else?

Whitney: I think that's it. Oh, yeah, we do what we want.

Amy: Well, that's right.

Whitney: We fucking do what we want.

Amy: We fucking do what we want. You're anything but mid.

Whitney: Yeah, you are. Fantastic. Mwah, mwah!