# Pumpkin Seeds and Your Hormones: What the Evidence Actually Says

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-code-matrix-podcast-8041121/pumpkin-seeds-and-your-hormones-what-the-evidence-actually-says
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-code-matrix-podcast-8041121/pumpkin-seeds-and-your-hormones-what-the-evidence-actually-says.md
Podcast: [Food Code Matrix PodCast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-code-matrix-podcast-8041121)
Published: 2026-09-23T14:36:32+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/food-code-matrix-podcast/3176184
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/402920/3176184/food-code-matrix-podcast/2026_09_23_14_34_44_b4546d67-4c4b-47e0-b367-df4c483a4004.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/food-code-matrix-podcast-8041121/episodes/pumpkin-seeds-and-your-hormones-what-the-evidence-actually-says
Duration seconds: 908

## Resource

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. Are pumpkin seeds messing with your hormones? A viral claim says yes, and it comes with studies attached. So I tracked them down and read them. What I found: a test on cancer cells in a dish, a study on rats with their ovaries removed, and a computer simulation. Not one of them looked at people eating seeds. In this episode of Food Code Matrix: • How much zinc is really in a handful of pumpkin seeds, and how much it takes to cause copper problems • Why the real zinc risk lives in supplements, not snacks • What lignans (plant oestrogens) are, and what the research on them actually tested • The largest human trial: 1,431 men, 12 months, and what it found • Why your gut bacteria decide how much of these compounds you absorb • The flaxseed advice that contradicts the whole claim • Three simple steps for eating pumpkin seeds without worry The one question to ask next time a food claim comes with studies attached: were they done on people? Chapters 0:00 The claim 0:45 Welcome to Food Code Matrix 1:24 Why this matters: pumpkin seeds are everywhere 2:25 The claim, laid out fairly 3:21 How much zinc is really in a handful 4:13 The copper problem and where it really lives 5:59 The testosterone myth 6:21 Halfway checkpoint 6:48 Lignans: the plant compounds behind the fear 7:41 Following the paper trail: cells, rats and a computer 9:51 What happens in actual humans 11:12 Your gut bacteria decide 12:06 The flaxseed twist 12:42 What I'd actually do: three steps 13:28 The limits of the evidence 13:54 The answer, and the one question to ask 14:36 Sources and next episode Sources • NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Zinc: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals (updated January 2026) • Richter et al., Nutrition and Cancer, 2013. DO…

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