How Saw Palmetto Might Help Your Prostate
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Vitamins and supplements are ever popular, especially for issues like boosting hair growth and fullness, or helping out your eyes or joints. If you have prostate issues, you've likely heard of taking saw palmetto extract. It has a reputation as having other benefits for men, too. Here's the deal with that herb for men.
What is saw palmetto?
Saw palmetto is a type of palm tree. Its extract is commonly available in supplements that claim to improve certain aspects of male health, including improving inflammation related to prostate health, balancing hormone levels, and preventing hair loss. It’s commonly sold as softgels, tablets and capsules, though you can also find it in ground, liquid or powdered forms.
Are the potential benefits of saw palmetto real?
Saw palmetto has increasingly gained buzz for helping out prostate health, specifically related to benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), AKA enlargement of the prostate gland, which also results in decreased urine flow. This reputation is actually somewhat deserved, says Peter J. Stahl, M.D., director of male reproductive and sexual medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, associate professor of urology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and senior vice president of men’s reproductive and sexual health, Hims & Hers.
“Saw palmetto has held great appeal to men as a phytotherapy for prostate enlargement for many years because it is derived from a natural source and has relatively few side effects,” he says. And some trials have found that it is mildly to moderately effective at reducing urinary symptoms—like not being able to pee a decent stream when you feel like you really need to—in men with BPH. Dr. Stahl calls it "a reasonable choice for first-line therapy in men with mild to moderate baseline symptoms.”
Some research also suggests that supplementing with saw palmetto can help to prevent an enlarged prostate to begin with. (If you have questions about your prostate and don't feel comfortable articulating them, this bot is designed to help you find answers.)
Additional benefits for men: Some research also suggests that saw palmetto could help to combat hair loss by blocking 5-alpha reductase activity, which is what works to convert testosterone into the sex hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is tied to hair loss.
Potential side effects
As with most medications and supplements, saw palmetto may cause some side effects. Some commonly reported side effects include headache, constipation, nausea, and dizziness. It may also cause adverse reactions if you’re on certain medications or have certain health conditions, so as with anything, it’s important to talk to your doctor before adding a new supplement like saw palmetto to your routine.
The bottom line: Ultimately, research on saw palmetto’s purported health benefits remains very limited, which is why experts can’t say for sure that it will effectively treat or prevent any of these conditions. So while it may not hurt to add it to your wellness routine, keep in mind that it’s no substitute for monitoring your body for any changes and for keeping up with regular doctor’s visits and recommended screenings as you age.
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