Saw Palmetto Supplement for Prostate Health

Saw palmetto is a plant. Its ripe fruit is used to make medicine.

Saw palmetto is best known for its use in decreasing symptoms of an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hypertrophy, BPH). According to many research studies, it is effective for this use.

Saw palmetto is used for treating certain types of prostate infections. It is also sometimes used, in combination with other herbs, to treat prostate cancer.

Some people use saw palmetto for colds and coughs, sore throat, asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, and migraine headache. It is also used to increase urine flow (as a diuretic), to promote relaxation (as a sedative), and to enhance sexual drive (as an aphrodisiac).

Is Saw Palmetto Effective?

Saw palmetto can reduce the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, including frequent urination, painful urination, sudden urge to urinate, and inability to urinate. It can also decrease the need to urinate during the night, increase urine flow, and make it easier to empty the bladder completely. Saw palmetto seems to work about as well as some prescription medications, but it takes about one or two months of treatment before symptoms improve.

There isn’t enough information to know if saw palmetto is effective for the other conditions people use it for, including increasing breast size, as an aphrodisiac, to encourage hair growth, and to treat colds and coughs, sore throat, asthma, chronic bronchitis, migraine headache, and cancer. Some women use powdered fruit vaginally to increase muscle tone.

How Does Saw Palmetto Work?

Saw palmetto doesn’t shrink the overall size of the prostate, but it seems to shrink the inner lining that puts pressure on the tubes that carry urine.

Are There Safety Concerns?

Saw palmetto is LIKELY SAFE for most people. Side effects are usually mild. Some people have reported dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. Some people have reported that saw palmetto causes impotence. However, these side effects do not seem to occur any more often with saw palmetto than with a sugar pill.

There is some concern that saw palmetto might cause liver or pancreas problems in some people. There have been two reports of liver damage and one report of pancreas damage in people who took saw palmetto. However, there is not enough information to know if saw palmetto was the actual cause of these side effects.

Saw palmetto is POSSIBLY SAFE when administered into the rectum appropriately for up to 30 days. However, it is not known if it is safe to use for longer periods of time.

Uses and Dosage of Saw Palmetto

Saw palmetto is an extract used in herbal remedies that are thought to affect testosterone levels. But what conditions can it be safely used to treat and does it work?

Remedies containing saw palmetto alone, or mixed with other herbs, are sold widely in the United States and Europe. As with all herbal remedies, it is important to understand what evidence exists to support the safety and effectiveness of saw palmetto.

In this article, we explore the uses, dosage, and side effects of using remedies containing saw palmetto extract.

What is saw palmetto

Saw palmetto is a type of palm tree that grows in the warm climate of the southeast coast of the U.S.

Saw palmetto remedies contain an extract taken from the berries of the tree. Traditionally, Native Americans of the Seminole tribe ate berries from the saw palmetto tree to ease urinary and reproductive problems, among other ailments.

Now, saw palmetto extract is available in tablet, liquid, and tea form. It is consumed widely in the U.S. as an alternative remedy to treat conditions caused by decreased testosterone levels.

Uses of saw palmetto

Saw Palmetto Prostate Supplement has a range of uses. Most of them relate to the effect it is believed to have on testosterone.

Lowered testosterone levels cause a variety of conditions, which can be treated by stabilizing the levels of this hormone.

Some people think that saw palmetto prevents testosterone from being broken down. When testosterone cannot break down naturally, the levels of the hormone in the body go up.

Enlarged prostate

Some people take saw palmetto to manage benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland.

The prostate is a small walnut-shaped gland in the male reproductive system. As a man ages and his testosterone levels decrease, it is quite common for the prostate gland to increase in size.

Some men may experience BPH, where the prostate becomes larger than it should. When this happens, the prostate can put pressure on the urethra, causing discomfort and other symptoms. These include:

• Frequent urination
• Problems starting or maintaining urination
• The need to get up in the night to urinate

Because saw palmetto is believed to boost testosterone levels, men with BPH may try taking saw palmetto because they think it will shrink the prostate and relieve urinary symptoms.