Joe's
Herbs
SAW
PALMETTO
What
do you do with those pumpkin seeds after you finish carving the Halloween
pumpkin? Well, if you're a man over the age of 50 don't throw them out.
Keep 'em and eat 'em. Why? Because they may help your prostate gland.
Here's
the story. The prostate gland is a small walnut-sized gland that sits
around the urethra. As men get older, it increases in size, squeezes
down on the urethra and that results in all kinds of nasty problems.
The urinary flow is decreased, you've got to go to the bathroom many
times at night. It's sort of a man's curse. The chemistry of this is
pretty well understood. Testosterone of course is the main male sex
hormone. In the body, with the use of an enzyme, it is converted to
dihydrotestosterone. This increases the size of the prostate gland.
Prescription
drugs work on this chemistry. They bind the enzyme and therefore reduce
the concentration of dihydrotestosterone and this reduces the size of
the prostate gland and increases urinary flow. They work very well,
except in some cases they can have side effects. Erectile dysfunction
for example. So men search for so-called safer, more natural alternatives.
Is there such a thing?
Saw
palmetto has a long history of safe use. It is a plant extract and it
does basically what the prescription drugs do: reduces levels of dihydrotestosterone
and therefore improves urinary function, perhaps not quite as effectively
as prescription drugs, but double blind studies indeed have shown that
saw palmetto does work and the side effcts really are minimal. The only
problem here is that you can't really rely on the label. Consumers Union
did a survey where they went into different stores and purchased different
brands of saw palmetto and discovered that the contents did not correspond
necessarily to what was on the label. So we really do need more regulation
in this particular area.
Other
alternatives might be pygeum which is an African plant and also reduces
levels of dihydrotestosterone. And then we're back to our pumpkin seeds.
They too contain a chemical which stops the conversion of testosterone
to dihydrotestosterone. There haven't been as many good studies as with
saw palmetto. On the other hand this is certainly a safe product to
eat.
