What is Saw Palmetto ?

Saw palmetto (Family: Arecaceae (palm family) Genus and Species: Serenoa repens) is a low-growing small palm tree with fanlike, fingery fronds and small berry-shaped fruits. Saw palmetto is native to and grows naturally only in Florida and the vicinity in the US. Native Americans, such as Seminole Indians recognized saw palmetto fruits as a food despite their pungent taste, and also as a medicine. Native Americans ate saw palmetto fruits for at least 12,000 years. The native Floridians prepared infusions of Saw palmetto berries to treat stomachache and dysentery, and used the fruit for diuretic and sexual tonic.

Saw palmetto berries mainly consist of carbohydrates (inverted sugar, mannitol, high-molecular-weight polysaccarides composed of galatose, arabinose, and uric acid), fixed oils (free fatty acids and their glycerides), steroids, flavonoids, resin, pigment, tannin, and volatile oil. The fruits and seeds are rich in oils containing triacylglycerol. Saw palmetto has been reported to contain diuretic, urinary antiseptic, and anabolic properties.

The fruits of saw palmetto have been shown in vitro to inhibit 5-alpha-reductase and aromatase, which has significant implications in the prostate enlargement. 5-alpha-reductase is responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), signaling prostate gland to produce more testosterone by growing larger. Besides the prevention of BPH, saw palmetto shows efficacy in erection and improvement of sexual function. Inhibitory effect of saw palmetto on 5-alpha-reductase also suggests that saw palmetto could be helpful to ward off hair loss, since DHT influences the hair follicle cells to degenerate.

In 1908, saw palmetto was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia as a medicine for urinary tract problems. While natural medicines such as saw palmetto was losing popularity in the US due to lack of patentability/profitability, lack of technology to prepare standardized extracts, and lack of scientific data that supports the medicinal efficacy of the ingredients in these natural products, saw palmetto started to gain popularity in Europe. United States exports approximately 15 million pounds of saw palmetto fruits to Europe annually.

Beta Sitosterol is 3000 times

more powerful than Saw Palmetto

Although clinical studies do substantiate claims made about the effectiveness of saw palmetto as a treatment for bph, it is important to note that beta sitosterol is 3000 times more potent than saw palmetto. You would have to consume over a pound of saw palmetto berries or over 200 500 mg capsules of saw palmetto extract to get the equivalent amount of beta sitosterol contained in a single dosage of prostate miracle.