Special Edition: Botanicals
Saw Palmetto
Sales of Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) have declined from $27.3 million from the 52 week sales data ending August 10, 2014 to $25 million for the 52 Weeks Ending August 7, 2016.
The ingredient has been used for decades in cases of benign prostate hyperplasia. So far as is known, saw palmetto works by inhibiting 5 alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into the more potent androgen dihydrotestoterone. It is believed that the botanical’s fatty acid and phytosterol content is responsible for this.
Saw palmetto has shown some promising results in studies, but has also shown equiovocal results in some large studies, with some researchers questioning the quality of the products (Nutrients, 2013, Vol. 5, pp. 3617-3622).
A 2012 Cochrane Database Systematic Review concluded that: “Serenoa repens, at double and triple doses, did not improve urinary flow measures or prostate size in men with lower urinary tract symptoms consistent with BPH.”
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