topccat29
29 year HT veteran
This is an excerpt from a Mercola article I was reading. Since many use Saw Palmetto I thought it might be of interest. Specifically the extraction process mentioned as it is the first time I have heard of it. I know I do use the sweetener Stevia completely different topic but I make sure it is water extracted as it matters. Here is that excerpt.
Saw Palmetto for Prostate Health
So, to recap, enlarged prostate and prostate cancer is caused, not by testosterone, but by excessive DHT. This is where saw palmetto works and can make a big difference.
According to Dr. Moerck, the medical literature contains as many as 100 clinical studies on saw palmetto. One of the first prostate drugs on the US market was actually saw palmetto, released by Eli Lilly Company back in the early 1870's.
"The mechanism of action of saw palmetto is not fully clear," Dr. Moerck says. "We are certainly not making any drug claims, but the anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a reduction in the conversion of testosterone into the dihydrotestosterone, and therefore, men that take saw palmetto will have slightly higher levels of testosterone in their body ¦That's a good thing...
It turns out that if you don't have enough testosterone in your body it can cause all kinds of problems like gaining weight, breast enlargement in men, and problem with urinating. So saw palmetto alone, or with pumpkin seed or lycopene is an interesting proposition ¦ It's something that you should definitely try."
I agree with Dr. Moerck.
Trying a high quality supplement like saw palmetto before you resort to a drug is well worth it, considering the stern warnings that accompany some of these drugs. Granted, not all of the drugs have cancer warnings, but those also do not work on actually shrinking your prostate; they're just ameliorating your symptoms. And all drugs come with a list of potential side effects.
(Keep in mind that the average number of side effects per drug today is 70! So make sure you read the fine print and review the list of side effects for any and all drugs before taking them.)
As for saw palmetto, it does not increase your risk of prostate cancer. It decreases it. And if your body doesn't need it, it will do no harm. If you do choose to use a supplement, please understand that you need to be careful of the brand. As I explain below, most brands on the market are close to worthless because they use the inactive form of the plant.
Dosing and How to Identify High Quality Saw Palmetto
Dr. Moerck recommends a daily dose of 320 mg of saw palmetto oil (supercritical CO2 extract). Quality is extremely important, however. Saw palmetto is an effective supplement, but only if it's from a high quality source! Unfortunately, more than half of all the saw palmetto products on the market are ineffective for this very reason ¦
"Most will not work for you because of one very simple reason," Dr. Moerck explains. "Somebody had the bright idea a few years ago to take dried saw palmetto berries, picked in Florida, and grind them up and put them in a capsule. The berries themselves, those so-called green berries, do not have a lot of oil in them maybe 8-9 percent oil. So if you put 300 or 500 mg of green berry powder in a capsule, you're only going to get 35 mg of oil. Whereas the right dose, the clinically trial dose, is 320 mg."
According to Dr. Moerck, these ineffective products include most of the mass-marketed saw palmetto supplements found in drug- and grocery stores.
" ¦ [T]hey'll say 'Serenoa repens 320 mg as berry.' That's not 320 mg of oil. That's berry powder. It does not work ¦ It is incredibly bad stuff ¦ It gives people false hope."
What you want is the supercritical extract of saw palmetto oil. This oil can be made three different ways:
1. Ethanol/alcohol extraction (darker oil that still contain some of the micronutrients, such as chlorophyll)
2. Hexane extraction (yellow oil resembling corn oil that does not contain any micronutrients. May contain residue of hexane, which is toxic)
3. Supercritical CO2 extraction
The highest quality oil comes from the third extraction method, using liquid carbon dioxide and ultra-high pressure to extract the oil from the berries. According to Dr. Moerck, supercritical CO2 extraction is the cleanest extraction method known today, aside from eating the food whole. And, the higher the pressure used, the more micronutrients are left in the oil, such as lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin, and chlorophyll.
The highest quality products are the organic supercritical-extracted saw palmetto oils, which are very dark green in color. Only one or two out of every 20 brands will be of this high quality. Next in line are:
· Ultra-high or High pressure-extracted oils (rose colored)
· Super critical oils
· Low pressure-extracted oils (yellow colored)
Synergistic Benefits Between Saw Palmetto and Other Nutrients
Evidence also suggests that certain nutrients may synergistically heighten the benefits of the saw palmetto.
"There are a number of nutrients that have been used traditionally," Dr. Moerck explains. "One of them is organic pumpkin seed oil, which is a good nutrient ¦ It's slightly less effective than saw palmetto [alone] ¦ because it is a different mechanism of action ¦"
However, when buying a combination product, beware that saw palmetto oil is far more expensive than pumpkin seed oil. Some supplements will therefore contain mostly pumpkin seed oil and very little saw palmetto oil, resulting in a less effective product. Remember the threshold of what you want, as far as a daily dose, is a minimum of 320 mg of the saw palmetto oil.
"I would not go more than twice that [amount]," Dr. Moerck says. "I have to also mention that the fatty acids in saw palmetto are free fatty acids. They're very acidic. If you take a lot of it, it could cause some stomach upset. I recommend taking it with food ¦"
You don't want to take saw palmetto on an empty stomach because it's a fat soluble supplement, so it will not absorb well without a little bit of fat. I recommend taking it with eggs, which contain phospholipids that enhance absorption of fat soluble nutrients.
The other nutrient that works well with saw palmetto is lycopene, and there's a growing body of evidence indicating that lycopene is beneficial for prostate health. One excellent food source is tomatoes, including organic, non-sweetened tomato sauce. Animal studies have shown that of all the carotenoids, lycopene is the one that accumulates in the prostate of male animals, and this holds true for humans as well.
"[T]he prostate is a very important organ. It just so happens to have the urinary tract that goes right through the middle of it. So that when your prostate starts growing or swelling, it will cut off urinary flow ¦ There has been some good reports of lycopene helping that," Dr. Moerck says.
"It is also one [nutrient] that is being investigated to prevent prostate cancer. I'm not making any claims about that. I'm just saying it's being investigated for that, and it's something that I'm going to keep an eye on. It's very interesting."
A third nutrient that has been found to offer significant protection against prostate cancer is vitamin K2. For more information about that, please refer to this previous article. Although I don't typically recommend a whole lot of supplements, vitamin K is one of the few supplements you may want to seriously consider because many people don't get nearly enough of it on a daily basis through the foods they eat.
Saw Palmetto for Prostate Health
So, to recap, enlarged prostate and prostate cancer is caused, not by testosterone, but by excessive DHT. This is where saw palmetto works and can make a big difference.
According to Dr. Moerck, the medical literature contains as many as 100 clinical studies on saw palmetto. One of the first prostate drugs on the US market was actually saw palmetto, released by Eli Lilly Company back in the early 1870's.
"The mechanism of action of saw palmetto is not fully clear," Dr. Moerck says. "We are certainly not making any drug claims, but the anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a reduction in the conversion of testosterone into the dihydrotestosterone, and therefore, men that take saw palmetto will have slightly higher levels of testosterone in their body ¦That's a good thing...
It turns out that if you don't have enough testosterone in your body it can cause all kinds of problems like gaining weight, breast enlargement in men, and problem with urinating. So saw palmetto alone, or with pumpkin seed or lycopene is an interesting proposition ¦ It's something that you should definitely try."
I agree with Dr. Moerck.
Trying a high quality supplement like saw palmetto before you resort to a drug is well worth it, considering the stern warnings that accompany some of these drugs. Granted, not all of the drugs have cancer warnings, but those also do not work on actually shrinking your prostate; they're just ameliorating your symptoms. And all drugs come with a list of potential side effects.
(Keep in mind that the average number of side effects per drug today is 70! So make sure you read the fine print and review the list of side effects for any and all drugs before taking them.)
As for saw palmetto, it does not increase your risk of prostate cancer. It decreases it. And if your body doesn't need it, it will do no harm. If you do choose to use a supplement, please understand that you need to be careful of the brand. As I explain below, most brands on the market are close to worthless because they use the inactive form of the plant.
Dosing and How to Identify High Quality Saw Palmetto
Dr. Moerck recommends a daily dose of 320 mg of saw palmetto oil (supercritical CO2 extract). Quality is extremely important, however. Saw palmetto is an effective supplement, but only if it's from a high quality source! Unfortunately, more than half of all the saw palmetto products on the market are ineffective for this very reason ¦
"Most will not work for you because of one very simple reason," Dr. Moerck explains. "Somebody had the bright idea a few years ago to take dried saw palmetto berries, picked in Florida, and grind them up and put them in a capsule. The berries themselves, those so-called green berries, do not have a lot of oil in them maybe 8-9 percent oil. So if you put 300 or 500 mg of green berry powder in a capsule, you're only going to get 35 mg of oil. Whereas the right dose, the clinically trial dose, is 320 mg."
According to Dr. Moerck, these ineffective products include most of the mass-marketed saw palmetto supplements found in drug- and grocery stores.
" ¦ [T]hey'll say 'Serenoa repens 320 mg as berry.' That's not 320 mg of oil. That's berry powder. It does not work ¦ It is incredibly bad stuff ¦ It gives people false hope."
What you want is the supercritical extract of saw palmetto oil. This oil can be made three different ways:
1. Ethanol/alcohol extraction (darker oil that still contain some of the micronutrients, such as chlorophyll)
2. Hexane extraction (yellow oil resembling corn oil that does not contain any micronutrients. May contain residue of hexane, which is toxic)
3. Supercritical CO2 extraction
The highest quality oil comes from the third extraction method, using liquid carbon dioxide and ultra-high pressure to extract the oil from the berries. According to Dr. Moerck, supercritical CO2 extraction is the cleanest extraction method known today, aside from eating the food whole. And, the higher the pressure used, the more micronutrients are left in the oil, such as lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin, and chlorophyll.
The highest quality products are the organic supercritical-extracted saw palmetto oils, which are very dark green in color. Only one or two out of every 20 brands will be of this high quality. Next in line are:
· Ultra-high or High pressure-extracted oils (rose colored)
· Super critical oils
· Low pressure-extracted oils (yellow colored)
Synergistic Benefits Between Saw Palmetto and Other Nutrients
Evidence also suggests that certain nutrients may synergistically heighten the benefits of the saw palmetto.
"There are a number of nutrients that have been used traditionally," Dr. Moerck explains. "One of them is organic pumpkin seed oil, which is a good nutrient ¦ It's slightly less effective than saw palmetto [alone] ¦ because it is a different mechanism of action ¦"
However, when buying a combination product, beware that saw palmetto oil is far more expensive than pumpkin seed oil. Some supplements will therefore contain mostly pumpkin seed oil and very little saw palmetto oil, resulting in a less effective product. Remember the threshold of what you want, as far as a daily dose, is a minimum of 320 mg of the saw palmetto oil.
"I would not go more than twice that [amount]," Dr. Moerck says. "I have to also mention that the fatty acids in saw palmetto are free fatty acids. They're very acidic. If you take a lot of it, it could cause some stomach upset. I recommend taking it with food ¦"
You don't want to take saw palmetto on an empty stomach because it's a fat soluble supplement, so it will not absorb well without a little bit of fat. I recommend taking it with eggs, which contain phospholipids that enhance absorption of fat soluble nutrients.
The other nutrient that works well with saw palmetto is lycopene, and there's a growing body of evidence indicating that lycopene is beneficial for prostate health. One excellent food source is tomatoes, including organic, non-sweetened tomato sauce. Animal studies have shown that of all the carotenoids, lycopene is the one that accumulates in the prostate of male animals, and this holds true for humans as well.
"[T]he prostate is a very important organ. It just so happens to have the urinary tract that goes right through the middle of it. So that when your prostate starts growing or swelling, it will cut off urinary flow ¦ There has been some good reports of lycopene helping that," Dr. Moerck says.
"It is also one [nutrient] that is being investigated to prevent prostate cancer. I'm not making any claims about that. I'm just saying it's being investigated for that, and it's something that I'm going to keep an eye on. It's very interesting."
A third nutrient that has been found to offer significant protection against prostate cancer is vitamin K2. For more information about that, please refer to this previous article. Although I don't typically recommend a whole lot of supplements, vitamin K is one of the few supplements you may want to seriously consider because many people don't get nearly enough of it on a daily basis through the foods they eat.
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