Saw Palmetto: Benefits, Dosage, Contraindications

Hair Loss
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Preliminary clinical research shows that a combination of 200 mg of saw palmetto extract and 50 mg of beta-sitosterol taken twice daily improves subjective scores of hair quantity and quality in men with androgenetic alopecia. However, other clinical research indicates that taking 320 mg of saw palmetto extract per day for 24 months is less effective than taking 1 mg of finasteride per day in improving hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia. Some early clinical research shows that saw palmetto lotion applied twice daily for 50 weeks improves hair density by 27% in men and women with androgenetic alopecia. However, it is not clear whether saw palmetto provided a statistically significant improvement compared to a placebo.

Posologie

Topical, oral: fruit

200 - 320 mg

2 - years

Synergies

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
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There are numerous clinical studies on this topic, with smaller and shorter ones noting some slight to moderate improvements in urinary symptoms such as frequent urination, painful urination, urgency, and perineal heaviness. Some studies also show that saw palmetto reduces nocturia (the need to urinate at night), improves urinary flow, and reduces residual urine volume in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, larger and longer trials have noted no effect. The most recent Cochrane meta-analysis also reports no effect. Research results remain inconsistent. This may be due to different study methodologies, patient populations, symptom measurement methods, and saw palmetto products used in studies. Most clinical studies, including those yielding positive and negative results, have used liposterolic extracts of saw palmetto berries containing about 80% to 90% free fatty acids.

Posologie

Oral: fruit

320 - 320 mg

Prostatitis
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Saw palmetto may improve symptoms of prostatitis compared to no treatment in patients suffering from non-bacterial prostatitis. Other preliminary clinical evidence suggests that taking a daily saw palmetto extract for eight weeks, in addition to prulifloxacin 600 mg per day for 15 days, reduces pain and urinary symptoms more significantly than prulifloxacin alone in patients with bacterial prostatitis. However, other preliminary clinical research suggests that oral saw palmetto 325 mg taken for a year does not significantly improve non-bacterial prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome compared to treatment with finasteride 5 mg. Interestingly, preliminary clinical research shows that taking a complex based on saw palmetto, selenium, and lycopene for 8 weeks significantly improves symptoms and peak flow in patients suffering from chronic prostatitis and/or chronic pelvic pain syndrome compared to pre-treatment. However, these effects were less significant in patients treated with saw palmetto alone, indicating that saw palmetto might not be the sole active component of this combination.

Posologie

Oral administration: fruit

160 - 320 mg

Synergies