Do Saw Palmetto Berries Shrink The Prostate Gland?

I am using beta-sitosterol. It is said to oppose prostrate growth enzymes.  It is the prime ingredient of *many* prostate over-the-counter pills.  It is sold as a cholesterol limiter, not expensive.  One person's result proves little or nothing. I took one saw palmetto pill for many years. At 97 I get up 2 or 3  times and regard this as a useful activity.   (I have dropped the palmetto as *probably* not effective, but the are some reports that it is effective.)  If asked, I would recommend the beta-sitosterol.  

Hi Bill, I will read about the healthy eating that you suggest but am sceptical because I know many men who have bad diets who haven't got BPH. What I find strange and, as I suffer from BPH, annoying, is that none of the experts know why some men get BPH and some don't get it, or are not bothered by the condition if they have got an enlargement.

Hi breeze61! It is not true that none of the experts know why some men get BPH and others don't. The science is in. Most of the experts are either ignorant or ignore the data because surgery is far more lucrative. There is a society called "Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine" and these are pretty much in step with each other about the data for good health. They are settled on the huge advantage of veganism and on the bad effects of salt, oil, and sugar with only a few minor differences among them. I have already received better PSA numbers but have not repeated my prostate enlargement test (it was 127 cc) because it would not be covered by insurance yet. But I can't think of any other reason for my PSA to come down. I admit that progress in symptoms is very slow, but progress is happening. I eat a huge mostly spinach salad with all kinds of non-starchy veggies: kale, chopped red cabbage, a few carrots, celery, cucumber, red pepers, red onions, crushed garlic. This is for breakfast with ground flax and Amla powder and nutritional flakes and macha and seawead powders on it, and I flavor it with balsamic vinegar and peach-mango salsa. I also use mandarines and chopped apples or pears or grapes or blueberries or raspberries and tomatoes in my salad. I find that I need at least a pound of salad (Yes that is huge!) before I eat my starchy vegetables or I don't lose weight. I have lost about 40 punds (from 197 to 155 lbs and I am 58" tall). Then I eat a microwaved sweet potato or white or yellow potatoes roasted and fixed without oil but with salsa. Dinner is similar, but often with brown rice and non-starchy veggies on top or other combinations of veggies and rice. I only eat two meals a day. This has been my custom for over six months. I use the SOS diet (no salt, oil, or sugar) with no flour and only a very small amount of raw nuts and seeds. I do really miss my whole wheat bread or toast. I do allow a very small amount of sugar in the mango salsa and the salt in canned beets that I chop up for my salad but I am very strict about no oil after reading about its bad health problems. This is mostly from Dr. Gregor's research. I have become very fond of salad! It is a very strict diet but cancer is a very strong motivator. Read the articles by Dr. Gregor and get back to me. Good luck.

With respect I would suggest that some oil is a vital part of our diet. There has been a horror attack against oil in recent years that has in fact been debunked. The important thing is what kind of oil. Basically cooking with anything other than coconut oil is extremely bad. For eating, on salads etc, probably the only good oil is olive - preferably cold pressed as the hot pressing damages the oil.

Spot on, bill02607!  Saw the word "amla," and immediately made the connection to Michael Greger, MD.  You've described the near perfect diet.  The only suggestion I could possibly make  - according to Greger's favorite prostate-friendly food - is to add broccoli.  To address the original question, "Do Saw Palmetto Berries Shrink The Prostate Gland?" I've tried every supplement under the sun.  Do they work?  Hmm ...  I honestly do not know.  The only one I'll continue to take is pumpkin seed oil extract - and not for prostate issues - but for an overactive bladder.  Seems to work.  Not only can the efficacy of certain supplements be called into question, but some may be downright dangerous, especially when taken in abundance, especially when taken as an adjuvant to powerful pharmaceuticals.  SEEMS like a good idea to take 50 mg of daily zinc.  When people take too much zinc for a long time, however, they sometimes have problems such as low copper levels, lower immunity, and low levels of HDL cholesterol. 

If you're a guy and you want to reasonably roll the dice for a healthier prostate, then buy this book and study it:

HOW NOT TO DIE, by Michael Greger, MD.

His entire premise is that a prostate-healthy diet, is a heart-healthy diet, is a brain-healthy diet, etc.

Thanks, Alan! Yes, broccoli is a great addition. Actually we grow broccoli sprouts and add them to our salad. I also add a little mustard powder to cooked broccoli to restore the enzyme that produces sulforaphane. I lost a wife to breast cancer and did not know the connection with broccoli sprouts. I also did not know at that time about the connection between vegetable oils and cancer. I have kicked myself a thousand times for my ignorance. I would have loved to have saved her. That is why I value the info from Dr. Michael Greger, MD so much. I have learned from my new wife, a Dr. Michael Greger fan and a lifestyle nurse and coach. I have the book and listen to his CD's in the car while I drive. It is refreshing to hear from another Michael Greger fan!

Sorry for the loss of your wife.  You have my condolences.  As a non sequitur, and in addition to Greger's profound knowledge, you may also want to consider researching the following: 

"Thomas Seyfried" "Intermittent fasting" "cancer" 

All three terms are interrelated.  Seyfried is a pioneer in the field of nutritional research in addition to being a professor of biology at Boston College.  He is apparently in charge of a research program focused on the mechanisms by which metabolic therapies such as ketogenic diets and fasting can manage chronic disease and cancer.  Best of luck to you, bill02607.

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your lengthy reply, I do believe in what you eat makes you what you are but I do eat a lot of the foods that you recommend  but not as disciplined as you seem to be. Some books do work although I'm dubious about many . I bought a book 25 years ago when I discovered I had Arthritis in the hips called 'How to heal your hips without surgery' and I do believe that eating and doing the exercises recommend put off the eventual hip replacement until this December. If I could turn back the clock I would perhaps have been more resolute in trying the foods that the book recommends.

I'm having a holep in some 4 months because I want to end the 12 years of taking pills and probable long term damage to my bladder.

As an aside, do you think that having vasectomys can cause BPH and I wonder if any research has been done in this area.

Thank you for your comment. I am thinking of having a PAE because no surgery is required and the recovery seems to be much quicker. Both HoLEP and PAE are good for very large prostates and both are good for people who want to retain their sexual function. Have you looked into this? I am having great trouble finding an interventional radiologist in my area who does PAE as I cannot find any registry or list for this. With my history (every male in my genetic background got metastacized prostate cancer and my dad died at my age from it) I am doing all I can to avoid that fate. Also, after losing my wife to breast cancer struggling with all I knew, I realize how important it is to do everything possible to avoid cancer, and there is a lot that we can do on that score especially with diet. I looked at HoLEP as well. Sounds like a reasonable choice. Good luck.

Hi Breezy! I realize that you asked about a vasectomy and BPH and I had a vasectomy when I was about thirty. I have no idea about that relationship and have found nothing about it. That would be a very interesting question.

You might want to look into FLA (focal laser ablation) given your history. It was originally a prostate cancer treatment that they're now doing for BPH because they found their cancer patients reported BPH relief after the procedure. Its also non invasive, requires no anesthesia and people recovery quickly

I read the article you suggested and it pushed so many red buttons that I am red-skeptical, though my own medical knowledge is a dwarf compard to Dr. Seyfried's. First, oils and fats are very strongly correlated with higher cancer rates. Second, meat and animal products are very strongly correlated with higher cancer rates. Third, I remember that Dr. Mercola was once strongly into promoting a ketogenic diet for cancer and his patients had a miserable survival rate. Fourth, I see no recognition of the most anti-cancer diet ever found. It is simply a vegan, high carbohydrate, low fat, no animal products diet. Cancer seems to not be able to get started with that diet. The countries that have a well developed beef, chicken, egg, or milk industry have much higher incidences of cancer than those backward countries where the people can't affort meat or eggs and eat virtually 100% vegan. You can read about these in Dr. Colin Campbel's book, the China Study. Dr. Seyfried's theories cut across all of these epedemiological studies, and there many of them. I also see no studies that compare cancer cure rates in sizable populations with his methods versus other methods. That is the biggest deficiency I see. His theories are not proven as far as I can see! But lastly, I have never eaten meat or fish of any kind in my entire life and would find this diet competely incompatible with my imagination. I ate a single bite of beef roast once not knowing what it was but realized the "foreign taste" immediately and left it but I suffered for two days (I admit possibly some of it was from gag reflex) with vomiting and nausea as if I had food poisoning. So, I am intellectually not attracted to this and emotionally completely not compatible with it. I like to think that no animals have had to suffer or die simply because of my life here on earth, except that my car has killed a few. Yes, as far as most people go, I am a wierd one! But I like myself. I suggest we stick with Dr. Gregor.

Hi charlie! I see my post to you was deleted by a moderator who left me no clue as to why. I am left with a need to repeat. I would simply like to see any debunking of the no oil diet. Dr. Gregor has compiled studies that tell us that we need about 250 mg per day of algae-derived EPA and DHA, which is very easy to get in a vegan supplement. Neither coconut oil or olive oil nor butter nor any other refined oil is beneficial or needed in our diets. There are many articles demonstrating this in Dr. Gregor's website nutritionfacts.org. Coconut oil has no basis for its popular reputation and should never be used in cooking. Spinach has a very good quality of omega 3, With respect, I would need to see your sources that claim that refined vegetable oils are good for you. I have never seen such. For the prostate, as with most of our organs, good circulation is very important for health. Refined oils all diminsh good blood circulation by removing the negative electrical charge around red blood cells causing them to stick together. 

I actually agree with what you've posted, bill02607.  I should have expounded on Thomas Seyfried.  His entire cancer premise is that it is a metabolic disease, and I do agree with his tenet that it's a mitochondrial metabolic disease.  However, what makes up his diet is dangerous.  I've read Campbell, and completely agree with him.  Caldwell Essylstyn is also a proponent of plant-based diets.  Truth be told, the latter brought back several cardiac patients from deaths door.  As for Mercola, it's only been until recently that he has come around to the relationship between protein and mTOR disruption.  Moreover, he's a supplement salesman first, physician second.  The point Seyfried did NOT make is ... moderation.  Personally speaking, I do believe our diets should completely mimic that of our primordial ancestors, and here's what I mean by that ...  Many of them probably died of dehydration.  Takeaway:  drink water - and lots of it.  Second, they probably did eat animal flesh, but there was a risk reward factor.  Takeaway - since plants can't run away / hide - eat lots of them.  Third, many of them probably died of starvation.  Takeaway - from time to time we are meant to go without food.  Getting "three squares" per day is one of the most dangerous things we can do. Takeaway - from time to time, we should fast, either through therapeutic water fasting, or daily / weekly intermittent fasting.  Finally, the best dietary advice I've ever heard comes from one man - in seven words:

"EAT FOOD, NOT TOO MUCH, MOSTLY PLANTS."

- Michael Pollan