How Did People Come Up with the Idea that Saw Palmetto Reduced DHT?
Okay, let’s say theoretically that saw palmetto does in fact help to block DHT. My question is, how the hell did they figure out that saw palmetto berries reduce DHT and not other berries out there such as cranberries and/or bilberries?
Saw palmetto has been around for hundreds of years and has been used successfully for treating prostate enlargement. Native Americans used saw palmetto to relieve urinary symptoms in older men who had difficulty in urinating. It has been shown to reduce prostate size and it is used quite frequently in Europe.
There are many potential side effects of saw palmetto, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, erectile dysfunction, breast tenderness and loss of libido. That is the connection that made people think that there is a DHT blockade in process, as so much seems to parallel finasteride’s side effects. Some think that since finasteride works for the prostate and hair, then if saw palmetto works for prostate issues it must also work for treating hair loss. Unfortunately, saw palmetto has never been studied in any well planned clinical endeavor for treating hair loss.
There are many herbal products that have not been studied till now, but are still very effective. Neem is one more such plant which is excellent for all kinds of skin related problems.
I wish a pharmaceutical company would study saw palmetto. I know they can’t make as much money at it since it’s natural but I think that for society it would be very nice to know. You’d think that the supplement companies would pay a medical lab to test it on patients.
I actually found Saw Palmetto slightly more effective for me in regrowing hair than Finasteride. Unfortunately, the side effects were even more pronounced, so I swapped back.