Re-Grow Your Hair with Saw Palmetto
In England there was a hair growing competition over the course of a year (no, I’m not kidding), the winner was a fella who had been taking freeze dried saw palmetto berries every day. Apparently he had pretty good hair re-growth.
Judging by hair loss forums and chat rooms saw palmetto appears to be one of the most popular “natural” hair loss remedies. Freeze dried saw palmetto berries are one option, another is to buy the extracted form in pills from your local health store. But before you rush out and stock up let me introduce you to…
…Saw Palmetto’s Big Brother, Beta Sitosterol
The main active ingredient in saw palmetto that is thought to stop hair loss is beta sitosterol (beta sitosterol hair loss article here which also explains the mechanisms how both substances work). And then consider that a typical serving of beta sitosterol has more active ingredient than 3000 capsules of dried saw palmetto berries…
One capsule of beta sitosterol usually contains 300 mg of pure beta-sitosterol. You would have to eat 2 lbs. of saw palmetto to get the same amount of beta-sitosterol one 300 mg capsule. This is 3000 times more potent than saw palmetto.
So Should I Forget About Saw Palmetto?
The logical solution seems to supplement with beta sitosterol rather than saw palmetto. There are substances in saw palmetto other than beta sitosterol including stigmasterol and campesterol, but nearly every beta sitosterol supplement I’ve seen also includes these anyway.
But, (there’s always a “but” isn’t there!) some people actually report good results with saw palmetto – and hey, if it works, it works. Saw palmetto might be strong enough to have the desired hair saving effect for certain people. On the other hand beta sitosterol might be too strong, with some people their scalp becomes unbearably oily and itchy. Again saw palmetto may be good enough in cases like this.
Also there may be other ingredients in saw palmetto that may also be beneficial for hair loss, that aren’t in a beta sitosterol supplement. It’s really a case of suck it and see. Some people like to combine the two, which might not be a bad idea. A study reported the results of men suffering from hair loss after using 50mg of beta sitosterol and 200mg of saw palmetto berry extract (standardized 85% to 95% liposterolic content) — sixty percent of them reported new hair growth with the rest reporting that hair loss had at least ceased. Whilst the placebo group many of them had continual hair loss.
If you do decide to try saw palmetto then read the label carefully, just because it says 200mg doesn’t mean there that’s much in there, you need to check the “standardized” percentage. If it’s standardized 1% then you can be sure your not getting very much.
Personally I’m giving saw palmetto a miss for a while as I’ve just started supplementing with beta sitosterol and want to see how that goes for a few months. I may well chuck it into the mix a bit later though. If you’ve tried saw palmetto, what have been your experiences…? Post a comment below. Go on!
Responses to This Article
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said on December 6, 2006
Some great articles there, esp my respect to WindowsPeak.
I’m a 40+ male with very noticeable thinning top and crown areas and very receeded hairline.
My regimen so far:
300mg 85-95% Saw Palmetto extract (2 months) eve.
120mg Beta Sitosterol (1 month) morn.
Nioxin Cleanser type 1 shampoo daily (since 3 months).
Nioxin Cytonutrient Actives leave-on foam daily (3 months).
The last two contain S(Laureth)S and propylene glycol respectively. I’m a bit concerned about these kind of products, and might give “grunge” a shot. Thought about using Nizoral shampoo as it got good reviews against MPB but it also has SLS!
I’ve had good results so far, can see little @2mm hairs, also vellous hair, among the normal growth on top. My hair is growing faster and stronger, people have noticed.
Any comments? Thanks! -
said on December 11, 2006
I tried Saw Palmetto but it killed my libido. How much Beta Sis should I use per day?
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Chris said on December 12, 2006
Jo — Your regime looks good, well done on sprouting some new hair.
Tony — I take 350mg beta-sis a day.
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said on December 12, 2006
Thanks Chris and how is it going? I’m going to up my beta-sis intake to around 350mg and continue with morn and eve supplementation so that intake is evenly distibuted over 24hrs. Also i’m going for less shampoo, to about once or twice a week. I was using it daily, leaving it on for about 5mins, although i can’t complain about the condition of my scalp with Nioxin as it’s impeccable. However i’m considering opting for Revivogen shampoo and topical as they seem more specific.
The more i’m reading about hair loss the more i am convinced the problem should be tackled on different levels for effectiveness, namely, DHT inhibitors, hair stimulants (growth), SOD’s, anti-androgens, and anti-inflammatories. I’m sure there are products which can fit into more than one category… any suggestions for a natural all-rounder package?
My diet is vegetarian and i take multivitamins religiously, i’m trying to be as natural as possible. I also believe in cycling most supplements, 25 days on, 5 days off. Forgot to mention, since around 1 month i’ve been taking 200mg Gerovital GH3 (Procaine HCL). I’m not sure if this has had an effect on hair growth. Cheers. -
said on January 12, 2008
Before mankind, before the coming of the light, there was COSTCO. And in COSTCO there was TRUNATURE Saw PALMETTO. 85-95% fatty acids with active sterols.
I have had multiple hair transplants and scalp reductions. The reductions worked because moving entire scalp around is less invasive than one hair at a time transplantation, and, although the reductions worked, supplemental 3500 plugs was unfortunately, taking a hike at the rate of 100-150 hairs per day. That’s a lot when you start with 50% left to begin with. Not to mention the 18 grand it set me back.
Rogaine and Propecia did nothing. I then happened upon internet folklore about Saw Palmetto, and six pills morning and evening, and my hair just quit falling out. In three days it quit falling out. Stopped. Nada. Zilch.
Now, no new hairs came in but, funny thing, since 20% hairs are “always” at rest, if you aren’t losing the 20% those hairs are supposed to replace, in about two year, voila, you have 20% MORE hair. I stop taking the pills, five days later hair starts to fall out, so cycling the regimen for me won’t work.
I wish I’d known about this eons ago. And yeah, I am going to try a dual course with the concentrated derivative, and see if that “gooses” any dormant hair.
By the way, don’t believe overly frequent washing doesn’t make you lose hair. It does. They can transplant now, merely by PULLING the donor hair from the site. What killing do you might think is going on, when you tug away at wet chemically weakened hair with combs and such? That’s right, you are literally killing off hairs by tugging them out of your scalp.
I follow my shampoo with simple detanglers, like Johnson’s baby shampoo, and hold the hair while detangling so as not to pull on the root.
That’s intelligent procedure to me.
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said on February 2, 2008
Hi!
Just wondering if the Saw Palmetto at vitacost.com is good enough?
http://www.vitacost.com/productResults.aspx?ss=1&previousText=app le&Ntk=products&Ntt=saw%20palmetto
The thing is, they have two kinds of Saw Palmetto. One is the Saw Palmetto 540mg, taken once a day, the other is the Saw Palmetto EXTRACT, 160mg taken twice a day. This also has pumpkin seed oil, 160mg. What is the difference between EXTRACT and non-extract?
Also, have you guys heard of Rene Furterer’s Vitalfan pills? They claim that the pumpkin seed oil in their pills can inhibit DHT.
I’m currently using the Hairmax lasercomb. Definitely thickened my hairs, grew some new hairs (but not enough even after 7 months), and it’s not stopping my hair loss. Either that or it needs a full year to kick in..? Ha. But I’m also taking Vimax, which contains Saw Palmetto, concentration unknown. I needed Vimax after Propecia killed my libido (and strength of ejaculation). And truth is, Vimax DOES help. I’ve stopped taking Propecia.
Thanks!
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This article was written on May 19, 2006 was posted in these categories Hair Nutrition, Hair Products, DHT Blockers .
