Posted by Larry Hoover on March 18, 2007, at 20:56:59
In reply to Saw Palmetto and psychoactive effects!?!, posted by sregan on March 18, 2007, at 18:31:56
> Can anyone explain why Saw Palmetto would have a psychoactive effect? I've tried it twice recently a few months apart and the next morning been totally wiped out feeling like I'm on deaths door.
I've heard of a depressogenic effect of saw palmetto from one other person, but it didn't happen overnight. There's nothing about it in the literature on saw palmetto, but the few studies I've seen really didn't detail adverse effects that clearly. Testosterone is a neuroactive hormone, so maybe you're really sensitive to the sterols in these herbs? Possible allergy?
> Would it more likely be the Fatty acids or the Pygeum?
I think you might be slightly misinterpreting the label information.
> I just took one of these at lunch:
>
> http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=NFS-04185
>
> Breakdown:
>
> Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) extract (berry) 80 mg
>
> Fatty acids and Sterols (95%) 76 mgOf the 80 mg saw palmetto extract, 95% times 80 mg = 76 mg are composed of fats and dissolved sterols. The other 4 mg is not attributed. Consider this as 80 mg crude saw palmetto oil. This is a tiny amount of fats, and you're taking it for the sterols that are co-extracted.
> Pygeum Africanum (Prunus africana) extract (bark) 20 mg
>
> Sterols (14%) 2.8 mgSame thing here, 20 mg times 14% = 2.8 mg sterols. I'd presume this is nothing more than the standard concentration of sterols in Pygeum bark powder.
Sometimes just trying a different brand can yield different results. Maybe just a straight saw palmetto product?
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:742007
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070201/msgs/742025.html