Saw Palmetto?

Does anyone know what hormones this affects? or if its better than Beta Sis?

Please? Im getting desperate on trying ot find a healthy alternative to fin without screwing with my hormones too much... i just wanna lower local 5ar by like 50% and not really mess with serum... any natural ideas?

itzmecorey wrote:Does anyone know what hormones this affects? or if its better than Beta Sis?

Please? Im getting desperate on trying ot find a healthy alternative to fin without screwing with my hormones too much... i just wanna lower local 5ar by like 50% and not really mess with serum... any natural ideas?

Saw Palmetto for hair loss is a little like a time capsule. Beta Sitosterol should be used only in the very young, and it will work better with other factors considered.

Blocking 5-AR is an outdated principle and doesn't address the real cause of hair loss.

would it be best used topically? my shampoo has it.

CausticSymmetry wrote:

itzmecorey wrote:Does anyone know what hormones this affects? or if its better than Beta Sis?

Please? Im getting desperate on trying ot find a healthy alternative to fin without screwing with my hormones too much... i just wanna lower local 5ar by like 50% and not really mess with serum... any natural ideas?

Saw Palmetto for hair loss is a little like a time capsule. Beta Sitosterol should be used only in the very young, and it will work better with other factors considered.

Blocking 5-AR is an outdated principle and doesn't address the real cause of hair loss.

I heard you mention why Its only good in people under 26... Do you have a link so I can read why thats true?

But yeah im almost sure my hairloss is insulin / blood sugar based... i need to just get control of that first and foremost...

I will try to get some beta sis today... or would drinking soy milk in the morning be just as adequate?

There are hundreds of old threads about this subject. To the use the search, select "Google" instead of the default, which is "Inside."

You will find a lot of information.

it will work better with other factors considered.

What are these factors?

I can't find the forum right now, but I read on a forum they posted a study showing increased sterols in the blood led to an increased risk of heart problems or something like that, it was a while back, I'll try find it, is this true?

tooyoung - This is a concern if one is sitosterolemic. Sitosterolemia is a rare, autosomal recessive inherited sterol storage disease. Here is one example:

Atherosclerosis. 2011 Jan;214(1):225-30. Epub 2010 Nov 2.
Effects of long term plant sterol and -stanol consumption on the retinal vasculature: a randomized controlled trial in statin users.
Kelly ER, Plat J, Mensink RP, Berendschot TT.

University Eye Clinic Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Elton.kelly@ohk.unimaas.nl

As sitosterolemic patients have an increased cardiovascular risk, there is concern that reducing serum LDL-cholesterol concentrations by plant sterols enriched functional foods might adversely affect vascular function. Whether increased concentrations of plant sterols truly affect vascular function and whether these effects are exclusive to the larger vessels remains unknown. We compared the effects of long-term plant sterol and -stanol consumption on changes in retinal vessels diameter which reflex alterations in the microcirculation. Three randomized groups were studied at baseline and after 85-weeks. Group one (N=11) consumed plant sterol enriched margarine (2.5g/day), the second (N= plant stanol enriched margarine (2.5g/day), and the control group (N=11) non-enriched margarine (2.5g/day). Serum cholesterol-standardized campesterol and sitosterol concentrations increased by 354.84±168.22·102μmol/mmol and 84.36±48.26·102μmol/mmol (p<0.001), respectively in the sterol group, while decreasing non-significantly in the plant stanol group. Serum LDL-cholesterol concentrations decreased significantly in both the plant sterol (-0.33±0.33mmol/L, p=0.016) and -stanol groups (-0.38±0.34mmol/L, p=0.018) compared to the increase in the controls (0.29±0.34mmol/L). The mean change in venular diameters for the plant sterol group (2.3±3.1μm), plant stanol groups (-0.8±3.4μm) and control group (-0.8±5.1μm) did not reach significance but the change in cholesterol-standardized campesterol concentrations correlated positively with the change in venular diameter independent of changes in serum LDL-cholesterol concentrations (r=0.39, N=30, p=0.033). Increased serum campesterol concentration correlated positively with increased retinal venular diameter, independent from changes in serum LDL-cholesterol concentrations. This may constitute an explanation for the suggested effects of plant sterols on vascular function. However, this novel finding needs confirmation and further study.

The limitation of this study though is that they used margarine, which is a very poor "vehicle" to deliver this stuff.

Of course, the vast majority of people think that lowering cholesterol in this way 'healthy.'

Here's a study on normal people:

J Lipid Res. 2010 Aug;51(:2384-93. Epub 2010 Mar 14.
The associations of cholesterol metabolism and plasma plant sterols with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Silbernagel G, Fauler G, Hoffmann MM, Lütjohann D, Winkelmann BR, Boehm BO, März W.

Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract
Moderately elevated levels of plasma plant sterols have been suspected to be causally involved in atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether plant sterols and other markers of sterol metabolism predicted all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in participants of the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular health (LURIC) study. A total of 1,257 individuals who did not use statins and at baseline had a mean (+/- SD) age of 62.8 (+/- 11.0) years were included in the present analysis. Lathosterol, cholestanol, campesterol, and sitosterol were measured to estimate cholesterol synthesis and absorption. The mean (+/- SD) time of the follow-up for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was 7.32 (+/- 2.3) years. All-cause (P = 0.001) and cardiovascular (P = 0.006) mortality were decreased in the highest versus the lowest lathosterol to cholesterol tertile. In contrast, subjects in the third cholestanol to cholesterol tertile had increased all-cause (P < 0.001) and cardiovascular mortality (P = 0.010) compared with individuals in the first tertile. The third campesterol to cholesterol tertile was associated with increased all-cause mortality (P = 0.025). Sitosterol to cholesterol tertiles were not significantly related to all-cause or cardiovascular mortality. The data suggest that high absorption and low synthesis of cholesterol predict increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in LURIC participants.

CS, how would I know if I was sitosterolemic? Would a curcumin and resveratrol combo remove the need for beta sit?

Also, what are the other factors you mentioned before?

Thanks.

tooyoung - Cur/Res work a little differently, but it might be worth a try.

Sitosterolemia is very rare.

By worth a try, do you mean the curcumin and resv wont work?

Should I just assume I am not sitosterolemic? Are there any other symptoms?

Also, congratulations on the edit button, about time!

tooyoung - Cur/Res work on a different basis.

You might have this extremely rare disease of Sitosterolemia if:

High blood cholesterol
Tendon xanthomas
Premature hardening or arteries
Xanthomas under skin
Arthritis
Enlarged spleen
Premature heart disease

We can thank lostwind for the edit button. He volunteered and he fixed it at an astonishing
speed!

I know you say it's extremely rare, but I'm still worried as the consequences of the negatives possibly far outweigh the positives, in the worst case scenario.

For a young person, how important would you say the beta sit is? Could I stop my hairloss with iodine (been taking around 2 months now) and curcumin, resv, probiotics, b yeast (coming in the post) Or do you think success at a young age isnt possible without beta sit? Would I be able to notice problems related to sitosterolemia if I took beta sit and stop it quickly?

Would eating an avacado a day somehow be safer than a beta sit alone supplement, as its a proper food and there's more than just the beta sit, or does it make no difference?

CausticSymmetry wrote:

itzmecorey wrote:Does anyone know what hormones this affects? or if its better than Beta Sis?

Please? Im getting desperate on trying ot find a healthy alternative to fin without screwing with my hormones too much... i just wanna lower local 5ar by like 50% and not really mess with serum... any natural ideas?

Saw Palmetto for hair loss is a little like a time capsule. Beta Sitosterol should be used only in the very young, and it will work better with other factors considered.

Blocking 5-AR is an outdated principle and doesn't address the real cause of hair loss.

cs could you tell us these factors ? i seem not to get any results from beta sit , same aggressive loss