2 Natural Ways To Treat An Enlarged Prostate

There are various natural treatments for an enlarged prostate and 2 of these are the use of pumpkin seeds and saw palmetto.

It may seem strange but pumpkin seeds have a variety of healing properties and they have been found to be especially effective for many men suffering from an enlarged prostate. Pumpkin seeds have three properties which are particularly useful in this case.

The first property is that pumpkin seeds contain fatty oil which acts as a natural diuretic and helps to improve the flow of urine and counteract the restrictive effect of an enlarged prostate gland on the urethra.

The second property is that they contain high levels of zinc which means that a half a cup of seeds contains about eight milligrams of zinc. It has been clearly demonstrated that taking zinc can literally shrink an enlarged prostate and many doctors recommend taking sixty milligrams of zinc each day. Care needs to be taken though and it is wise to talk to your physician before raising your daily zinc intake to this level as it is considerably above the normal recommended daily dose.

The third property of pumpkin seeds is that they are high in animo acids such as glycerine, glutamic acid and alanine, all of which have once more been demonstrated to give considerable symptomatic relief.

Another frequently used treatment for an enlarged prostate is saw palmetto. Grown in the southeastern states, saw palmetto is a form of palm tree the seeds from which used to form a significant part of the Seminole Indian diet.

Saw palmetto does its magic by converting testosterone into dihyrotestosterone which is exactly the same process used in Proscar, which is one of the very few non-prescription treatments approved for prostate problems by the Food and Drug Administration. Its chief benefit is that it increases the flow of urine, minimizes the problem of residual urine and cuts down the frequency of urination.

As is the case with many natural treatments views vary widely as to the effectiveness of saw palmetto, but we have seen several studies in recent years that have clearly shown that it does produce a considerable benefit. In one such study, a clinical study involving over two thousand German men suffering from benign prostatic hypertrophy, a daily dose of only 1 or 2 grams of saw palmetto seeds created a large reduction in symptoms.

These are of course merely two of the many natural treatments available but there is no doubt that these treatments can and indeed do work. Just as an example, it is believed that roughly thirty percent of American men have undiagnosed prostate cancer by the time they reach sixty years of age against just one percent of Arctic Inuit men at that age. There might of course be a variety of reasons for this massive difference, but one difference which the majority of doctors believe to be especially significant is the fact the Arctic Inuit diet is high in fish oil.

As a result, if you are suffering from prostate problems then, before turning to your doctor for treatment, you could find that a simple adjustment to your diet and taking a variety of vitamin and mineral supplements could be all that you need to do.