A number of natural compounds including Pao Pereira, Saw Palmetto, Black Cumin Seed, zinc and Rauwolfia vomitoria can reduce levels of 5-alpha reductase, an important driver in both BPH and prostate cancer. Others include Curcumin, EGCG, oleic acid, Genistein, Chlorogenic acid and Kamferol.
We have talked before about Charles E. (Snuffy) Myers, who was a scientist in the USA and was involved in developing about 6 drugs; then he developed prostate cancer.
He beat his own cancer and set up the Prostate Cancer Forum to help others. This is now defunct since his retirement, but he is still involved from time to time in a US website called Prostapedia (1).
One of our CANCERactive patients, who developed prostate cancer in his fifties and then it went to lymph and pelvic bone, went to see Myers, who suggested two off label drugs - Low Dose Naltrexone, or LDN (Naltrexone is for mental problems and addictions) and Dutasteride (for overcoming baldness). LDN uses a very low dose of Naltrexone and is a good immune booster.
Dutasteride is a controversial compound, but only because the FDA erroneously blacklisted it. Dutasteride may have a slight anti-oestrogen effect but strongly reduces 5-alpha reductase. What’s that?
Dr Timpthy Thompson of MD Anderson told the world back in 2006 that after the age of 50, our testosterone starts to fall and we become less ‘lean and mean’. Fat stores add oestradiol to our blood stream; 13 known chemical compounds are also xenoestrogens - they act like oestradiol in our bodies. This pushes testosterone down even more. As testosterone declines so we make more and more of an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase, and this converts our nice safe testosterone to an active form Dihydrotestosterone, a more potent driver of prostate cancer.
5-alpha reductase is also involved strongly in benign prostatic hyperplasia.
After 1 year of a daily pill of 0.5 mg of Dutasteride, serum levels of DHT reduce by 94%, and serum testosterone levels increase by 19-26%. I have written an article on Dutasteride and prostate cancer before because the FDA in America insisted on warning men about Dutasteride by claiming that sometimes it caused aggressive prostate cancer. This has been shown to be completely wrong by researchers from both MD Anderson and the Karolinska Institute in four recent studies.
If cheap hair restorer Dutasteride works, a whole - and very lucrative - industry in ADT drugs would be threatened. There are videos on YouTube where Myers explains how he gets complete remission using Dutasteride. Some have been censored. There are other articles from him on the Web. For example - https:// grandroundsinurology.com/ durable-complete-remission- prostate-cancer/.
You can still find warnings on packs of Avodart (Dutasteride), so the question then becomes, “Are there natural ways of reducing 5-alpha reductase?”
Natural Compounds and 5-alpha reductase.
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Pao Pereira (Geissospermum vellosii), an Amazonian tree, contains bioactive compounds that have been shown to inhibit 5α-reductase, an enzyme critical in the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a more potent androgen involved in prostate growth (2).
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Rauwolfia vomitoria (3) extract suppresses benign prostatic hyperplasia by reducing expression of androgen receptor and 5α-reductase in a rat model.
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Studies indicate that black cumin seed oil can effectively inhibit 5α-reductase activity, thereby reducing DHT levels in testosterone-induced BPH rat models (4).
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Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is believed to exert its effects (5) primarily through the inhibition of 5α-reductase enzymes, which are responsible for converting testosterone into the more potent androgen 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
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Zinc has been shown to reduce levels of 5-alpha reductase (6)
Other natural compounds that reduce 5-alpha reductase, according to research, include oleic acid (olives), genistein, EGCG, chlorogenic acid, curcumin, daidzein and kamferol.
Go to: Three Natural Compounds block Prostate cancer
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References
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Prostapedia - https://naspcc.org/index.php/prostatepedia-magazine
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Pao Pereira Extract Attenuates Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats by inhibiting 5α-Reductase; Jiakuan Liu et al; Published: 23 December 2019; Nature Scientific Reports
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Rauwolfia vomitoria extract suppresses benign prostatic hyperplasia by reducing expression of androgen receptor and 5α-reductase in a rat model; Journal of Integrative Medicine, Volume 19, Issue 3, May 2021, Pages 258-264
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Effect of Black Cumin (Nigella sativa) on Prostate Health: Narrative Review; Meshari A. Alzahrani et al; F1000 Research
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Potency of a novel saw palmetto ethanol extract, SPET-085, for inhibition of 5α-reductase II; Pais P; Adv Therapy 27, 555–563 (2010).
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Comparison of the effects of new specific azasteroid inhibitors of steroid 5 alpha-reductase on canine hyperplastic prostate: suppression of prostatic DHT correlated with prostate regression". Cohen SM et al; The Prostate. 26 (2): 55–71. doi:10.1002/pros.2990260202. PMID 7531846. S2CID 40758833.