Prostate Optimizer- Supports Prostate Function Healthy Cell Replication

Adobe Prostate Optimizer PDF file Click to return from Prostate Optimizer Click to return from Prostate Optimizer To view all JARROW Products go here:

A comprehensive and synergistic formula enhanced with:

• Saw Palmetto Berry Extract – the important fatty acids & sterols in clinically effective amounts

• Lycopene –– the “tomato antioxidant” is associated with long term prostate health through proper cell division

• DHA & EPA Omega-3 Fatty Acids –– for proper prostaglandin production & immune regulation

• Pollen Extract –– clinically tested & proven combination of water- and fat- soluble compounds

• Stinging Nettles Extract –– employed in many European prostate health trials

• Green Tea Extract –– promotes circulation and scavenges free radicals

• Flax Lignans –– SDG Lignans from flaxseed promote prostate health

Synergism For Maintaining Prostate Health

Jarrow FORMULAS® Prostate Optimizer™ supplies key nutrients and botanical extracts in the amounts recognized as being beneficial to support the health and proper functioning of the prostate gland. Soft gelatin capsules are used because the active ingredients of most of these supportive compounds are naturally oil-soluble. These ingredients promote proper cellular metabolism and protect against free radical damage. They also supply the building blocks necessary to make anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, hormone-like substances which are crucial to prostate health.

Gender-targeted Nutritional Insurance For Men Over 50

The actions of the prostate during early manhood are taken for granted. However, beginning in later middle age, prostate functioning can become a source of concern.

In an adult male, the prostate usually weighs about 20 grams. Almost all of this mass develops during puberty in response to hormonal changes associated with maturation. If a man is lucky, and some men are, the prostate never again undergoes any change in size.

Unfortunately, nearly 60% of men between the age of 40 and 59 can be shown to be suffering from prostate enlargement. This usually does not present a noticeable problem until after the age of 50. By the age of 80, however, some 85% of all men suffer from one or more symptoms of poor prostate function.

It is generally accepted that hormone ratios and hormone clearance are involved in prostate health. Testosterone, the “male” hormone, is at its peak during adolescence. It decreases thereafter, and the rate of decrease sharpens by about age 50. The decline in testosterone production typically calls into play the compensatory release of other hormones that are stimulants to testosterone production. These cannot prevent the decline in testosterone levels, but they can lead to an elevated rate of transformation of testosterone into 5-alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and to the increased binding and/or decreased clearance of DHT from prostate cells. Ultimately, it is DHT’s actions which cause most of the problems with the prostate. DHT binds to specific receptors on the prostate cells, the alpha 1-receptors. It then is transported into the nucleus of these cells where it attaches to the DNA and ultimately turns on prostate growth.

Increases in estrogen levels are very important in these developments. Special enzymes reduce the binding of both testosterone and DHT to prostate cell receptors under normal circumstances. The unbound androgenic hormones can be excreted more readily from the system than the bound forms. As men age, the rate of removal of DHT in particular is diminished and it is the failure to remove testosterone and DHT which primarily encourages the development of poor prostate function. Estrogen inhibits the actions of the enzymes that metabolize these androgens into excretable forms. In a sense, the body might be seen as attempting to compensate for the decrease in its ability to produce testosterone by increasing the actions of DHT.

Another hormone which plays a significant role in the age-related decrease in prostate function is prolactin. Prolactin increases both the conversion of testosterone to DHT and the binding of androgens to prostate cells. Prolactin production itself is increased by stress, alcohol and aging. One counterweight to prolactin is the hormone melatonin, much in the news as an “anti-aging” hormone. Unfortunately, melatonin, which acts to check prolactin production, declines even as prolactin levels increase with age. This fact is yet another reason to provide extra nutrition designed specifically to support the health and function of the prostate as men age.

Saw Palmetto (Clinically Tested Sabalselect®)

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) is a small palm tree native to North America and the West Indies with large leaves and deep red berries. The Amerindians used the berries to treat prostate and other genitourinary tract problems. Some herbalists consider it to be an aphrodisiac. Modern research has established that the fat-soluble (liposoluble) extract works to prevent the undesirable conversion of testosterone into the compound dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in vitro, although this does not appear to be the active mechanism in humans. Nevertheless, saw palmetto extract has been shown to be helpful in maintaining prostate health and function in clinical trials conducted at UCLA and elsewhere. The consensus among researchers is that it is important to use a product which supplies an extract of the active fatty acids and sterols. These typically are listed as comprising 85 - 90% of the extract.

Pollen Extract

In Japan and much of Europe, the specially processed combination of purified water-soluble and lipid-soluble extracts made from the pollens of rye, corn and timothy are the preferred nutritional supplement for prostate health. In clinical trials, pollen extract has been proven to support the functioning of the prostate. Jarrow FORMULAS® Prostate Optimizer™ includes Cernitin®, the only clinically tested and proven pollen extract, in the amounts actually used in the clinical trials to improve bladder function and urinary flow.

Stinging Nettles Extract

Constituents in stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) increase the excretion of uric and other acids via the kidneys. The tannins have astringent and healing effects. In clinical studies directly examining prostate health, nettles extract appeared to work especially well when combined with other ingredients, such as saw palmetto. Various lines of supportive action have been suggested, such as reducing the effects of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and preventing the conversion of testosterone to either DHT or to estrogen.

Lycopene (Clinically tested Lyc-O-Mato® natural extract)

Lycopene is a bright red pigment related to beta-carotene, but which is much more efficient as an antioxidant. The tomato is the richest common natural source. High levels of lycopene consumption and high blood levels of lycopene consistently have been associated in research studies with protection of prostate health and the health of the digestive tract through support of proper cell division. Other studies have indicated that lycopene in the diet is associated with protection against age-related macular degeneration (i.e., damage to the eyes), against sun damage to the skin, and even against a decline in our abilities to function independently as we grow older. Compared with beta-carotene, lycopene is better at scavenging radicals, such as lipid peroxy radicals, and in vitro studies suggest that lycopene is ten times better at preventing malignant cell transformations than is vitamin E.

DHA & EPA Omega-3 Fatty Acids

One traditional nutritional approach to preserving the function of the prostate is to consume the omega-3 fatty acids docsahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). These are required by the body to maintain proper levels of anti-inflammatory prostaglandin production. Omega-3 fatty acids increase the production of prostacyclin (PGI2), which is especially important in this regard.

Green Tea Extract

Green tea extract contains numerous protective polyphenols, particularly members of the catechin family. The most active of these is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Tea catechins are known for their protective effects against the weakening of capillaries. Research indicates that these catechins not only are antioxidants in their own right, but may also enhance the body’s production of endogenous antioxidant and phase 2 (liver detoxification) enzymes.

Flax Lignans (Linumlife® Extra)

Lignans are a type of naturally occurring phytoestrogens in plants, especially in flaxseed. The major lignan in flaxseed is secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SDG). Ingested plant lignans are converted by intestinal bacteria to their biologically active forms, enterodiol and enterolactone. These biologically active mammalian lignans support cardiovascular function, prostate health, bone health, proper cell replication and hormone balance.

Usage

Take 3 softgels per day with food or as directed by your qualified health consultant.

References

Chopra M, Wilson RL, Thurnham DI. Free radical scavenging activity of lutein in vitro.
Proceedings of the New York Academy of Sciences Conference, ed. L.M. Cranfield, et al.
New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1993: 353-356.
Duke JA. Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. CRC Press, 1985.
Dutkiewicz S. Usefulness of Cernilton in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Int
Urol Nephrol. 1996; 28(1):49-53.
Francheschi S. et al. Tomatoes and risk of digestive-tract cancers. Int J Cancer. 1994;
59:181-4.
Giovannucci E, Ascherio A, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC. Intake of
carotenoids and retinol in relation to risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1995 Dec
6;87(23):1767-76.
Hinman F. Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983.
Horton R. Benign prostatic hyperplasia: a disorder of androgen metabolism in the male. J Am
Geriatr Soc. 1984 May;32(5):380-5.
Ito R, Ishii, M, Yamashita S, Noguchi K, Kunikane K, Ohkubo Y, Tsushima K, Sato S, Akamatsu
H. Antiprostatic hypertrophic action of Cernitin pollen-extract (Cernilton). Oyo Yakuri /
Pharmacometrics. 1986; 31(1):1-11.
Khan SG, Katiyar SK, Agarwal R, Mukhtar H. Enhancement of antioxidant and phase II
enzymes by oral feeding of green tea polyphenols in drinking water to SKH-1 hairless mice:
possible role in cancer chemoprevention. Cancer Res. 1992 Jul 15;52(14):4050-2.
Lewis AE, Clouatre D. Melatonin and the Biological Clock. New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing,
Inc., 1996.
Marks LS, Partin AW, Epstein JI, Tyler VE, Simon I, Macairan ML, Chan TL, Dorey FJ, Garris JB,
Veltri RW, Santos PB, Stonebrook KA, deKernion JB. Effects of a saw palmetto herbal blend in
men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. J Urol. 2000 May;163(5):1451-6.
Schneider HJ, Honold E, Masuhr T. [Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Results of a
treatment study with the phytogenic combination of Sabal extract WS 1473 and Urtica extract
WS 1031 in urologic specialty practices]. Fortschr Med. 1995 Jan 30;113(3):37-40.
Scott WW. The lipids of the prostatic fluid, seminal plasma and enlarged prostate gland in
man. J Urol. 1945;53:712-718.
Weiss, RF. Lehrbuch der Phytotherapie. Stuttgart: Hippokrates-Verlag, 1980, p. 296.
Wohlmuth H. Lycopene – A short review. Botanical Pathways. 1997; 1(3):6-7.

Source: Jarrow Formulas