The Best Anti Aging Herbs: Reproductive System Herbs
A step-by-step guide to better midlife health.
By Steven Foster
January/February 2000
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Anti aging herbs such as saw palmetto and black cohosh can help keep your reproductive system healthy.
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Women and men obviously have different needs when it comes to the aging of their reproductive systems. In midlife, the major consideration for women is menopause; for men, it’s prostate enlargement. Well-researched herbs can help both conditions.
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Black cohosh
(Cimicifuga racemosa)
As ovarian function declines during menopause, estrogen is lowered and luteinizing hormone, part of the mechanism responsible for hot flashes, increases. Black cohosh has been shown to help reduce the severity of hot flashes and improve mood. In Germany, black cohosh preparations are used for hot flashes, depression and sleep disturbances
How to take it: The German authorities suggest a daily dose of a liquid extract (with 40 to 60 percent alcohol) equivalent to 40 mg of dried black cohosh root. Efficacy and safety are confirmed by long-term clinical experience in Germany dating to the 1950s and recent controlled clinical studies published in the past decade.
Saw palmetto
(Serenoa repens)
Extracts of saw palmetto fruit have been used for more than 100 years in the treatment of prostate conditions, particularly benign prostatic hyperplasia, commonly called BPH. BPH is characterized by a benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate. The condition is believed to afflict more than 50 percent of men older than fifty. By narrowing the urethra, it produces poor urinary flow that can translate into a host of other symptoms including hesitancy or straining to urinate, painful urination, dripping after urination, increased frequency of urination, and a feeling that the bladder is not quite empty.