Saw palmetto berries mainly consist of carbohydrates, phytosterols, fixed oils (free fatty acids and their glycerides), steroids, flavonoids, resin, pigment, tannin, and volatile oil. Saw palmetto has been reported to contain diuretic, urinary antiseptic, and anabolic properties.

Native Americans, such as Seminole Indians have been eating saw palmetto fruits for at least 12,000 years. Despite their pungent taste . . . these Indians recognize saw palmetto fruits as both a food and medicine. The native Floridians prepared infusions of Saw palmetto berries to treat stomach ache and dysentery, and used the fruit for diuretic and sexual tonic.

The following exerpt from the ABC news website is based on a recent study published in the he New England Journal of Medicine:

Saw palmetto, an over-the-counter herbal therapy used by more than 2 million men for symptoms of an enlarged prostate, may be no more effective than a placebo, according to a study published in this week's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study followed 225 men who had moderate-to-severe symptoms of an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. Half of the men were given saw palmetto extract twice a day, and half were given an inactive medication, or placebo.

At the end of one year, the men taking saw palmetto showed no significant improvement in their symptoms, nor did the placebo group.

The findings were welcomed by some doctors who said they felt all along that saw palmetto didn't work. Dr. Jacques Carter, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said he has observed in his own clinical practice that saw palmetto is virtually ineffective. "In nearly every instance, my patients reported little if any improvement of the symptoms on this supplement," Carter said.

And Dr. Carl Reese, at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, hopes the new finding can convince patients to stop spending money on saw palmetto. "Millions of dollars are spent each year by men on this product and it may not be of any benefit," said Reese. "This article will help the argument that they are wasting their money."

Saw Palmetto may actually be Harmful to your Prostate

1. One study published in Prostate (2000 Nov) examined the effect of saw palmetto on stroma cells (the framework cells that build supportive tissue) and on epithelial cells (those which line the glands and ducts of the prostate). The study was done on normal prostate tissue and on BPH tissues from patients treated with and without the saw palmetto. The conclusion was that saw palmetto damages the nuclear and mitochondrial membranes, and causes cellular death in the epithelium and stroma.
2. Another study published in the Journal of Urology (2000 Nov) investigated the effects of saw palmetto on primary cultures of fibroblasts (cells that produce connective tissue), and epithelial cells from the prostate, epididymis (the tube that provides for the storage, transmission and maturation of sperm), testes, kidney, skin and breast to determine if the action of saw palmetto is selective and specific to prostate tissue. This study concluded that saw palmetto caused damage and death in prostate tissue, though there were no similar changes observed in other types of cells.
3. A third study published in Prostate (1999 Sep) examined the effect of saw palmetto on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Again, the results showed there was widespread damage of intracellular membranes, including mitochondrial and nuclear membranes in both healthy and overgrown prostate tissue.