Product Overview
NOW Foods Prostate Support is a men’s herbal formula in a bottle of 90 softgels. A serving is two softgels, so the bottle holds 45 servings. The supplement facts panel in the product photos lists 160mg of saw palmetto berry extract (min. 85% fatty acids), 300mg of stinging nettle root extract, 1,000mg of pumpkin seed oil and 3mg of lycopene (LYC-O-MATO, a natural tomato extract), with 10mg of vitamin B6 and 15mg of zinc.
The directions are two softgels one to two times a day with meals, so a bottle lasts between about three weeks and six weeks. Made by NOW Foods of Bloomingdale, Illinois, USA.
Key Benefits
- Zinc — the prostate holds more zinc than almost any other tissue, and zinc contributes to normal fertility and to normal testosterone levels in the blood. 15mg per serving is a solid amount.
- Vitamin B6 — contributes to normal energy metabolism and to the regulation of hormonal activity.
- Lycopene — the red pigment in tomatoes, an antioxidant. Diets rich in cooked tomatoes are linked with prostate health in population studies; whether 3mg in a softgel does the same is not established.
- Saw palmetto and nettle root — the traditional prostate herbs. See the honest note below.
What the Listing Claims, and What Is Known
The seller’s description goes a long way past the evidence. The main points, honestly:
- “Prostate size management” and relief of an enlarged prostate — saw palmetto is the best-known prostate herb, but the larger, well-run trials (STEP and CAMUS among them) found no meaningful benefit over placebo for urinary symptoms, even at high doses. It has not been shown to shrink the prostate.
- “Urinary flow enhancement” and fewer night-time trips — stinging nettle root has a few small trials with mixed results. Plausible, unproven.
- Hormonal balance, inflammation, heart and immune claims — not shown for this formula. Zinc and B6 have normal roles in the body; that does not make the softgel a medicine.
- “Clinically studied ingredients for maximum effectiveness” — individual ingredients have been studied. This combination has not been tested as a product.
Urinary Symptoms Need a Doctor First
Getting up at night to pass urine, a weak stream or difficulty starting are often caused by an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia), which is common with age. But the same symptoms can come from prostate cancer, infection, diabetes or a bladder problem, and you cannot tell which from the symptoms alone. Get examined before you self-treat — prescription medicines for an enlarged prostate work considerably better than any supplement.
Tell your doctor you take saw palmetto before a PSA test (the blood test used to check the prostate), so the result can be read properly. Get help urgently for blood in the urine, being unable to pass urine, or fever with urinary symptoms.
Key Features
- Saw palmetto, stinging nettle root, pumpkin seed oil and lycopene in one formula
- With 15mg zinc and 10mg vitamin B6 per serving
- 90 softgels — 45 servings
- Not manufactured with yeast, wheat, gluten, soy, milk, egg, fish or shellfish ingredients; produced in a GMP facility that processes other ingredients containing these allergens
- From NOW Foods, a family-owned US company since 1968
Ingredients / Specifications
Per two-softgel serving (supplement facts panel in the product photos): calories 10; total fat 1g; vitamin B6 (from pyridoxine HCl) 10mg, 588% DV; zinc (from zinc gluconate) 15mg, 136% DV; saw palmetto extract (berry, Serenoa repens, min. 85% fatty acids) 160mg; stinging nettle root extract (Urtica dioica) 300mg; pumpkin seed oil 1g (1,000mg); lycopene (LYC-O-MATO, natural tomato extract) 3mg.
Other ingredients: softgel capsule (bovine gelatin, glycerin, carob, water) and beeswax. Not vegetarian — bovine gelatin.
How to Use
- Adult men: take two softgels one to two times a day, with meals, as the label directs. Start with one serving a day.
- Check your other supplements. At the top label dose you get 30mg of zinc and 20mg of vitamin B6 a day. Adding a multivitamin, a zinc tablet or a B-complex can take you past sensible limits — long-term high zinc lowers copper, and long-term high B6 has been linked to nerve damage.
- Give it two to three months, then review it with your doctor rather than taking it indefinitely.
Who Is It Suitable For?
Adult men who have been examined by a doctor and want to try a herbal formula alongside medical advice.
- Finasteride, dutasteride or other hormone medicines — tell your doctor; saw palmetto may act on the same pathway.
- Blood thinners (warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel) — saw palmetto has been linked to bleeding in rare reports. Ask your doctor, and stop it two weeks before surgery.
- Blood pressure, diabetes or water tablets, or lithium — stinging nettle may add to their effects. Ask first.
- Not for women, pregnancy, breastfeeding or children — saw palmetto acts on male hormones.
Why Choose NOW Foods Prostate Support?
A clearly labelled formula from an established maker, with every amount printed rather than hidden in a “proprietary blend”. We sell several other saw palmetto products; choose one, and do not take two prostate formulas at the same time.
What the Evidence Actually Says
Herbal supplements sit in an awkward place: some have real, measured effects, many have small ones, and a few have none beyond what people expect from taking them. The marketing rarely distinguishes between the three.
“Natural” does not mean “safe” or “gentle”. Plants make powerful compounds — that is why so many medicines came from them in the first place — and a herb strong enough to have an effect is strong enough to interact with a medicine. Herbal products are also less tightly regulated than medicines, so what is in the bottle varies more between brands than it does for a pharmaceutical.
Symptoms Need a Doctor, Not a Capsule
If you have symptoms — pain, a change in how your body is working, something that has been getting worse — the useful thing to do is get it looked at. A supplement bought because a listing named your symptom delays that, and delay is the part that causes harm.
Take this if you and a doctor have decided it is a sensible addition. Do not take it as a way of avoiding the appointment.
This Is a Supplement, Not a Medicine
A dietary supplement is a food product. It is not a medicine, it has not been through the testing a medicine goes through, and it does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Supplement labels use health language — “supports”, “helps maintain”, “promotes” — precisely because they are not permitted to claim treatment. Read them that way. If a listing anywhere promises that a capsule will fix a medical condition, that promise is not one the product can keep.
What a supplement can honestly do is fill a gap in your diet. That is worth something, and it is a smaller thing than most packaging implies.
Talk to a Doctor First
Speak to a doctor or pharmacist before you start, particularly if you:
- take any prescribed medicine — supplements interfere with medicines more often than people expect
- are being treated for a heart, liver, kidney, thyroid or blood condition
- have diabetes
- are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding
- have surgery or a dental procedure coming up
Never stop or reduce a prescribed medicine in order to take a supplement instead. That is the single most dangerous thing anyone does with a product like this, and it is what the marketing language quietly invites.
About the Imported Pack
This is an imported product. The label, the dose instructions and the ingredient panel are the ones printed for the market it was made for, and the wording may differ from a locally packaged version.
Follow the dose printed on the pack itself — it is the authority on its own contents — and check the expiry date when it arrives. If anything on the label is unclear, message us before you take it and we will read it to you.
Storage
- Keep the container tightly closed, somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sunlight.
- Do not store it in a bathroom. Heat and humidity break supplements down faster than anything else, and a Dhaka bathroom is the worst place in the house for them.
- Leave the desiccant sachet in the bottle. It is there to keep moisture out, not by mistake.
- Softgels and fish oils are best kept in a fridge in hot weather — they go rancid otherwise.
- Keep it out of reach of children.
- Do not use it after the expiry date, and throw it away if the capsules smell strongly off, have stuck together or changed colour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will it shrink my prostate?
There is no good evidence that it does. The best trials of saw palmetto found no meaningful improvement in urinary symptoms over placebo.
How long does a bottle last?
45 servings: about six weeks at one serving a day, or about three weeks at two.
Is it vegetarian?
No. The softgel is made from bovine (beef) gelatin.
How long before I notice anything?
Honestly: with most supplements, you do not notice anything, because filling a nutritional gap feels like nothing. Where there is a measurable effect it usually takes weeks to months. Be sceptical of anything you feel within a day or two.
Is this the genuine imported product?
Yes. It is sourced as an import, so the bottle is printed for its origin market rather than for Bangladesh. The seal should be intact when it reaches you — tell us straight away if it is not.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.