Transgender and transsexual people feel better about themselves with feminine breasts. Patients scheduled for a sex change operation undergo months or even years of hormone treatments in order to make a gradual change. But hormones to enlarge male breast tissue can often leave patients with bad side effects. Many are turning to the herb saw palmetto to gain larger breasts.
Women have been using saw palmetto to get larger, rounder breasts since Mexico's Mayan civilization. But it was wrongly assumed that saw palmetto could only work for women's breast tissue. It wasn't until the last century that medical science discovered that both men and women contained the hormones for growing breasts. Sometimes an imbalance of hormones causes large breasts, or gynecomastia, in men or boys.
Why Saw Palmetto?
Saw palmetto was originally used as a folk remedy for the treatment of enlarged prostate. The world renowned Mayo Clinic even recommends saw palmetto for enlarged prostate, also known as benign protsatic hyptrophy. Men who took saw palmetto began reporting many minor side effects, one of which was that their breasts were growing.
It is unknown exactly how saw palmetto works on the body to enlarge breast tissue. One theory listed by the America's National Institutes of Health is that saw palmetto quiets the androgen receptors in cells. Androgens are hormones such as testosterone. Both men and women have testosterone, but men usually have far more than women. Chemicals like testosterone communicate to cells because they can fit into a particular slot or opening just for them called a receptor. It is thought that saw palmetto closes these openings.
Using Saw Palmetto
Although saw palmetto comes in many forms, the National Institutes of Health warns against using saw palmetto alcohol tinctures because it could make a person suddenly drowsy. But saw palmetto capsules and saw palmetto berries are thought to be much safer and are usually less expensive.
No comments:
Post a Comment