A man wants manly supplements, this I’ve learned. I once made the mistake of offering my boyfriend a Midol tablet for his headache. Even though it’s the leading OTC for menstrual pain, Midol is nothing more than Tylenol with something to get rid of water. Nevertheless, his reaction was clear evidence that I had called his manhood into question. After his headache went away, he mercifully forgave me.

Our Men’s Health category includes supplements that are as masculine as they can get. They’re primarily targeted for prostate health, which absolutely makes them gender-specific, and even the vitamin & mineral complexes under this category include herbs and other nutrients that promote prostate health or sexual performance. (For more supplements in this class, see Sexual Health and Well-being.)

Prostate health will be a concern for most men

Prostate health will likely be an issue in nearly every man’s life, usually beginning around the age of 50. By age 70 half of men are giving considerable attention to this aspect of their health, and by age 80, the proportion of men concerned with prostate health increases to 80%. For optimal well-being, strive for a diet of less saturated fat and more fiber, with emphasis on daily exercise to stay fit. The right supplements can help, too. In fact the herb saw palmetto is so effective at maintaining prostate health, that it has consistently been one of our overall top-selling supplements each month for the last ten years. Dietary supplements for the prostate consist mainly of three herbs, including saw palmetto, pygeum and stinging nettles, the minerals selenium and zinc, and the carotenoid lycopene with supporting help from vitamin E. The tried-and-true triumvirate of prostate health, though, is saw palmetto, selenium and lycopene, which are considered below. 

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Essentially, saw palmetto is available in two forms: a whole herb, which provides saw palmetto the way it appears in nature, and a standardized extract, guaranteed to provide a certain percentage of fatty acids and sterols as stated on the label. One formula isn’t necessarily more beneficial than the other. While a standardized extract has the reputation of being better because the fatty acid content is higher, a whole-herb formula also provides the other compounds unique to saw palmetto, and they possibly work synergistically with the fatty acids and sterols. We offer both forms, and we recommend that you try each of them to see which one works best for you. A non-standardized, whole-herb formula in the Swanson Premium Brand line is by far our best-selling single ingredient saw palmetto supplement, followed by a very complete combination formula called Prostate Essentials Plus that includes saw palmetto and most of the other nutrients mentioned above.

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Selenium is one of the most researched nutrients in connection with prostate health. The results of a 2001 Stanford University study demonstrated strong evidence that selenium is essential for prostate health, and also that blood levels of this trace mineral decline with age. In fact, because of mineral-depleted soils, many diets are deficient in selenium. You can read more about this study and others at www.selenoexcell.com, the official website of SelenoExcell brand selenium. Selenium is an important antioxidant in it own right. Plus, our bodies need it to make enzymes involved in the production of other antioxidants like glutathione. Selenium works particularly well when paired with Vitamin E, as both nutrients appear to the enhance the functionality of each other, and Vitamin E has also been identified as beneficial for prostate health.

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Ever since Jay Leno quipped on his nightly talk show that evidence points to pizza as health food for men, lycopene has come to be associated almost entirely with prostate health. In truth, though, it is beneficial for other concerns, too, including cardiovascular and vision health. Indeed, there are sound reasons that this antioxidant, found abundantly in tomatoes and made more bioavailable to the body when the tomatoes are cooked, has become a staple ingredient in many prostate formulas. The evidence from several important research studies shows lycopene to be a highly important nutrient for men’s health, particularly when it is combined with other phytochemicals found naturally in tomatoes including phytoene, phytofluene, natural vitamin E, beta-carotene and phytosterols. If you aren’t getting enough lycopene in your diet, be sure to include it as part of your supplemental regimen.

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