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Colon Cleanser Products
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Orvo Detox

Rating: D
Company: Orvo

Prostate Cleanse Basics: This all-natural herbal prostate supplement claims to promote healthy prostate function with its super-vitamin blend of vitamin C, E, B6 and saw palmetto, a plant-derived extract scientifically proven to reduce symptoms of prostate enlargement. Its best feature is its availability: Prostate Cleanse is currently available in nearly all Target and Walgreens stores in the United States.

Ingredients: Prostate Cleanse contains vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B6, calcium, zinc, saw palmetto extract, pumpkin seed extract, l-alanine, nettles, hawthorn extract, pygeum extract bark, licopene, and astaxanthin.

Does it Work? We doubt it. The use of saw palmetto is a good start. It's been shown to safely treat prostate enlargement, but doesn't appear to contain the markers of a good quality extract, such as free fatty acids and beta-sitosterol. Both components are found in high quality extracts of saw palmetto, indicating this isn't a high quality ingredient It may not be able to affect prostate function.

Prostate Cleanse also contains nearly 500mg of vitamin C, which was shown in some studies to reduce a man's prostate cancer risk. But it isn't without controversy. "Some studies show that increased levels of vitamin C reduce one's risk for prostate cancer," says the Cedars-Sinai Health System. "Other studies show that vitamin C has no effect on this risk."

Other ingredients, including pumpkin seed extract, licopene and calcium, have not been shown to improve prostate health. It's not clear why Prostate Cleanse is claiming these ingredients improve prostate health, but the proof simply isn't there.

Is it Safe? No. Prostate Cleanse contains twice the amount of a person's recommended daily intake for vitamin C. 250mg is considered the limit for safe vitamin C supplementation, but it contains nearly 500mg, which can cause complications associated with a vitamin overdose. Although the symptoms aren't life threatening, they aren't pleasant. For vitamin C overdose is associated with indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue and insomnia.

Grade: D. Although natural supplements are generally safer than prescription medications, using too much of anything--or in this case, vitamin C--can cause unpleasant side effects. Coupled with the fact that there is little proof any of Prostate Cleanse's ingredients are proven to improve prostate health, this is about as effective as taking a sugar pill. We recommend looking for a more effective product, such as Prostavar.