It’s always fair to ask if an “aphrodisiac” has any actual Testosterone benefits. After all, there can be a number of ways an herb or remedy can stimulate men without actually moving the needle on our hormone levels.
Tongkat Ali, though, does have an impressive body of evidence suggesting its use as an effective T-Booster. It’s a wonder, then, why more top rated products don’t use it on their ingredients. In this article we’ll sift through the science and legal issues to get you the answers.
What You Need to Know:
Scientific Studies
There are a number of ways to measure a man, and even more ways to ask a man to measure himself. One landmark study tried to use the most standard scale, called the Aging Males’ Symptoms (AMS) scale, and compared that with Serum Testosterone levels. They then had 76 men of a 320 man population take Longjack for one month.
Results were truly astounding. According to the AMS scale, 89.5% of the men had complaints–after Longjack, only 28.3% had complaints. Now on to their Testosterone data. Before treatment, 64.5% had low-T. After treatment, 90.8% of the men had improved their Testosterone to normal levels.
It’s important to note that these men had actually been diagnosed with Hypogonadism, or clinically low-T.
But what if you don’t have Hypogonadism? Another study found that even after a 24-hour mountain biking event, men who took Tongkat Ali had 16.4% higher free Testosterone than the other men. Keep in mind, these were saliva readings, which show the bioavailable Testosterone currently circulating at the time of testing. Also remember that we’ve discussed how endurance training can lower Testosterone levels in the short term.
Taken together, this means that Tongkat Ali is incredibly adept at boosting free Testosterone, even under circumstances where it should be dropping.These results have been corroborated in aging women and men with Low-T, where Tongkat Ali even helped improve muscular strength.
Why Isn’t Tongkat Ali in Everything?
It’s fair for a person to wonder, if all the science is so compelling, why every T-Booster supplement doesn’t have Tongkat on the label. The answer is a bit complicated, and unfortunately could be coming down to economics.
The European Union has largely the same mindset regarding food safety and nutrition labeling as the US and its Commonwealth counterparts. But where there are differences, those differences can make a huge impact on product availability and sales.
In 2021 the EU published findings that they considered Tongkat Ali to have the potential to damage the DNA of people taking it. Because of this, in October of that year, they have officially labeled it a “Non-Safe Food Novel Food.” Because of that, right or wrong, worldwide distributors of supplements have left it out of their formulas.
This doesn’t mean anyone’s science is better or worse than any others. Here’s how it breaks down. In the studies we’ve seen, including a 6-month trial where Tongkat Ali had no side effects, no one has looked at the tissues affected by the herb. Meanwhile, the EU teams did look at histological (cells of tissues) samples and found the potential for long-term toxicity to both cells and even to DNA.
Because of this, manufacturers like TestoPrime and Testo-Max are faced with an economies of scale dilemma. Either they make two sets of products, one for the EU and one for every one else; or they simply make one formula, without Tongkat, and pass the savings of only one label on to consumers. On the other hand, they could be leaving Tongkat out because they, too, think it’s unsafe.
Where Does that Leave Us?
Unfortunately, until scientists outside the EU conduct their own histological analysis of Longkat, the EU stance is the most detailed we have on safety. That doesn’t mean that using it will damage your cells or genes–but it does mean it could.
For consumers in the US, UK, and elsewhere, we do have a number of proven T-Boosters with ingredients that are universally recognized as safe. To that end, they’re available around the world.
Conclusion
Right at the top we do have an answer to the Testosterone question. Tongkat Ali, or Longjack, really does work. It works with athletes, with Hypogonadism, and it works for aging men with flagging T.
On the other hand, we do have a large red-flag. Cell tissue analysis has shown that Longjack has the potential to literally poison our cells and DNA. Until more research is conducted, we’ll have to accept that it’s being left out of the best-selling supplements. Good news is, though, those supplements are effective without Tongkat, and more safe for leaving it out.