As a medical doctor and an athlete myself, I am especially interested in non-exogenous means of raising testosterone levels to enhance health, well-being, and of course, athletic performance. The usage of exogenous testosterone (e.g. testosterone injections or steroids) results in a shutdown of our own body’s production of testosterone by the testes (the Leydig Cells to be exact). Now who would want that? Add to this a myriad of side effects of using anabolic steroids such as transaminitis (altered liver function test), gynaecomastia, and changes in serum lipoproteins/cholesterol.
It would be an epiphany of sorts if we could discover a natural method to tell our body to increase its own production of testosterone, and together with that an increase in virility and anabolism. That began my research into various herbs including Tribulus terrestris, Ginseng, Maca root, Rhodiola rosea, Horny Goat Weed, Ecdysterone/Turkesterone and Saw Palmetto. This is when I came across a traditional Malaysian herb called Tongkat Ali.
If you are keen in researching into the herb Tongkat Ali, also known as Eurycoma longifolia, you must acquaint yourself with Serge Kreutz. Serge Kreutz has “been working in Southeast Asia as a foreign correspondent for German newspapers and radio stations,” and was previously involved in Tongkat Ali clinical research with the Sumatra Pasak Bumi. He maintains an interesting resource on the Tongkat Ali herb in his website testingtongkatali.com.
In one of his articles, he notes a recent patent on Tongkat Ali for athletic benefits. He wrote, “In a move that could well be seen as a major break-through, especially for weight lifting athletes, tongkat ali has now been patented in the US for the inhibition of human aromatase enzyme, as well as increasing or activating the total levels of testosterone, free testosterone, and/or luteinizing hormone, while decreasing the levels of estrogen and estradiol.”
So is there clinical evidence that Tongkat Ali actually raises testosterone?
We wouldn’t expect pharmaceutical companies to spend billions in clinical trials on this herb unless this is actually a drug which they can patent, and have exclusive rights on its sales and production. However, the Malaysian and Indonesian government /universities who are interested in cultivating Tongkat Ali as a crop for medicinal purposes have done clinical research in both animals and humans.
Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) is now known to possess androgenic properties (1). In human trials, it has been shown to raise total testosterone and dihydroepiandrosterone levels (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).
In a very recent research paper by consultant clinical andrologist Dr Ismail Tambi (Tambi MI et al. Standardised water-soluble extract of Eurycoma longifolia, Tongkat ali, as testosterone booster for managing men with late-onset hypogonadism? Andrologia 2012; 44: 226-230.), Tongkat Ali was shown to alleviate symptoms in older men with late-onset hypogonadism (sometimes also known as "andropause"). In this group of men, testosterone levels were normalized in 90.8% of patients. The results suggest that Tongkat Ali could be useful as a supplement and/or adjuvant in the treatment of andropause.
The abstract of Tambi's paper reads:
"In most countries, millions of people are relying on herbal medicines as remedy for numerous ailments. In South-East Asia, Eurycoma longifolia Jack, also known as ‘Malaysian ginseng’ or Tongkat ali, is used to combat stress and disease and to improve physical strength. Moreover, the compounds of the roots of this plant are reported to have aphrodisiac and testosterone enhancing effects in the rat. Considering that human studies are not available, 76 of 320 patients suffering from late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) were given 200 mg of a standardised water-soluble extract of Tongkat ali for 1month. The Ageing Males’ Symptoms (AMS) according to the standardised rating scale and the serum testosterone concentration were taken. Results show that treatment of LOH patients with this Tongkat ali extract significantly (P<0.0001) improved the AMS score as well as the serum testosterone concentration. While before treatment only 10.5% of the patients did not show any complaint according to the AMS scale and 35.5% had normal testosterone levels, after the completed treatment 71.7% and 90.8% of the patients showed normal values, respectively. Thus, Tongkat ali extract appears to be useful as a supplement in overcoming the symptoms of LOH and for the management of hypogonadism."
There is therefore scientific evidence that Tongkat Ali can raise testosterone levels in men, especially in men with a clinical diagnosis of late-onset hypogonadism (andropause).
References:
1. Hamimatun Saadiah Abdul Razak et al. Combined Effects of Eurycoma longifolia and Testosterone on Androgen-Deficient Osteoporosis in a Male Rat Model. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012, Article ID 872406.
2. Tambi MI. Glycoprotein water-soluble extract of Eurycoma Longifolia Jack as a health supplement in management of Health aging in aged men. In: Lunenfeld B, editor. Abstracts of the 3rd World Congress on the Aging Male, February 7–10, 2002, Berlin, Germany. Aging Male 2002; 6.
3. Tambi MI. Water soluble Extract of Eurycoma Longifolia in enhancing testosterone in males. In: Proceeding of International Trade Show and Conference, Supply Side West, The Venetian, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. 2003 Oct 1–3.
4. Tambi MI. Standardized water soluble extract of Eurycoma Longifolia (LJ100) on men's health. In: Abstracts of the 8th International Congress of Andrology, 12–16 June 2005, Seoul, Korea. Int J Androl 2005; 28 (Suppl 1): 27.
5. Tambi MI. Standardized water soluble extract of Eurycoma Longifolia LJ100 maintains healthy aging in man. In: Lunenfeld B, editor. Abstracts of the 5th World Congress on the Aging Male. February 9-12, 2006, Salzburg, Austria. Aging Male 2006; 9.
6. Tambi MI. Eurycoma Longifolia jack: a potent adaptogen in the form of water-soluble extract with the effect of maintaining men's health. Asian J Androl 2006; 8 (Suppl 1): 49–50.
7. Tambi MI. Eurycoma longifolia Jack in managing idiopathic male infertility. Asian J Androl 2010; 12: 376-380.
8. Rajeev Bhat. Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia Jack): A review on its ethnobotany and pharmacological importance. Fitoterapia 2010; 81:669-679.
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