The Healthy Skeptic on Herbal Sex Supps
Chris Woolston, “The Healthy Skeptic,” devotes this week’s column to herbal sex supps.
Do they work? Let’s just say that the experts he consults are skeptical…
Lue has studied the effects of horny goat weed on rats in his lab, and he’s familiar with the scientific literature on herbs for sexual enhancement. His take on whether any herbal libido products are worth a try: “I don’t know.”
A few specific ingredients do seem to have some sexual effects, Lue says, although not necessarily the effects that companies claim. He says horny goat weed works “like Viagra, only it’s not as powerful.” Viagra, a prescription drug, improves blood flow to the penis during arousal. But as Lue points out, it has never been shown to improve desire or arousal in the first place.
Ginseng, found in Steel-Libido Red, has a longstanding reputation for improving energy. But Lue says he can personally attest that it has no effect on libido. “My mother used to make me take ginseng whenever I got sick,” he says. “So I know.”
Dr. Rany Shamloul, a urologist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, says that horny goat weed and ginseng are the two best-studied ingredients found in libido supplements, and they’re also the most likely to be helpful.
As he wrote in a 2010 review article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, horny goat weed does seem to improve sexual function — at least in animal studies. And although the jury is still out, he thinks the herb may help stoke desire in humans.
At any rate, it’s something to think about before buying a supp. There’s just not a lot of hard science (no pun intended) to demonstrate these supps work as claimed. Caveat emptor.
FWIW, the hubby has never used any branded sex supplement… but after looking into the topic a few years back, I suggested that – if he was curious (and he was) – he should give a standardized horny goat weed extract a try.
He did, and loves the stuff. Placebo effect? It’s possible, but since the 20% icariin extract from True Nutrition (formerly True Protein) doesn’t cost a leg and an arm, it’s not something we worry about. The only downside is that he has to cap the stuff himself, but that’s a minor issue. He doesn’t use it all the time, so 100 grams lasts for quite a long time.
