Highlights from a recent study on Tongkat Ali extract featured in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (May 2013)

Stress lowers testosterone; Which can mean loss of libido?

In an article titled, “Effect of Tongkat Ali on stress hormones and psychological mood state in moderately stressed subjects”, researchers conclude that tongkat ali extract

“may be an effective approach to shielding the body from the detrimental effects of ‘modern’ chronic stress… as well as the stress of
dieting, sleep deprivation, and exercise training”.[1]

Who cares about stress, right? Everyone has stress and we just have to deal with it. There’s stress and work, stress at home, stress in traffic, stress about money – the list goes on and on. Stress is a part of life and for some of us (and we know who we are) stress can at times be a BIG part of our lives. Here’s the problem, no matter who you are and how much stress you have or don’t have – chances are it’s too much.chronically elevated cortisol levels can produce impotence and loss of libido by inhibiting testosterone production in men

Sometimes we don’t even realize when we are stressed. Did you know that standing in line at the grocery store can cause stress? If you are a monk able to sit on a mountain top and meditate all day, your stress level is probably joyfully low, but for the rest of us – we have too much stress.

What happens when we are stressed? Well, a number of things, but the short answer is that the stress hormone known as cortisol increases. It has been well documented that cortisol actually blocks the effects of testosterone, that’s right – cortisol blocks testosterone! In fact, according to research at The University of Texas at Austin, “chronically elevated cortisol levels can produce impotence and loss of libido by inhibiting testosterone production in men”.[2]

So in reality, we really should be concerned about stress and how to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the level stress we have in our lives. Research indicates that Tongkat ali may be able to provide that relief.

What are the details of the study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition?

Previous studies on tongkat ali supplementation have shown that it can “stimulate release of free testosterone, improve sex drive, reduce fatigue, and Tongkat ali can stimulate release of free testosterone, improve sex drive, reduce fatigue, and improve well-beingimprove well-being”. Researches, therefore, wanted to study the effect it has on stress hormones. The stress hormones and mood states were measured in 63 human subjects. Researchers then gave the subjects tongkat ali root extract supplements for 4 weeks.  The results that were uncovered were positive for tongkat ali lowering stress and increasing testosterone.

Significant improvements were found in the TA (tongkat ali) group for Tension (−11%), Anger (−12%), and Confusion (−15%). Stress hormone profile (salivary cortisol and testosterone) was significantly improved by TA supplementation, with reduced cortisol exposure (−16%) and increased testosterone status (+37%).[1]

These are very positive results indeed. Physiologically speaking, how does this happen? Without getting too technical, here is what we have in a nutshell: the scientific name for Tongkat ali is Eurycoma longifolia and “Eurycoma contains a group of small peptides referred to as eurypeptides that are known to have effects in improving energy status and sex drive in rodent studies. The effects of tongkat ali in restoring normal testosterone levels appears to be less due to actually ‘stimulating’ testosterone synthesis, but rather by increasing the release rate of ‘free’ testosterone from its binding hormone, sex-hormone-binding-globulin”.[1]

What this basically means is that tongkat ali does not so much provide us with testosterone, but rather maintains and restores normal levels of our testosterone. Thus the supplement could be beneficial to “those who are dieting for weight loss, middle-aged individuals suffering with fatigue or depression, and intensely training athletes who may be at risk for overtraining” since these individuals may have sub-normal T levels.[1]

The researches in this study also discussed the safety and risks of Tongkat Ali, stating that there is a high safety profile in the rodent studies and no adversity among human subjects. In fact, a study conducted on 20 males (ages 38-58) found that there were no negative effects of even high doses of Eurycoma longifolia (typical dose recommendations call for 50-200 mg/day).[1]

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[1] http://www.jissn.com/content/10/1/28
[2] http://www.utexas.edu/news/2010/09/27/stress-hormone