What is Tongkat Ali?
Tongkat Ali is a plant that can be found in Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Besides, it is also found in small quantities in other countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and also Cambodia. This plant was used ages ago as a medical remedy. People use Tongkat Ali for a lot of purposes. Nowadays, the most famous use for this plant is to increase the sex drive for male. Usually, people will boil a pot of water with Tongkat Ali in it, then they will drink the water. Today, Tongkat Ali can be found in a lot of forms including powder, coffee and capsules. A lot of companies also included Tongkat Ali in their health products. You can find all of these products easily at your nearby supermarket, pharmacies or local health stores. So, what are the benefits of Tongkat Ali? What makes it so special? Read this article to know about its benefits and side effects.
What are the benefits of Tongkat Ali?
- Increase male fertility
Some populations of men are suffering from low fertility levels. This problem usually happens due to aging, some medications, radiotherapy, chemotherapy treatment, certain disease, any injury to the testicles and also certain diseases such as chronic alcoholism. All of these will interfere with our body production in producing testosterone hormone. When the testosterone production is low, it means that the fertility will also decrease. Tongkat Ali is helpful in terms of increasing the testosterone hormone production. A research conducted in 2016 showed that people taking Tongkat Ali regularly have increased male fertility when compared to those who do not take it. Hence, it is safe to say here that Tongkat Ali can help improve male fertility problems such as low libido, erectile dysfunction and also infertility in some cases.
- Relieve stress
Most of us have had a stressful experience in our life before. It is very troublesome as it will interfere with our mood and daily activity. Research done in 1999 showed that Tongkat Ali can help relieve stress by improving our mood and decreasing the release of stress hormones. The study also mentioned that some properties of Tongkat Ali mimics the anti-anxiety medication’s properties. This is also the reason why Tongkat Ali has been made available as a supplement nowadays, to improve our mood and our overall health.
- Boost athletic performance
Tongkat Ali also can improve our body’s athletic performance. By taking Tongkat Ali, our body can function better and use energy effectively. This is because it contains a substance called quassinoids. Quassinoids help a lot in improving our body function by using energy effectively, reducing fatigue and also improving endurance.
What are the side effects of Tongkat Ali?
Although it has a lot of benefits, Tongkat Ali also comes with its own side effects. While it is considered as safe, taking a high dose of Tongkat Ali can give a serious problem. Tongkat Ali contains mercury. Higher doses of mercury in the body will result in mercury toxicity. Hence, it is recommended to take around 200-400 milligrams of Tongkat Ali per day. Any more than that might cause some side effects towards your body system. Besides, there is still no research on the effect of this plant on children and pregnant women. So, it is best to avoid it for this particular group for now. Furthermore, any person with a medical condition needs to ask a doctor first before taking Tongkat Ali. This is to make sure that you take any precaution before taking any health supplement.
