Maca is a Peruvian vegetable exported in concentrated form as an energy tonic, aphrodisiac, and fertility-enhancer. Used for thousands of years by the native peoples of Peru, maca is cultivated for the nutritional and medicinal value of its fleshy root. It’s grown in the harsh, barren high plateaus of the central Andes; few other plants–including corn–can prosper at such an elevation, nearly a mile up into the atmosphere.
Tag: impotence
Ginseng (Panax)
Look at the nutrition label on your orange juice or multivitamin and you may notice that ginseng has been added. That’s because smart marketers have caught on to this Herb’s 2,000-year-old reputation as a “feel good” tonic that can boost energy, combat the physical effects of stress, empower the immune system, improve concentration, and provide Antioxidant actions. Its legendary properties, particularly as an aphrodisiac, were once so prized in China that only the emperor was allowed to gather the herb. Today some men still take it to treat impotence and infertility although it’s unclear whether it actually improves these conditions.
Yohimbe
Extracted from the bark of a West African evergreen tree (Pausinystalia yohimbe), yohimbe has a long and controversial history as a sexual stimulant. Folk healers brewed a tea from the bark to also help reduce prostate inflammation, treat menstrual pain, and anesthetize skin for minor surgical procedures.
Vitamin C and Flavinoids
Vitamin C, an essential antioxidant, is often sold with plant-based substances called flavonoids in a single product. While each supplement can be purchased individually, there are several reasons to consider a product that combines the two.
For one, flavonoids–the catchall term for some 4,000 antioxidant compounds responsible for the color and numerous health benefits of fruits, vegetables, and herbs–enhance the body’s absorption of vitamin C. Key flavonoids include quercetin, rutin, genistein, grape seed extract, and naringen.
Siberian Ginseng
What Is It? Famed as an energy tonic in China since ancient times, Siberian ginseng only gained recognition in the West in the 1950s, when a Russian scientist (I. I. Brekhman) reported its notable stress-repelling powers. Healthy men and women taking the herb were found to better endure physical strain, resist disease, and perform tests […]
Saw Palmetto
From the olive-sized berries of the saw palmetto tree comes a remedy for benign enlargement of the prostate gland. While harmless, this common condition (BPH, or benign prostatic hyperplasia) can interfere with the urine’s exit from the bladder, causing frequent urination, nighttime awakenings, and other uncomfortable urinary symptoms. It’s not clear what causes BPH. But as the millions of men who suffer from it can attest–more than half of men over 60 are affected–relief is welcome indeed.
Pygeum Africanum
What Is It? In traditional African medicine, a tea made from the powdered bark of a tall evergreen tree (Pygeum africanum)is sipped to control urinary disorders in men. Today, pygeum is a popular herbal supplement in several parts of the world for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), an enlargement of the prostate gland that can cause […]
Muira Puama
Popularly referred to as potency wood, muira puama is an old Brazilian folk aphrodisiac and cure for sexual impotence. Salves, tinctures, and other formulations are made from the trunk or roots of two key shrubs (Ptychopetalum olacoides and Ptychopetalum unicatum).
Ginkgo Biloba
This popular herbal medicine is extracted from the fan-shaped leaves of the ancient ginkgo biloba tree, a species that has survived in China for more than 200 million years and now grows throughout the world. (The leaves are double, or bi-lobed; hence the name biloba.) Long used in traditional Chinese medicine, it is only in the last few decades that the medicinal uses for the herb have been studied in the West.
Evening Primrose Oil
Evening primrose oil is extracted from the evening primrose plant (Oenothera biennis), a wildflower found in North America, Europe and parts of Asia. The plant’s pale yellow flowers open in the evening–hence its common name–and its seeds bear the special fatty oil that is used in healing today.