In recent years, male enhancement supplements have become wildly popular. Many different brands have sprouted up; some claim to provide permanent enlargement, and others promise to dramatically improve sexual performance. For even the most diligent consumers, navigating the mess of unclear information and product claims can be completely overwhelming. So, I wrote this article to: help consumers get a clear picture of what ingredients are contained in male enhancement supplements, explain how they work, and explain how to determine which ones are legitimate.Talk to your doctor before taking anything. This article is for educational purposes only, and should not be used in substitution for actual medical advice.
What’s in Them?
Male enhancement supplements contain a variety of herbs, vitamins and minerals. These herbs can increase blood flow to the penis, enhance sex drive, and improve sperm and semen quality. The most common ingredients are: Tribulus terrestris, Horny Goat Weed, Ginseng, Arginine, Tongkat Ali (“Long Jack”), Maca Root, and Zinc. Here is how these ingredients work:
Tribulus Terrestris: Tribulus Terrestris is commonly used to increase libido. Its use for this purpose originated from a Bulgarian study conducted in the 1970’s, which found effects on free testosterone and luteinizing hormone in men. In animal studies, Tribulus terrestris has been shown to enhance sexual behavior. It appears to achieve these results by stimulating androgen receptors in the brain.
Horny Goat Weed: Many different species of Epimedium are alleged to have libido-enhancing effects. The chemical in Epimedium that is responsible for its effects is known as icariin. Icariin works by increasing levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the body, which relaxes smooth muscle, and ultimately increases blood flow to the penis. Increase nitric oxide has also been found to be related to decreased incidences of premature ejaculation.
Ginseng:Recent studies on animals have demonstrated that ginseng enhances libido and sexual performance. These sexual effects may be due to the effects of ginseng on the central nervous system and gonadal tissues. There is also evidence that ginseng can assist with penile erection by inducing vasodilatation and relaxation of penile corpus cavernosum.
Arginine: is a precursor of nitric oxide in the human body. Nitric oxide allows blood vessels to dilate, increasing blood flow throughout the body. Increased blood flow leads to increased size and frequency of erections in men.
Tongkat Ali: Studies have found that Tongkat Ali enhances the sexual performance of rodents. In an experiment conducted on male rats, it was found that Tongkat Ali increased sperm count. In the same study, the researchers also reported that the plasma testosterone level of Tongkat Ali extract-treated rats was significantly increased when compared with that of the control group.
Maca Root:is an herbaceous plant native to the high Andes of Peru. Small-scale clinical trials performed in men have shown that maca extracts can heighten libido and improve semen quality.
Zinc: In a study conducted by the Department of Internal Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine, it was found that zinc deficiency significantly lowers testosterone levels. Contrarily, zinc supplementation was found to be related to normal testosterone levels and healthy prostate function.
Watch Out For Scams
The most common trick that male enhancement supplement manufacturers use is to hide the quantities of each ingredient in their product. If a nutrition label says, “Proprietary Blend,” this means that the manufacturer is not willing to tell you how much, if any, of each ingredient is contained in their supplement. Many manufacturers claim that they use a “proprietary blend” to protect their special recipe from copycat companies, but the truth is that they do it because their supplements contain considerably less of each ingredient than they would like to admit; these products are often filled with rice flour. I recommend avoiding products that use proprietary blends altogether. If this seems harsh, then ask yourself if you would eat food, or take medicine, if the manufacturer said that they were not willing to tell you what they put into their products. It is very easy to avoid this deception, just make sure you locate nutrition labels before you buy anything. If the nutrition label lists individual quantities of each ingredient, then the product is probably fine. If it just has a list of ingredients, and says, “Proprietary blend”, or if you cannot locate a nutrition label on the manufacturer website or Amazon, then steer clear of the product.
Do not buy products over the phone with a credit card. If you order over the phone, you will most likely be automatically enrolled in a repeat-billing/subscription scam. If you call for a “free sample”, you will most likely still be enrolled in repeat billing, and you will have an extremely difficult time cancelling your subscription. Some companies require that you call a special phone number to cancel (which is perpetually busy), or send a request in writing, which takes several weeks to process. Only buy from reputable retailers online (i.e. Amazon.com, Bodybuilding.com, etc.), or in a retail store (i.e. CVS, Walgreens, etc.).
Product Reviews
If you are used to reading a lot of reviews before buying products, then you are a smart and informed consumer, and the next sentence will sound shocking. I recommend completely avoiding male enhancement product reviews on retail websites. The reason for this is because most customers who buy male enhancement supplements are not willing to write reviews and publicly tie themselves to the products they buy, because they may be embarrassed. So, despite the fact that there may be plenty of satisfied customers, you never know who is actually writing the reviews. In fact, many male enhancement companies write their own reviews, or pay other people to write them.
Additionally, bad reviews are typically competitors, and they cannot be trusted. This happens much more often than you might think, and companies employ very effective methods of convincing consumers that these reviews are in fact real. A common scam that some unscrupulous companies do is to buy products from other companies and then return them unopened. Because the product was purchased, the company is permitted to write a “Verified Purchase” review. Another common method of manipulating product reviews is to vote on which reviews are, or are not, “helpful”; companies are very active here as well, voting up negative reviews of their competition, and voting up positive reviews of their own products. There are plenty of other misleading practices regarding product reviews to watch out for, but these are the most common.
In conclusion, do not buy “proprietary blends” because they are usually just rice flour, or other filler products. Do your own research on the ingredients that you want, and find products that actually contain those specific ingredients. Do not buy, or get a “free sample”, over the phone or you will be automatically signed up for repeat billing. And finally, ignore product reviews because they are usually biased (See “Product Reviews” section) and are not written by actual customers.
Spartan Blend is an all-in-one dietary supplement for men containing a special blend of Panax Ginseng , Horny Goat Weed, Cnidium Monieri, Arginine, Maca Root, Tribulus Terrestris, Zinc (oxide) Niacin, Tongkat Ali, Xanthoparmelia Scabrosa, Mucuna Pruriens, Guarana Extract, DHEA, Eleutherococcus, Avena Sativa, Saw Palmetto, Rhodiola Rosea, Wild Yam, and Muira Puama.
