Tongkat Ali Best Brand

Can tongkat ali treat ED?

Tongkat ali can’t “cure” ED, per se, but it can help treat underlying causes of ED, like anxiety or low testosterone.30 5 And eliminating an underlying cause of ED is about as close to a cure as you can get.

How we evaluated tongkat ali supplements

To evaluate tongkat ali supplements, we considered four key criteria that could pit one offering against another and reveal which would perform the best. We chose these criteria based on our understanding of tongkat ali’s pharmacological potential and what we would anticipate to be the needs of the average consumer.

Let’s take a close look at each criterion to see what companies fared the best.

Winner: Nootropics Depot Tongkat Ali Extract 10% Eurycomanone

Tongkat ali (scientific name: Eurycoma longifolia) houses an abundance of bioactive compounds, from quassinoids and alkaloids to terpenes and steroids.1 Among these, quassinoids make up the majority, and one quassinoid in particular — eurycomanone — has been highlighted as a likely driver of tongkat ali’s positive effects.2

A standardized tongkat ali extract will typically contain between 0.8% and 1.5% eurycomanone. This is true of Physta, one of the more well-regarded and widely tested tongkat ali extracts on the market. But Nootropics Depot manipulates its standardization process further, concentrating the eurycomanone content all the way up to 10%.

The result is a product with a smaller overall dose (100mg compared to the typical 200mg Physta dose) that still delivers more eurycomanone.

Winner: Akarali Physta

From a safety perspective, standardization was a must-have in our eyes, as it ensures you’re getting the same amount of tongkat ali’s active components with each dose. We also didn’t want to put too large a dose in the winner’s circle here, as there’s evidence of potential short-term toxicity at high doses.

Specifically, the European Food Safety Authority identified the potential for tongkat ali to induce DNA damage in the gastrointestinal (GI) system.3 The possible severity of that damage and its consequences were undetermined in the report, but it’s worth noting that the damage was only seen in rats consuming a human equivalent of more than 22g of tongkat ali extract. To put it in perspective, you’d have to consume nearly four bottles of 200mg Physta capsules to reach that dose.

Physta also has the advantage of being subjected to multiple human studies in the past 20 years.4 The studies we’ve reviewed showed one incidence of adverse effects that differed from those seen in a placebo group. We still consider the alternative from Nootropics Depot to be safe, especially since its higher concentration is delivered in an overall smaller tongkat ali dose, but the abundance of data on Physta and its well-known risk profile makes it the obvious choice for safety.

Winner: Bulk Supplements Longjack Root Capsules

When we consider a supplement's potential cost, we consider more than just sticker price, with things like shipping costs, money-back guarantees, and more weighing in our decision. Bulk Supplements, whose tongkat ali already boasted the best sticker price, turned out to be the best pick for cost in general.

Here’s a quick cost comparison among our top tongkat ali supplements:

As you can see, you can get your hands on Bulk Supplements’ tongkat ali for less money up front than any other option, and its cost per gram of tongkat ali is lower — by far — than its competitors. The big caveat is that it’s not a standardized extract, so the exact amount of eurycomanone, saponins, and other constituent parts is both unknowable and likely to vary from one dose to the next. Your next-best budget-conscious option, if you want standardization, is Nootropics Depot’s less potent offering, standardized to 2% eurycomanone

One particularly amazing thing to note is that Innerbody’s Testosterone Support actually provides the same amount of tongkat ali per month as Akarali, but it does so both at a lower price and alongside ten other ingredients designed to boost testosterone levels and impart similar effects as tongkat ali. However, Innerbody’s tongkat ali is not a standardized extract.

Winner: Akarali Physta

Several variables can influence our convenience criterion, from the quality of a company’s site design to its customer service. The sites in question here are all similar enough, as is the customer service. And Bulk Supplements and Innerbody are the only companies that will accept returns on opened products, each for 30 days.

So, instead of focusing on these parameters, we looked at the convenience behind actually taking the tongkat ali in these supplements. Innerbody only offers its supplement as a capsule, Nootropics Depot offers a choice between capsules and tablets for its 10% eurycomanone extract, and Bulk Supplements offers tongkat ali as a capsule or a loose powder.

But Akarali delivers its Physta in several unusual ways, all of which make it the most convenient option for anyone interested in consuming their tongkat ali in a novel form. As with Bulk Supplements, you can choose between capsules and powder, but you can also get Akarali Physta as part of a fizzy energy drink or as part of an instant coffee. Our testers tried the coffee for themselves, and they were pleasantly surprised by the sweetness that the tongkat ali seemed to impart on an otherwise bitter (but not unpleasantly bitter) instant coffee.

Tongkat ali — also known as longjack or Malaysian ginseng — is a Southeast Asian plant traditionally used for its antimalarial and aphrodisiac properties.1 It’s a tall plant, resembling a palm tree but with shorter, more abundant leaves along longer branches.

When we talk about tongkat ali here, we’re discussing it as a supplement, not as the plant Eurycoma longifolia. And as a supplement, tongkat ali may offer many of the benefits for which it has been used in traditional medicine for centuries.

You’ll most often see tongkat ali sold in capsule form, with each capsule containing a powdered extract made from the plant’s roots, leaves, or both (roots are most common). Occasionally, you’ll find powdered extract available on its own (no capsules) or pressed into tablets. Some companies even make it into energy drinks or instant coffees.

Can tongkat ali increase testosterone levels?

Supplementing with tongkat ali should be able to increase testosterone levels, at least in men whose T levels are low. Doses as low as 200mg daily have shown testosterone benefits in studies.1

Innerbody pricing and returns

Innerbody provides a combination of bulk and subscription savings on its supplement, which works out like this:

Shipping is free on all Innerbody orders. The company doesn’t yet ship outside the U.S.

There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee on all purchases, which means you can try the product for up to a month and still get all of your money back if you aren’t satisfied. While many studies say tongkat ali takes up to 12 weeks to yield results, we’ve seen some studies state it bears fruit in as little as 28 days, so the 30-day guarantee is just long enough.

Why you should trust us

At Innerbody Research, we do everything we can to get reliable information about supplements, prescription treatments, and other products and services that you might want to incorporate into your regimen. Our efforts include poring over seemingly countless pages of scientific literature, talking to experts in related fields, and even trying products for ourselves.

In the case of tongkat ali, we reviewed more than 50 scholarly articles pertaining to the substance itself and the ailments it may be able to help treat. We scoured the marketplace to identify which products offered the best extracts for the best prices, and then we ordered and tried them for ourselves. Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy and will continue to be monitored for updates by our editorial team.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

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Malaysian and Indonesian Tongkat Ali are the two main types of Tongkat Ali supplements available in the UK. But is there any difference between the two?

In this article, we will explore what Tongkat Ali is, where it comes from, and decide whether Malaysian or Indonesian is best.

The botanical name for Tongkat Ali is Eurycoma longifolia, but it is also known as Malaysian ginseng, Longjack, or Orang Asli.

This shrub-like plant has been used for centuries in Southeast Asia for its potential medicinal and health supporting properties.

The root of the plant has been traditionally used to assist issues with libido, high blood pressure, malaria and fatigue. But in 2024, Tongkat Ali is most commonly renowned for its potential to raise testosterone levels and aid in athletic performance.

However, its important to note that there are currently no approved health claims for Tongkat Ali supplements in the UK, so companies are not permitted to market them for specific health issues.

Medicines or dietary supplements are usually made with concentrated Tongkat Ali root extracts, however they are available in a simple powdered root form.

Is tongkat ali the same as ginseng?

Tongkat ali is sometimes called Malaysian ginseng, but it’s not actually a part of the ginseng family. The respective effects of tongkat ali and ginseng, while purportedly similar in traditional medicine’s anecdotal reporting, are very different within the scientific literature.

Photo by Innerbody Research

Whether you’re searching for a natural remedy to enhance sexual performance, raise testosterone levels, or reduce stress, you may have heard about tongkat ali, also known as longjack. There’s certainly some clinical evidence to support the idea that this botanical ingredient could make a difference.1

But you can get tongkat ali/longjack from an endless parade of manufacturers out there, some of whom claim to use special patented extracts that are more potent or consistent than others. We wanted to cut through all the noise, look at the science, try these supplements ourselves, and let you know which ones might be worth your time and effort.

If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at what we found — what’s best for you really depends on your budget and goals:

Innerbody Testosterone Support

Best complex T-boosting formula

Photo by Innerbody Research

Many people seek out a tongkat ali supplement to support male sexual wellness. If this describes you, then you should consider a supplement that combines tongkat ali with other well-regarded testosterone-boosting ingredients. There’s no shortage of mixed-ingredient testosterone boosters out there. We’ve covered them at great lengths for years and maintain a thorough guide to the best testosterone boosters. But during that time, we were frustrated by a gap in the market that we ultimately decided to fill with a product that provides the best ingredient bill we could imagine within reasonable cost parameters.

The result is Innerbody Testosterone Support, a combination of 11 ingredients, all present at doses that meet or exceed those used in successful studies. Here’s a quick look at the ingredients, with links to studies that can show you why we included them in the formula:

When it comes to testosterone, fenugreek and ashwagandha are the other two most important botanicals in this formula, alongside tongkat ali. But we included maca for its ability to help men with erectile performance and libido. Both zinc and vitamin D have a long-studied association with testosterone levels in men, as well.

If you’ve never tried any kind of supplement to address low T or similar men’s sexual wellness concerns, you might want to start out with an individual-ingredient approach by taking another tongkat ali in this guide. But if you’ve already tried one or more, or you want to skip that step and throw a larger ingredient bill at the problem, we believe Innerbody Testosterone Support is the best such choice for most men.

What are tongkat ali’s benefits?

Tongkat ali has a fairly long list of potential benefits when you consider its uses in traditional medicine. That list gets a lot shorter when you confine your examination to the available scientific research. Still, there are apparent and noteworthy benefits of tongkat ali delivered at commercially available doses that are worth exploring. These can include:1

Most of these effects have been examined in both human and animal studies, and some researchers have even narrowed down the specific mechanisms of action behind them.

As we discussed earlier, tongkat ali comprises numerous bioactive compounds that may be responsible for its benefits, but one of its quassinoids — eurycomanone — seems to get the most attention in the research we’ve reviewed.2 That’s not to say that the plant’s steroids, glycosaponins, and other constituent parts aren’t important, only that eurycomanone is the compound for which tongkat ali manufacturers will standardize their extracts, so we take its abundance in a given supplement very seriously.

Let’s take a closer look at tongkat ali’s potential benefits to see what the research says:

One of the most common reasons men seek out tongkat ali is to increase their testosterone levels. It’s also a big part of the supplement’s marketing from various brands, and the science backs it up. A study in men with late-onset hypogonadism found significant improvements in Aging Males’ Symptom (AMS) scores after one month of taking 200mg of tongkat ali per day.5 Another study went so far as to suggest tongkat ali as a substitute for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).6 And a third study saw increases in total testosterone, free testosterone, and muscular force among male participants aged 57-72 years.7

A systematic review from 2022 concluded that “although more research is required before its use in clinical practice, [tongkat ali] may represent a safe and promising therapeutic option, particularly in hypogonadal men.”8

Research in rats points to a reduction in aromatase activity in the presence of eurycomanone, which ultimately inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. High concentrations of eurycomanone have also exhibited phosphodiesterase (PDE)-inhibiting effects not unlike those caused by Viagra and Cialis (albeit to a much lesser extent).2

Tied to tongkat ali’s apparent testosterone-boosting potential is its role in male fertility. Numerous studies have looked at longjack’s ability to increase sperm counts in both rats and humans, often with positive effects. One 12-week study using 300mg of Physta saw significant improvements in Seminal Fluid Analysis, with increases in both semen volume and sperm motility.9 A similar study in rats used a human equivalent dose of about 115mg on subjects that either were or were not treated with estradiol to harm sperm production.10 Tongkat ali inhibited the effects of the high estradiol dose and dramatically increased sperm count and motility in rats that weren’t exposed to a high estradiol dose.

Just as testosterone and spermatogenesis may be interrelated effects of tongkat ali, there also appears to be an increase in sexual desire and erectile performance among study participants. Some of this could directly be attributed to increases in testosterone for men who experience libido or erectile issues related to hypogonadism. But other mechanisms of action may be at play, as well.

As we said, at least one study has observed PDE-inhibiting effects from tongkat ali in mice. PDE5 is the specific PDE enzyme group that drugs like Viagra and Cialis target to allow men with erectile dysfunction (ED) to achieve an erection.2 Another study we’ve mentioned, the one that saw increases in seminal volume and sperm motility, also saw improvements in self-reported libido and erectile performance measures.9

Less research exists into tongkat ali’s anxiolytic effects, but there are noteworthy studies in both animals and humans. Human participants in one study reported reductions in tension, anger, and confusion, which all correlated with reductions in salivary cortisol.30 However, there were some competing interests for two of that study’s four authors, which may have introduced bias.

An older study in rats from 1999 equated the effects of tongkat ali to those provided by the prescription anti-anxiety medication diazepam.31

These studies don’t begin to approach the quantity or quality of those looking into a similar botanical — ashwagandha, which we’ll explore below — but they do show promise.

Cytotoxicity typically refers to a substance's ability to kill cells, with researchers looking specifically for compounds that can target cancer cells. Numerous in vitro studies have shown cytotoxic effects from tongkat ali on cells associated with ovarian, liver, skin, and breast cancers, among others.1 But this research is in its infancy, and we don’t recommend tongkat ali as a cancer preventive or treatment.

Researchers have also looked into tongkat ali’s influence on inflammation and rheumatism, ulcers, and osteoporosis, as well as its potential as an antimicrobial agent.1 At this time, these efforts aren’t robust enough to recommend tongkat ali along these lines, but it may prove beneficial here in future research.