The muscle building plant extract - Longjack
There is something exotic about the supplement we will revise below. It is a plant extract derived from the asian bush called Eurycoma longifolia, Tongkat Ali or as it is popular in the US - Longjack. There are several studies and clinical trials that prove the increase in testosterone in male subjects supplementing with it. This is one of them. It is focused on the fact that this natural extract can not only increase the natural production of the crucial male hormone, but also start anabolic processes which will stimulate the muscle growth. This can be quite beneficial for men at their late 40 and early 50+ as a sexual and libido support or aid to prevent muscle loss. Of course it will be also suitable for every athlete or sportsman seeking a natural boost for increasing performance.
There are many ingredients which promote the testosterone production , but few are the ones which can stimulate the testosterone to sufficient levels for growth of muscle tissue.
 
 

Why and how Tongkat Ali stimulates the anabolic processes in the body and production of the male hormone?
Tongkat Ali contains variety of substances such as “squalene derivatives, biphenylneolignans, quassinoids,tirucallane-type triterpenes, canthine-6-one and carboline alkaloids” according to the Malaysian study. This cocktail stimulate the human testes to produce more testosterone – and also has a muscle promoting effect itself. The scientists working on the research in University Science Malaysia discovered this while studying the effects of Tongkat Ali on rats for the Japanese multinational Toray.

The Trial
As in every research from this kind there was a control group which was given nothing and few others which received different amount of daily doses of extract. The amounts were 200, 400 and 800 mg per kg of bodyweight. The trial lasted 12 weeks and after that the scientists measured how much muscle the rats had gained. The table below show the effect that the extracts had in normal healthy male rats.
 
 

They have used different type of extracts also but concluded  that - ‘’this doesn’t make much difference’’, the researches write. The concentration however does but not significantly. You can easily see that for 12 weeks of time the muscle weight increased with approximately 17% comparing to the control group.

The second Trial proving the anabolic properties once again
After this the have repeated the trial but using only castrated rats giving them 15 mg of testosterone per bodyweight daily. The table below shows that Tongkat Ali supplementation also had an anabolic effect on these animals.
 


Conlcusion
Although the researchers of the Malaysian University do not mention it these trials suggest that at least some of the substances in Tongkat Ali may interact directly with the androgen receptor. This makes the herbal extract not only sexual aid but also an anabolic natural agent who shows promising results even in small doses whatever the type of extraction process. Many people seek a natural alternative for testosterone therapy. This one extract can’t replace the testosterone, but can promote its production and is always welcome to a person who struggles with low testosterone levels or muscle wasting issues. Synergistic combinations with other extracts promoting libido or testosterone production are also advisable because of higher potency and effect. You can easily stack Eurycome longifolia with classic ingredients like D-aspartic acid ( for balanced results), Horny Goat Weed (for libido and sexual aid), Tribulus Terestris (for libido and sexual aid) or Ecdysterone (for anabolic and muscle growth purpose).



Sources:
-          Arch Pharm Res. 2001 Oct; 24(5): 437-40.
 .