Herbal Libido Boosters? Hard To Say

Gaia Herbs sells two kinds of herbal mixes alleged to boost sex drive. You guessed it: Women’s Libido and Male Libido. As Chris Woolston writes in the Los Angeles Times, Women’s Libido includes maca, damiana, blue vervain and the provocatively named horny goat weed. Male Libido has some of the same ingredients — including horny goat weed and maca — along with some male-oriented herbs such as yohimbe and saw palmetto. Woolston says 60 capsules go for about $25, and buyers are advised to pop three a day. Wait, there’s more. Irwin Naturals sells two kinds of herbal libido helpers: Steel-Libido for Women, (horny goat weed, maca and the Indian herb ashwagandha, and other ingredients) and Steel-Libido Red for men  (ginseng, coenzyme Q10, ginkgo and other compounds.) Those sell for $34 for a bottle of 75 capsules. Buyers are advised to take four a day. Does this stuff really work? Woolston puts that question to Dr. Tom Lue, vice chairman of urology at UC San Francisco, who has done research (with rats) on horny goat weed, and is well-read on the subject. Lue says there’s some evidence that horny goat week can improve blood flow to the penis (like Viagra), but no evidence that it increases arousal. A second expert, Dr. Rany Shamloul, a urologist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, has written that horny goat weed does seem to improve sexual function, and research with ginseng suggests that it can improve performance and satisfaction, at least for men. Read more in the L.A. Times.