HERBAL VIAGRA : TRIBULUS

HERBAL VIAGRA : TRIBULUS

Edmonton herbalist Robert Rogers recommends an extract of the dried fruits of Tribulus terrestris for male impotence. The extract acts as a “natural steroid” and “muscle enhancer,” presumably by increasing the body’s own testosterone production – by up to 30%, Rogers was quoted as saying. Testosterone is associated with increased athletic performance and helps to restore male fertility. A Bulgarian study of 200 men suffering from impotence which showed that tribulus extracts increase sperm production, sperm survival, and sperm motility.

Tribulus terrestris fruits or “seeds”         

Tribulus is a low growing weed now found in much of the world. In China, the fruits are regarded as having a hypotensive (blood pressure lowering) and diuretic effect. In Turkey tribulus is also used for its hypotensive and diuretic effects, and to treat high cholesterol and colic pains.

Viagra was first proposed as a heart drug for the treatment of angina. It works by dilating blood vessels and increasing blood flow to the heart. A key effect of the drug is to lower blood pressure, which makes it dangerous to take for those with low blood pressure to begin with. Tribulus dried fruits are rich in steroidal saponins. Saponins are soap-like compounds that increasingly are under study for their medicinal properties. In ginseng, saponins are thought to be responsible for the root’s adaptogenic effects. Saponins in the roots of Kenyan plants may be responsible for keeping blood cholesterol in check among the Masaai of Africa whose diet consists almost entirely of cholesterol-rich milk, meat and blood. In tribulus, saponins were recently shown to reduce smooth muscle spasms, which may explain a Turkish folkloric usage of the fruits for colic. Although modern scientific and medical research are accepted modes of generating new knowledge about plants, the vast majority of our knowledge still comes from traditional folkloric knowledge. Most modern research is guided by what was learned about plants and their medicinal effects hundreds and thousands of years ago. But folklore is not merely a historical artifact; it is a living, breathing body of knowledge, to which new folklore is added every day. For past generations infant mortality was high, life expectancy low, and having children was a form of old age pension, so taking herbs to enhance fertility was very important. Today, there is more interest in contraceptive herbs and in herbs that can enhance the quality of life in middle and old age.

The new folklore is important because it is the product of trying new herbs, or old herbs in new ways. In many cases the new folklore is inspired by the findings of modern research.