Hot Plants: Nature's Proven Sex Boosters for Men and Women
by Chris Kilham
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Book Summary Information
Author: Chris KilhamEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-10-10
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Book Reviews of Hot Plants: Nature's Proven Sex Boosters for Men and Women
Book Review: Terrible Book - Too Bad There's No "Zero" Star
Summary: 1 Stars
I am not sure what the other reviewers were reading, but have a hard time believing that it was the same book. While constantly mentioning scientific studies and clinical trials and controlled experiments with these compounds, the author offers very few - if any - actual specific ones! A book like this, making these type of claims, should be filled with references and footnotes to these supposed outstanding studies.
What actually gets quoted primarily are commentaries from herbalists, shamans, and what-have-you who are (as the book clearly indicates) in the business of SELLING these products. Well, of course they are going to make fantastic claims as to their effectiveness. Even his anecdotal evidence is almost always third hand. Not directly from the "horse's mouth", but claims made by these vendors that this person reported this benefit and this person reported that benefit, etc.
The fact is that MOST truely scientific studies of these plants have shown them to work minimally - if at all... and generally what degree that they do work is in the realm of assisting with ED (like Yohimbe - if you can handle the side effects) or increasing libido (more likely through reactions with brain transmitters, dopamine, etc., rather than any effects on actual hormone production).
According to Dr. Ray Sahelian, he notes that for tongkat ali (as just one example), that "over the past few years, there have been quite a number of studies (particularly in rodents) that have tested tongkat ali in relation to sexual effects, with positive results. Here's a detailed discussion of one of them. The effects of tongkat ali were studied on the libido of male rats after dosing them with up to 800 mg per kilogram of body weight twice daily for 10 days (this is quite a high dose if the same dose is given to humans -- do the math: 800 mg tongkat ali powder times 70 k). Results showed that tongkat ali produced a dose-dependent increase in mounting frequency; that is, the number of times the male rats tried to mount the female rats increased as the dose given to the rats increased. In addition, the rats given tongkat ali displayed more frequent and vigorous licking and anogenital sniffing towards the receptive females. Furthermore, the rats dosed with tongkat ali spent more time grooming their genitals compared to the rats who were not given the plant." (Wow.. what a test!). Why no human tests? Whether or not it actually ibncreases testosterone levels in humans (in a double-blind, controlled, scientifi study) would be extremely easy and not that expensive. It hasn't been done because personal tests hjave shown anything from no increase to extremely minor increases in testosterone... and then only in extremely high doses!This good doctor goes on to state that "I have read articles in health magazines promoting tongkat ali that it has wonderful benefits with absolutely no side effects. This has not been my personal or professional experience. Even though tongkat ali is potent as an herbal aphrodisiac, it does have shortcomings. One of the side effects of a high dose of tongkat ali is insomnia." Also - as with Maca - what "testing" is done is being done by local authorities (Indonesia or Peru or wherever applies... like the one tongkat ali "study" that was done on rats by the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Science Malaysia, Minden, Penang, Malaysia... and it found that elderly rats consuming these ultra high doses of tongkat ali commented that "The aphrodisiac effect was monitored by the act of yawning and stretching because yawning, either alone or associated with stretching, is considered an ancestral vestige surviving throughout evolution that promotes sexual arousal. The results showed that 800 mg/kg of tongkat ali increased yawning by 50% and stretching by 16% in sexually sluggish old male rats"... you're kidding me, right?... these are simply government projects where the goal is to convince consumers that this stuff works and generate a valuable cash crop.
In the 50s or 60s, the Communist Bulgarian government came out with published studies that showed the extreme effectiveness of Tribulus terrestris as a significant aid to increase testosterone production. Bodybuilders were (and many still do) buying it by the ton. Of course the primary source of Tribulus was Bulgaria - especially the really good stuff. Years later - after the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the Bulgarians admitted that they faked the studies - simply to create this cash crop for international marketing. Here's what a study done in 200 showed:
"The effects of Tribulus terrestris on body composition and exercise performance in resistance-trained males. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2000 Jun;10(2):208-15.xtract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the herbal preparation Tribulus terrestris (tribulus) on body composition and exercise performance in resistance-trained males. Fifteen subjects were randomly assigned to a placebo or tribulus (3.21 mg per kg body weight daily) group. Body weight, body composition, maximal strength, dietary intake, and mood states were determined before and after an 8-week exercise (periodized resistance training) and supplementation period. There were no changes in body weight, percentage fat, total body water, dietary intake, or mood states in either group. Muscle endurance (determined by the maximal number of repetitions at 100-200% of body weight) increased for the bench and leg press exercises in the placebo group (p <.05; bench press +/-28.4%, leg press +/-28.6%), while the tribulus terrestris group experienced an increase in leg press strength only . Supplementation with tribulus does not enhance body composition or exercise performance in resistance-trained males." Why they didn't perform simple blood tests to show testosterone levels is beyond me... but obviously if Tribulus was raising testosterone levels there would have been serious increases in strength levels. Probably why the author chose to leave Tribulus out of his list! They had already revealed it as a fraud. A good site that is herbal oriented, but doesn't pull any punches about testings (and lack thereof) is at rain-tree.com... Go there and check out Maca for example.
Speaking of Maca (one of the author's "stars"), Dr. Sahelian noted in one test, that "Serum testosterone and estradiol levels were not different in men treated with maca than in those treated with placebo..." and again in another test "Serum luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin, testosterone and estradiol levels were measured before and after treatment... Serum hormone levels were not altered..." He also had individual users report (as quoted by one specific user: "However I found that I had greater difficulty in achieving strong and hard erections for some reason. This really surprised me given that maca herb is supposed to do the opposite and increase the potency of erections and libido. On this count however it was actually worse than before, there was greater time and stimulation needed to achieve firmness and it was not as potent an erection as usual. I also found it more difficult to become erect again after a first ejaculation..."
On top of a lack of serious references to serious medical trials, the book primarily reads more like the author's travel guide to various regions where he then seeks out vendors and local healers and shamans, etc. of those areas to get quotes from them about how great their product is!
Some of these products are legitimate positive herbs as adaptogens and in situations where bodily dysfunctions of a minor nature can be turned around by the effect of the adaptogen will of course result in better sex activity.
I am more than willing to be made a believer... but not from third hand anecdotal evidence. Let's see some legitimate, unbiased scientific studies that are measuring hormone levels, neurotransmitter levels, etc. I would like to see the author do a CLINICAL follow-up to this book that instead of a travel guide would be an in-depth book of the human studies that his organization did with all of these samples that were obtained while out "globe-trotting"!
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