See also: supplements of tribulus terrestris
Tribulus terrestris is a plant ( Tribulus terrestris L.) belonging to the Zygophyllaceae family. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, in tropical warm areas.
Traditional use
For centuries, tribulus terrestris has been used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine for different purposes. According to local beliefs this plant has a regulating and purifying action (it acts in dysfunctions of renal, hepatic and gastrointestinal origin); as such it is used for the treatment of impotence, edema, abdominal swelling and cardiovascular diseases.
Phytotherapy properties
Family: Zygophyllaceae
Genus: Tribulus L.
Species: Tribulus terrestris L.
Synonyms: tribolo, puncture vine, Bai Ji Li
Origin: plant native to India, but now present in most of North America as a pest
The most important property of tribulus terrestris is however linked to its supposed stimulating action on the production of androgenic hormones. These hormones, typical of man but also very important for the female organism, regulate libido, sexual characteristics and muscular development. By virtue of these characteristics, the tribulus terrestris has been used for centuries in various countries as an aphrodisiac plant capable of increasing male and female fertility, compensating for any hormonal deficiencies.
Around the mid-1990s these properties were supported and enhanced by a group of Eastern European Olympic athletes (especially Bulgarian and Russian). From these countries come the most important studies which highlight the hormonal-stimulating properties of this plant. These effects are attributed to a group of organic substances with hormone-like activity called saponins.
The seeds of tribulus terrestris are indeed rich in protodioscin, a steroid saponin that would act by increasing the endogenous production of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), with a consequent increase in spermatogenesis and of libido in experimental animals and in humans (Gauthaman K. et al. 2002, 2003).
Numerous other independent studies, often financed by the same manufacturers of supplements based on tribulus terrestris, reiterate and underline these properties.
The confirmation of the hypothesis according to which the extracts of this plant would be useful in the treatment of erectile dysfunctions would come instead from another study. During this research, a group of mice given tribulus terrestris proved to be more sexually active and had a higher intracavernous pressure than untreated mice (intracavernous pressure is registered within the cavernous bodies of the penis, structures comparable to sponges that, filling up with blood, they allow an erection).
Initially, products based on tribulus terrestris were widely advertised in thousands of websites and in magazines, especially for bodybuilding practitioners. Today the extracts of this plant are used in the preparation of pills that promise to awaken sexual desire and energy. What's true in all this?
During another research in which only Tribulus was administered, there were no increases in lean mass, reduction in adipose tissue and the sports performance of the subjects studied was not improved. [Antonio J et al. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 200; 10: 208-15]
Further studies have shown that tribulus terrestris does not increase the secretion of LH in young men (aged between 20 and 36 years). Doses of 10mg / kg and 20mg / kg of tribulus terrestris per day for 4 weeks produced no significant difference in either testosterone, androstenedione, or LH. [VK Neychev and VI Mitev (2005). "The aphrodisiac herb Tribulus terrestris does not influence the androgen production in young men". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 101 (1-3): 319-323. ]
Many authors point out that a good part of the studies in agreement in attributing to this plant important salutistic effects, was carried out on subjects with initial low-medium testosterone values. Based on these observations, tribulus terrestris could have a mild efficacy only in people with basic hormonal deficiencies.
Does Tribulus terrestris work?
Certainly that of the tribulus terrestris, as well as that of many other supplements is a profitable business, which works perfectly. If a part of this money is invested to finance research groups whose results only serve to fill websites, newspapers and the pockets of those who commission them, the business works even better.
The studies, the real ones, as we have seen, speak for themselves. We therefore invite readers to use a bit of common sense and learn to smile in the face of those who propose miraculous solutions.
Nature gives us so many beautiful things, including some plants, whose positive effects are widely recognized. Among these could also include tribulus terrestris, despite many studies showing the opposite in healthy subjects and athletes. What is certain is that if this plant has the ability to increase testosterone secretion, with all the consequences of the case, it is still a very mild and superficial action that has nothing to do with the miraculous effects promised by whom sells the extracts.
If you really want to increase your testosterone levels, train yourself seriously, regularize your lifestyle and arm yourself with good patience. If you prove to have, as they say in jargon, "the balls" (tenacity), then even your homonymous endocrine glands will slowly begin to produce more testosterone. If, on the other hand, you prefer to live on hopes, you run through the herbalist market to buy yet another portentous extract of tribulus terrestris, without complaining about the lack of results.
One last note concerns the standardization of Tribulus Terrestris extracts. If you want to experience the effects of this supplement on your body, remember that protodioscin constitutes about 45% of the extract obtained from the aerial parts of Tribulus terrestris . It is therefore recommended to use only standardized extracts in protodioscin or steroidal saponins.
Side effects
To the common doses of employment, the Tribulus terrestris appears well tolerated and deprived of important collateral effects (beyond the omnipresent gastro-intestinal troubles that can appear in the sensitive subjects). Curious is the clinical case of a young boy (21 years old) weight lifter who had chronically taken products based on Tribulus terrestris to improve his athletic performance. Following the use of these products, the young man developed gynecomastia with alteration of the hormonal profile (reduction of FSH, LH and testosterone levels with normal levels of prolactin, estradiol and progesterone); this alteration was resolved only after the boy suspended the use of Tribulus terrestris (Jameel JK, Kneeshaw PJ, Rao VS, Drew PJ. Gynaecomastia and the plant product "Tribulus terrestris". Breast. 2004; 13: 428-430 ).
