With a name like horny goat weed, you would expect this supplement to benefit sexual health and help with erectile dysfunction, and indeed this herb has a millennia-old history of use as an aphrodisiac in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Although experts are not sure exactly how horny goat weed works, men say it can improve erectile function, and both men and women report that it enhances sexual desire. Among the few studies of horny goat weed are three that suggest one of the flavonoids in the herb, icariin, may be the substance responsible for its help with erectile dysfunction. (Chen; Chiu; Shindel) Icariin appears to relax penile tissue by nitric oxide and by inhibiting PDE-5 activity, which is how Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs work. No studies have identified a safe dose of horny goat weed. More on Horny Goat Weed
See also
Top Supplements for Prostatitis
Top Supplements for Prostate Cancer
Top Supplements for Erectile Dysfunction
Top Supplements for ED and Sexual Health
Top Supplements for Men’s Health
References
Chen KK, Chiu JH. Effect of Epimedium brevicornum Maxim extract on elicitation of penile erection in the rat. Urology 2006; 67:631-35
Chiu JH et al. Epimedium brevicornum Maxim extract relaxes rabbit corpus cavernosum through multitargets on nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate signaling pathway. Int J Impot Res 2006; 18:335-42
Shindel AW, et al. Erectogenic and neurotrophic effects of icariin, a purified extract of horny goat weed (Epimedium spp) in vitro and in vivo. J Sex Med 2010 Feb 5
