What's actually in a men's performance gummy, ingredient by ingredient

Tongkat ali, horny goat weed, saw palmetto, boron. The same handful of botanicals keep appearing on the same labels. Here's what each one actually is, what it's associated with in the literature, and what a supplement can't do for you.

If you have looked at a men's supplement in the last two years you will have noticed that they have converged on more or less an identical formula.

Seven or eight botanicals and trace minerals, in some order, in most products. That is not a conspiracy — it's what happens when a category settles on the small set of compounds that have any body of research behind them at all, however thin.

What follows is a plain description of each one. I have tried to be specific about the difference between "this nutrient has a documented role in the body" and "this product will change how you feel," because the marketing in this category tends to blur exactly that line.

The ingredients, one at a time

Tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia)

A Southeast Asian root, and the ingredient in this category with the most actual trial data behind it — which is not the same as saying the data is strong. Small randomised studies have looked at it in relation to stress hormones, subjective fatigue and self-reported wellbeing.

The honest summary is that the signals are modest, the trials are short, and extract strength varies widely between products. An unstandardised "tongkat ali" on a label tells you very little about what is in the capsule.

Horny goat weed (Epimedium)

Contains icariin, a compound that does inhibit PDE5 — the same enzyme family several prescription medicines act on. That is a genuine mechanism and it is why the ingredient keeps appearing here.

The gap is potency. Icariin's activity has mostly been shown in laboratory and animal work, at concentrations far above what a supplement dose delivers. A real mechanism at the wrong dose is not a clinical effect.

Saw palmetto extract

Studied primarily for the urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate, not for libido. The largest and best-controlled trials found it performed no better than placebo, even at increased doses.

Worth flagging because marketing in this category sometimes describes it in terms the literature does not support. It is a prostate ingredient with mixed-to-negative evidence, not an aphrodisiac.

Nettle root extract

Usually included on the theory that it binds sex hormone binding globulin and so leaves more testosterone unbound. That interaction has largely been demonstrated in the test tube.

Human evidence is limited and mostly concerns prostate symptoms, often in combination with saw palmetto, which makes the individual contribution hard to isolate.

Boron

A trace mineral. A handful of very small studies have reported changes in free testosterone and oestradiol after supplementation over a period of days.

These are the kind of studies — a dozen or so participants, no control group in some cases — that justify further research rather than a conclusion. Note also that boron has a defined upper intake level; more is not better.

Bioperine (black pepper extract)

Not an active ingredient in its own right. Piperine slows the breakdown of other compounds so more of them reach circulation, which is a real and reasonably well documented effect.

It works on the same enzyme systems that clear many prescription medicines, so it can raise their levels too. If you take regular medication, this is the ingredient on the panel most worth mentioning to a pharmacist.

Orchic substance

Powdered bovine testicle tissue. It appears on labels in this category on a broadly glandular rationale — that consuming the tissue supports the equivalent tissue.

There is essentially no clinical evidence in humans for that. It is the ingredient here I would treat with the most scepticism, and it is worth knowing it is an animal-derived ingredient if that matters to you.

How to read the label properly

• Look for doses, not just names. An ingredient listed without a quantity tells you nothing about whether there's a meaningful amount in there.
• Be wary of "proprietary blends." A single combined figure for eight ingredients hides how little of each you're getting.
• Look for standardisation, not just the plant name. "Epimedium extract" and "Epimedium standardised to 10% icariin" are not the same purchase.
• Check for third-party testing. Supplements are not pre-approved for safety and efficacy the way medicines are.
• Check interactions. Piperine affects how the body clears many prescription drugs, and saw palmetto has documented interactions with blood-thinning medication. Raise the panel with a pharmacist if you take anything regularly.

The realistic expectation

If a specific nutrient is genuinely short in your diet, correcting that is worth doing and you may well notice it. That is a narrower situation than the packaging in this category implies.

If it isn't, the honest expectation is subtle to nil — and the things that reliably move energy and confidence are duller than a capsule: sleep, resistance training, alcohol intake, and getting a blood panel done rather than guessing.

That is a boring conclusion for a page like this one to reach. It is also the one I'd want a friend to give me.

Further reading

1. Talbott SM et al. Effect of Tongkat Ali on stress hormones and psychological mood state. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
2. Reviews of icariin and PDE5 inhibition in laboratory and animal models. Journal of Sexual Medicine.
3. Barry MJ et al. Effect of increasing doses of saw palmetto extract on lower urinary tract symptoms. JAMA.
4. Naghii MR et al. Comparative effects of daily boron supplementation on plasma steroid hormones. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology.
5. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Dietary supplements for exercise and athletic performance; Boron fact sheet for health professionals.

Citations indicate the general literature and are provided as background. This page is promotional content and is not a systematic review.