With the recent release of the new 3% Eurycomanone Tongkat Ali, we're getting quite a few questions down the lines of:
- "What's the difference compared to the previous 200:1 extract?"
- "Do I need to dose it differently?"
This quick article will address those, and provide some surrounding context about our first release of Tongkat Ali and reasoning for the change in this new iteration of the product. If you want to see the new Tongkat Ali you can see it here, or at our New Zealand / Australia stockist stromsports.co.nz, or at our Ireland stockist stromsportsireland.ie
What was the previous Tongkat Ali?
Previously the Tongkat Ali we did was a 200:1 extract dosed at 500mg, 60 capsules per bottle. We were always proud of it because we'd worked through a number of different suppliers and extracts to get one that felt just right. However as a ratio extract you never have assurance of bioactive content without associated testing per batch.
The principle bioactive in Tongkat Ali that we attribute a lot of the testosterone and wellbeing effects to is what is known as Eurycomanone. According to a number of quality testing investigations, consumer products are commonly falling below 0.5% Eurycomanone content, many less than 0.1% or not even having detectable levels. Higher grade products falling around the 1% mark ad very few higher.
What measures did we previously use to ensure we fell into the higher quality group?
According to Malaysian standards, eurycomanone concentration in E. longifolia extracts should be in the range 0.8 - 1.5%, and this was the major reason we always sourced Malaysian extracts in the past, even when facing over 10X the cost of raw material. Because Tongkat Ali is a significant export for Malaysia, reportedly they do regulate and enforce these quality characteristics closely. The Malaysian goverment also has financial interest in maintaining this high standard, having funded the commercial Tongkat Ali extract Physta (aka. LJ100). The standard for this is available for reading here (MS2409:2011) Comparatively Indonesia appears to have no such standards for quality control, and as such we suspect this is where a large quantity of the low grade Tongkat Ali products on the market are coming from, falling in that lower yield range.
For reference, LJ100 (aka. Physta) Tongkat Ali extract which may have standardisation that varies anywhere between 0.8% and 1.8%. We expect our last Tongkat Ali was on the high end of that range by comparative effect.
Selection of our new 3% Eurycomanone extract
The new Tongkat Ali product we're releasing is a particularly high extract standardised to 3% Eurycomanone, which we have only just recently gained access to with new suppliers and the evolving Tongkat market that has developed significantly over the last 2 years.
Now why 3% Eurycomanone and not more or less? These days other options are certainly available, 1%, 2% or 5% are becoming more accessible. However developing off our previous product we found the users often did like to double dose (two capsules of 500mg each, 200:1), to which we've approximated we can obtain a similar potency per serve now with just one 500mg capsule or Eurycomanone 3%. With this we're able to both achieve a higher measure of quality control compared to the previous ratio extract, and by ensuring a true serve of one capsule keep the cost per serve effective.
This is the same ethos behind the raise to 90 full serves per bottle, which has raised up front cost, but allowing for a better cost per serve and the longer lasting supply does seem appropriate to the product.
This is the same ethos behind the raise to 90 full serves per bottle, which has raised up front cost, but allowing for a better cost per serve and the longer lasting supply does seem appropriate to the product.
Why not increase the Eurycomanone to 5% or greater? It's certainly a viable option but should not be mixed up to be a simple win, but rather a balance of tradeoffs. So using the Tongkat Ali as an example, the greater the Eurycomanone standardisation, we can expect a shift in the composition in the remaining 97% of product, within which includes a number of other valuable bioactive compounds. Hence to maximised the best of both worlds, we try to balance a high quantity of total herb to within once capsule (for ease of use and cost as discussed above), while ensuring the serve does in fact deliver on potent results. Long story short, it's a balancing act but we sincerely believe we've progressed upon the last Tongkat Ali. Time will tell as all the feedback comes in.
Answering the questions:
- Yes this extract is different to the previous 200:1 extract, you should expect greater potency, and we have greater assurance of consistency between batches.
- Yes dose it differently, 1 capsule really truly should be a POTENT dose for everyone. If you feel the need to dose higher, I would suggest stacking alongside another herb. Generally my pick would be a LH stimulating herb such as Fadogia, Bulbine, or Cistanche (to a lesser degree).
If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to shoot me an email at thomas@nicesupplementco.com. From all of us at Nice Supplement Co. we're damn pleased with this upgrade and excited to see how it's received. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think.