Tongkat Ali

We can tell you what tongkat ali is, what the research found and where it stands under Australian law. We can't tell you it'll work for you, and these questions explain why.

A good fit if

• You want the evidence and the rules laid out before you spend money overseas
• You already take it and want to check whether yours matches what was studied
• You'd rather hear about a gap in the safety data than have it left out

Check with us first if

• You take any prescription medicine. In one study in people, it reduced how well the body absorbed propranolol, a blood pressure medicine.
• You have a hormone-sensitive condition or take hormone therapy. In one trial, oestrogen rose along with testosterone.
• You're combining it with other herbs in a stack, which is where the concern about interactions is greatest.

• Standardised root water extract. Best known for: The characterised form, measured for eurycomanone. Absorption: No human absorption study located. Typical use: 200 mg a day in the human trials. The form EFSA assessed and didn't clear. Not a permitted ingredient.
• Alcohol or methanol extract. Best known for: A different constituent profile. Absorption: No human data. Typical use: More acutely toxic than the water extract in mice. No human trials. Not a permitted ingredient.
• Raw milled root or decoction. Best known for: The traditional format. Absorption: No human data. Typical use: Traditional use only. A crude-root dose isn't comparable to an extract dose. Not a permitted ingredient.
• Tongkat ali coffee. Best known for: Widely sold in Malaysia. Absorption: No human data. Typical use: Rat toxicology only, with a platelet and kidney signal. Not a permitted ingredient.
• Multi-ingredient stacks. Best known for: What most people actually buy. Absorption: Not applicable. Typical use: Results can't be attributed to tongkat ali. Not a permitted ingredient.

Reference values. There's no Nutrient Reference Value for tongkat ali. It's a plant, not a nutrient, and there's no Australian label dose to quote because no listed medicine can contain it.

Typical supplemental range. The trials in people used 200 mg a day of a water extract for up to six months, and 600 mg a day for two weeks in young men.

Upper level. Not established. Europe's food safety authority (EFSA) assessed 200 mg a day of a standardised water extract as a food supplement and didn't clear it.

Worth knowing. Traditional Chinese sources describe 2 to 10 g a day of raw root boiled in water. That's far more plant material and a different kind of exposure, so it can't be used to justify an extract dose. Products that don't state their eurycomanone content can't be matched to any trial. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• None: tongkat ali isn't a dietary food. It's only taken as an extract, capsule, powder or infused drink

This list is the part of the page we will not shorten. If any of it applies to you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before starting.

• Everyone, on genotoxicity. EFSA found a standardised water extract clastogenic in the lab and positive in an animal DNA-damage test, and concluded its safety hasn't been established under any condition of use.
• Liver. One published case report of jaundice and raised liver enzymes after starting tongkat ali, which improved on stopping.
• Heart rhythm. One published case report of new atrial flutter in a 71-year-old man four days after starting it.
• People on medicines. A crossover study found it cut propranolol's peak level by 42% by reducing absorption. Caution with any oral medicine.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Excluded from the only formal safety dossier, and no data exists.
• Children and teenagers. No paediatric data. Every human trial recruited adults.
• Hormone-sensitive conditions or hormone therapy. Oestrogen rose alongside testosterone in a trial in young men.
• Anyone buying online. In one DNA-barcoding study only 37% of products were authentic and 27% were adulterated. A Malaysian survey found several tongkat ali products over the lead limit.