Icariin Extract: Horny Goat Weed

Horny Goat Weed

I’ve been involved in the fitness community for some time now, and I often hear of people taking a supplement called Horny Goat Weed (also known as icariin). At first I just shrugged this off as some weird-sounding trying-to-hard-to-sound-cool product put on the market which promises to build lean muscle and burn lots of fat (hah! If only it were that easy). Then I found out that it has been used for years in traditional Chinese medicine, and has been shown in clinical studies to boost testosterone.

It’s hard to take supplements that claim to boost testosterone seriously because even the best non-prescription testosterone booster will not do much in terms of muscle gains. If you want testosterone boosters to actually make you bigger/leaner/meaner, you’ll need to see your doctor and get a prescription for testosterone. While boosters such as DAA (D Aspartic Acid) have been shown to increase testosterone and weight in humans, its negligible compared to what people expect to see.

Horny Goat Weed as an Aphrodisiac

However, there are some non-negligible benefits to Icariin supplements as well. It’s clinically shown to increase bone mineral density, and is also known to be a PDE5 inhibitor (the same mechanism of Viagra). Basically, the nickname Horny Goat Weed is appropriate in that it acts as a good aphrodisiac. So perhaps, if you’re not looking for a boost in the gym, but are looking for a boost in the bedroom, Icariin is for you.