Horny Goat Weed vs. Ginseng, or take both?

[PointyStick Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PointyStick]

I was trying to come up with a new supplement plan to boost erection quality and I was wondering if I should take both Horny Goat Weed and Ginseng, or if that would be redundant and I should only take one? Their benefits sounded pretty similar.

Thoughts?

[iceclimber Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceclimber]

I also have interest about this.
For now I'm taking ginger and green tea which already gave me stronger erection but I still struggle to reach 100%. Something to boost my ability to get it up faster and easier would be great.

[closed224 Senior Member Member of the Month Dec 2014, Feb 2017 Find all posts View Profile Close closed224]

Thier benefits are similar. Try the Ginseng with the rest of the erection tea. If you want to do multidisciplinary supplements the erection tea grouping has benefits that are very systemically helpful. L-Arginine, L-Caritine are good also.

[not2big Senior Super ModeratorPEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close not2big]

Go for both and add anything else you can afford. In this case, more is more.

[PointyStick Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PointyStick]

Go for both and add anything else you can afford. In this case, more is more.

Couldn't I just take more of one instead of buying both?

[closed224 Senior Member Member of the Month Dec 2014, Feb 2017 Find all posts View Profile Close closed224]

Yes, or just stick with the recommended dose.

[Sir Bando Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sir Bando]

Horny goat weed and ginseng may share some similarities, but there are some differences. I've gotten advice from naturopaths and doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) about ginseng so I'll share what they have said.

It's not easy to make blanket statements about ginseng becuase there are different types with different effects. Also processing and dosage determine the effect.

Most time when people are looking for a robust effect from the herb for strength, stamina, EQ, energy, etc, we're usually talking about Panax Ginseng. Sometimes panax ginseng is labeled with other names or these other names indicate a different type of ginseng that acts in a similar way as panax ginseng. What I'm about to say may not be the most scientifically accurate way to understand things but for my purposes there's enough truth in it. To me, I use the following types of ginseng as if they are interchangeable: panax, asian, korean, red panax. As far as I'm concerned they are similar enough.

On the other hand, eleuthro sometimes referred to as Siberian ginseng is not a true ginseng and has some nice benefits that are not similar to the family of asian ginsengs. I'm not well informed about the effects of American ginseng. Siberian ginseng can be helpful to some for improving kidney health, brain circulation, maybe a few other effects. You don't "feel" it working, it's not an energy booster as people may expect from the hot acting asian ginsengs.

Asian ginseng, if taken in a large enough dose, definitely has the potential to be felt as a noticeable engergy boost. Not quite as dramatic as slammming a red bull or popping a full viagra, but if you aren't taking your ginseng in combination with other powerful drugs (which could obliterate your perception of the action of the ginseng) and if you are aware of your body, the effect of ginseng can be noticeable enough.

I do notice it makes me feel more awake and alive. It can improve my EQ and stamina. This may seem like a good thing but I've been cautioned by pros to use it sparingly. The way lots of stimulants work is by encouraging your body to release and spend stored energy, or to metabolize nutrients in a way that gives you an immediate performance boost. But this comes at a price. These stimulants (caffiene, uppers, taurine, ginsengs, yohimbe, etc) do not "give" your body more energy, it fosters the processes that cause your body to "spend" energy.

If you're in top health, and younger, and have excellent rest and nutrition habits, you can use stimulants a little more frequently because your body quickly rebuilds your stores of energy. You constantly replace the nutrients and cleanse out the waste so you can exert yourself again frequently.

If you're older, and/or if your sleep and eating habits are less than ideal, then it will take a bit of time to recover from a stimulant and rebuild the stores of nutrients that a stimulant will spend.

One pro cautioned me to take a break from ginseng when I have a bad cold. She said it may make me feel better short term but could drastically add to the time I'm sick.

Siberian ginseng, on the other hand, can be taken everyday. But I wouldn't recommend taking it unless you're certain that you have a condition that can be addressed by Siberian ginseng and then it also helps to know what to take with Siberian ginseng to make it more effective. Off the top of my head I think it's gingko biloba that is a great complement to eleuthro.

Many years ago a pro told me to avoid horny goat weed "for the time being." That advice was specific to me, in light of the health conditions I was trying to address and the other herbs I was taking at the time. Since then I'm taking a combination formula that includes horny goat weed and I'm unsure if it's helping me or not.

Obviously it's not a good idea to just take a bunch of things willy-nilly just because there's a claim that it's "good" for something. I may be benefitting from horny goat weed now but a few years ago it would have worked against my health goals.

I try to avoid combination formulas that have high doses of herbs that shouldn't be taken daily. Such as ginseng and yohimbe. Some of those combination formulas have a noticeable, dramatic effect. It's a positive feedback to make you feel like it's highly effective. Daily use of something like that can be great for a while. Eventually they take their toll. They deplete you of nutrients that can't replenish quickly enough. They spend your energy faster than it can be restored. They exhaust your organs and metabolic processes to the point that they begin to have the opposite of the desired effect.

Better to use yohimbe and ginseng sparingly when you need that extra boost. Of course a qualified, trained naturopath may have a legitimate plan that includes either of those in a low daily dose. But if you're doing it yourself and looking for the known effects of those energy boosters, better to use them sparingly and they will really work well for you when you need it.