Tongkat Ali Has Long Been Practiced In Ancient Medicine
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Tongkat ali, or long jack (scientific name Eurycoma longifolia) is a small flowering plant, found in several South East Asian countries. Quassinoids (bitter tasting root extracts) from Eurycoma have been used by traditional medicine practitioners for a considerable time. The medicine is said to have very many uses, including anti-malarial, anti-ulcer, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer properties. Body builders became interested in the drug, which they normally call long jack, when scientific studies identified that it could increase testosterone levels. There are a number of body building supplements which contain the drug, although in some cases they may contain too little to have any practical benefit.
The plant Eurycoma longifolia is a member of the family Simaroubaceae, and is native to Indonesia and Malaysia. It is also found, although less commonly, in several other countries in the region.
The medicinal extracts from Eurycoma's roots are called quassinoids. They taste very bitter indeed: many of the plant's native names mean "bitter medicine". This is often used as a fairly crude way to check that medicines and supplements said to contain tongkat ali are in fact genuine. They should taste really bitter.
The beneficial properties of the quassinoid extracts from Eurycoma's roots have been known about for a long time by South East Asian practitioners of traditional medicine. The many desirable properties include anti-diabetic, anti-malarial, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer effects. In recent years there have been many reviews of the extracts using the principles of Western medical science.
For example in one study it was found that Eurycoma could have beneficial effects (similar to testosterone replacement therapy) for patients who had the bone disease osteoporosis. Anti-cancer properties (mainly for breast and lung cancer lines) were reported by researchers in Japan and Taiwan.
There have even been scientific patents (joint patent by Malaysian Government and MIT) covering compounds found in the plant, although legal arguments may say that Western science cannot patent something already known about by traditional medicine.
Body builders often refer to Eurycoma as long jack. They became interested in the drug because of the testosterone enhancing feature. There are several body-building supplements marketed as containing Eurycoma, or tongkat ali, although buyers are advised to be cautious, as many do not contain enough Eurycoma to have any practical effect, and many are marketed with vague, dubious and unscientific claims.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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