Are you a “healthy normal” with a subnormal sex life?
Say what?
It means you’re healthy in most ways, but when it comes to libido and performance, you’re past your prime or too pooped to peak.
Sure, you can go into any drug or health food store and see bottles of herbal and over-the-counter concoctions that purport to give you the zip you lack. But who knows how effective they are–or how safe?
And prescription medicines?
When they advertise the possibility of four-hour erections that need a doctor’s care, that can be off-putting.
Chris Kilham, Explorer-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, says he can help men and women explore the right option and select herbs that can be counted on for “the bare necessities of sex” and better.
“I have tried every one of them,” he said of the sex-boosting plants he discusses in his book, “Hot Plants.”
The 52-year-old says he’s used hot plants “in abundance” to gain energy and stamina.
“You get an exaggerated sex drive if you use too much of them,” he warns. “They enhance sexual function in a major way.”
What about Viagra and other FDA-approved drugs for this same purpose?
Kilham is no fan.
“Seven months after Viagra hit the market, there were 123 Viagra-related deaths. I like to recommend plants for which there are no deaths.”
How can he be so sure of the safety of plants most of us haven’t heard of, like Tongkat Ali, Rhodiola, Yohimbe, Horny Goat Weed, Catuaba and Ashwagandha?
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“Two ways. No. 1, a majority of these have been used by tens to hundreds of millions of people for thousands of years.
“And two, people have been using these herbs the way people have been eating cucumbers. They don’t get sick or die. And the majority of the plants have been extensively tested for toxicity in government laboratories, in medical centers. This is not like backwoods foraging. The herbal industry–the medicinal plant sector–is a very sophisticated industry.”
Kilham has helped develop Hot Plants for Her and Hot Plants for Him, formulations that include herbal hot stuff. They’re produced by Enzymatic Therapy of Green Bay, Wis., and can be found online at www.enzy.com.
Kilham said three of the “hottest hot plants” are maca, Tongkat ali and Rhodiola rosea.
Maca grows in the highlands of Peru. “It’s used as a staple food and only grows at very high altitudes,” Kilham said. “It contains compounds that enhance fertility and boost sexual function. It helps men with erectile functions and relieves menopausal discomfort.”
The herb Tongkat ali is the root of a tree that comes from Malayasia, he said. “It’s the closest thing to herbal Viagra. It has off-the-charts sex-enhancing properties. It boosts testosterone. Both men and women can benefit from it helping the body produce its own natural testosterone. For erectile function, this stuff is heroic. It increases nitric oxide in the blood, but doesn’t have any hazards.”
Kilham said studies have shown the usefulness of Rhodiola rosea. “There are good studies, one that showed women with loss of menses regained natural function in about two weeks,” he said.
But Kilham gives a word of warning: Like any drug, none of the herbs should be taken without a doctor’s advice if you have like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or other illnesses.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Curt Wagner ([email protected])