Yoga For Your Health

Muira Puama, whose name means “potency wood” in the language of the indigenous tribes of the Amazon, is a shrub that grows wild throughout most of the Amazon basin. Muira Puama, which is one of the primary ingredients in the herbal male enhancement product Extagen, has been used by indigenous people to treat a wide range of disorders, ranging from neuromuscular issues to sexual dysfunction in both men and women.

Muira Puama extract has recently become popular in the west for its noted effects in increasing libido and enhancing erections. This is, of course, the primary reason why Muira Puama was included in Extagen.

The indigenous tribes in Brazil have used the roots and bark internally in a tea as an aphrodisiac, for treating sexual debility and erectile dysfunction, nervous system disorders, neuralgia, baldness, impotency, gastrointestinal disorders, neuromuscular problems and rheumatism.

Erectile dysfunction may be due to organic or psychogenic factors. In the overwhelming majority of cases the cause is organic, i.e., it is due to some physiological reason. In fact, in men over the age of 50, organic causes are responsible fro erectile dysfunction in of 90%. In the past, a man with impotence who was able to have nighttime or early morning erections was thought to have psychogenic impotence. However, it is mow recognized that this is not a reliable indicator.

Many potential users of herbal supplements such as Extagen are initially put off because these supplements do not have legal status as medications and are therefore not typically independently tested. Fortunately Muira Puama, like many of the other herbal ingredients in Extagen, has undergone numerous studies regarding its effectiveness.

At the Institute of Sexology in Paris, France, under the supervision of one of the world’s foremost authorities on sexual function, Dr. Jacques Waynberg, a clinical study with 262 patients complaining of lack of sexual desire and the inability to attain or maintain an erection demonstrated Muira puama extract to be effective in many cases Within two weeks.

The action of the muira puama herb is not fully understood but it seems to assist with both the psychological as well as the physical aspect of sexual function.

Muira puama contains: The active constituents are free long-chain fatty acids, sterols, coumarin, alkaloids and essential oils. Chemically, it contains .05% muirapuamine, .4% fat, .5% alkaloids, .6% pholbaphene, .6% alpha-resinic acid, .7% beta resinic acid, .5% of a mixture of esters including behenic acid, lupeol and beta-sitosterol, as well as tannin, volatile oils and fatty acids.