Horny Goat Weed: What is it and How can it Help You?

Many research studies by the medical community have determined that at least 50% of all men between 40 and 70 years of age experience some kind of erectile dysfunction in their lives, regardless of how severe it may be. Other medical research has also shown that nearly half of all women experience some kind of sexual dysfunction at some stage of their lives too

These are figures just from people willing to admit they are having such problems – the true figures are estimated to be much higher, however because of people’s reluctance to come forward and seek help for such a sensitive issue, we are unable to get a true figure on just how commonplace these problems are.

There is of course help and support available for people suffering with sexual dysfunction, and a whole host of treatments available both on prescription and over the counter, as well as a range of alternative herbal treatments. In this article, we talk about one such alternative treatment which actually provides an active ingredient used in some well-known commercial drugs such as Viagra.

Introducing Horny Goat Weed

OK so you may be thinking that we are on some kind of a wind-up mission here, trying to conjure up some ridiculous thoughts of pot smoking goats in your mind, but we can assure you that we are not!

Horny Goat Weed is actually a nickname for a type of flowering plant called Epimedium. This is the name given to a group (or “genus”) of over 60 plants from the Berberidaceae family of plants.

These pretty perennials start to grow at around April each year, and can be found growing in the wild in southern China, other parts of Asia and even in some parts of Europe – if you live near Woking in Surrey, you can pop down to the Royal Horticultural Society’s gardens at Wisley to check them out for yourself!

Why is it nicknamed “Horny Goat Weed”?

About a couple of thousand years ago, a Chinese goat herder had apparently seen his goats eating some kind of plant (Epimedium) and then shortly afterwards the goats started to get rather randy with each other, hence the nickname of Horny Goat Weed.

Horny Goat Weed – a herbal alternative to Viagra?

In Viagra tablets, the main ingredient is called Sildenafil Citrate. Amongst other things, Viagra as you probably know is used to treat men that have erectile dysfunction problems.

Sildenafil Citrate has also been used to treat female patients with sexual dysfunction problems due to the antidepressants that they have been taking.

You may be wondering how Horny Goat Weed is a herbal alternative to Viagra.

In Horny Goat Weed the active ingredient is called Icariin, and like with Viagra it works by inhibiting the PDE5 enzyme in our bodies – this enzyme effectively slows down the blood flow to the penis and so by stopping this enzyme in its tracks, normal penile function can occur.

Horny Goat Weed has been sold as a herbal aphrodisiac around the world, and is even used for treating other medical complaints such as osteoporosis!