Tribulus terrestris is a popular herbal supplement, growing from Eastern Europe to the heart of Asia, which is among the top natural remedies for sexual health.
Originally, tribulus terrestris was widely recommended to bodybuilders as a natural testosterone booster, without resorting to steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. However, the studies were inconclusive, and in reality, tribulus terrestris is a powerful libido booster, used by Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years. This study on 30 women found that after 4 weeks of supplementation, a tribulus terrestris extract increased their sexual desire significantly.
In another study, 180 men were fed tribulus terrestris or a placebo. Their ages varied wildly, from 18 to 65. After 12 weeks of supplementation, the evidence was conclusive: tribulus terrestris was beneficial for sexual performance, sexual satisfaction, and libido.
Tribulus terrestris is a complex plant, however, and consequently comes with a rich profile of antioxidants too, including quercetin, rutin and kaempferol. There’s even evidence that tribulus terrestris can protect heart cells and calm anxiety.
But which is the best brand? This is a particularly important question, for the tribulus terrestris market is harder to navigate than an asteroid field, filled with a subtle labelling technique which may make your product weak.
Remember to cease supplementation with tribulus terrestris if you notice the following (rare) side effects: acid reflux or stomach cramps. For a shortcut, Nutricost is the best brand.
Let’s get started:
One – Nutricost
Firstly, the tribulus terrestris is confirmed to be the correct species of plant. Like every brand here, Nutricost says tribulus terrestris both in the marketing and the ingredients label, with other brands merely saying “tribulus” in the ingredients label. Nutricost is free from controversial additives such as magnesium stearate and carrageenan, with the only inactive ingredient being the gelatin capsule.
Nutricost is also particularly strong value for money compared to most brands, with 120 capsules. Each capsule contains 750mg, and while the recommended serving is two daily for 1500mg, that’s still a two month supply.
The all important steroidal saponins are standardised to a high rate of 40%, guaranteeing that the libido enhancing compounds are in place, alongside the bonus antioxidants. Nutricost is also a highly trustworthy brand. The supplement is manufactured in the USA in a GMP certified facility, and Nutricost sells two of the purest DIM and milk thistle supplements. Every batch is tested by a third party laboratory for purity and potency and there’s a 90 money back guarantee in case of dissatisfaction.
Why is Nutricost the victor? It’s the only brand which combines freedom from magnesium stearate with a definite guarantee of tribulus terrestris. The only negligible disadvantage is that the 40% standardised rate is lower than the 45% of other brands. Additionally, Nutricost’s gelatin capsule means that the supplement isn’t vegan.
Otherwise, Nutricost is the most well-rounded and effective tribulus terrestris on the market.
Amazon link: Nutricost Tribulus Terrestris Extract.
Two – Natrogix
Natrogix is standardised to consist of 45% steroidal saponins, and the dosage is 800mg per capsule with a recommended serving of 2 daily for 1600mg. With 60 capsules per bottle, you receive slightly less than with other brands, but the price is also lower.
Natrogix is manufactured in the USA, in a Good Manufacturing Practises (GMP) certified facility. Huntingdon Labs is free from the bonus libido boosting ingredients of more complex male formulas, like zinc or tongkat ali, being a no-nonsense tribulus terrestris supplement.
The most important advantage of Natrogix is an important one to remember generally: the label specifically says “tribulus terrestris” powder.
There’s countless supplements on the market, many of which appear to be virtual clones of each other sourced from the same original supplier and then repackaged. In these clones, the bottle proudly proclaims the supplement to be tribulus terrestris, as does the marketing, yet the actual label merely says “tribulus powder”. The label fails to specify the subspecies.
Another term is “tribulus extract”. Essentially, these brands could easily contain a mixture of different tribulus species, which will have benefits of their own, but not the libido enhancement which you’re looking for.
Is the labelling a sneaky atttempt to hide a cheaper, more easily sourced subspecies? Or is the company simply making an amateurish mistake, not realising how important the exact subspecies is to people? Few know, but choose Natrogix if you want guaranteed effectiveness.
The one downside is the magnesium stearate, but the damage to nutrient absorption which it’s feared for is minor at best, and a guarantee of the correct subspecies is easily more important. In fact, every supplement from here on features magnesium stearate (other than Banyan Botanicals), but that’s preferable to a vague label. The other additives in Natrogix are harmless: gelatin, vegetable cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose.
It’s tempting to make Natrogix the top recommendation because of its great packaging, but it’s easily close to the best.
Three – Arazo Nutrition
Arazo Nutrition is also excellent value for money, featuring 180 capsules of 750mg each, with the recommended serving being 2 daily for a 1500mg total. The capsules combine both the tribulus terrestris fruit and root, giving you libido boosting, antioxidant, and stress reducing properties all in one package.
The supplement itself is made in an FDA registered facility, a GMP certified facility, and made in the USA. Then there’s Arazo Nutrition’s endless list of positive reviews, running into the hundreds.
One thing about Arazo Nutrition you’ll notice is that it’s standardised to a high 45% steroidal saponins. Why are standardised saponins so important? Because the best studies used standardised rates of 45% plus, often up to 80%. For example: a rat study used a 20% saponin extract to improve libido, while the earlier study on 180 men used a 45% saponin tribulus terrestris extract to improve libido.
The steroidal saponin protodioscin is widely hailed as the main compound of tribulus terrestris. Interestingly, isolated protodioscin increased testosterone levels sharply, by 52% in one study, while tribulus terrestris as a whole usually fails. However, for erectile function, protodioscin actually achieved nothing in isolation whereas a full standardised extract was powerful.
Therefore the full saponin profile is most important, and others include protodibestin, tribestin, spirostanol, and tribulosin, the latter possibly protecting heart cells from death. It’s the same case as with many plant species; you need the full package, and that’s what Arazo Nutrition provides. Are there any flaws? Only the magnesium stearate. The other additives are harmless, being silicon dioxide and vegetable cellulose.
Arazo Nutrition is a top choice if trustworthiness is your concern.
Four – Best Naturals
Apart from the usual magnesium stearate, with the other additives being the benign silica, gelatin and rice flour, Best Naturals has a flaw of weakness. There’s 180 capsules in a bottle, and each one contains 250mg with a recommended serving of 2 daily to achieve a 500mg dosage, compared to 1300mg in Arazo Nutrition.
Otherwise though, Best Naturals is of supreme quality, which you wouldn’t guess by glancing at its plain packaging. The herb is confirmed to be tribulus terrestris fruit extract, standardised to contain 40% saponins. Best Naturals is confirmed to be free from any soy, artificial preservatives, flavourings and colours. The bottle contains a 90 day supply and is made in the USA.
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Best Naturals doesn’t confirm the plant’s country of origin, but constantly mentions South East Asia in its description, including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Best Naturals also recommends storing the supplement in a cool and dry place, but there’s no reason for this, as the antioxidants in the fruit extract should preserve it well.
While its dosage is weak, Best Naturals’ confirmed authenticity makes it easily worth your money.
Five – Optimum Nutrition
There’s two minor disadvantages: the magnesium stearate, with the other additives being gelatin and silica, and the fact that the exact standardisation rate of the steroidal saponins isn’t mentioned. However, the saponins are confirmed to be standardised…
…and once again, Optimum Nutrition’s label specifically says tribulus terrestris rather than tribulus powder. Once again, Optimum Nutrition is above average simply for guaranteeing the correct subspecies.
Another question is this: will Optimum Nutrition increase testosterone levels as it boasts? Will any tribulus terrestris brand? Probably not, for tribulus terrestris extracts themselves have never been conclusively proven to increase testosterone.
The confirmed libido boosting properties led to the assumption, but the above rugby player study, and this study on humans where no direct nor indirect effect on testosterone was observed, both cast doubt on the theory. Isolated protodioscin was once shown to increase testosterone by 52%, but only when injected directly into the bloodstream.
Where it is interesting is that a rat study showed that Bulgarian tribulus terrestris can increase androgen receptor density in the brain. What does that mean? Essentially, existing testosterone in your body will be more powerful because the areas where it binds to and exerts its influence are more sensitive. More sensitive brain receptors will enhance the mental benefits of testosterone like concentration, aggression, and a stable mood. Whether tribulus terrestris affects muscle androgen receptors is unknown, but not disproven.
Regardless, if libido enhancement and antioxidants are what you desire, Optimum Nutrition will succeed.
Six – Banyan Botanicals
…which raises an important point: what’s the difference between the plant’s root and fruit? The fruit is yellow to green, and in the shape of a cow hoof, which is known as Goat’s Head in the USA. The fruit tastes acrid and has a mild aroma, and is divided into five sections as opposed to the dozens of the raspberry, for example, with each featuring two outward facing spikes.
But the real question is the medical properties. The steroidal saponins differ significantly in the fruit, featuring terrestrinin B, terrestroneoside A, and chloromaloside rather than protodioscin. In studies, tribulus terrestris fruits have anti-stress and antioxidant effects, behaving like a calming adaptogenic supplement in the manner of rhodiola rosea. Additionally, a study where humans were fed 2 grams of fruit extract daily observed a 9.6-10.7% fall in blood pressure after 4 weeks.
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Meanwhile, a few have claimed that the root is the main libido miracle, but this study tested the fruit extract and found a big increase in libido among sexually exhausted rats. This study, meanwhile, fed the root to rats and reinvigorated their sex drive. The truth is that both parts of the plant improve libido, and have promising differences aside from that.
As for Banyan Botanicals, the powder is certified organic. It comes in a 1 pound bag for a middling price, and the original fruits were grown in India. The only flaw is its plastic bag packaging which takes special care to avoid spillage.
There’s no reason to take a powder over capsules, but Banyan Botanicals is an interesting experiment.
Seven – Muscle Tech
On one hand, this guarantees the libido enhancing properties, but alternatively, the 90% rate might reduce the room for the plant’s other compounds like antioxidants. If you want to double down on the sexual health aspects, then Muscle Tech is a great choice.
It’s strong value for money too, with 100 capsules in a bottle and 650mg in each of them. The pills contain magnesium stearate as an anti-caking agent, but the label specifically says “tribulus terrestris”, confirming that it’s the correct subspecies. The other additives are silicon dioxide and the hypromellose capsule.
Muscle Tech is made in the USA, in a GMP certified facility, and tested rigorously in a third party laboratory. Furthermore, Muscle Tech is the single largest bodybuilding supplement company in the USA, meaning that the spotlight of scrutiny is always upon it. There’s no confirmation of the country of origin.
Muscle Tech is another supplement which talks about athletic performance. We’ve established the testosterone theory as flawed, but what about for strength and power, whether it’s football or bodybuilding? The evidence is weak. One study gave 22 elite male rugby players either a placebo or a tribulus terrestris pill, which was standardised to contain 60% saponins. After five weeks of training, there was no difference in fat free mass or strength between the groups. Nor was there a difference in the groups’ testosterone to estrogen ratio.
A longer 8 week study was similar; scientists fed rugby players a 45% standardised dosage of tribulus terrestris and there was no increase in leg press strength and muscle endurance. The athletic benefits may exist, but are minor at best, or only apply in certain circumstances.
Muscle Tech is the experimental tribulus terrestris choice, because of its particularly high steroidal saponin content.
Does tribulus terrestris vary by country?
The answer is undoubtedly yes, but the exact consequences are a mystery. A lot of research has been conducted on the regional differences. A study found that Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Iranian, Serbian and Turkish varieties of tribulus terrestris had 3 times as much protodioscin as other varieties. Easterly sub-varieties in India and Vietnam lack the steroidal saponins tribestin and prototribestin, but contain 50 to 150 times as much tribulosin.
Exactly which saponins increase libido is unknown, so unlike the hormonal herb maca root, which we know works most effectively when grown in the Peruvian Andes rather than China, there’s no clear rule yet for tribulus terrestris.
Elsewhere, the genus of tribulus itself is 25 members strong, of which 12 are found in the middle east. The plant family is united by its preference for warm climates, stretching from Bulgaria to Turkey and all the way to India. However, t. pentandrus is more known for its kaempferol content. It also features tricin-7-diglucoside as a unique compound, while t. alatus features steroidal gylcosides called spirostane, furostane, and cholestane.
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Interesting, t. alatus does what tribulus terrestris claims to, with a rat study showing that an extract increased free testosterone levels significantly. T. alatus is now gaining popularity among athletes as a supplement itself, and another study revealed that it could boost bloodstream glutathione and ascorbic acid levels effectively.
The main point though is that the species aren’t interchangeable, particularly considering that the studies on erectile strength were conducted t. terrestris on specifically. The main lesson for the future is to keep an eye on t. alatus.
Conclusion
The market for tribulus terrestris is like a minefield, one of the shadiest of any natural supplement.
There are actually numerous supplements on amazon which contain only rice flour and vegetable cellulose as their ingredients, with no magnesium stearate, but almost all of them only say tribulus. These aren’t occasional cases; the term “tribulus powder” is everywhere.
Meanwhile, the supplements which don’t say “tribulus powder” all tend to contain magnesium stearate. The correct species gets priority here. It’s possible that tribulus terrestris is naturally sticky and adhesive, and requires an anti-caking agent like magnesium stearate much more compared to others.
It’s lucky that magnesium stearate’s downsides are minor at best. If you’re unaware, then this common additive is believed to decrease nutrient absorption, but one study found that magnesium stearate only decreased the pace of capsule dissolution in the gut, and didn’t affect the ultimate availability of the ingredient itself.
Whether tribulus terrestris will work or not, every supplement here has a shot.
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Thanks for reading!