Tongkat ali is a herbal that has long been show to increase libido.
However, some people who have been buying Malaysian tongkat ali (know
for lead contamination) may have done the opposite of what they
intended to do.
This is because a decrease of libido is one of the earliest signs of
lead poisoning. On Wikipedia, one can read:
Quote
An unusual taste in the mouth, loss of appetite, and personality
changes are early signs. Other early signs in adults include malaise,
fatigue, irritability, decreased libido, headache, and problems with
sleep.
Unquote
In previous years, it was believed that there were tolerable amounts
of lead. However, that belief has since been discarded. Also from
Wikipedia:
Quote
These dangers [of lead] have long been known, though the modern
understanding of their full extent and the small amount of lead
necessary to produce them is relatively recent; blood lead levels once
considered safe are now considered hazardous, with no known threshold.
Unquote
Malaysia is a proud industrialized country, a tiger economy just as
Singapore and Taiwan. Furthermore, at least in Western Malaysia there
isn't much uninhabited countryside. This is the case because of
Malaysian building laws that allow constructing warehouses and
factories practically anywhere. The only limitation is that on land
that is considered "agricultural" there may only be one building per
acre. This building may be a house or a chemical workshop.
More than a third of the Malaysian population is Chinese, and heavily
inclined to small-scale manufacturing, whatever the cost to the
environment. This, in combination with specifically Malay building
regulations, has indeed left very little unpolluted countryside in
this country.
Furthermore, tongkat ali is a tree, not a vegetable. It grows 20 years
to a size when it is suited for harvesting. Ample of time to
accumulate lead, for which there is no way out of the plant organism.
A prime concern when buying tongkat ali should therefore be the lowest
possible contamination by lead and other heavy metals. Clearly,
tongkat ali harvested in the wild, far from any civilization, is the
best quality.
Now, in Malaysia you no longer find this. Malaysia has started with
tongkat ali plantations, but they aren't in the wild (there is no wild
in Western Malaysia), but, of course, close to roads, and close to
agricultural land that is used for manufacturing units.
Wild tongkat ali is found in sufficient quantities only in one country
of the world, Indonesia. And from there, you should get your tongkat
ali if you don't want it to have the opposite effect of what you are
looking for.
But be careful. Because Malaysian tongkat ali companies are meanwhile
aware of the bad reputation their home-grown tongkat ali has, some
have resorted to branding themselves "Indonesia".
When looking for Indonesian tongkat ali on the Internet, look for
proof. Is the company from which you are buying located in Indonesia
indeed. Or is it a spam site that sells with the Indonesia claim? Does
the company have proper Indonesian business licenses and permits, or
is Indonesia just an empty claim?
Be careful with lead. Lead, overall, may just be a slow killer (and
you may expect to die of other causes earlier). But nevertheless, lead
is a rather fast libido killer. And as a tongkat ali buyer, you do not
want this side effect.
