You are probably familiarized with the tongkat ali extract ratios such as 50:1, 100:1 and 200:1. These ratios have been around for a few years and they represent the concentration of the final tongkat ali powder.
Read on or watch the video as I explain how these ratios came to existence, why you shouldn’t rely on them only and what’s the new hype around standardized tongkat ali products.
Tongkat Ali Ratios Like 50:1, 100:1 and 200:1 Can’t Be Trusted
Tongkat ali has been used in south east Asia for hundreds of years, the traditional way to consume it is by making tea with tongkat ali roots. As tongkat ali gained popularity worldwide, some companies started developing tongkat ali supplements for easy administration.
As competition grew, the market tendency was to use more raw material to produce a more concentrated powder. The assumption is that the more starting raw material is used, the more concentrated and hence the more effective is the final product. Therefore companies started using these ratios as the main marketing message to convince customers to purchase their products.
While this makes sense, in theory, the ratios have two major problems:
1. You Can’t Verify the Concentration Ratios
A company might say that they make a 200:1 tongkat ali product while in fact they use a 20:1 concentration. There is just no way for you to verify that what they say is true.
More worrisome is perhaps the fact that some products sold as tongkat ali do not contain tongkat ali at all. A 2015 study conducted in Malaysia analyzed major tongkat ali brands and discovered that a shocking 41% of products did not contain any tongkat ali.
This is concerning and something you should consider when you’re researching the best tongkat ali to supplement.
Now let’s look at another vital area of consideration…
2. The Starting Raw Material and Extraction Process Can Make a Big Difference
For example, it is known that young tongkat ali trees have less active components than mature ones (hence some companies claim they only use roots that are 10 years old or older). Also, certain extraction methods damage the active components more than others. Because of this, the difference in effectiveness between different brands and between batches of the same brand can be very obvious.
Therefore a 200:1 tongkat ali extract obtained from poor quality raw material and suboptimal extraction method can be in fact less effective than a 50:1 tongkat ali extract obtained from high quality raw material with a modern extraction method. Because of this, extract ratios are ultimately unreliable to predict the product effectiveness.
The Solution: Standardized Tongkat Ali Extract
Tongkat ali studies have shed some light into the active components of tongkat ali. One of such components, namely Eurycomanone, have been linked to several of tongkat ali benefits. Eurycomanone can be identified and quantified by a lab technique called HPLC, opening a new era for tongkat ali products: standardized tongkat ali extract.
High quality tongkat ali extract contains anywhere between 0.8-1.5% Eurycomanone content. By measuring Eurycomanone, you are guaranteed to get the real thing. It is not enough to buy a tongkat ali product based on extract ratio alone, as this is not a reliable marker of effectivity (in fact, it might not be tongkat ali at all).
Herbolab’s tongkat ali contains the highest available in the market. Learn more about our tongkat ali and discover why we are the tongkat ali experts.
How Does Herbolab’s Standardized Tongkat Ali Compare to 200:1 Tongkat Ali?
Tongkat ali usage as a traditional remedy was born in Malaysia. Therefore, is not surprising that Malaysia is the leading country for tongkat ali usage and main exporter of tongkat ali products in the world. As eurycomanone has been identified as a reliable marker to determine the presence and potency of tongkat ali preparations, the government of Malaysia has established the MS 2409:2011 regulation, which states that the eurycomanone level for tongkat ali herbal preparation in the market as measured by HPLC should be above 0.8% [1]Phytopharmaceutical Aspect Of Freeze-Dried Water Extract From Tongkat Ali Roots (MS 2409:2011). Malaysia: Scientific and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia. 2011. Retrieved 2016-08-17 (typically in the range of 0.8-1.5%). This regulation applies in addition to other safety measures such as microbial load and heavy metal content.
The MS 2409:2011 regulation has a very important implication, Malaysian companies (such as our trusted manufacturer) that sell tongkat ali products must have over 0.8% eurycomanone content to claim that their product contains tongkat ali as well as comply with safe levels of microbiological and heavy metal measures, else they would be breaking the law.
At Herbolab we have gone beyond the minimum 0.8% eurycomanone content, we promise a potency of at least 2% eurycomanone for every batch. This promise is not something that a company selling 200:1 tongkat ali can uphold, because they do not know how potent their tongkat ali is or even if their tongkat ali is genuine at all!
Get The Best: Herbolab Tongkat Ali
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