Yohimbe compared with other substances

The problem with yohimbe has always been that too many people have been writing about it without ever even having tried it, or at least, so it seems.

A rather typical example is "Love Potions", written by Cynthia Mervis Watson, MD together with Angela Hynes. That book discusses yohimbe side by side with alleged "aphrodisiacs" such as vanilla and licorice. Apart from clearly being directed towards making a fast bug, the book also has the chracteristics of housewife literature.

Cynthia Mervis Watson, MD recommends a recipe named Flibuster Orgasmic: "One night I prepared this punch for a party but told no one what was in it. By the end of the evening, one normally reserved and long-married couple was kissing passionately in a corner. A friend called me the next day and said she'd been 'all over' her boyfriend on the way home; she asked what I'd put in the punch. This recipe calls for herbal tinctures that you will find at a health food store. A tip: you will get more juice out of your oranges if you dip them in hot water before squeezing them. Serves about 20: 2 bottles of white rum; 2/3 liter of dry white wine; 1 cup Triple Sec; Juice of 10 oranges; Juice of 6 lemons; 20-ounce can of pineapple chunks, drained; 1 cup of sugar; 2 vanilla beans, split; 2 nutmegs, ground; 2 ounces of muira puama tincture, preferably in a base of vegetable glycerin and alcohol; 1-2 ounces of damiana tincture; 2 whole oranges studded with gloves; A handful of fresh or dried rose petals."

There are other recipes in the book. Some of them contain yohimbe, other don't. Those that contain yohimbe will certainly work, and they will work only because there is yohimbe in it. Yohimbe is not on one level with vanilla. It's also not on one level with ginseng, muira puama, or damiana. Yohimbe is absolutely in a class of its own. It's the only herbal medication that will surely work in enhancing almost every aspect of sexuality: desire, erection, performance, pleasure, orgasm.

In China and East Asia in general, the ginseng root has a reputation as an aphrodisiac because the Corynanthe yohimbe tree doesn't grow there. If they would have had yohimbe in China a few hundred years ago, they wouldn't have bothered with ginseng.

Don't get me wrong. Ginseng may indeed be healthy... it probably is; and ginseng may work well for some people in combination with yohimbe. Just don't credit the ginseng for the sexual effects of the combination. They are brought about by the yohimbe.

Apart from taking it together with some phosphodiesterase inhibitors, the best combination with yohimbe probably is ginkgo biloba. Ginkgo biloba increases blood flow to the extremities, and the erectile organ can benefit from this. However, the effect of ginkgo biloba is rather subtle, and ginkgo biloba by itself isn't a sure erection aide in the way yohimbe or yohimbine are. The benefit of ginkgo biloba in combination with yohimbe may be a slight increase in size, brought about by the supported blood flow to the organ.

Some traditional nostrums sold to enhance the sexual performance of men contain, apart from the yohimbine, the South American herbal muira puama. One example of such a medication is Procomil, manufactured by Walter Ritter Pharmaceutika in Hamburg, Germany. Procomil combines 5 mg of yohimbine hydrochloride with 30 mg of lignum muira puama, 0.1 mg methyltestosterone, 10 mg hypophysis pars ant. sicc., 5 mg testes sicc., 30 mg lecithinum, and 30 mg semen colae.

Muira puama has long been advertised as an alternative to yohimbe. Compared with yohimbe, muira puama may indeed have many advantages… and just one disadvantage. Among the advantages are: muira puama doesn't cause the side effects most often associated with yohimbe or yohimbine, such as nervousness, anxiety (common with sufficiently large dosages of yohimbe / yohimbine), difficulty to sleep, and more in the same department.

The disadvantage: muira puama isn't an aphrodisiac. It's best compared with ginseng, not with yohimbe.

Combined with yohimbe or yohimbine, muira puama's contribution may be that one doesn't get as agitated as from yohimbe or yohimbine alone. Many people may find it easier to sleep after a few hours. On the other hand, muira puama in a sufficiently high amount seems to dampen rather than enhance yohimbe and yohimbine.

The above-cited German medication Procomil seems to have struck the right balance between yohimbine and muira puama. The effect of Procomil is very much one of yohimbine; other ingredients just modify the yohimbine to enhance its prosexual power and to reduce side effects. There seems to be just enough muira puama in the mixture to make the yohimbine easier tolerated, but not enough of it to seriously interfere with the yohimbine.

Because a considerable number of people have problems with the side effects of yohimbine, and even more so with the side effects of the unprocessed yohimbe, Procomil will be better for them than an unrefined yohimbe bark product or the common brands of prescription yohimbine. Unfortunately, Procomil isn't distributed widely. Though manufactured in Germany, it is available mainly in Arab countries.