Longjack/Tongkat ali

Alzheimer's, cardiovascular, and other chronic diseases; biomarkers, lifestyle, supplements, drugs, and health care.
Post Reply
User avatar
kayakmac08
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 3:02 pm

Longjack/Tongkat ali

Post by kayakmac08 »

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone has experience taking this supplement? I started taking 500mg/day after hearing Andrew Huberman sing its praises as a testosterone-optimization tool. After some sleuthing to look into his claims, I decided to give it a try. As a gym rat who struggles to put on muscle mass while staying committed to time-restricted eating, I thought it might be useful. Well, no real appreciable effects there, but there were other positive effects, which lead me to want to keep taking it.

Perhaps unrelated, perhaps not: Yesterday, I got a lipid profile (free, through my work, and not a "real", detailed lipid profile) that showed some disturbing results: Although my LDL and Trigs and have stayed in preferred ranges, my HDL (which I've been working to raise above 60, through all the standard recommended practices, at which I'm no slouch) dropped from 59 to 49. Quite upsetting in view of the mountains of empty sardine tins I've left behind me these last couple years, the gallons of olive oil I've consumed, and all the miles I've run/cycled/rowed/climbed, etc.

Anyway, this may be totally unrelated to Tongkat Ali. But I've done a bit of reading on this and it sounds like Tongkat Ali actually has been associated in mouse models with decreases in HDL, and that taking exogenous T is linked to the same thing. Maybe there's some connection between this supplement and my drops in HDL? Probably no way to know without the time-consuming step of an n=1 experiment. But before I do that, as I always do with these things, I'm turning to the community with this very specific scenario to see if anyone has any experience with Tongkat Ali/Longjack and/or drops in HDL from taking this or related substances, or any experience/insight on why someone might struggle with low HDL despite seemingly doing everything right. Any input at all is much appreciated!

Thanks!
Justin
  • 4/4 male, born 1989
  • Status discovery: 2020
  • Regimen: 14+ hr. fast/day; 200-300 min of mod-vig exercise/week; Med-esque diet; Supplementing with Trig DHA, B vits, D3
Post Reply