Fadogia Agrestis

What Fadogia Agrestis is

Fadogia agrestis is a shrub related to coffee. It grows in Nigeria and the Sahel. There it was traditionally used against malaria and as an aphrodisiac. What is sold today is an extract from the stem.

In the scientific literature the plant is almost absent. A search of the PubMed database for the term Fadogia agrestis returns 10 hits. 3 of them are rat studies from the same laboratory; the rest consists of plant chemistry and market studies. Studies in humans: 0. The plant did not become known through this literature but through a recommendation with a large reach, after which it appeared in product ranges within a few months.

What the rat study showed

In 2005, the laboratory at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria gave male rats an aqueous stem extract. Measurements were taken on day 1, day 3 and day 5. The animals mounted the females more often, and the testosterone level rose depending on the dose. That is the entire finding on which the claim that Fadogia is a hormone booster rests: 5 days, rats, one laboratory.

The magnitude of this finding cannot be transferred to humans. Rats metabolize plant compounds differently, the amounts used were related to the animals’ body weight, and mating behavior in rodents is not a measure of human libido. An animal finding is a reason to test in humans. So far, no such test has been done.

The LH mechanism is a narrative

Product texts and forums consistently state that Fadogia acts like luteinizing hormone from the pituitary gland, which prompts the testes to produce testosterone. This explanation sounds like physiology, but it is not a measurement. LH does not appear in the abstract of the rat study.

Where the narrative comes from cannot be reconstructed. Apparently someone worked backwards from the result, that is, a raised testosterone value, built a pathway and passed it on as established. This does not refute the mechanism. It has simply never been studied, neither in rats nor in humans.

What the studies show

Rats, 5 days, 2005

A laboratory at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria gave male rats an aqueous stem extract and took measurements on days 1, 3 and 5. The animals mounted the females more often, and the testosterone level rose in a dose-dependent manner. This is the paper on which the entire hormone claim rests.

Rats, 28 days, 2008

The same research group extended administration to 28 days. The markers of testicular function shifted toward damage, and the authors describe it that way too. Only at the lowest dose level did the values recover after discontinuation.

Rats, liver and kidney, 2009

In the third paper, the same group examined the liver and kidney. Enzymes from inside the cells appeared in the blood, and a marker of membrane damage rose. No animal died, but the authors speak of damaged cell membranes in both organs.

Literature search: no human study

A PubMed search for Fadogia agrestis returns 10 hits. 3 come from the Ilorin laboratory and concern rats; the rest is plant chemistry and market monitoring. There is no controlled or uncontrolled study in humans among them.

Product analysis: 5 of 17 without detectable active ingredient

Of 17 Fadogia products examined, 5 contained no detectable plant compounds of the species. With any given product, then, you know neither whether the ingredient works nor whether it is even present.

Where the data do not even begin

Nothing about Fadogia Agrestis is established in humans. Not the effect on testosterone, not the effect on libido or energy, not tolerability, not the duration of sensible use. There is no controlled study, no uncontrolled series and no published case report from which a conclusion could be drawn. The information on amounts and intake cycles circulating online comes from recommendations with a large reach, not from studies.

The risk side is not established either, and that is the more uncomfortable part. The signs of damage to the testes and of damaged cell membranes in the liver and kidney come from rats, in which they appeared from about 4 weeks onward. Whether this transfers to humans nobody knows, because nobody has studied it. A benefit reported in user circles is thus set against a suspected harm from animal experiments, and both sides have the same data base in humans: none. Anyone who takes Fadogia Agrestis is, in effect, the first human study, without an ethics committee, without a control group and with a powder in which the plant compound is not always detectable.

Status, approval and legal

Fadogia Agrestis has no authorized status in the European Union. The stem extract is a novel food, and unlike other plants in this category, not even an application for authorization has been submitted. This means that its sale as a food supplement is not permitted in the EU. That the product is offered nonetheless is a matter of enforcement and does not change the classification. No official safety assessment exists, because there is no procedure in which it could take place. In addition, a low testosterone level is a medical diagnosis, not a self-assessment.

Safety

There are no data on the safety of Fadogia Agrestis in humans. There is no study that systematically recorded side effects and no pharmacovigilance that would collect reports. What exists are two animal studies by the same group that investigated the extract. After 28 days, the markers of testicular function in rats shifted toward damage, and only the lowest dose level recovered after discontinuation. In the follow-up paper, enzymes from inside the cells appeared in the blood, and a marker of membrane damage in the liver and kidney rose. The only research group that has ever studied the plant therefore considers it damaging with longer administration. Added to this is the uncertainty about what the products contain: of 17 products analyzed, 5 contained no detectable plant compounds of the species. No conclusion about tolerability in humans can be drawn from this, in either direction.

Sources

• Yakubu et al., Asian Journal of Andrology 2005 — University of Ilorin, rat study on the aqueous stem extract
• Yakubu et al., Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2008 — University of Ilorin, administration to rats over 28 days
• Yakubu et al., Human & Experimental Toxicology 2009 — University of Ilorin, liver and kidney markers in rats
• PubMed search for Fadogia agrestis: 10 hits, no human study
• Avula et al., Planta Medica 2019 — product analysis of 17 Fadogia products