Muira Puama Benefits: What the Research Says

In short: Muira puama is an Amazonian herb sold as a natural aphrodisiac and “brain tonic.” The muira puama benefits you’ll see claimed online come mostly from mouse studies and one uncontrolled study of women taking a muira puama and ginkgo blend. There are no good placebo-controlled trials of muira puama on its own, so we don’t yet know whether it works in people.

Muira puama is the root and bark of Ptychopetalum olacoides, a small tree from the Amazon rainforest. You’ll also see it called marapuama, muirapuama or “potency wood.” It has a long history in Brazilian folk medicine as a “nerve tonic,” a remedy for tiredness and a sexual stimulant, and today it turns up in many libido and “male vitality” supplements [1,2]. This article looks at what the research on muira puama actually shows, how strong that evidence is, and what we know about safety.

What is muira puama?

Muira puama grows in the Brazilian Amazon. Traditionally, people make an alcohol-based infusion (a tincture) or a tea from the roots and bark. Folk uses range widely, from low libido, impotence and fatigue to stress, digestive problems and the aches of aging [1,2].

In supplements, muira puama is usually sold as powdered root or bark in capsules, or as an extract. It’s often combined with other herbs. In Brazil, for example, it’s one of four ingredients in a popular tonic called Catuama, alongside guarana (a natural source of caffeine), ginger and catuaba [1].

Scientists have identified a mix of plant compounds in the root and bark, including aromatic oils (terpenes) and fatty acids, but no one has shown which compound (if any) is responsible for its claimed effects [2].

Does muira puama boost libido?

This is the claim muira puama is best known for, and the human evidence is thin.

The study most often quoted was published in 2000. Researchers gave 202 women with low sex drive a supplement called Herbal vX, a blend of muira puama and ginkgo biloba, for one month. About 65% reported higher scores on a sex-life questionnaire afterward, including more frequent sexual desire and better satisfaction [3].

That sounds encouraging, but there are big catches:

• There was no placebo group. Everyone knew they were taking a supplement meant to help their sex drive. In sexual health research, placebo responses are often large, so an uncontrolled “before and after” result can’t tell us whether the herbs did anything.
• It tested a blend, not muira puama alone. Any effect could be down to the ginkgo, the muira puama, both, or neither.
• The planned follow-up is hard to find. The authors said a double-blind study was planned [3], and a later medical review noted that herbal options like Herbal vX have “significant design, dosing or generalizability limitations” [4].

You may also see claims about a French study of 262 men with low libido or erection problems. As far as we can tell, it was never published in full in a peer-reviewed journal, so its methods and results can’t be checked. We’ve left it out for that reason.

Broader reviews of herbal aphrodisiacs reach a cautious conclusion. A 2003 review that included muira puama said the effectiveness of most herbal sexual remedies “remains uncertain” and called for more rigorous research [5]. A 2010 review in The Journal of Sexual Medicine concluded that the current evidence “does not support the use of any natural aphrodisiac” as an effective treatment for sexual problems in men or women [6].

Muira puama and erectile dysfunction

Muira puama is often marketed for erections, but there are no published controlled trials of muira puama alone for erectile dysfunction (ED). What exists is mostly lab work and combination products:

• Lab tissue studies. In strips of rabbit penile tissue, the Catuama blend caused short-lived relaxation (the first step toward an erection). But when each herb was tested separately, guarana did most of the work, and muira puama had a smaller effect [7].
• A small pilot study of a combination supplement. In 2018, 54 middle-aged men with ED took a product containing ginger, muira puama, guarana and L-citrulline for three months. Scores for erection quality improved in those who kept taking it, and side effects (such as heartburn and migraine) were mild. But there was no placebo group, and only 16 of the 54 men were still in the study at three months [8].

So at best, muira puama is an ingredient in some blends that look worth testing properly. ED can also be an early sign of heart disease or diabetes, which is one more reason to see a doctor rather than self-treating with supplements.

Muira puama for memory and focus

Some of the more interesting muira puama research is about the brain, but all of it so far is in mice or in the lab.

• Memory in mice. A muira puama extract improved memory recall in young and older mice in a learning test, both as an injection and by mouth [9].
• A possible mechanism. The extract blocks acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine (a chemical messenger involved in memory). Some Alzheimer’s drugs work in a similar way. This effect was seen in rat brain tissue in the lab and in mouse brains after the extract was given [10,11].
• A mouse Alzheimer’s model. Two weeks of the extract by mouth helped protect mice from memory problems caused by injecting amyloid protein (the protein that builds up in Alzheimer’s) into their brains [12].

These are reasonable leads, but mouse results often don’t carry over to people. The doses that worked by mouth were also very high, around 800 mg per kilogram of body weight [9,12], which is far more than you’d get from a typical capsule even after scaling for body size. The researchers themselves said the extract’s safety and effectiveness still need proper testing [11]. No published studies have tested muira puama alone for memory or focus in humans.

Stress, mood and anxiety

The animal research here is mixed, and again there are no human trials:

• Possibly anxiety-provoking on its own. In one mouse study, the extract made mice explore less, a pattern similar to a drug known to cause anxiety [13].
• Possibly protective under stress. In mice exposed to weeks of mild, unpredictable stress, the extract prevented the stress-related rise in anxiety-like behavior and blood sugar. The authors suggested it “might possess adaptogen-like properties” (adaptogens are herbs said to help the body cope with stress, like ashwagandha) [14].
• Antidepressant-like effects in mice. The extract made mice struggle longer in standard swim and tail tests used to screen antidepressant drugs, apparently through dopamine and noradrenaline signaling [15].

An extract that seems to raise anxiety in one test and reduce stress effects in another is a good reminder of how early this research is.

Antioxidant effects

Antioxidants help limit damage from free radicals (unstable molecules produced during normal metabolism). In older mice, a single injection of muira puama extract lowered markers of this damage in several brain areas and raised the activity of the brain’s own antioxidant enzymes [16]. Many plant extracts act as antioxidants in experiments like this, so on its own this doesn’t tell us much about benefits for people.

Muira puama side effects and safety

We know surprisingly little about muira puama safety in people.

• Short-term human data come from blends. In a 28-day study in healthy volunteers taking the Catuama blend twice a day, there were no serious side effects and no changes in blood tests [17]. The 2018 combination study above reported only mild side effects [8]. Neither tested muira puama alone.
• Side-effect data are scarce. A 2020 review of herbal sexual enhancers found “only preclinical reports” (animal and lab studies) for muira puama. It noted reduced movement and memory problems in some animal experiments and said more controlled human studies are needed [2].
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Its safety hasn’t been established, so it’s best avoided [1].
• Watch the other ingredients. Muira puama is usually sold in blends. Ingredients like guarana add caffeine, and the review above notes that drug interactions are the main concern with herbal aphrodisiacs, because people often take them with other products or medicines [2]. Some “sexual enhancement” supplements have also been found to contain hidden prescription drugs [6].

There’s no established safe or effective dose of muira puama, because no human trials have tested doses of it on its own.

If you’re curious about other herbs sold for sexual health, our article on pine bark extract looks at one with more human research behind it.

The bottom line on muira puama benefits

Muira puama has a long traditional history and some interesting results in mice, especially for memory. But the muira puama benefits promised on supplement labels, like a stronger libido or better erections, haven’t been shown in good-quality human trials. The main human study of libido had no placebo group and tested a blend with ginkgo.

If low libido or erection problems are bothering you, a doctor can check for common, treatable causes such as medications, stress, hormone changes or heart health, and talk you through options that have been properly tested.

This article is for general information only and isn’t medical advice. Talk to your doctor or another qualified health professional before starting a new supplement. See our medical disclaimer.

References

1. Gonzalez Stuart A. Muira puama. Herbal Safety, University of Texas at El Paso. utep.edu
2. Brunetti P, Lo Faro AF, Tini A, Busardò FP, Carlier J. Pharmacology of herbal sexual enhancers: a review of psychiatric and neurological adverse effects. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2020;13(10):309. doi:10.3390/ph13100309
3. Waynberg J, Brewer S. Effects of Herbal vX on libido and sexual activity in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Adv Ther. 2000;17(5):255-262. doi:10.1007/BF02853164
4. Gelman F, Atrio J. Flibanserin for hypoactive sexual desire disorder: place in therapy. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2017;8(1):16-25. doi:10.1177/2040622316679933
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