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By Serge Kreutz (2010)
Tongkat ali is a herbal that has long been show to increase libido. However, some people who have been buying Malaysian tongkat ali (know for lead contamination) may have done the opposite of what they intended to do.
This is because a decrease of libido is one of the earliest signs of lead poisoning. On Wikipedia, one can read:
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An unusual taste in the mouth, loss of appetite, and personalitychanges are early signs. Other early signs in adults include malaise,fatigue, irritability, decreased libido, headache, and problems withsleep.
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In previous years, it was believed that there were tolerable amountsof lead. However, that belief has since been discarded. Also fromWikipedia:
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These dangers [of lead] have long been known, though the modernunderstanding of their full extent and the small amount of leadnecessary to produce them is relatively recent; blood lead levels onceconsidered safe are now considered hazardous, with no known threshold.
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Malaysia is a proud industrialized country, a tiger economy just asSingapore and Taiwan. Furthermore, at least in Western Malaysia thereisn't much uninhabited countryside. This is the case because ofMalaysian building laws that allow constructing warehouses andfactories practically anywhere. The only limitation is that on landthat is considered "agricultural" there may only be one building peracre. This building may be a house or a chemical workshop.
More than a third of the Malaysian population is Chinese, and heavilyinclined to small-scale manufacturing, whatever the cost to theenvironment. This, in combination with specifically Malay buildingregulations, has indeed left very little unpolluted countryside inthis country.
Furthermore, tongkat ali is a tree, not a vegetable. It grows 20 yearsto a size when it is suited for harvesting. Ample of time toaccumulate lead, for which there is no way out of the plant organism.
A prime concern when buying tongkat ali should therefore be the lowestpossible contamination by lead and other heavy metals. Clearly,tongkat ali harvested in the wild, far from any civilization, is thebest quality.
Now, in Malaysia you no longer find this. Malaysia has started withtongkat ali plantations, but they aren't in the wild (there is no wildin Western Malaysia), but, of course, close to roads, and close toagricultural land that is used for manufacturing units.
Wild tongkat ali is found in sufficient quantities only in one countryof the world, Indonesia. And from there, you should get your tongkatali if you don't want it to have the opposite effect of what you arelooking for.
But be careful. Because Malaysian tongkat ali companies are meanwhileaware of the bad reputation their home-grown tongkat ali has, somehave resorted to branding themselves "Indonesia".
When looking for Indonesian tongkat ali on the Internet, look forproof. Is the company from which you are buying located in Indonesiaindeed. Or is it a spam site that sells with the Indonesia claim? Doesthe company have proper Indonesian business licenses and permits, oris Indonesia just an empty claim?
Be careful with lead. Lead, overall, may just be a slow killer (andyou may expect to die of other causes earlier). But nevertheless, leadis a rather fast libido killer. And as a tongkat ali buyer, you do notwant this side effect. (le*n)
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Copyright Serge Kreutz