THERE is too little tongkat ali herb extract in most coffee products to enable such drinks to have any health benefits or extra nutrition as claimed by their manufacturers.
Berita Harian, in its front-page report yesterday, said a Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) study on 10 popular tongkat ali coffee brands revealed that seven of them contained only 0.25% to 1.6% of the herbal extract and was not sufficient to benefit one’s health.
Its medicinal plants programme director Dr Rasadah Mat Ali said the active content of tongkat ali in the drink, which was only between 0.0039% and 0.0246% (7.8nanogram to 49.3ng), was far too low for it to be beneficial.
The average human being who wanted to get nutrients from tongkat ali needed to take at least 1mg of its active ingredient for every kilo of body weight or not exceeding 3mg for every kilo of body weight daily.
The Malay daily said that for example, if a person weighed 80kg, he would have to take a minimum of 80mg tongkat ali extract daily to enjoy its benefits.
Dr Rasadah was quoted as saying that another three brands tested by FRIM failed to show any content of the extract.
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He is alleged to have asked for the drugs, saying he was shivering.
