Description
Our LJ MAXX formula is a balanced combination of four herbal ingredients for everyday support and supply of energy.*
It was designed to:
- Support against fatigue, low libido, depression and hormonal imbalance*
- Help improve muscle strength and endurance*
- Be supportive agains weight problems*
We have created a balanced combination of four ingredients to provide an every-day support against fatigue, low libido, hormonal imbalance caused by depression, muscle weakness and weight problems. These are Eurycoma longifolia (Tong Kat Ali, “Malaysian Ginseng”), Herba epimedii, Peonia rubra and Salvia milthiorrhiza. Together, they help to balance the hot nature of Eurycoma and Epimedii and make the formula suitable for long-term use.*
What Does our LJ MAXX™ Formula Contain?
Our LJ MAXX™ formula consists of four herbal ingredients:
- Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali, Malaysian Ginseng) – 231 mg
- Herba epimedii – 193 mg
- Paeonia rubra radix (Chi Shao) – 38 mg
- Salvia milthiorrhiza (Dan Shen) – 38 mg
It comes in a cellulose capsule which is suitable for vegans.
Like our other nutraceuticals, our LJ MAXX™ formula is free from allergens such as gluten, soy, fish, lactose, milk, meat and wheat.
What Is the Recommended Daily Dosage?
We recommend 1 capsule per day or as advised by your healthcare professional. It can be consumed with meals.
What Does the Science Say?
Eurycoma longifolia
The main ingredient of our LJ MAXX™ formula is Eurycoma longifolia also known as a Tongkat Ali, Malaysian Ginseng or “Longjack”). It is, and has been, widely used in Southeastern Asia as a remedy for decreased sex drive, fatigue, depression, muscles weakness and hormonal imbalance [1].
It’s acitive phytochemicals include Eurycomanone, Eurycomalactone (or Eurycomanol) and Eurycomaside. They have demonstrated significant pro-androgenic effects [2].
Recent studies have observed several positive effects of Eurycoma:
- It has shown superior efficacy in stimulating bone formation by up-regulating the expression of various mitogenic proteins. The herb could thus also considered as a potential natural remedy for osteoporosis [2].
- It has exhibited a strong Ergogenic effect: study subjects taking a water-based extract of the herb reported increased muscle strength and endurance in cardio-vascular exercise (e.g. improved cycling times) [3].
- Studies involving humans confirmed positive effects on reducing the production of Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin, a glycoprotein that binds androgen and estrogen. It was also show to reduce production of cortisol, the stress hormone, which lowers testosterone levels [4,5].
Hot water extracts from Eurycoma longifolia has excellent safety records. Toxicology tests confirmed extremely low toxicity even with very high doses of the extract:
- A study on rodents showed acute toxicity at a level of 2,000mg/kg and a No-Observed Adverse Effect Level for does grater than 1,000mg/kg in 28-day trials [1].
- A study in humans on healthy males age 38-58, lasting 28 days, showed no adverse effects on blood profile (Hemoglobin, red & white blood cell counts, liver enzymes etc) for does of 600mg/kg [6].
Typical dosage of Eurycoma longifolia is between 50-200mg and standardises to 22% of eurypeptides [5].
In terms of the underlying biochemistry, bioactive eurypetides are activating the CVP17 enzyme (17-alphahydroxylase and 17/20-lyase) to enhance metabolisation of pregnenolone and progesterone to yield more dehydroepindrosterone and androstenedione respectively.
Herba epimedii
Herba epimedii (Epimedium), also known in many traditional Asian folk medicines as the “horny goat’s weed”, has been widely used as a libido and energy enhancer for hundreds of years. It has been prominently used in TCM for treatment of cardiovascular diseases, infertility, lumbago, impotence and weakness of muscles, fatigue and many other disorders.
Epimedium’s major bioactive glycoside is icariin, which has demonstrated a wide spectrum of positive biological and pharmacological activities: increase of antioxidant activity, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-tumor effects, immunoregulation, neuroprotection and enhancement of sexual functions [7,8,9,10]. Icariin has also shown significant chemoprotective and anti-osteoporotic action [11,12].
In clinical studies, it was observed that:
- Human Vascular Endothelial cells perpetrated with icariin, and exposed to oxidised LDL, showed no signs of apoptosis or oxidative injuries [13]; and
- A two month intragastrical administration of an Epimedium extract at 200mg/kg to rats resulted in significant increase of femoral and vertebral bone mass density as well as improved mechanical and micro-architectural bone properties [14]; and
- Oral administration of Epimedium bioflavonoids can significantly increase bone formation in adolescents [14], which can be crucial to prevent osteoporosis in adult life.
Paeonia rubra
Paeonia rubra radix (otherwise known as Chi Shao) has also been used in TCM for thousands of years to invigorate blood circulation, clear heat and treat liver and heart disorders. Paeonia has documented atherosclerotic, vasodilating, anti-inflammatory, hepato- and cardioprotective properties [15, 16, 17, 18].
In particular, in vivo studies on rodents with induced Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) showed Paeonia significantly protected against AMI-induced alteration in cardiac enzymes, cytokines, oxidative stress and coagulation when compared to the control group. These results suggest that Paeonia may be an effective protective agent against AMI [19].
In our LJ MAXX™ formula, Paeonia rubra balances the warm nature of Eurycoma longifolia and is intended to improve the overall effectiveness of the formula.
Salvia milthiorrhiza
Salvia milthiorrhiza is known in TCM as Dan Shen and has also been applied for a very, very long time to treat heart disease and ischemic stroke [20]. It is regarded as a one of the most blood invigorating and blood stasis-dispersing herbs. Salvia milthiorrhiza is frequently prescribed for hypertension treatment.
Modern research shows that Salvia exhibits strong antioxidant properties by scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species, inhibiting platelets aggregation and protecting endothelial cells against homocysteine-induced endothelial dysfunctions [21,22].
Furthermore, Salvia has been observed to show strong vasodilatory effects in coronary arterioles and increases the body’s nitrous oxide production [23, 24].
Within LJ MAXX™, Salvia is another balancingand supporting component of the formula.
Scientific References & Relevant Research
[1] Rehman SU, Choe K, Yoo HH. Review on a Traditional Herbal Medicine, Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Tongkat Ali): Its Traditional Uses, Chemistry, Evidence-Based Pharmacology and Toxicology. Molecules. 2016;21(3):331.
[2] Mohd effendy N, Mohamed N, Muhammad N, Naina mohamad I, Shuid AN. Eurycoma longifolia: Medicinal Plant in the Prevention and Treatment of Male Osteoporosis due to Androgen Deficiency. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:125761.
[3] Khanijo T, Jiraungkoorskul W. Review Ergogenic Effect of Long Jack. Pharmacogn Rev. 2016;10(20):139-142.
[4] Henkel RR, Wang R, Bassett SH, et al. Tongkat Ali as a potential herbal supplement for physically active male and female seniors–a pilot study. Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):544-50.
[5] Talbott SM, Talbott JA, George A, Pugh M. Effect of Tongkat Ali on stress hormones and psychological mood state in moderately stressed subjects. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013;10(1):28.
[6] Tambi MI, Kadir AA. Human toxicology and clinical observations of Eurycoma longifiola on men’s health. Int J Andrology. 2005;28(Suppl 1):37–38.
[7] Fang J, Zhang Y. Icariin, an Anti-atherosclerotic Drug from Chinese Medicinal Herb Horny Goat Weed. Front Pharmacol. 2017;8:734.
[8] He W, Sun H, Yang B, Zhang D, Kabelitz D. Immunoregulatory effects of the herba Epimediia glycoside icariin. Arzneimittelforschung. 1995;45(8):910-3.
[9] Chen YJ, Zheng HY, Huang XX, et al. Neuroprotective Effects of Icariin on Brain Metabolism, Mitochondrial Functions, and Cognition in Triple-Transgenic Alzheimer’s Disease Mice. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2016;22(1):63-73.
[10] Lim PHC. Asian herbals and aphrodisiacs used for managing ED. Transl Androl Urol. 2017;6(2):167-175.
[11] Tan HL, Chan KG, Pusparajah P, et al. Anti-Cancer Properties of the Naturally Occurring Aphrodisiacs: Icariin and Its Derivatives. Front Pharmacol. 2016;7:191.
[12] Wang Z, Wang D, Yang D, Zhen W, Zhang J, Peng S. The effect of icariin on bone metabolism and its potential clinical application. Osteoporos Int. 2018;29(3):535-544.
[13] Hu Y, Li H, Liu K, Zhang Y, Ren L, Fan Z. Protective effects of icariin on human vascular endothelial cells induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein via modulating caspase-3 and Bcl-2. Mol Med Rep. 2018;17(5):6835-6839.
[14] Xi HR, Ma HP, Yang FF, et al. Total flavonoid extract of Epimedium herb increases the peak bone mass of young rats involving enhanced activation of the AC10/cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway. J Ethnopharmacol. 2018;223:76-87.
[15] Li J, Chen CX, Shen YH. Effects of total glucosides from paeony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall) roots on experimental atherosclerosis in rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 2011;135(2):469-75.
[16] Jin SN, Wen JF, Wang TT, Kang DG, Lee HS, Cho KW. Vasodilatory effects of ethanol extract of Radix Paeoniae Rubra and its mechanism of action in the rat aorta. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;142(1):188-93.
[17] He DY, Dai SM. Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of paeonia lactiflora pall., a traditional chinese herbal medicine. Front Pharmacol. 2011;2:10.
[18] Wang R, Xiong AZ, Teng ZQ, Yang QW, Shi YH, Yang L. Radix Paeoniae Rubra and Radix Paeoniae Alba Attenuate CCl4-induced acute liver injury: an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) based metabolomic approach for the pharmacodynamic study of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs). Int J Mol Sci. 2012;13(11):14634-47.
[19] Mo X, Zhao N, Du X, Bai L, Liu J. The protective effect of peony extract on acute myocardial infarction in rats. Phytomedicine. 2011;18(6):451-7.
[20] Pang H, Wu L, Tang Y, Zhou G, Qu C, Duan JA. Chemical Analysis of the Herbal Medicine Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen). Molecules. 2016;21(1):51.
[21] Jiang YY, Wang L, Zhang L, et al. Characterization, antioxidant and antitumor activities of polysaccharides from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Int J Biol Macromol. 2014;70:92-9.
[22] Chan K, Chui SH, Wong DY, Ha WY, Chan CL, Wong RN. Protective effects of Danshensu from the aqueous extract of Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) against homocysteine-induced endothelial dysfunction. Life Sci. 2004;75(26):3157-71.
[23] Deng Y, Ng ES, Kwan YW, et al. Cerebral vasodilator properties of Danshen and Gegen: a study of their combined efficacy and mechanisms of actions. Phytomedicine. 2014;21(4):391-9.
[24] Steinkamp-fenske K, Bollinger L, Völler N, et al. Ursolic acid from the Chinese herb danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza L.) upregulates eNOS and downregulates Nox4 expression in human endothelial cells. Atherosclerosis. 2007;195(1):e104-11.
