An Introduction to Epimedium Dosage
There is simply not enough quality information available to recommend a safe and effective dose for
Epimedium (
horny goat weed) at this time. This is common with natural products and
dietary supplements. To compound the problem, there are actually several different species of
Epimedium plants, and individual products may vary substantially in the actual content of active components.
Reasonable Dosing With Epimedium
Because dietary supplements and foods are not required to seek approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), studies to find the safest and most effective dosages for dietary supplements or foods are rarely performed. Without such studies, only vague "trial and error" information is typically available. Even if good dosing information were available, there may be significant variability of the content, purity, and strength among different brands of the same dietary supplement, making consistently safe and effective dosing difficult. There may even be significant variability in the content, purity, and strength among different batches or lots of the exact same products. To make matters even more confusing, there are several different species of
Epimedium plants, and it is not clear if all of them (or even any of them) are effective
(see Does Horny Goat Weed Work?).
Since there is almost no good information available about dosing with this supplement, it is reasonable to follow the dosing instructions provided on the label of your particular Epimedium product. There are no guarantees that such dosages are either safe or effective, but this is probably a good place to start.
