What the evidence says. Graded none: not a single human trial exists. The testosterone claim comes from one 5-day rat study, while the same lab's 28-day rat studies found testicular, liver and kidney toxicity. (No Evidence evidence: No credible human evidence supports the marketed claims — widely considered ineffective.)
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Health warning. Fadogia agrestis has never been tested in humans, and the only toxicity studies found testicular damage in rats at doses not far above what supplements sell.
What is Fadogia Agrestis?
Fadogia Agrestis (Fadogia agrestis) is a performance supplement marketed for raises testosterone. NutriDex grades the human evidence as No Evidence. Fadogia agrestis is a West African shrub whose stem is used in Nigerian folk medicine as an aphrodisiac. It became a popular 'testosterone booster' after podcast promotion, typically at about 600 mg/day. The entire evidence base comes from rats, mostly from one Nigerian research group. In a 2005 study, an aqueous stem extract (18–100 mg/kg) raised serum testosterone and mating behaviour in male rats over 5 days. But the same group's 28-day study found signs of testicular toxicity, with altered testicular enzymes, protein and cholesterol and only partial recovery at the lowest dose, and a companion study reported liver and kidney cell-membrane damage. A separately published histology study described seminiferous-tubule and sperm-cell damage at the higher doses. No human trial of Fadogia agrestis for testosterone, libido, fertility or safety has been published. Product testing is also concerning: 5 of 17 US supplements labelled as Fadogia contained none of its marker compounds, and the rest supplied only small amounts.
Marketed Claims (unproven)
✕(Claimed) raises testosterone
✕(Claimed) libido and erection support
✕(Claimed) athletic performance
✕Rat data only; no human trials
Dosing & Compounds
Use & Legality
No evidence-based human dose exists; products commonly sell about 600 mg/day of stem extract, often 'cycled', a regimen that comes from influencer advice rather than trials.
Active Compounds
Alkaloids and saponins (poorly characterised)Phenolic acids and flavonoidsMonoterpene and triterpene glycosides
Safety & Cautions
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No human safety data exist. In rats, 28 days of extract caused testicular toxicity plus liver and kidney membrane damage, with incomplete recovery except at the lowest dose; by standard body-surface scaling, the harmful 50–100 mg/kg rat doses correspond to roughly 550–1,100 mg/day for a 70-kg adult, overlapping common 600 mg/day products. Men trying to conceive, adolescents and anyone with liver or kidney disease should avoid it, and interactions with testosterone therapy, PDE5 inhibitors or other drugs are unstudied. Products are often mislabelled, and multi-ingredient 'T boosters' may contain undeclared drugs. Educational only — always check with your doctor or pharmacist before combining Fadogia Agrestis with any medicine.
Fadogia Agrestis is most often marketed for (Claimed) raises testosterone, (Claimed) libido and erection support, (Claimed) athletic performance, Rat data only; no human trials. Rat-tested 'testosterone booster' with no human trials.
Does Fadogia Agrestis work — what does the evidence say?
No Evidence evidence. No credible human evidence supports the marketed claims — widely considered ineffective. Fadogia agrestis is a West African shrub whose stem is used in Nigerian folk medicine as an aphrodisiac. It became a popular 'testosterone booster' after podcast promotion, typically at about 600 mg/day. The entire evidence base comes from rats, mostly from one Nigerian research group. In a 2005 study, an aqueous stem extract (18–100 mg/kg) raised serum testosterone and mating behaviour in male rats over 5 days. But the same group's 28-day study found signs of testicular toxicity, with altered testicular enzymes, protein and cholesterol and only partial recovery at the lowest dose, and a companion study reported liver and kidney cell-membrane damage. A separately published histology study described seminiferous-tubule and sperm-cell damage at the higher doses. No human trial of Fadogia agrestis for testosterone, libido, fertility or safety has been published. Product testing is also concerning: 5 of 17 US supplements labelled as Fadogia contained none of its marker compounds, and the rest supplied only small amounts.
What is the typical dose of Fadogia Agrestis?
No evidence-based human dose exists; products commonly sell about 600 mg/day of stem extract, often 'cycled', a regimen that comes from influencer advice rather than trials.
Is Fadogia Agrestis safe? Any cautions or side effects?
No human safety data exist. In rats, 28 days of extract caused testicular toxicity plus liver and kidney membrane damage, with incomplete recovery except at the lowest dose; by standard body-surface scaling, the harmful 50–100 mg/kg rat doses correspond to roughly 550–1,100 mg/day for a 70-kg adult, overlapping common 600 mg/day products. Men trying to conceive, adolescents and anyone with liver or kidney disease should avoid it, and interactions with testosterone therapy, PDE5 inhibitors or other drugs are unstudied. Products are often mislabelled, and multi-ingredient 'T boosters' may contain undeclared drugs.
How many studies support Fadogia Agrestis?
NutriDex cites 8 sources for Fadogia Agrestis, graded "No Evidence".
Cite this page
APA
Peh, D. (2026). Fadogia Agrestis (Fadogia agrestis): Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects & Evidence. NutriDex — The Supplement Research Compendium. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026, from https://nutridex.info/s/fadogia
BibTeX
@misc{nutridex_fadogia,
author = {Peh, Daryl},
title = {Fadogia Agrestis (Fadogia agrestis): Benefits, Dosage, Side Effects \& Evidence},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {NutriDex --- The Supplement Research Compendium},
url = {https://nutridex.info/s/fadogia},
note = {Reviewed by Dr Daryl Peh, MBBS Singapore, MMed FM. Accessed 2026-10-18}
}
For medical claims, citing the underlying primary studies linked above is preferred. NutriDex is an educational reference, not medical advice.