The common questions that came up whilst researching our performer 8 review
Performer 8 gets a lot of the expected ingredients right, there's only really a few things we'd change. For example when we compare it against our the winner of our best male enhancement pill, it misses out on covering common vitamin deficiencies which can cause erectile dysfunction and testosterone issues, such as zinc, selenium and b vitamins. Zinc defiency for example can cause erectile dysfunction and even a small deficiency can cause otherwise healthy men to have low test [1] and it's so prevalent that it can effects 12% of men in the USA [2] and the other core vitamins have similar issues.
Beyond that we'd have liked to see the inclusion of damania, but otherwise performer 8 is pretty good.
Ashwagandha is ideally dosed for a male enhancement supplement, coming in at 500mg it wouldn't be ideal for some applications, but this is more than ample to reduce cortisol levels, and with stress being the leading cause of erectile dysfunction, this is a very good start.
Ferrous bisglycinate is basically fancy iron, yes it's essential for blood flow, so it's inclusion isn't bad, and it will help men who are deficient as this can also cause erectile dysfunction.
Panax Ginseng is where erection quality is improved again and it's been demonstrated in multiple studies to help treat premature ejaculation [3] these tests showed the study group lasted 9 minutes longer than the starting 1.3 minute average. Ginseng is very highly dosed in performer 8 coming in at a whopping 6000mg, which is one of the reasons why it was awarded our best toprevent premature ejaculation. Ginseng also has a host of other libido boosting and quality boosting effects. [4]
Performer 8 uses pine bark extract in 300mg doses, it's been shown to help treat both erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, [5] it also has a host of stress relieving effects and helps improve sexual desire.
Grape seed extract is largely here to stimulate healthy blood flow, it does seem to work, but it's one of the less effective ingredients on the list, although it's not a waste in a male sexual enhancement supplement, there are better ingredients available. Glucuronolactone protects blood vessels, and an effective stimulant.
Horny Goat Weed’s name is a bit of a give away as to what it does. It's particularly rich in flavonoids and has been used for centuries to improve sexual health. It's heavily dosed in performer8 and for an enhancement pill we do like it's inclusion. The flavonoids in Horny Goat Weed specifically block PDE5 (which is the enzyme that deflates erections) [6] .
Maca Root Extract is the king of male enhancement supplements, it's the most well studied, and has been shown to boost libido time and time again in double blind studies showing efficacy in both men and women. One of only a few ingredients that can claim this. [7] On top of this it has also been shown to improve sperm volume and sperm quality. [8]
Muira Puama Extract has been shown to raise libido and treat both late and premature finishing. [9]
Overall we'd say it's a pretty good blend to cover most areas of normal sexual function, with a slight tilt to premature and erectile function over libido, although maca and ashwagandha do help there. You could definitely do a lot worse for a supplement than performer 8.
1 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8875519/
2 - https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2009/sep/zinc-deficiencies-global-concern
3 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846147/
4 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3861174/
5 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6728733/
6 - https://www.nature.com/articles/3901205
7 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25954318/
8 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11753476/
9 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5422695/