Enzyte is what you get when you mix sexually insecure males, deceptive advertising, the placebo effect, old herbal practices, and global capitalism together. Specifically, it's a dietary supplement sold by Lifekey Healthcare (a division of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals) containing a hodgepodge of different substances believed to enhance male sexual functioning. You've probably seen commercials featuring "Bob", a dorky looking middle aged man with a constant goofy smile, which hawk this stuff by promising "natural male enhancement". These commercials are amazing in themselves as they deceptively mimic the prescription medication advertisements by the major pharmaceutical corporations and they're the first of their kind to leave the back of men's magazines. Of course, Enzyte is not really a prescription medication and is not evaluated by the FDA.
Figuring out if Enzyte actually works is at this point more or less impossible. No clinical studies have ever been done on Enzyte, and Lifekey Healthcare doesn't really make any specific claims in the first place. The commercials leave us to speculate what exactly "natural male enhancement" is and what is giving Bob that godawful grin. Their website is somewhat better with this, but their claims have changed over the years. Before the legal troubles came, an older brochure stated that Enzyte could increase penis size by up to four inches, but now the only claim they make is that Enzyte will give you "firmer, fuller-feeling, better quality erections".
The 15 constitute ingredients for Enzyte were most likely chosen based on a cosmopolitan sampling of multicultural sex-enhancing drugs. I'll briefly detail the more interesting ones here, but check out the sources below and relevant nodes for more information if desired.
- Tribulus Terrestris extract
A weed native to the Asia-Pacific region, it's believed to increase testosterone via luteinizing hormone from the pituitary gland. No solid scientific evidence backs this up.
- Arginine
Amino acid, see the node How to increase the volume of male ejaculate.
- Orchic Substance
Essentially freeze dried powdered testicles, usually derived from cows or pigs.
- Ginkgo Biloba
This is common as a stand alone dietary supplement in the United States of America and is claimed to have positive sundry effects.
- Thymus Gland
Lymphatic gland that shrinks as you get older. The source in production is most likely cows or pigs again.
Other ingredients include Korean Ginseng, Lepidium meyenii, Horny goat weed, Yohimbe Extract, Muira Puama, and Avena Sativa, which are all believed to be related to sexual potency in one way or another. Enzyte also includes simple minerals such as copper gluconate, zinc gluconate and niacin (vitamin b-3). Keep in mind that the FDA has not established recommended daily allowances for most of the aforementioned ingredients, so it is difficult to say whether or not Enzyte has an effective dose of any of these things.
Enzyte has found a niche market with affluent men between the age of 30 to 55. With a monthly supply of 60 pills costing up to a hundred dollars, it's not a big surprise that Berkely Premium Nutraceuticals is projected to have a gross profit of $260 million dollars.
On the flip side, Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals is facing legal action. A class action suit brought up by Hagens Berman LLP focuses on the deceptive advertising done and will hopefully help customers recover some of their money. The crux of this lawsuit is that people who have purchased this supplement under the assumption that the promotional 30-day free trial were never refunded their money. The website promises a "12 - Month Money Back Guarantee", which would lead one to believe that there would be twelve months to get your money back. However, that really means that you need to pay for Enzyte for twelve months before you could hope to get a refund. If you've bought Enzyte and are angry at them, you might want to start here:
http://www.hagens-berman.com/enzyte_suit.htm
This is probably preaching to the choir here, but all things considered you should not buy this stuff. If you have an actual problem, see your doctor. If you don't feel as potent anymore, suck it up and start doing things like eating right and exercising. The people who market this stuff prey on silly insecurities and customer naïveté. Plus, not buying this means not feeding into the marketing machine that brought you Bob and his irritating smile.
DISCLAIMER: I have no interest in the sale of Enzyte and I have no personal experence or affiliation with the companies mentioned here.
http://www.coreynahman.com/enzyte-information-review.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/drugs/2002-04-18-enzyte.htm
http://www.enzyte.com/