Tribulus Terrestris is now being promoted as a booster for the purpose of increasing sex drive. Its use for this purpose originated from a Bulgarian study conducted in the 1970s, which found effects on free testosterone and luteinizing hormone in men belonging to infertile couples. The extract is claimed to increase the body's natural testosterone levels and thereby improve male sexual performance and help build muscle. Tribulus has been shown to enhance sexual behaviour in an animal model.
It appears to do so by stimulating androgen receptors in the brain. Some bodybuilders use Tribulus Terrestris as post cycle therapy or "PCT". After they have completed an anabolic-steroid cycle, they use it under the assumption that it will restore the body's natural testosterone levels. Tribulus Terrestris is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World in southern Europe, southern Asia, throughout Africa, and Australia.
It can thrive even in desert climates and poor soil. Like many weedy species, this plant has many common names, including puncturevine, caltrop, cathead, yellow vine, goathead, Burra gokharu, and bindii.
