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2:35
SodaBoost review
SodaBoost: a men’s gummy you will actually take every day
SodaBoost in detail: a men’s gummy made in the USA, one a day, what the label lists, from $49 a bottle, a one-time payment and a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Ingredient doses
Zinc, maca, citrulline, ashwagandha: what counts is the dose
Almost every men’s supplement lists the same names, and the name on the bottle tells you almost nothing. What matters is the dose: an ingredient that has proven itself in studies will not do the same thing if there is too little of it. Here is the daily dose that was actually tested, ingredient by ingredient and sorted into four families, then a three-step method to check any label and a ten-second calculation.
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Men’s supplement ingredients: the doses tested in studies, family by family
What to remember
- The name proves nothing, the dose does. An ingredient that worked in a study will not do the same thing with too little of it.
- Count the dose per day, not per capsule: the serving size, times the servings the directions tell you to take.
- Grams or milligrams? Arginine, citrulline and maca were tested in grams. Zinc, pine bark and ashwagandha, in milligrams.
- For a plant, look for the word extract, with a percentage or a ratio. For a mineral, the exact form in parentheses.
4families, twelve ingredients, one reference dose each
3steps to check any label
800 mgof powder at most in one capsule: total, not per ingredient
40 mgof zinc a day: the upper limit for an adult, food included
Why the name on the bottle tells you almost nothing
Zinc, maca, citrulline, ashwagandha. If you are looking for a supplement to get your energy back, your drive back, or to make fewer trips to the bathroom at night, you have seen these names before. Almost every men’s supplement lists the same ingredients.
The name only tells you that the ingredient is in there. It does not tell you how much, and the studies that made these ingredients famous were done at a precise dose. Below that dose, nobody can promise you the same result.
And in the US, supplements do not need FDA approval before they hit the shelves. So reading the label is on you. To make it easier, the twelve ingredients you will meet most are sorted below into four families, each with the dose that was actually tested.
The cheat sheet: the dose tested, family by family
| Ingredient | Daily dose in the studies, or reference amount |
|---|---|
| Family 1: the basics | |
| Zinc | 11 mg recommended for men. Upper limit 40 mg, food included |
| Vitamin D | 600 IU (15 mcg), 800 IU after 70. Upper limit 4,000 IU (100 mcg) |
| Magnesium | 400 to 420 mg needed, food included. Upper limit from supplements 350 mg |
| Family 2: circulation | |
| Arginine | 1.5 to 5 g |
| Citrulline | 1.5 g |
| Maritime pine bark | 80 to 120 mg, mostly tested together with arginine |
| Family 3: stress and sex drive | |
| Ashwagandha | 300 to 600 mg of root extract |
| Maca | 1.5 to 3 g, for at least eight weeks |
| Tribulus | No solid evidence that it raises testosterone in men |
| Family 4: the prostate | |
| Saw palmetto | 320 mg of concentrated extract |
| Pumpkin seeds | 10 g of seeds. The extract in capsules did no better than a placebo |
| Nettle root | Long traditional use in Europe, very few quality studies |
Take a screenshot of that table, it is the one to keep in your phone. What is behind each line is explained below, and if you are looking for a formula, the supplements we recommend right now are further down.
Family 1: zinc, vitamin D and magnesium fill a gap
Zinc, vitamin D and magnesium are not stimulants. Their job is to fill a gap. If you are low, topping them up can really make a difference with fatigue or hormonal balance. If you are not low, taking more will not do anything for you.
Zinc: 11 mg a day, 40 mg at most
Zinc is one of the few nutrients that European regulators officially allow to be described as contributing to normal testosterone levels in the blood and to normal fertility. In the US, the recommended amount for men is 11 mg a day, which is also 100% of the Daily Value on a label. The upper limit is 40 mg a day in total, counting what you eat.
On the label, focus on the amount per day. The form matters less than the dose.
Vitamin D: 600 IU a day, and a blood test to know where you stand
Vitamin D helps your muscles, your bones and your immune system work normally. The recommended amount is 600 IU a day, that is 15 mcg, and 800 IU after age 70. The upper limit is 4,000 IU, or 100 mcg.
In winter, across much of the country, the sun is too weak for your skin to make enough, so being low is common. The only way to know if you are low is a blood test. One detail for reading a label: 100% of the Daily Value for vitamin D is 20 mcg, that is 800 IU.
Magnesium: from supplements, 350 mg at most
Magnesium helps reduce tiredness. Men need about 400 to 420 mg a day, food included. From supplements, the upper limit is 350 mg a day, because above that, digestive issues show up fast. Go for citrate or glycinate, which are easier on the stomach than magnesium oxide.
A word on boron
You see it more and more in “testosterone” formulas. The human studies are tiny, way too small to conclude anything.
US amounts: Recommended Dietary Allowances and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels of the National Academies, as published by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Zinc: claims authorized by EU Regulation 432/2012. Daily Values and upper limits for six nutrients are also on our home page.
Family 2: circulation, it all comes down to nitric oxide
To get an erection, blood has to flow into the penis. It is a small molecule, nitric oxide, that opens up the blood vessels, and your body makes it from an amino acid called arginine. So this whole family is about helping your body make more of it.
Arginine: 1.5 to 5 grams a day
Arginine is the raw material. A review of ten studies, with more than 500 men, found improved erections in men with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction, or ED. At what dose? Between 1.5 and 5 grams a day. Remember that number, it comes back in the ten-second calculation.
Citrulline: 1.5 grams a day
Citrulline is found in watermelon. Your body turns it into arginine, and it actually gets into your bloodstream better than arginine itself. In one small study, men with mild ED took 1.5 grams of citrulline a day for a month. Erection hardness improved in half of them, compared to fewer than one in ten on a placebo. That is encouraging, even if it is just one small study. The reference dose is 1.5 grams a day.
Maritime pine bark: 80 to 120 mg, alongside arginine
Maritime pine bark also helps produce nitric oxide. It has mostly been tested together with arginine, with encouraging results, at 80 to 120 mg a day. On its own, it has not proven itself.
Arginine: Rhim and colleagues, Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2019. Citrulline: Cormio and colleagues, Urology, 2011. Pine bark with arginine: Stanislavov and Nikolova, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 2003.
Family 3: stress and sex drive, more than testosterone
These plants are often sold as testosterone boosters. But when you actually read the studies, the effect is mostly on stress and on desire. Much less on testosterone.
Ashwagandha: 300 to 600 mg of root extract
Ashwagandha is the best-studied plant in this family. In stressed adults, 600 mg a day for two months lowered the stress hormone, cortisol, by 28 percent, compared to 8 percent on a placebo. The reference dose is 300 to 600 mg of root extract a day. On the label, look for the word “extract,” with a percentage of withanolides, not just plain root powder.
Who should skip ashwagandha
In 2024, France’s food safety agency advised against it for pregnant or breastfeeding women, for children and teens, for people with liver, heart or thyroid disease, and for people taking sedatives. If you take any medication, check with your doctor first.
Maca: 1.5 to 3 grams, for at least eight weeks
This root from the Andes was tested in men at 1.5 or 3 grams a day. Desire improved starting at eight weeks, with no change at all in testosterone. So remember: 1.5 to 3 grams a day, for at least eight weeks. That is grams, not milligrams.
Tribulus: the label favorite, and what the studies say
Tribulus is the go-to “testosterone” ingredient on labels. But a review of the studies published in 2025 found no solid evidence that it raises testosterone in men. For erections, there are a few positive results, from low-quality studies.
Ashwagandha: Chandrasekhar and colleagues, Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2012. Maca: Gonzales and colleagues, Andrologia, 2002. Precautions on ashwagandha: opinion of ANSES, the French agency for food safety, 2024.
Family 4: the prostate, and a doctor first
Needing to go more often, waking up at night, a weaker stream. With age, the prostate often gets a bit bigger, and these issues show up. Before you take anything, get them checked by a doctor, to rule out other causes.
Saw palmetto: 320 mg of concentrated extract
Saw palmetto is the most debated ingredient. On one side, in Europe, one specific extract at 320 mg a day is recognized by the European Medicines Agency, and it is even sold as a medicine in France. On the other side, a big scientific review, the Cochrane review, concluded in 2023 that saw palmetto on its own brings little or no benefit. And in the US, two large NIH-funded trials found it did no better than a placebo, one of them even at three times the usual dose.
The reference is 320 mg of concentrated extract. Berry powder, or a few dozen milligrams, is not what was studied.
Pumpkin seeds and nettle root
Pumpkin seeds were tested in a large German study, with more than 1,400 men followed for a year. Ten grams of seeds a day did a little better than a placebo. The pumpkin seed extract in capsules did no better than the placebo.
Nettle root, often paired with saw palmetto, has a long traditional use in Europe, but very few quality studies.
Saw palmetto: herbal monograph of the European Medicines Agency; Franco and colleagues, Cochrane review, 2023; the STEP trial (Bent and colleagues, New England Journal of Medicine, 2006) and the CAMUS trial (Barry and colleagues, JAMA, 2011). Pumpkin seeds: the GRANU study, Vahlensieck and colleagues, Urologia Internationalis, 2015.
Check any label in three steps
Now you have the reference doses. Here is how to hold any bottle up against them.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Your daily dose | On the Supplement Facts panel, look at the serving size, then at how many servings the directions tell you to take each day |
| 2. The reference | Compare with the doses above. An ingredient that is way below its dose cannot do what it did in the studies |
| 3. The form | For a plant, the word “extract,” with a percentage or a ratio. For a mineral, the exact form in parentheses, like “zinc (as zinc citrate)” |
If the label only gives the total weight of a proprietary blend, without the amount of each ingredient, you cannot check each dose against the references. It is legal and very common in the US. What you can still read is the order of the list: the first name is the one there is the most of.
Reading the panel itself, line by line, with a real label as the example, is covered in our four-step guide to the Supplement Facts panel.
The ten-second calculation: what fits in a capsule
One capsule holds between 400 and 800 mg of powder. Total. Not per ingredient: total. So two capsules a day is, at the very most, about one and a half grams of powder.
| Capsules a day | Total powder |
|---|---|
| 1 | 400 to 800 mg |
| 2 | 0.8 to 1.6 g |
| 4 | 1.6 to 3.2 g |
Remember: arginine alone calls for 1.5 to 5 grams. Maca, 1.5 to 3 grams. So when a formula lists twelve ingredients in two capsules, do the math: it cannot dose all of them like in the studies.
That does not mean it is useless. It means you need to look at which ones are properly dosed, because those are the ones that count.
Three things to check with your doctor first
- If you are dealing with ED, start with a checkup with your doctor: it can be an early sign of a heart or blood vessel problem.
- If you take heart medication like nitrates, or an ED drug like Viagra or Cialis, talk to your doctor before taking arginine or citrulline: they can lower your blood pressure.
- For urinary issues, see a doctor before choosing a supplement.
This page is for information only. It is not a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional.
The supplements we recommend right now
Here are the men’s supplements we would actually recommend right now, with what makes each one stand out. Pick the one that matches your goal and the format you will actually take every day.
Nine active ingredients in one gummy a day: SodaPeak
SodaPeak puts nine active ingredients into one gummy a day: muira puama, maca, catuaba and horny goat weed, then L-arginine and tribulus, ashwagandha, green tea and a touch of caffeine, 5 mg. The panel lists them as a proprietary blend, in order of weight. A one-time payment and a 60-day money-back guarantee. Everything is in our SodaPeak review.
Eight actives, plus zinc and vitamin D3: Alpha Erec
Alpha Erec covers three of the four families in one berry gummy a day: L-arginine and L-citrulline for circulation, ashwagandha, tribulus, fenugreek, horny goat weed, maca and Panax ginseng, and on top, zinc and vitamin D3, two of the basics. Made in the USA, a one-time payment and a 60-day guarantee. The panel is printed on the bottle: the three steps above read it in a minute. Details in our Alpha Erec review.
A daily capsule routine with no stimulants: Vigortrix
Vigortrix brings together citrulline and maritime pine bark, the circulation family, with maca, saffron and velvet bean, plus niacin and zinc, in two capsules a day, with no stimulants. One bottle is a 30-day supply, and the order comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Formula and packages are in our Vigortrix review.
Two more gummies: HorseFil and JellyFil
HorseFil is one gummy a day with seven ingredients, each with its own amount on its own line, and all six plants listed as extracts: step 3 passes at a glance. JellyFil is a gummy too, built around a proprietary blend whose ingredients are listed in order.
Prostate support past forty-five: ProstAfense
A different goal and a different formula: selenium at 125% and vitamin B6 at 100% of the Daily Value, with zinc, next to a blend of botanicals and mushrooms. For urinary issues, see your doctor first, as explained above. The brand’s page announces a one-time payment and a 60-day guarantee.
One product at a time
Do not stack supplements. Many share the same ingredients and it adds up: Alpha Erec, Vigortrix and ProstAfense all contain zinc, and the upper limit for an adult is 40 mg a day from everything combined, food included. If you switch, finish the open bottle before you start the next one.
Questions about supplement doses
How much zinc should a man take a day?
In the US, the recommended amount for men is 11 mg a day, which is 100% of the Daily Value on a label. The upper limit is 40 mg a day in total, counting what you eat. If you are not low, taking more will not do anything for you.
How much citrulline per day?
1.5 grams a day. That is the dose used in a small study in men with mild ED, taken for a month: erection hardness improved in half of them, compared to fewer than one in ten on a placebo.
How much arginine per day?
Between 1.5 and 5 grams a day. That is the range of a review of ten studies with more than 500 men, which found improved erections in men with mild to moderate ED.
Does maca raise testosterone?
Not in the studies. Men who took 1.5 or 3 grams of maca a day saw their desire improve starting at eight weeks, with no change at all in testosterone. The dose is in grams, not milligrams.
Does tribulus raise testosterone?
A review of the studies published in 2025 found no solid evidence that it raises testosterone in men. For erections, there are a few positive results, from low-quality studies.
How much ashwagandha per day, and who should avoid it?
The reference dose is 300 to 600 mg of root extract a day, ideally an extract with a percentage of withanolides. France’s food safety agency advised against it in 2024 for pregnant or breastfeeding women, children and teens, people with liver, heart or thyroid disease, and people taking sedatives. If you take any medication, check with your doctor first.
What dose of saw palmetto was studied?
320 mg a day of a concentrated extract, the one recognized by the European Medicines Agency. Results are debated: a Cochrane review in 2023 and two large NIH-funded trials found little or no benefit over a placebo. Berry powder, or a few dozen milligrams, is not what was studied.
How many milligrams fit in one capsule?
Between 400 and 800 mg of powder, in total, not per ingredient. Two capsules a day hold at most about one and a half grams of powder, which is why a long list of ingredients in two capsules cannot all be dosed like in the studies.
Do supplements need FDA approval?
No. In the US, supplements do not need FDA approval before they go on sale. That is why the Supplement Facts panel on the back of the bottle is the place to look, and why reading it is on you.
Can I take arginine or citrulline with Viagra or heart medication?
Talk to your doctor first. If you take nitrates for your heart, or an ED drug like Viagra or Cialis, arginine and citrulline can lower your blood pressure.
Our picks right now
SodaPeak for nine active ingredients in one gummy a day, Alpha Erec for eight actives plus zinc and vitamin D3. Both are ordered on the seller’s official site, with a 60-day guarantee.
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