Tongkat Ali vs Maca: Which One and Can You Take Both

Tongkat ali vs maca comes down to what the human studies actually measured: tongkat ali's trials point toward support for testosterone and lower fatigue in men, while maca's trials lean toward mood, energy and quality of life, and a placebo-controlled trial in healthy men found no change in testosterone. Both are roots. Both get sold for the same reasons. They don't do the same job on paper.

Maca shows up in smoothie bowls, coffee blends and "men's vitality" stacks, often right next to tongkat ali. So here's the tongkat ali vs maca question answered plainly: what each one is, what the studies tested, the doses they used, and whether anyone has tested them together. (Short version: we couldn't find a single trial that did.)

One thing first. Testosterone is a number. Fire is a life. Neither root replaces sleep, training, sunlight or doing hard things.

What is tongkat ali?

Tongkat ali is the root of Eurycoma longifolia, a shrub from the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. It's traditionally used for energy, strength and vitality in men. Most human research uses a hot-water root extract, not raw root powder.

We wrote a full guide on it, with every study broken down: Tongkat Ali: What It Is, What the Studies Show, and How to Take It.

What is maca?

Maca is Lepidium meyenii, a plant that grows high in the Peruvian Andes, between about 3,500 and 5,000 meters up.¹¹ The part people eat looks like a root. Botanists call it a hypocotyl, the swollen bit where the root meets the stem.⁵

Andean people have grown and eaten it for well over a thousand years. It's cooked, baked, fermented into a drink and made into porridge.¹² So unlike tongkat ali, maca is a food first. That's why the doses are in grams, not milligrams.

Two things worth knowing before you buy any. Maca comes in many colors (black, red and yellow are the main ones), and color, growing location and processing can change what's in it.¹¹ And since demand took off, it's also grown outside the Andes, including in China, with mass-farming methods that can change the plant's makeup.¹² "Maca" on one label isn't always the same thing as "maca" on another.

What did the human studies look at?

Tongkat ali

• Testosterone: a 2022 review pooled 5 randomized trials and found higher total testosterone in men taking tongkat ali than in control groups.¹
• Stress hormones and mood: a placebo-controlled trial in 63 moderately stressed men and women tested 200 mg a day for 4 weeks. The tongkat group had better scores on some mood measures (tension, anger, confusion) and a better cortisol-to-testosterone balance than placebo. An extract maker funded it.²
• Fatigue: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 105 men aged 50 to 70 tested 100 or 200 mg a day for 12 weeks. Both tongkat groups had higher total testosterone and lower fatigue scores than placebo. The extract maker funded it.³
• Strength: a 5-week pilot in 25 active adults aged 57 to 72 used 400 mg a day and saw higher testosterone and muscle force. It had no placebo group, so treat it as a hint, not proof.⁴

Maca

• Testosterone in healthy men: a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial gave men aged 21 to 56 either 1.5 or 3 grams of maca a day, or a placebo. Testosterone and five other hormones were checked at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Compared with placebo, maca had no effect on any of them.⁵
• Age-related symptoms: a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 80 men with normal testosterone levels who had symptoms often linked with aging. The maca group scored better than placebo on the Aging Males' Symptoms scale, a standard questionnaire. The abstract doesn't report a difference in testosterone. Two of the authors work for a company, Yuhan Care.⁶
• Mood and energy: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 175 adults living at low and high altitude tested 3 grams a day of black or red maca extract for 12 weeks. Both maca groups had better mood, energy and health-status scores than placebo, and red maca did better on mood and energy. The senior author runs a small company that makes nutraceuticals.⁷
• Endurance: 8 trained male cyclists took a maca extract and a placebo for 14 days each, then rode a 40 km time trial. Times improved compared with their own starting test, but not compared with placebo.⁸
• Sport performance: 10 well-trained college basketball players took 2 grams of maca a day or a placebo for 2 weeks each. Jump height, shooting accuracy, repeated sprints, fatigue and lactate clearance were no different from placebo.⁹

See the split. Tongkat ali's research leans toward men's hormones and fatigue. Maca's leans toward how people feel (mood, energy, quality of life), and in the one trial built to test hormones in healthy men, testosterone didn't move. A 2024 review of 52 studies on so-called testosterone supplements found most of them don't raise total testosterone. It rated tongkat ali as possibly effective for healthy men. Maca, which had 2 studies in the review, wasn't on that list.¹⁰

Tongkat ali vs maca: side by side

Which one should you pick?

Neither one is "better." They've been studied for different things, so start with what's actually bothering you.

• If you feel flat, tired and older than you are, tongkat ali's research is the closer match. Its trials looked at testosterone and fatigue in men, including men aged 50 to 70.
• If you mostly want help with mood and day-to-day energy, maca has a 12-week placebo-controlled trial on exactly that, in men and women.
• If you bought maca to move your testosterone, the trial built to test that in healthy men found it didn't. That's worth knowing before you spend the money.
• If you're an athlete chasing performance, neither root has strong evidence here. Maca's two small sport trials didn't beat placebo, and tongkat's strength study had no placebo group.

Our honest read: tongkat ali has the stronger case for men's hormones, and maca has an interesting but small case for mood and energy. Both bodies of research are short. A 2018 review of maca's popular health claims concluded they can't be fully supported yet and more research is needed.¹²

Can you take tongkat ali and maca together?

Lots of people do. But we searched PubMed and couldn't find a single human trial that tested tongkat ali and maca together. Every study above tested one root on its own. So nobody can tell you how the two act in combination, or what dose of each makes sense side by side.

If you want to try both, here's how we'd think about it:

• Talk to your doctor first, especially if you take any medication or have a health condition.
• Start one at a time. Give one a month before adding the other, so you know what's doing what.
• Stay within the doses the studies used. More is not better when nobody has tested it.
• Read the label. If a blend doesn't say how much of each is inside, you can't compare it to the studies. Our guide on how to choose a tongkat ali supplement covers what to look for.

Is maca safe?

In the 175-person trial, both maca extracts were well tolerated over 12 weeks and didn't show serious side effects.⁷ An older safety review found maca had low short-term toxicity when given by mouth to animals, and low toxicity to cells in lab tests. It also said better quality standards and more clinical research were still needed.¹³ And remember, Andean people have eaten it as a food for centuries.¹²

The bigger issue is quality. Since maca went global, farming has shifted toward fertilizers, pesticides and new growing regions, and the 2018 review warned that the lack of rules on how maca is produced and marketed is a risk to consumer safety.¹² One of the reviews we cite was written by authors with a commercial interest in a maca brand, which is common in this space, so read the funding lines.¹¹

Tongkat ali has its own gap: the longest trial above ran 12 weeks, so these trials give no long-term safety data. And it has a liver case report: in 2024, doctors described a man who developed liver injury after starting tongkat ali and got better after stopping.¹⁴ The same rule covers both. Stick to studied doses, buy from brands that test what they sell, and talk to your doctor.

One tool, not the answer

Nobody is coming to give you your fire back. Here's how to go get it: sleep 7 to 9 hours, lift heavy things, get sunlight early and do something hard on purpose. Then pick the root that matches your situation. If stress is the bigger problem, we also compared tongkat ali vs ashwagandha.

If tongkat ali is your pick, it's the one we make. All Day Fire Tongkat Ali is version one: 400 mg of a 100:1 hot-water root extract per serving, one ingredient, made in small batches by a US manufacturer and tested for heavy metals. The studies above are about tongkat ali and maca, not about our bottle.

Keep reading: Tongkat Ali vs Shilajit, Does Tongkat Ali Work? An Honest Look at the Evidence, Tongkat Ali and Fadogia Agrestis: What the Research Actually Says, Tongkat Ali vs Other Testosterone Supplements: The Comparison Table.

FAQ

What's the difference between tongkat ali and maca?

Tongkat ali is a root from Indonesia and Malaysia whose human studies mostly look at testosterone and fatigue in men. Maca is a root-like vegetable from the Peruvian Andes, eaten as food for centuries, whose studies mostly look at mood, energy and quality of life.

Can you take tongkat ali and maca together?

Many people do, but we couldn't find any human trial that tested the two together. If you want to try both, start one at a time, stay within studied doses, and talk to your doctor first.

Does maca raise testosterone?

Not in the trial built to test it. A 12-week placebo-controlled trial in healthy men aged 21 to 56 found maca had no effect on testosterone or five other hormones compared with placebo.

How much maca did the studies use?

The trials covered here that listed a clear dose used 1.5 to 3 grams a day, for 2 to 12 weeks. Maca products vary a lot by color and processing, so follow the label and talk to your doctor.

Is tongkat ali or maca better for energy?

They've been tested in different ways. Tongkat ali had lower fatigue scores than placebo in a 12-week trial in men aged 50 to 70. Maca had better mood and energy scores than placebo in a 12-week trial in adults living at low and high altitude.

Sources

1. Leisegang K, et al. Eurycoma longifolia (Jack) Improves Serum Total Testosterone in Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials. Medicina, 2022. PMID 36013514
2. Talbott SM, et al. Effect of Tongkat Ali on stress hormones and psychological mood state in moderately stressed subjects. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2013. PMID 23705671
3. Chinnappan SM, et al. Effect of Eurycoma longifolia standardised aqueous root extract-Physta on testosterone levels and quality of life in ageing male subjects. Food Nutr Res, 2021. PMID 34262417
4. Henkel RR, et al. Tongkat Ali as a potential herbal supplement for physically active male and female seniors: a pilot study. Phytother Res, 2014. PMID 23754792
5. Gonzales GF, et al. Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca), a root with aphrodisiac and fertility-enhancing properties, on serum reproductive hormone levels in adult healthy men. J Endocrinol, 2003. PMID 12525260
6. Shin D, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Maca (Lepidium meyenii) in Patients with Symptoms of Late-Onset Hypogonadism: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. World J Mens Health, 2023. PMID 36593713
7. Gonzales-Arimborgo C, et al. Acceptability, Safety, and Efficacy of Oral Administration of Extracts of Black or Red Maca (Lepidium meyenii) in Adult Human Subjects: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Pharmaceuticals (Basel), 2016. PMID 27548190
8. Stone M, et al. A pilot investigation into the effect of maca supplementation on physical activity and sexual desire in sportsmen. J Ethnopharmacol, 2009. PMID 19781622
9. Wu PS, et al. The Impact of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) Supplementation on Basketball-related Performance and Antifatigue Ability: A Double-blind Crossover Study. J Physiol Investig, 2025. PMID 40960048
10. Morgado A, et al. Do "testosterone boosters" really increase serum total testosterone? A systematic review. Int J Impot Res, 2024. PMID 37697053
11. Minich DM, et al. Not All Maca Is Created Equal: A Review of Colors, Nutrition, Phytochemicals, and Clinical Uses. Nutrients, 2024. PMID 38398854
12. Beharry S, Heinrich M. Is the hype around the reproductive health claims of maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) justified? J Ethnopharmacol, 2018. PMID 28811221
13. Valerio LG Jr, Gonzales GF. Toxicological aspects of the South American herbs cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) and Maca (Lepidium meyenii): a critical synopsis. Toxicol Rev, 2005. PMID 16042502
14. Kaliounji A, et al. A Rare Case of Tongkat Ali-Induced Liver Injury: A Case Report. Cureus, 2024. PMID 38646387

Written and reviewed by Nick Lange, All Day Fire. Last reviewed 11 Oct 2026.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before starting any supplement.