Yohimbe and Yohimbine: Label Amounts, Benefits and Risks

What is yohimbe?

Yohimbe is the bark of an African tree, commonly labeled Pausinystalia johimbe. It contains yohimbine, an active plant compound. Supplements may contain bark, concentrated extracts or a specified amount of yohimbine.

The amount of bark on a label is the weight of the plant material, not the dose of yohimbine. Because the alkaloid content varies, a bark-only label cannot tell you how much of the active compound you would take.

Historical uses and modern supplements

The yohimbe tree grows in central and western Africa. NCCIH describes traditional use of its bark^[1] to increase sexual desire and performance, and as a mild hallucinogen. Modern marketing extends to weight loss, athletic performance and mood.

The continuity is clearest in sexual-function claims. The modern clinical studies below generally administered measured yohimbine or yohimbine hydrochloride, rather than a traditional bark preparation.

Why do people take yohimbe?

Claimed benefit	Dose / form studied	Research verdict	Evidence strength
Bark supplements for erections, weight or exercise	Variable bark products	NCCIH says there is not enough research to establish supplement effectiveness; measured-yohimbine studies are discussed below.	Review pending
Erectile function with measured yohimbine	Different doses of measured yohimbine in adults with erectile dysfunction	Some trials improved erectile function; others found no advantage over placebo.	Limited
Weight and body fat	Measured yohimbine, 3 weeks to 6 months	Small short studies reported some benefits; a longer study found none.	Limited
Exercise performance	One 2.5 mg hydrochloride dose or 20 mg/day for 21 days	Sprint mean power improved in one small study; other performance results were null.	Limited

How does yohimbine differ from bark?

Yohimbine is one active ingredient; bark contains a variable mixture. A controlled study using a known active-ingredient amount cannot validate a capsule that lists only a bark-equivalent weight.

The distinction also matters for safety. A stronger extract can supply much more active compound than a consumer expects from a familiar-looking herbal serving. Yohimbe should not be treated as a gentle version of a measured medicine.

Can you choose a dose from the label?

As of 2026, there is no recognized recommended daily amount for yohimbe. The NIH source reviewed here does not establish a universally safe supplement dose.

If the product does not state yohimbine content, the active exposure is unknown.

What did product testing find?

In a published analysis of 49 brands^[2], the measured yohimbine amount ranged from none detected to 12.1 mg per recommended serving. Only 11 of the 49 labels stated a specific yohimbine amount, and the stated amounts were not consistently accurate.

This analysis was published online in 2015. It demonstrates why a bark-weight claim or an unsupported “standardized” description cannot be assumed to deliver predictable doses.

Drawbacks and side effects

Potential drawback	When/who it affects	Research evidence	Practical implication
Anxiety, stomach symptoms or rapid heartbeat	Reported supplement exposures	Clinical and poison-center reports	Stop rather than adding another drug or supplement to counteract symptoms.
Blood-pressure problems or irregular heartbeat	Susceptible users and unpredictable exposure	Serious reactions documented	Chest pain, fainting or severe palpitations need urgent assessment.
Seizures and other serious toxicity	Reported cases	Recognized safety concern	A seizure or collapse is an emergency.
Medicine interaction	Especially monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors and tricyclics, two types of antidepressant	NIH advises against these combinations	Review medicines with a pharmacist before considering use.

Do not combine yohimbe casually with pre-workout or weight-loss stimulants. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid self-directed use. People with heart or blood-pressure problems have particular reason to seek medical advice.

The science behind yohimbine

Erectile function: positive and null trials

In Vogt's eight-week trial^[3], 86 patients had erectile dysfunction without a clearly identified physical or psychological cause; 83 were included in the main analysis. Yohimbine hydrochloride (a salt form of yohimbine) at 30 mg/day produced a reported response in 71%, versus 45% with placebo. Assessment included sexual experience and erection rigidity during sleep. Most adverse experiences were mild, and no serious event was reported.

A crossover trial in 29 patients with mixed causes^[4] reached a different result. Twenty-seven completed both 25-day courses of 36 mg/day hydrochloride and placebo, separated by 14 days. Complete or partial improvement occurred in 12 people after yohimbine and 13 after placebo, with no statistically significant difference. Two patients had drug-related side effects during yohimbine treatment.

Combination research adds a different question. A 45-patient crossover study^[5] compared 6 mg yohimbine hydrochloride alone, the same amount with 6 g L-arginine glutamate, and placebo, taken before intercourse over two-week periods. Questionnaire results favored the combination over placebo. The abstract did not state whether yohimbine alone differed significantly from placebo on that questionnaire. On a separate overall assessment, both patients and investigators rated yohimbine alone more favorably than placebo.

Weight and body fat

In a three-week study of 20 women with obesity^[6], 10 received 20 mg/day yohimbine and 10 placebo while both groups continued a 1,000-calorie daily diet following a shared three-week diet period. Average weight loss was 3.55 kg versus 2.21 kg. A marker of fat breakdown did not improve. In a separate 15-person experiment from the same report, 15 mg did not speed stomach emptying.

The longer trial was less encouraging. Forty-seven men were assigned yohimbine or placebo^[7], and 33 completed six months. Yohimbine, at a peak dose of 43 mg/day, did not improve body weight, body fat, fat distribution or cholesterol compared with placebo.

In 20 male professional soccer players^[8], 20 mg/day for 21 days reduced a reported body-fat measure relative to placebo, while body weight and muscle mass did not change significantly. The abstract calls the between-group measure “fat mass” but reports it as a percentage; the result cannot be converted into kilograms of fat lost. The small, short positive studies and longer null trial leave lasting weight-loss effectiveness uncertain.

Exercise performance

A double-blind crossover experiment in 18 physically active women^[9] tested 2.5 mg yohimbine hydrochloride 20 minutes before repeated cycling sprints. Average power and total work were higher than with placebo, while peak power and perceived effort did not differ significantly. Heart rate increased. Two reported statistics for total work conflict within the paper, so an exact effect-size figure is not used here.

The soccer-player study above found no significant improvement in strength, jumping, dribbling, power or shuttle-run tests after 21 days. A brief laboratory sprint benefit and a training-period performance result answer different questions; neither establishes how variable bark supplements would perform.

The bottom line

Measured yohimbine has produced some positive erectile-function, short-term weight and sprint findings, alongside important null results. Bark supplements add uncertainty about the actual exposure. The studied amounts describe experiments, not a self-treatment schedule; blood-pressure, heart-rate and psychiatric effects remain material concerns. For persistent sexual or weight concerns, discuss the underlying problem and treatment options with a clinician.

Help us improve this article

Spotted an error or found a source we should consider? Tell us which part of this article needs another look and include a link if you have one. Please leave out personal health details and lab results; we can’t answer individual medical questions.