NOW Foods is the recognisable-name pick for buyers who want a touch of maca alongside their horny goat weed. It pairs a generous 750 mg of epimedium extract — standardised to a moderate 10% icariins — with 150 mg of maca root, in one convenient daily tablet from a supplement house that's been trusted for decades. Crucially, the maca is disclosed honestly as a light blend rather than buried in a proprietary mix, so you know exactly what's in the tablet. It ranks behind the pure single-herb extracts because that maca, however small, makes it slightly less of an epimedium-specific product, and tablets carry binders a clean capsule avoids. The 10% standardisation is also moderate. And the universal caveat applies: icariin is a real in-vitro PDE5 inhibitor (Xin 2003), maca is a traditional libido herb, but neither has robust human evidence for treating erectile dysfunction. Buy NOW for the trusted brand, the maca bonus, and the daily convenience, with a measured expectation. Here's the full breakdown.
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Read the complete Horny Goat Weed guide →Disclosed at 10% icariins on a 750 mg extract — roughly 75 mg of icariins per tablet. A genuine, properly-stated standardisation, but moderate: half Double Wood's 20% and a quarter of Toniiq's 40%. Honest and clearly labelled rather than high-potency, consistent with NOW's mainstream positioning.
A generous 750 mg of horny goat weed extract per tablet — more raw extract than the 500 mg single-herb picks (Nature's Way, Swanson), plus 150 mg of maca on top. At 10% icariins that's about 75 mg of icariins. Strong on raw dose; the score reflects that the higher weight pairs with a moderate standardisation rather than a high one.
From a long-trusted, GMP-conscious supplement house, which is a real quality signal — but two things hold it below the single-herb leaders: it's a light blend (epimedium + 150 mg maca), so it's not a pure epimedium product, and it's a tablet with binders/coating rather than a clean capsule. The maca is disclosed honestly, which we credit; the blend simply dilutes epimedium-specific transparency.
About $0.15 per tablet on an estimated $11-16 for 90 tablets — strong value, helped by the one-tablet-a-day serving giving a full 90-day supply. Cheaper per day than the premium extracts and competitive with the value tubs, while bundling maca and brand trust. A genuinely economical mainstream pick.
Scored measured and non-medical. A recognisable-brand tonic with a generous dose and a complementary herb is a reasonable everyday choice. But the human efficacy evidence for Epimedium alone (libido/erectile function) is weak, and the 150 mg maca and 10% standardisation don't change that, so we reward the brand trust and convenience rather than promising an outcome.
“750 mg horny goat weed extract standardised to 10% icariins.”
Both the 750 mg dose and the 10% icariin standardisation are clearly disclosed — roughly 75 mg of icariins per tablet, a generous raw dose at a moderate standardisation. Accurate and properly labelled.
“Plus 150 mg maca root for added vitality support.”
The 150 mg of maca is genuinely present and honestly disclosed as a light blend — a real, transparent addition. The 'vitality support' framing is traditional rather than clinically proven, though: 150 mg of maca is a light, supportive amount, and maca's own human evidence is modest and mixed. Accurate as a disclosed ingredient; the benefit claim is traditional, not established.
“From a trusted, GMP-conscious supplement brand.”
NOW Foods is a long-established, widely-trusted supplement house with GMP-conscious manufacturing. The brand-trust claim is accurate and is one of the genuine reasons to choose this pick over a less-known extract.
“Supports male performance and sexual health.”
The honest caveat. Icariin is a real in-vitro PDE5 inhibitor (Xin 2003, PMID 12646997) and Epimedium has human bone-density RCT data (Zhang 2007, PMID 17419678), but there is NO robust human trial showing standalone horny goat weed (or a light maca blend) improves libido or erectile function. Fair as traditional vitality-tonic framing; overstated if read as a proven performance or ED benefit.
What distinguishes NOW from the pure single-herb extracts is the 150 mg of maca — and what distinguishes it from the messy 'vitality complexes' (Zhou, Horbäach) is that it discloses exactly what's in the blend. You get 750 mg of 10%-icariin epimedium plus a clearly-stated 150 mg of maca, not a proprietary mystery mix. For a buyer who wants a small, transparent vitality-herb pairing from a trusted brand, that honest light blend is the appeal.
At 750 mg, NOW gives you more raw horny goat weed extract than the 500 mg single-herb picks — but at a moderate 10% icariins, that works out to about 75 mg of icariins, less than Double Wood's ~200 mg or Nootropics Depot's ~100 mg. This is the classic raw-mg-versus-standardisation tension: a bigger number on the front of the bottle doesn't mean more active flavonoid. NOW is generous on weight and moderate on potency, which is a reasonable mainstream balance but not the optimisation pick.
The single-tablet daily serving gives a full 90-day supply and removes the friction of two-capsule servings or pill-counting. For a traditional tonic that needs consistent daily use to assess, that low-friction format helps adherence, and the per-day cost (~$0.15) is economical. The only delivery trade-off is that it's a tablet with binders and a coating rather than a clean capsule — a minor point for most buyers.
It's worth being clear-eyed about the maca. 150 mg is a light, supportive dose, and maca's own human evidence for libido and energy is modest and mixed — so it's a small complementary addition, not a clinically-dosed second active. That's not a criticism: it's disclosed honestly and adds a traditional vitality herb cheaply. Just don't buy this expecting the maca to do heavy lifting; the epimedium is the main event, and the maca is a transparent extra.
NOW gives you a trusted brand, a generous dose, a transparent maca addition, and daily convenience — but it can't change the evidence. Standalone horny goat weed has a genuine in-vitro PDE5 mechanism (Xin 2003) and human bone data (Zhang 2007), but no robust human trial for libido or erectile function, and a light maca blend doesn't alter that. So this is a convenient, recognisable-brand version of a traditional tonic, not a proven performance product. Bought on that honest basis, it's a sound mainstream choice.
NOW Foods is the comfortable mainstream pick for buyers who want a name they recognise and like the idea of a little maca alongside their horny goat weed. It delivers a generous 750 mg of epimedium at a moderate 10% icariins, plus 150 mg of maca disclosed honestly as a light blend, in one convenient daily tablet from a long-trusted house at an economical price. For accessible, transparent, brand-backed vitality support, it's a sound choice. It ranks behind the pure single-herb extracts for clear reasons: the maca, while small and honestly labelled, makes it slightly less of an epimedium-specific product; it's a tablet rather than a clean capsule; and at 10% icariins it's moderate potency, so if you want the most active flavonoid per serving, Toniiq (#1, 40%), Double Wood (#2, 20%) or Nootropics Depot (#5, min. 50%) are better. And the standing caveat holds — icariin is a real in-vitro PDE5 inhibitor (Xin 2003) and maca a traditional libido herb, but neither has robust human evidence for treating ED. For trusted-brand convenience and a transparent maca bonus, bought with a measured expectation, NOW is the right pick.
Check NOW Foods · 750 mg HGW std. to 10% icariins + 150 mg maca root · light blend · 90 tablets on AmazonThe best overall pure single-herb pick — a much higher 40% icariin standardisation with no added maca and stated third-party testing. Choose it if you want maximum epimedium potency and purity rather than a light blend.
See it on the list →More dose and more testing in a pure single-herb form — 20% icariins at 1000 mg with a stated heavy-metal panel. The pick if you want a bigger, better-tested epimedium dose without the maca.
See it on the list →A bigger multi-herb step — if you like NOW's maca idea, Zhou stacks maca, saw palmetto and tongkat ali around a 1000 mg epimedium base. More herbs in the blend, but it discloses only ~10 mg icariins, so less epimedium transparency.
See it on the list →In vitro, icariin inhibited cGMP-specific PDE5 with an IC50 of 0.432 µmol/L — the mechanistic basis for the herb's reputation, but a bench/enzyme finding rather than proof of a human erectile-function benefit from a 10% extract plus light maca.
60 mg/day icariin preserved bone mineral density over 24 months in postmenopausal women — the strongest human RCT for Epimedium, and a bone outcome rather than a sexual one. Cited to keep expectations calibrated to the actual evidence base.
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