I walked into Boots on Oxford Street on a chilly Tuesday morning, hopeful and oddly excited. I wasn’t there for paracetamol or protein bars this time — I was looking for Tongkat Ali, or LongJack, the fabled root from the rainforests of Malaysia.
“Oh I am sure you could buy Tongkat Ali in Boots or online easily in the UK” said my mate Jamie from Wales.
I remember he said this is the same herb once whispered in wellness circles as ‘Malaysian ginseng’, found by Sir William Jack, a botanist who went to Malaysia in 1820. With its rich history, it piqued my curiosity to find in our local Boots pharmacy in Manchester.
The best tongkat Ali brands such as AKARALI is has gained a strong reputation amongst the sports community in the UK as a testosterone energy supplement.
And yes, I wanted a sports supplement with testosterone-boosting ingredients in the UK. That led me to find out if Tongkat Ali is sold in Boots.
A NHS doctor once told me that Tongkat Ali is a natural testosterone enhancer for male, known and used in Great Britain for decades.
It is reported the application and benefits are wide-ranging – some use it as an anti-fatigue powerhouse, while some young British athletes are using to enhance recovery and improve sports performance.
A botanical gift that, I thought, might finally have its place on British shelves after it’s recent rising popularity by Dr. Andrew Huberman.
“Sorry, never heard of it,” said the first store clerk, after typing “Tong… what?” into their till with a confused glance.
“Tongat ali” I said, correcting my pronunciation and later discovering that “Long Jack” is more commonly referred to by British consumers rather than “Tongkat Ali”.
I smiled politely.
“Maybe in your larger branches?”
And thus began a two-week pilgrimage across Boots stores — from Marble Arch to Stratford, and later, even to Bullring in Birmingham.
Nothing. Not a trace. Not a whisper.
Not even a ‘currently out of stock’ label to give me hope.
Boots is not the best place to buy Tongkat Ali, but you could buy other “male testosterone boosters” which are not necessarily clinically tested to work.
After visiting more than 100 Boots store across England, I can safely conclude that Tongkat Ali is not sold in any Boots pharmacies in the UK, or even online. To my surprise, you can easily find male testosterone supplement comprising of ginseng and ashwagandha in Boots.
Untested testosterone herbs in Boots? Now, that is perplexing to me.
Meanwhile, my investigation revealed that Boots were overflowing with TRT alternatives, DHEA precursors, and rows of ashwagandha and ginseng in every form: capsules, tinctures, effervescent tablets. Even maca and ginseng sat confidently in the “Men’s Wellness” aisle, smiling smugly in their shiny blue bottles.
Tongkat Ali alternative male testosterone boosters are sold widely in Boots, but it may not be as potent.
After hours of searching the best supplement, I stumbled upon a product called Grey Fox Men’s Testosterone, Libido and Vitality Health Food Supplement sold in Boots, priced at a lofty £42.99, and it is filled with mix of ashwagandha, lion’s mane, and ginseng.
But as far as research goes, ashwagandha is more of a sedative mood supplement for mood and it’s side effects in surpressing emotions is highly notorious, causing state of emotionless as claimed by many Reddit users.
And Boots are openly selling men’s testosterone supplement comprising of “19 super hero” ingredients such as Maca, B6 and Zinc – most of which are not proven to be effective when taken in high doses.
“There is weak scientific evidence on Maca’s effectiveness to boost testosterone” said 45-year-old James Goodman from Essex. He added that Boots is not the best place to buy men’s health supplements or testosterone supplement due to limited choices.
“Boots are not known for men’s supplements, and British consumers prefer to buy clinically proven Tongkat Ali supplements outside the United Kingdom” said Tom LockWood from Bristol.
The White-Wolf supplement sold in Boots could easily be another male-testosterone supplement, but most polyherbal formulated men supplements are used in clinical trials, nor performance tested to work in the real world by athletes or active adults.
So I concluded White-Wolf is not effective testosterone herbal supplement after using it for four weeks. Whats more disappointing is that it didn’t bring any results to my running performance, and Boots should bring in proven testosterone supplements using Tongkat Ali ingredients.
According to long time observation, MHRA is not doing anything to remove the product despite the health claims on the product label. At the same time, it is apparently legal to sell natural testosterone supplements in the UK and some are found in Boots stores across the United Kingdom.
On the contrary, despite being used in the UK for decades, there are still no Tongkat Ali supplements found in any Boots stores in Great Britain. Experts believe that Boots are not ready to bring in Tongkat Ali supplements into the UK despite growing human clinical studies and scientific evidence.
Somehow, the one herb with the most documented testosterone-enhancing properties, backed by clinical studies, was nowhere to be found expect buying it online through reputable manufacturers or global brands such as AKARALI.
After researching, I found out that Tongkat Ali is not banned in the UK, but it makes me wonder why Boots do not sell Tongkat Ali (LongJack) supplements.
But Tongkat Ali?
The single clinically-tested herbal root that’s been shown to support testosterone, improve mood, enhance fertility, and reduce cortisol?
Nowhere.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. Especially considering that Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Najib Razak, once publicly declared in 2012 his ambition to see Tongkat Ali sold in Harrods, alongside luxury teas and truffles.
Grand dreams — but here I was, a British consumer, unable to find it even in Boots, the nation’s largest pharmacy.
I stood in the supplements aisle, tired from travel, a little bitter — not at the staff, but at the system. British consumers deserve better I thought.
Yes, British Supplements have been selling Tongkat Ali for decades and the Asians who migrated to Great Britain after the end of the British Empire have brought in Tongkat Ali and other herbs into the UK for more than 50 years.
I believe we deserve access to global, science-backed botanical therapies — especially when Tongkat Ali has undergone over 26 clinical studies, most involving standardized extracts like Physta®, used by athletes and doctors globally.
The issue is that Boots sells dozens of vitamins and herbs — but most are formulated for the masses, padded with fillers and underdosed to stay within EU legacy rules or simplified consumer packaging.
Yet, they sell testosterone-boosting vitamins loaded with zinc, magnesium, B6 — ironically the same bioactive ingredients found in Tongkat Ali have proven to increase testosterone effectively without side effects.
I asked a Boots pharmacist about it. He shrugged. “Honestly mate, if you want that kind of thing, you’re better off ordering online.”
He was right.
So I did.
I finally concluded Boots is not the best place to purchase Tongkat Ali supplements, but lucky to many of British consumers, they can now buy quality Tongkat Ali from reputable global brands into the UK.
I finally ordered AKARALI® direct from Malaysia. Clinically tested. Lab-verified. GMP-certified. And importing quality Tongkat Ali directly from the source is probably a better choice than pulling your hair finding one in Boots.
Stop going to Boots. You are better off buying the best tongkat Ali brands such as AKARALI and importing it directly into the UK with 4 day express delivery.
It arrived in four days later — faster than my next GP appointment.
And unlike Boots’ vague multivitamins, it came with real extraction data, standardized eurycomanone levels, and global export certification.
Still, a part of me feels the UK is missing out.
Not just on a herb — but on a shift in wellness thinking. A chance to empower the modern man (and woman) with options beyond pharmaceuticals or rebranded, mass-market fluff.
If we can get melatonin, CBD, ashwagandha, and iron supplements for fatigue, why not Tongkat Ali?
I say this not with anger, but with hope:
Let Boots wake up and smell the rainforest.
British consumers are smarter now. We read labels. We know science.
And we’re no longer content with being spoon-fed the basics, or having to resort to low quality British supplements.
Until then — I’ll keep buying and importing Tongkat Ali. This is the best choice for British consumers for now.
But I’ll never forget the empty aisles in Boots, the limited herbal selection, the clueless stares, and the promised future that never made it past Harrods’ lobby.
Alex Kua leads AKARALI’s Global Partnership Community to help athletes, sports communities, and thousand of others optimize their well-being through evidence-based research that enables them to make better informed decisions. His legal and business consulting background underpins the rigorous data-driven approach in his writing – from hours of interviews, real-world performance data, and firsthand experiences of real people – offering actionable insights that connects clinical research, emerging health trends, and real-world applications. He is also an experienced researcher in herbal nutrition, with years of deep technical knowledge on Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia), including quality standards, industry benchmarks, lab tests, clinical trials, and the use of natural herbs by collaborating with top scientists, herbal experts, and nutritionists. As part of the core team behind AKARALI’s knowledge portal, he empowers people worldwide to access the benefits of high-quality herbal nutrition in a way that is effective, sustainable, and safe. He is also an avid runner, with regular participation in local sports communities and running events.
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Disclaimer:
The content published on this website is for educational purposes and should not be viewed, read, or seen as a prescription or constitute any form of medical advice. We recommend you consult your nearest GP or doctors before consuming Tongkat Ali or any products which contain Tongkat Ali. For further information, kindly refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for more information.
