Let me preface by saying I am pretty sure I'm noticing some strength gains from this stuff now in week 3, so not knocking the ingredient or the difficulty in obtaining it. But I was curious what I'm actually ingesting or what tribulus aquaticus actually is, and this was actually quite obscure to find online - because it is apparently an old, rarely used Latin term for what is more commonly known as Trapa natans or water chestnut (not to be confused with water chestnuts you buy at the grocery store), which grows all over and is considered noxious/invasive in some Eastern states of the US, clogging up waterways, etc. Doesn't matter to me as long as it works but I found all this interesting if it's the same plant we're talking about.
What are you actually ingesting? Tribulus Aquaticus.
What is Tribulus Aquaticus? It's an herbal ingredient.
There is nothing obscure about the water chestnut family in general; it is a major category of plant based ingredients and several different ingredients come from that family. I've mentioned myself several times that Tribulus Aquaticus is from the water chestnut family (genus).
Tribulus Aquaticus is an herb that falls into the water chestnut family, but has nothing to do with the water chestnuts that you're talking about in the US.
All herbal ingredients have a genus, or family that they are classified into. A genus, by definition, is a class or group of something. In biology, its a group covering more than one species under the same umbrella. Think about it like this - trying to compare Tribulus Aquaticus to the type of water chestnut you're talking about in your post would be like trying to equate Korean Mistletoe, which is a very good muscle building ingredient, to what we call Mistletoe in the US which can actually be poisonous if ingested - absolutely nothing to do with one another.
Obscure to find online - yes, it is. That's why we stated in the beginning that it is thought to have a wide variety of mechanisms of action, some of which may not yet be fully know or understood.
We've said over and over that this is a product that we made because people asked us to. We have not over hyped it, we have not even hyped it at all - we've been very up front in that the write up is not as science oriented as our normal write ups because the science is not fully known or understood.
Directly from the write up:
Tribulus Aquaticus is rich in natural phytonutrients and has long been sought after for its muscle building potential. It is thought to have a wide variety of mechanisms of action, some of which may not yet be fully known or understood; but is thought to promote gains in lean muscle and strength by working through glucocorticoid suppression and as a calpain inhibitor.
It has also been thought to act as a natural repartitioning agent, increasing the odds that calories are used as energy or delivered into the muscle cells rather than stored in fat cells.
This ingredient was used for years in one of the most popular bodybuilding supplements of all time and has been commonly used to help build lean muscle tissue, to enhance strength and power output, and to help increase muscle protein synthesis to create a more overall anabolic environment in the body.
Many users of this herb also reported noticeable blood sugar benefits, positive sense of well-being, and greatly improved body-composition.
Due to the scarcity of legitimate raw materials, the industry has been without a legitimate Tribulus Aquaticus product for quite some time.
SNS is glad to be able to bring this long sought after ingredient back to the market for all of those that miss it and love it, as well as for those that never had the chance to try it.
I hope that info helps.