Adult Botanical Gummies: Spicy Cubes, 30 per Pouch

What follows is what published sources say about each plant on its own, at its own doses and in its own form.

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) is the first plant on the label, at 30 mg a gummy. Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) describes cayenne, a hot pepper, as one of the most widely eaten culinary spices, lists stomach irritation as its common oral reaction and advises avoiding it in pregnancy and breastfeeding (MSK, cayenne).

Maca root is a root crop of the mustard family grown in the central Andes and traditionally boiled before it is eaten (Gonzales, 2012). It appears twice on this label, as 50 mg of root and as a 4:1 extract inside the blend.

A 2010 summary of the maca literature found four small placebo-controlled trials with 131 people in total, using 1.5 to 3.5 g of maca a day for 2 to 12 weeks, and none of them assessed adverse effects (Shin and colleagues, 2010). The 50 mg of root in a gummy is 30 to 70 times less than those daily amounts, so the trial results cannot be carried over to one gummy.

Maca also varies from batch to batch. Its chemistry depends on ecotype, growing location, harvest and processing, no official pharmacopeial monograph exists yet, and adulterated maca products are a growing concern (Wasilewicz and Grienke, 2026).

Muira puama (Ptychopetalum olacoides) is an Amazonian tree whose roots and bark are used. A 2020 pharmacology paper reports only animal findings on its safety, such as reduced movement and impaired memory in mice given extract, and says few side-effect data exist for several of the plants it covers (Brunetti and colleagues, 2020). We found no human safety study we could read, so we say nothing about what it does in people.

Epimedium, sold as horny goat weed, is a Chinese herb. MSK says scientific evidence on it is sparse, that more studies are needed to confirm its safety and that trials often combine it with other herbs, so its own part cannot be separated (MSK, epimedium). It lists heart disease as a contraindication, and reported reactions include sweating, feeling hot and a rapid irregular heartbeat.

Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) has been studied many times, though NCCIH notes that some studies are not of high quality. It also says ginger has been used safely in many studies, and that side effects by mouth can include abdominal discomfort, heartburn and diarrhea (NCCIH, ginger).