Ristela

Ristela is a plant-based, non-hormonal product designed to boost sexual arousal and satisfaction in women.

Bonfide produces and sells this natural supplement as a solution for countering a low libido.

While Ristela has only been available in the United States since 2019, the company states that European women have been successfully taking it for more than two decades.

They claim that taking this supplement daily will promote healthy blood flow that leads to better sexual enjoyment in the long run.

In this review, we take a detailed look at Ristela’s effectiveness to tell you if it works and if it is the right option for you.

How to Use Ristela

To use, take two tablets once per day at the time of your choosing with a glass of water. The tablets are scored so that you can easily crush them or break them in half if they are difficult to swallow.

Some people find the supplements upset their stomach, so consider taking it with food to minimize this risk.

You’ll likely need to take it daily for a month before you start noticing its effects. There’s no reason to double a dose if you occasionally forget.

The company suggests taking Ristela for as long as you want to experience its effects.

Ristela’s Ingredients: Is There Scientific Evidence for Their Effectiveness?

Ristela’s central purpose is to promote healthy blood flow and circulation, two crucial factors for female sexual enjoyment.

Bonafide references a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that showed significant improvements for female arousal, orgasm, and desire.

By their records, participants experienced the following improvements by month two:

• 75% increase in arousal
• 74% increase in orgasm
• 75% increase in overall sexual satisfaction

Here is some of the available scientific literature for each of the active ingredient:

• L-Arginine (as Arginine HCI): This amino acid helps the body produce nitric oxide, which works to relax blood vessels to improve blood flow. There’s preliminary evidence that it can increase arousal by controlling blood flow to the genitals, especially for men. One study focused on women who took a proprietary blend that contained L-arginine found that they experienced a 70% increase in sexual satisfaction.

• L-Citrulline (as Citrulline HCI): This non-essential amino acid is converted within the body to L-arginine.

• Rosvita® Rose Hips extract: Rose hips are the seed pods of wild rose plants, and they are valued for their vitamin C content. Traditionally, rose hips are used to treat bladder stones, arthritis, and colds and flues.

• Pycnogenol® French Maritime Pine Bark Extract: Considered one of the most popular herbal products in the 1990s, pine bark extract has been used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, as well as a way to improve menopause symptoms.

We found that L-Arginine seems to have the most clinical research backing up its effectiveness, but it’s important to note most published studies focus only on men, and further research is still needed to validate these findings for its benefits for females.

Saying that, some experts are more skeptical of any real benefit from Ristela’s ingredients.

“The only effect that a plant-based non-hormonal formula could have on female arousal is a possible placebo effect,” says Dr. Richard Honaker, chief medical advisor at Your Doctors Online. “There is no scientific-based evidence otherwise.”

Pricing

Ristela costs $55 on the company website. This includes a 30-day supply of 60 tablets.

Alternatively, you can pay $45 per month by signing up for an auto-ship subscription. Shipping is free and you can cancel your subscription at any time.

A company representative informed us that the company doesn’t have a return or refund policy.

The Bottom Line

The active ingredients in this supplement work to increase blood flow, which is beneficial in sexual situations.

Both L-Arginine and pine bark extract show promise in clinical studies for counteracting erectile dysfunction, though the research is more limited when it comes to women.

One thing to keep in mind is that a supplement like Ristela may owe a lot of its effectiveness to the placebo effect. That’s because sexual arousal is highly suggestible, so telling women a pill will make them enjoy sex more tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You can see this playing out through the fact that research on the benefits of an L-Arginine proprietary blend revealed that women who took a placebo experienced a 40% increase in sexual satisfaction.

Overall, Ristela may help you improve your libido, but there are other strategies you can also try.

Dr. Honaker believes that improving the intimacy in your relationship is the best way to improve sexual satisfaction.

“Since a woman's emotional state plays a role in arousal, consider seeking relationship counseling if you are unhappy. Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective,” Ronaker said.