Raise Your Testosterone Naturally

In detail

Before any supplement: list what you take and what you have taken. Past steroid or SARM use, long-term opioid painkillers and steroid tablets such as prednisolone all switch the signal off. Tell the doctor, because it changes what the number means.

Found

Former steroid users were still lower on total and free testosterone than controls an average of 2.5 years after stopping, with more symptoms of low testosterone. A review names opioids, corticosteroids and drugs that raise prolactin among the common reversible causes. Long-term opioid painkillers lower it in between 20% and 80% of users, depending on the drug and how long.

Why

Each suppresses the signal from the brain that tells the testicles to make testosterone. Nothing else on this page can override that while it is switched off.

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Never stop a prescribed opioid or steroid tablet abruptly; taper it with the prescriber.

In detail

If you are trying for a child, tell the doctor before you take anything for testosterone. Testosterone and steroids from outside switch sperm production off, and some supplements have been found spiked with steroids.

Found

875 of 3,132 held hidden drugs. A review of 50 studies: 875 of 3,132 supplements tested held undeclared substances, most often sibutramine and anabolic steroids. A clinical review: outside testosterone and steroids suppress the brain's signal, lowering testosterone inside the testicle and impairing sperm production.

Why

Sperm are made on the testosterone inside the testicle, which runs on the brain's signal. Hormone from outside shuts that signal down, and the testicle's own supply falls with it.

In detail

Seven to eight hours asleep, at the same times, seven days a week. Testosterone is made through the night and peaks in the morning, which is when the draw finds it.

Found

A medium effect from a lost night. Eighteen studies, 252 people: a whole night without sleep pulled testosterone down by two thirds of a standard deviation. Sleep duration is what holds the morning number up.

Why

Testosterone rises through the night with sleep and peaks after waking. Cut the night short and the rise never finishes. Regular timing keeps the morning peak where the draw finds it.

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Snoring, breathing that stops, sleep that does not refresh: get tested for apnea before you blame the hormone.

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In detail

Get the belly off. Fat tissue carries the enzyme that turns testosterone into estrogen. Lose it slowly, with the fat kept on the plate.

Found

24 studies. Twenty-four studies: weight lost by diet or by surgery came with a rise in both bound and free testosterone. A review: with obesity, losing at least 5% of body weight typically raises total testosterone, and weight loss is the first-line treatment.

Why

Fat tissue carries aromatase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen, and the estrogen turns the pituitary's signal down. Less fat, less conversion, more signal.

In detail

Lose the belly without cutting fat out of the plate. The trials that went low-fat saw testosterone fall.

Found

-0.38 on low-fat diets. Six studies, 206 people, low-fat against high-fat diets: total testosterone down (standardized difference -0.38), and free testosterone down (-0.37).

Why

Testosterone is built from cholesterol, and the fat in a meal feeds that line. Cut it hard and the testicles have less to work with.

In detail

If you carry extra weight or your blood sugar runs high: regular aerobic work, the kind that gets you breathing hard, most weeks. Years of very heavy endurance training go the other way.

Found

g 0.565. Seven studies, 103 people, where weight or blood sugar ran high: aerobic training moderately raised testosterone (g = 0.565). A short review: years of endurance sports training go with persistently lower free and total testosterone.

Why

Aerobic work burns the fat that turns testosterone into estrogen, and it improves how the body handles sugar. At the extreme end, the chronic training load itself suppresses the signal.

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Years of heavy endurance training can lower testosterone.

In detail

Keep it under four US standard drinks (seven UK units) a week, and none on most nights. Drinking lowered testosterone across the studies, and over four US standard drinks (seven UK units) a week estradiol rose.

Found

Drinking: T down; over 4 US standard drinks (7 UK units): estradiol up. Forty studies, 23,258 people: drinking lowered testosterone overall. Over four US standard drinks (seven UK units) a week, the sex hormones worsened and estradiol rose; under four, the semen numbers held.

Why

Alcohol hits the testicle directly and the pituitary above it, which sends less LH. Heavy drinking also pushes estrogen up.

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Physical dependence, where cutting abruptly is a medical event and not a plan.

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In detail

200 mg a day of the standardized water extract. Choose a batch with a lab certificate, because adulteration is the risk with this plant.

Found

A large effect on total T. Five trials pooled: total testosterone up by 1.35 standard deviations. Two trials, 139 people: the erection score rose 2.15 points where it started low. Seventy-six people, most of whom started low, on 200 mg for a month: 35.5% had a normal testosterone before, 90.8% after.

Why

The pooled trials measured total testosterone going up, where it started normal and where it started low. It raises what the testicle makes; judge it on your own draw.

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Product contamination and adulteration: this is the plant most often found spiked or substituted. In two market surveys of tongkat ali products, a quarter to a third carried mercury above the legal limit. Choose a product with a third-party test for heavy metals. In the EU it is not authorized as a food; the food safety panel could not establish its safety and flagged possible DNA damage.

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In detail

Only if your zinc is low. The trial dose was 459 µmol a day, about 30 mg, as zinc gluconate for three to six months. Not daily forever: the copper goes.

Found

8.3 to 16.0 nmol/L, if deficient. Thirty-eight studies reviewed: a zinc deficiency lowers testosterone and putting the zinc back restores it. In a small study without a comparison group, nine people who were marginally short went from 8.3 to 16.0 nmol/L after six months of zinc.

Why

Zinc sits in the enzymes that make testosterone and in the receptor that reads it. Twenty weeks of a zinc-poor diet cut testosterone by three quarters in the same study. The mineral is a floor, not a lever.

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Copper deficiency and anemia with long daily zinc. Zinc blocks some antibiotics. Take a quinolone such as ciprofloxacin at least 2 hours before or 6 hours after it. Keep a tetracycline such as doxycycline as far from it as you can.

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In detail

250 mg of purified shilajit twice a day for ninety days. Only a batch with a heavy-metal certificate: raw shilajit is a rock, and it carries lead.

Found

Total and free T up at 90 days. Ninety days at 250 mg twice a day: total and free testosterone and DHEA-S all rose against placebo, and the pituitary signals held.

Why

Fulvic acid ferries minerals into cells. The pigment part may recycle CoQ10 in the mitochondria that make the hormone. How it works is still a theory. The trial is the proof.

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Heavy metal contamination: lead, arsenic and mercury in untested product.

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In detail

The trial's product: an extract giving 21 mg of withanolide glycosides a day, for eight weeks, then judge it on your own blood draw.

Found

57.43 ng/dL more than placebo. Pooled trials against a placebo: men's testosterone rose by 57.43 ng/dL more than on placebo, and cortisol fell. In one eight-week trial, testosterone rose 14.7% more than on placebo, and DHEA-S 18% more.

Why

It turns down the stress-hormone system. In the pooled trials, cortisol, the main stress hormone, fell against placebo. Testosterone rose alongside it.

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Drowsiness, stomach upset, diarrhea and vomiting in some. Rare liver injury has been reported: stop at yellow eyes or skin, or dark urine. It is not recommended with an autoimmune or thyroid disorder, or before surgery. Avoid it with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, because it may raise testosterone. It may interact with medicines for diabetes, blood pressure, the immune system, seizures and the thyroid, and with sedatives. It cannot legally be sold as a food in Denmark.

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In detail

A seed extract, 500 mg a day, the dose a 12-week study ran. The pooled trials found a rise in total testosterone; judge it on your own draw.

Found

4 trials pooled. Four trials pooled: fenugreek extract had a clear effect on total testosterone against the comparison group. In a 12-week study of 50 people on 500 mg a day, free testosterone rose by up to 46% in 90% of them.

Why

Its seed glycosides act on the testosterone line in ways the trials have not pinned down. The effect in the pooled trials was on total testosterone.

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Gut effects and a maple-syrup body odor. It can lower blood sugar. It can interact with warfarin to cause bleeding, and it can cross-react in people allergic to peanuts or chickpeas.

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In detail

10 mg a day. One week moved free testosterone and dropped the binding protein and the estradiol in a study of eight; keep the expectations small.

Found

Free T up in one week, in 8 people. 10 mg a day for a week: the binding protein fell within six hours. By day seven free testosterone was up and estradiol down, with the inflammation markers lower.

Why

It appears to uncouple testosterone from the carrier protein that holds it, which fits the timing: hours, not weeks. It frees what you have; it makes none.

Watch

The trial had eight people and ran one week, and estradiol fell in it. Treat the number as a signal, and stay at the trial's dose.

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In detail

The trial gave 10 mg of magnesium per kg of body weight (4.5 mg per lb) a day, for 4 weeks. For most men that is above the UK’s 400 mg a day line, so stay at 400 mg or less unless a doctor advises more. Judge it on your own draw.

Found

Free and total T up in 4 weeks. A 4-week controlled trial: magnesium raised free and total testosterone, in the active and the inactive alike. The rise was larger in those who trained.

Why

Magnesium runs hundreds of enzyme reactions, and sweat and hard training drain it. Topping up a low store is the proposed route.

Watch

Loose stools and stomach cramps, more at high doses. With kidney disease, not without a doctor, as it can build up. It blocks some antibiotics: take a quinolone such as ciprofloxacin hours apart from it, as its label sets out. It can add to the effect of blood-pressure medicine.

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In detail

A Coleus forskohlii extract standardized to 10% forskolin, 250 mg twice a day, for 12 weeks, the trial’s dose. Judge it on your own draw.

Found

Free T up in 12 weeks. A 12-week placebo trial of 30 people: forskolin raised free testosterone against placebo and cut body fat and fat mass. Bone mass rose too.

Why

Forskolin raises cyclic AMP, the messenger that tells the testes to make testosterone when the brain signals, and that tells fat cells to release fat.

Watch

It can lower blood pressure and speed the heart: dizziness on standing, or palpitations. On blood-pressure medicine or a blood thinner, or before surgery, ask a doctor first. Stomach upset and loose stools in some. Buy a tested product: adulterated ones have been tied to liver injury.

In detail

Mucuna pruriens seed powder, 5 g a day, for 3 months, the trial’s dose. It carries L-dopa, the Parkinson’s medicine, so read the warnings first. Judge it on your own draw.

Found

Testosterone and LH up. A before-and-after study of 75 people on treatment, against 75 controls: mucuna seed powder raised testosterone and LH and cut prolactin, and sperm count and motility recovered. A second study, 5 g a day for 3 months, found better sperm count and motility.

Why

Its L-dopa becomes dopamine in the brain. Dopamine lowers prolactin, and LH, the brain’s signal to the testes, rose with it.

Watch

It carries L-dopa. Not with an MAO-inhibitor antidepressant, or within two weeks of stopping one. Ask a doctor first with glaucoma, a history of melanoma or an undiagnosed skin growth, a mental illness, diabetes, a stomach ulcer, an irregular heartbeat or past heart attack, or on Parkinson’s medicine. Dizziness, nightmares and trouble sleeping are common L-dopa effects.

In detail

Early research, and a hormone: DHEA is made by the adrenal glands and turned into testosterone and estrogen. The pooled trials rose more above 50 mg a day. Stay at 50 mg or under, and only with a doctor watching your draws.

Found

Testosterone up 21.36 ng/dL. 42 trial reports, 55 arms: testosterone rose after DHEA in every subgroup. In the subgroup that matches this page, the rise was 21.36 ng/dL. The rise was bigger above 50 mg a day than at 50 or under.

Why

DHEA is a precursor: the body converts it into the sex hormones, so a dose tops up the raw material the testes and tissues use.

Watch

Androgenic side effects: acne, oily skin and hair loss. It raises estrogen as well as testosterone, so the draw checks both. With a hormone-sensitive condition, such as prostate or breast disease, not without a doctor.

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In detail

If you carry a lot of extra fat and the draws are low, a GLP-1 medicine through a doctor takes the fat off faster than food alone, and testosterone rose with the loss. It is prescribed for obesity, or overweight with a weight-related condition. The usual start is semaglutide 0.25 mg a week, stepping up every 4 weeks to 2.4 mg. Keep lifting and keep the protein up, so the loss is fat. The other options and the full plan: Weight loss injections and surgery.

Found

Total testosterone up. Seven studies pooled: on a GLP-1 medicine, total testosterone rose, and the erection score went up 2.73 points. In four studies, the testosterone the body can use rose too.

Why

Fat tissue turns testosterone into estrogen and turns down the brain's signal to the testes. Taking the fat off lifts that brake, and the number follows the weight down.

Watch

The label's boxed warning: thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents. So never with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2. A lump in the neck, trouble swallowing, breathlessness or a hoarse voice that lasts: tell the doctor. Never after a serious allergic reaction to it. The dose steps up every 4 weeks. If a step is not tolerated, the next is delayed 4 weeks. Severe gut side effects, and not with severe gastroparesis. Pancreatitis: severe belly pain that will not go, sometimes into the back, means stop it and get seen. Gallstones and gallbladder inflammation. Low blood sugar with insulin or a sulfonylurea. Kidney injury when sickness or diarrhea dries you out. Anaphylaxis and swelling of the face or throat. Diabetic eye disease can get worse. The resting heart rate rises, so it is checked at regular intervals. A racing heart at rest: tell the doctor. Food can stay in the stomach under anesthesia or deep sedation: tell the team before any procedure. The tablet form raised levothyroxine levels 33%. Never share a pen. A sudden loss of vision, usually in one eye: get urgent help. Muscle goes with the fat unless you keep lifting and keep the protein high.

In detail

If both draws stay low with the symptoms, after the habits and a search for the cause, testosterone therapy through a doctor puts the number back into the normal range. It shuts down sperm production, so trying for a child comes first. The full detail: TRT. UK and US: prescription only.

Found

Sexual function up 5.52 points. Pooled data from 17 trials: testosterone treatment raised the sexual function score by 5.52 points against placebo. 59 trials: fat down and lean mass up. The biggest safety trial dosed a daily 1.62% gel to 350 to 750 ng/dL.

Why

It replaces the hormone directly, so the number rises whatever the cause. That is also why the testes' own output, and sperm, go quiet on it.

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The label: sperm production can be suppressed. Red cell count and blood pressure can rise, and blood clots in the legs and lungs have been reported. The prostate is checked before and during treatment, and breast or prostate cancer rules it out. It can worsen sleep apnea, cause fluid retention and grow breast tissue. Its safety and benefit in age-related low testosterone are not established. On the gel, children and women must not touch the skin where it went on. In the biggest safety trial, atrial fibrillation, kidney injury and clots in the lung were more common on testosterone. It has been abused at high doses, with serious heart and mental-health harms, and the label lists dependence.

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