Testosterone Upgrade (Part 2)

Written By Eusebius Baca

ONIONS EXTRACTS AND OTHER FOODS

Eurycoma Longifolia has an impressive resume for supporting men’s sexual health (10.1016/S1875-5364(17)30010-9). It’s a plant that grows in the eastern world. It has anti-inflammatory, and immune regulating properties. It has been shown to mitigate osteoporosis, diabetes, metabolic complications, and have several anti-parasitic functions. It sounds like it does basically what testosterone does!

It is so effective in helping men that this systematic review and meta-analysis from Medicina says “it can be considered as an alternative to Testosterone Replacement Therapy” in certain patients (10.3390/medicina58081047). What makes the root of this plant so efficacious is its quassinoids which break down in the body into diterpenoids aka eurycomanones which is the namesake of the plant.

The quassinoids have anti-estrogenic effects via increasing luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone - which are hormones necessary for starting testosterone production - meanwhile, inhibiting aromatase, the enzyme which converts testosterone into estrogen.

Just as an aside, a supplement that is good for the average American with his inflammatory diet is called NAC, short for N-Acetyl Cysteine. This supplement contains the two molecules crucial for making glutathione which is one of your body’s best detoxifiers (10.1016/j.mam.2008.08.006).

NAC has been tested in relation to man’s sexual system and these meta-analyses confirm conclusively, that while it does not raise or lower testosterone levels in men, it improves everything about the sperm from volume to concentration and motility and morphology (10.1177/15579883211011371, 10.1111/and.13953).

Even Further down the increasing testosterone rabbit hole is ginger, which convincingly increases testosterone (10.3390/biom8040119). Ginger does so by increasing the Lutenizing hormone production, increasing the amount of cholesterol in the testes, increasing lipid peroxidation in testes, increasing Nitric Oxide production and therefore blood flow in the Leydig cells (which produce testosterone), and normalizing blood glucose.

All of these metabolic and health increases are due to the fact that, “Ginger root is rich with several potent antioxidant compounds such as gingerols, zingerone, zingiberene, glucosides-6-gingerdiol, flavonoids, and volatile oils (10.3390/biom8040119).”

So you may be thinking, what are other foods that are high in these strangely majestic compounds? Well here is a list brought to you by Amit Zamir et. Al (https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103375):

1. Isodon excisus car. Coreanus

a. aromatase inhibiting

2. Red wine, resveratrol

a. anti-inflammatory, lipid regulating, antioxidant, and aromatase inhibiting

3. Grape seed extract

a. aromatase inhibitor, suppressor of aromatase expression

4. White button muchrooms

a. immune response enhancers, but they decrease cholesterol, aromatase inhibitors

5. Red clover flower extract

a. aromatase inhibitor at low concentrations but estrogenic at high concentrations

6. Mangosteen (10.1186/s12970-018-0257-4)

a. aromatase inhibitor

7. Apigenin a flavonoid found in parsley, celery, celeriac, and chamomile tea

a. aromatase inhibitor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, anti-carcinogenic

8. Cocoa, prune juice, acai

a. flavonoids as catechins

9. Honey and propolis

a. flavonoids as chemical chrysin

10. Boron? Nahhh, but the mechanism suggested that enhancing testosterone concentrations from boron intake is related to boron’s role in the hydroxylation step during testosterone formation.

The reason it is important to cancel aromatase rather than getting testosterone replacement therapy, or by doing things that only increase testosterone production, is because when you significantly increase your testosterone extraneously, your body still tries to convert some of it into estrogen. So it would be wise to - if you are receiving replacement therapy – involve aromatase inhibiting foods into your diet so that long term, you are not hurting yourself with excess inflammatory estrogen (remember, estrogen is 100s of times more bioactive than testosterone).

So how about the relation between Zinc - which modulates the inflammatory reaction of

the body - and testosterone? According to the same review by Amit Zamir et. Al, “The

physiological role of zinc regarding testosterone biology is related to its requirement in the synthesis and secretion of LH… LH stimulates testosterone synthesis in the Leydig cells.”

This is extremely useful information because a deficiency of zinc is related to hypogonadism.

Magnesium is another supplement to take to boost your manliness. Magnesium, “appears to bind to SHBG [steroid hormone binding globulin]… subsequently enhancing testosterone’s bioavailability.” On the other hand, a lack of Magnesium results in more testosterone binding to SHBG which decreases its bioavailability (Amit Zamir et. Al). Other than that, Magnesium reduces oxidative stress.

There is an unfortunate money-grabbing scheme by a lot of “testosterone-boosting supplements.” Additionally:

"Balasubramanian and colleagues recently examined the efficacy of the five top-ranked products and reported that the number of human studies conducted provided no definitive evidence for the efficacy of these products. Similarly, Clemesha and colleagues reported that only ~25% of the 50 products they tested claimig to be testosterone boosters had scientific data to support their claims (10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.12.008, 10.5534/wjmh.190043).”

So do substantive research (like reading The Way The Truth and The Hype) before you waste money on things that do not work or can harm you.

But that is not all regarding farsical supplements, a meta-analysis found that after a type of filtering the reviews from testosterone supplements to get a more accurate idea of the effectiveness of them, they found:

“After filtration, there was a 91% decrease in users reporting increased libido, a 59% decrease in reports of increased energy, a 93% decrease in reports of improved strength/endurance, a 60% decrease in reports of improved erections, an elimination of reports of improved work performance, a 67% decrease in reports of improved sleep, and an 89% decrease in reports of improved sports ability (10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.12.008).”

That would not seem to make a happy camper out of a gym rat. The most likely reason for the significant failures of TesTostErone BoOstIng “supplements” is that none of them are or have to be approved by the FDA. So if the marketing is good enough, and the ingredients are cheap enough then it seems to be a nice money-grab if someone could sell them in bulk.

To repeat, do not waste money on silly supplements if you didn’t do your research. Instead, perhaps try to compete more…

COMPETE AND WIN

This is my favorite topic for boosting testosterone because it goes to show that while testosterone levels are mostly genetic, we can have a significant say in them naturally by changing our behavior!

A meta-analysis of 2,500 people from Hormones and Behavior concluded that winners (in competitive events) had elevated testosterone concentrations compared to the losers. A thought-provoking addition in their results was that “for studies conducted in the lab, the effect of competition outcome on testosterone reactivity patterns was relatively weak, and only found in studies of men.”

This means that winning in real life is far superior than winning in a lab or a nonconsequential match. Also, it means that men get a lot more out of winning than women do, at least in terms of hormones (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.10.002).

Another benefit to men competing, this time, in a study regarding a soccer matches, was that testosterone was associated with social connectedness, whereas in women, it was associated with changes in mood state and correlated with increased cortisol (10.1371/journal.pone.0186100).

In judo matches, a study found that testosterone is linked with “aggressive competition” in males – they did not study females in this study (10.1016/s0031-9384(99)00168-7). In a Clinical trial, they found that even just anticipating the competition (in males) increases testosterone (10.1016/s0306-4530(99)00011-6).

Another clinical trial shows that testosterone increases during and after competition, but adds that several other factors play a role (10.1371/journal.pone.0181610). The title of that trial says it all, “Endocrine and aggressive responses to competition are moderated by contest outcome, gender, individual versus team competition, and implicit motives”

Finally, from the Cambridge University Press, in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, a research article tells us:

“T[estosterone (T)] not only affects behavior but also responds to it. The act of competing for dominant status affects male T levels in two ways. First, T rises in the face of a challenge, as if it were an anticipatory response to impending competition. Second, after the competition, T rises in winners and declines in losers. Thus, there is a reciprocity between T and dominance behavior, each affecting the other.”

LIFT HEAVY THINGS

The idea that lifting weights increases testosterone is no surprise. Testosterone is an anabolic hormone, so if you challenge your body to grow, then you will release more testosterone. A meta-analysis including 569 participants states, “Indeed, only moderate- and high-intensity exercises (defined as higher than 80% of the maximal exercise) are able to increase testosterone levels, as opposed to mild exercise, which shows no effect (10.1007/s40618-020-01251-3).”

The above meta-analysis confirms past suggestions that high intensity physical activity increase testosterone levels in animals and humans, and that the blood serum levels of testosterone and other androgens increase quickly with exercise.

Another review supports the claims of the previous but adds that the amount of muscle mass used is correlated with the amount of testosterone increase as well as proper hydration. Interestingly, free weights induce more testosterone than the machines. The seemingly best combination – according to this review – “is moderate intensity, high volume, and shorter resting periods.” This combination has seen testosterone levels be elevated even 48 hours after the bout of lifting.

The same review indicates that if you want to use endurance exercise to increase testosterone, then you must do at least 90% of your VO2max. It must be noted, however, that while high intensity endurance exercise is good for an acute rise in testosterone, the subsequent activation of the sympathetic nervous system and changes in testosterone metabolism lead to hours of post-exesrcise decreased total testosterone (10.3390/jfmk5040081).

This meta-analysis included 21 studies and 933 individuals to show that… they don’t know what the heck to conclude:

“Acute aerobic and resistance exercise consistently increased sal-T, although with large variations in effect size. Acute effects on power-based exercise were less clear, with both increased and decreased sal-T being evident. In terms of sal-C, both aerobic and power exercise demonstrated consistent increases, whereas there was considerable variability following resistance exercise, dependent upon study design. The sal-T:C ratio remained largely unaffected following resistance exercise, while aerobic and power exercise demonstrate study design effects that can largely be accounted for by changes in sal-C. The timing of saliva sampling appeared to bias the direction of change in sal-T following exercise (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0306-y).”

Did you ever think you’d hear a group of scientists sound so confused? Neither did I… see our article in The Truth, Philosophy > Science. The lack of a firm conclusion in the meta-analysis is probably because it had such a wide range of exercises and times of exercises, and non-precise methods of measuring.

Sprinting is also advantageous for increasing testosterone levels. This study (10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181876a9a) found that relatively short bursts of 80% effort sprints can increase testosterone. Similar results to the consequences of sprinting were found in this study which had young men do 400m, 300m, 200m, and 100m sprints (10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181dc4571).

A small study which did (10 x 30sec with 90 sec rest) cycling sprints showed an significant increase in testosterone, interestingly which was correlated with the cycling cadence. So, the faster you pedal the higher the spike in testosterone (10.1152/japplphysiol.01419.2012). A similar result in cyclists was shown in this study too (10.1123/ijspp.2020-0910).

THE SUM UP

The sum up is this: Testosterone and therefore males' health and masculinity is decreasing in the western world which is not good for several reasons. Testosterone is mostly genetically determined, so we have to look at things that are decreasing our production of testosterone rather than those things that can increase our production of it.

Most of the reason testosterone seems to be decreasing is from environmental toxins, present in the form of seed oils, Zearalonone, glyphosates, pyrethroids, microcystins, PFOAs phthalates, BPAs, plastics, and various pollutants in water. Also in the modern world, comforts such as warm showers increase estrogen production, and blue light keeps us chronically under-slept.

Soy products infest our foods via soy lecithin, soybean oil, and other soy byproducts, while scientists do poor quality studies - like this one https://doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2001.9680610 - to support such foods or justify their use in our foods. Otherwise, our foods, due to industrial "farming" are also lacking essential nutrients like Vitamin D, cholesterol, and saturated fat which are all building blocks for testosterone.

What we can do to help would be start local initiatives to increase nutrition in our foods, and otherwise eat foods that can limit the production of estrogen, via inhibiting aromatase, since we get so many xenoestrogens from our environmental toxins. We can resistance train and stay educated and do our research so as to not waste the resources which are scarcely given by those few who control the world. Finally, we can bring back a culture of true competition in our local communities to increase testosterone levels in our males and further increase their prudence, masculinity, and boldness.

Thank you for reading, and I hope this pamphlet encourages you to do what you must.

Sincerely,

Eusebius