Just like there are many foodstuffs which can increase testosterone levels, there are also many of the kind that can lower your T production.
 
In this article, we’re looking at 7 possible foods and/or food groups that can have a negative effect on your androgen levels.
 
Without further ramblings, let’s check out the seven dietary T-suppressants:
 
 
 
 

The studies on the subject point heavily towards the conclusion that flaxseed products and androgens are not exactly a match made in heaven.

 
Firstly, there’s a case-study of this 31-year old woman who had high testosterone levels which caused her to develop a condition called hirsutism (excessive facial hair growth). In an effort to control the hirsutism and drive down her high T-levels, the researchers told her to eat 30g/day of flaxseeds for 4 months. The results? Serum total testosterone dropped by a whopping 70%, and free-testosterone went down by a staggering 89%.
 
Well, you’re probably not a woman with hirsutism, so how would flaxseed consumption affect men’s hormone levels?
 
Turns out there’s a study where the same dose (30g/day) was given to 40 male subjects for a month. The decrease in total testosterone was not nearly as significant as in the case-study above (only a mere ~10% decrease), but still, it’s evidence pointing towards the fact that flaxseeds can have a T-suppressing effect, even at such low dosages (2 tablespoons/day).
 
The same researchers had done a study with similar design (25 male subjects, 30g/day flaxseeds) 7 years earlier. In that study, the average total testosterone levels dropped by ~15%, whereas free testosterone went down by ~20%. The difference in this previous study was that the subjects were told not to consume more than 20% of daily calories from dietary fat.
 
Few older in-vitro/animal studies have also shown that the lignans in flaxseed can increase SHBG count, thus resulting in lower bio-availibity of testosterone for the receptors (study, study).
 
So unless you’re a woman who battles with hirsutism, I wouldn’t recommend eating too much of flaxseed products.
 
 
 
 

In other words, their testosterone levels were almost half of what they were before popping the licorice pills.

 
Good news are that 4 days after discontinuation of the licorice-habit, their testosterone levels had returned back to baseline.
 
 
 
 

• increased total fat intake boosts testosterone levels
• increased intake of saturated fatty-acids (SFA) boost testosterone levels
• increased intake of monounsaturated fatty-acids boosts testosterone levels
• and increased intake of polyunsaturated fatty-acids (PUFA) reduces testosterone levels.

 
Nearly all vegetable oils, are LOADED with PUFAs (with the exceptions of coconut oil, palm oil, avocado oil, and olive oil).
 
What can make a high-PUFA vegetable oil worse, is if the polyunsaturated fatty-acids are mainly comprised of the dreaded omega-6 fatty-acids.
 
This is because the human body operates best if we keep the omega-3 (ω3) to omega-6 (ω6) ratio somewhere close to 1:1 or 1:2, which is near of that of the paleolithic human (the average American now has this ratio at 1:16, which is sixteen-times more of the omega-6).
 
When the ratio of ω3:ω6 shifts more and more towards higher amounts of omega-6, the systemic inflammation and oxidative stress of the body keep on creeping higher and higher, this in turn DRAMATICALLY increasing your risk of multiple chronic diseases prevalent in Western societes.
 
It’s very much likely that one of the end-results of high omega-6 intake would also be lowered testosterone production, and even though I didn’t find any studies about the subject, I did stumble upon a study which shows that when the ω6 content of sperm is high (and conversely ω3 is low), men are likely to be infertile. Whereas, when the ratio is more in favor of the omega-3’s, the subjects are more likely to be fertile and have high-quality sperm.
 
Bottom line: Dietary fat intake should be moderate-high for optimal testosterone production, and the amount of saturated fatty-acids (SFA), and monounsaturated fatty-acids (MUFA) should be priorized. High-PUFA vegetable oils on the other hand, are bad news for testosterone production. High-PUFA high-ω6 vegetable oils are a f@#ing disaster.
 
 
 
 

• Group one received commercial drinking water (control).
• Group two received 20g/L peppermint tea.
• Group three got 20g/L speamint tea.
• Group four got 40g/L spearmint tea.

 
When compared to the control group, the peppermint tea at 20g/L reduced total testosterone levels by 23%, whereas the spearmint tea at 20g/L reduced total T by a whopping 51%. If you translate this into human dosages, 20g/L is the equivalent of steeping a cup of tea from 5 grams of tea leaves.
 
A study from 2008, showed that spearmint suppressed testosterone production and acted as anti-androgen in male rats. The researches theorized that spearmint works by inducing oxidative stress in hypothalamus resulting in down-regulation of T syntesis in testicles. Another rodent study conducted in 2014, found out that at 10-40mg/kg spearmint showed no significant toxic effects on the reproductive system, but still, a trend towards lowered testosterone levels was noted.
 
What about human studies?
 
Unfortunately there isn’t any trials done on human males. BUT spearmint has been shown to significantly reduce testosterone levels in women…
 
…Much like in the case of flaxseeds (see number #1 above), spearmint has been studied on women with high-androgen levels, and whom battle with the main cause of that; hirsutism (excessive facial hair growth).
 
In this study, the researchers gave 21 women subjects a cup of spearmint tea, 2 times a day, for 5 consecutive days. Surprisingly, total testosterone levels didn’t change much, but the bio-available free-testosterone levels did drop by ~30% on average. This study was replicated with 42 subjects in 2009, only the duration of the trial was changed to 30 days. The results showed that free and total testosterone levels were significantly reduced over the 30 day period in the women who drank spearmint tea.
 
Are you a woman battling with hirsutism or a male wistarian rat? Probably not, so this isn’t direct proof that similar effects would be seen in human males. However, the studies above are still quite heavy evidence towards the fact that, yes, the herbs from mint-family will likely reduce testosterone levels in men.
 
 
 
 

Alcohol tends to lower testosterone levels, but the dose really makes the poison, and few drinks are not going to turn you into an eunuch.

 
NOTE: More about alcohol and why it lowers testosterone can be found in this post.
 
 
 
 

It’s also worth mentioning that soybeans have – from a testosterone boosting point of view – quite shitty fatty-acid ratios. out of the 20 grams of fat that can found in 100 grams of regular soybeans, more than 50% comes from the testosterone lowering PUFAs. Not to mention the fact that most of the PUFAs consist of the inflammatory omega-6 fatty-acids.

 
So at least on paper, soy seems to be a hormonal disaster, but what does the research say?
 
a) On multiple human and animal studies, it has been shown that high intake of soy (even if it’s coming through a low-isoflavone soy protein extract) can suppress both; testosterone and DHT (study, study, study, study, study, study, study).
 
b) Surprisingly enough, many studies also show that increased soy consumption does not correlate with lowered testosterone levels (study, study, study, study).
 
Bottom line: Even though the research is relatively inconclusive, I see no point in consuming high amounts of soy products (that is, at least if you’re a carnivore). There are many theoretical reasons for soy to lower testosterone levels, and the possible negative effects greatly outweigh the positive effects. In fact, the only positive effect of soy consumption seems to be the fact that it’s quite high in protein, and since being a plant, vegans/vegetarians could cover their dietary protein needs by eating a lot of soy products (though it’s worth mentioning that according to this study, animal-protein is superior to plant-protein when it comes to testosterone production).
 
 
 
 

• industrial vegetable oil shortenings for baking and confections
• margarine and vegetable oil spreads
• fast-foods, especially: Burger King, McDonald’s, and KFC
• potato chips (not all, but some)
• muffins and doughnuts
• cookies, cakes, cake mixes, and frostings

 
NOTE: There are many of the products above that are labeled “trans-fat free”, but this doesn’t automatically mean that they don’t include the stuff, since the FDA allows them to contain up to 0,5 grams of trans-fatty acids while still being “trans-fat free”. It’s also worth mentioning that during the summer, FDA announced a complete ban on all man-made partially hydrogenated fats from American foods by 2018.
 
But why are trans-fats bad for your health and testosterone production?
 
Firstly: Trans-fats promote systemic inflammation in the body, and a recently published large review study concluded that each 2% increase in calories from trans-fats was associated with 23% increase in cardiovascular disease risk.
 
Secondly: trans-fats are high in testosterone lowering PUFAs. They lower the amount of “good” HDL cholesterol (a crucial building block in testosterone synthesis). And high intake of trans fatty-acids is associated with lowered sperm counts and testosterone levels in male rodents (study) and humans (study, study, study).

The post 7 Foods and Foodstuffs that Could Significantly Lower Testosterone Levels appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Black seed oil (BSO) is the oil extracted from the seeds of black cumin (nigella sativa, black seed).
 
Black cumin products are native to southern Asia, and they’re most commonly used as a spice in Indian and Middle Eastern cultures. Their “medicinal use” has now spread across the globe (not surprisingly, since these tiny black seeds are often hyped up as “cure for all disease”).
 

From the claims of curing cancer to warding-off inflammation, and correcting many allergies, it can be easy to rule BSO of as just another fashionable “snake oil supplement”…

 
…And after seeing the hyped up claims that sometimes pop-up in my Facebook news feed, I can honestly say that the word “snake oil” has entered my mind more than once. And lately, I’ve also seen few naturopathic doctors recommending BSO as a natural remedy for guys with low testosterone levels. Since then I’ve felt the need to address these “magical” black seeds in this blog.
 
Here are some BSO truths for you:
 
 
 
 

These results are likely caused by the high amount of antioxidants in the seeds which reduce overall oxidative damage of the body (which by all means of common sense could lead to slight increases in testosterone levels). Similar effects would thus also be seen in any other food/supplement that have high amount of antioxidants, such as: berries, multiple herbs, spices, and certain fruits.

 
What actually speaks against black seed oil in regards of testosterone production, is the fact that 58% of the oil consists of the testosterone lowering PUFAs, and out of those PUFAs, the majority is omega-6 fatty-acids, with minimal amounts of the beneficial omega-3’s. For some unknown reason BSO is also able to increase serum albumin levels, which could lead to lowered testosterone bioavailibity in the long-term.
 
 
 
 

The post Nigella Sativa and Testosterone: Is Black Seed Oil the Next Testosterone Booster or Just Snake Oil? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

The paleo diet has been extremely popular in these past few years. The idea is relatively simple, just eat like a caveman
 
More specifically, eat like a human of the paleolithic era, an era which started roughly 2,6 million years ago and ended 10,000 years ago.
 
The foundation is based on:
 

Circle-jerking and fuckarounditis aside, I can’t help but admit that the paleo diet, with minor modifications, might as well be extremely useful for someone who’s looking to increase his testosterone production naturally.

 
Right of the bat, the idea of eating minimal amounts of processed foods, is great for testosterone production. When you eliminate processed stuff, you most often also eliminate the testosterone lowering trans-fats, refined sugars, pesticides and possible man-made chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors. Eating more whole-foods, less processed goo, also provides you with a TON of essential micronutrients for testosterone synthesis.
 
When the diet is based around grass-fed meats, you get the high quality animal protein that is vitally important for testosterone production, along with plenty of saturated fat, which is one of the foundational nutrients for healthy T synthesis.
 
Since the diet also favors avocados, olives, and nuts, you can flood your body with monounsaturated fatty-acids (MUFAs), which have been found to be great for testosterone levels in multiple studies.
 
If you’re a frequent reader here, you already know that polyunsaturated fatty-acids (PUFAs), are known for their testosterone lowering effect. On a paleoish diet, you’re avoiding the modern day high-PUFA vegetable oils, which significantly cuts back your overall PUFA intake.
 
There are some PUFAs on a paleo diet though, mainly from wild fish. However, wild fish tends to be ridiculously high in the beneficial anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty-acids with no inflammatory omega-6’s…
 
…Balancing the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio more in favor of the omega-3’s, greatly reduces all chronic inflammatory diseases, it’s also likely that it improves testosterone production via lowered oxidative stress in tissues (balancing the ω3:ω6 ratio is actually one of the ideologies behind paleo, since the paleolithic man was known of having the ratio fairly close to 1:1, whereas in the modern day Western diet it can be as high as 1:25).
 
Even the carbohydrate sources on a paleo diet are of the most testosterone friendly kind; starchy tubers. aka, potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, and some other root vegetables …
 
…Actually the only negative thing about the “caveman diet”, is the fact that the macronutrient ratios which the guru’s have laid out, tend to have too little amounts of carbohydrates. The general recommendation around the circles seem to be something below 20% of daily calories, whereas a more testosterone-friendly approach would be to bump that up to about 35-45% (especially if you excerise), while keeping protein at around ~20% (where it usually is anyway in the paleo diet), and fat would be lowered to ~35-45%, depending a bit on how you adjust the carbs.
 
NOTE: The paleo diet is often (rightfully) bashed due to low amounts of scientific evidence on its claimed health benefits. For anyone looking for more of a scientific layout of the science behind paleo for overall health, read this excellent article from Suppversity.
 
 
 
 

The post Paleo Diet and Testosterone: How Good is the “Caveman Diet” for T Levels? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

If you’ve been reading my older posts here, you already know that I’ve been somewhat of an anti-coffee guy in the past. That’s because research has shown time after time that caffeine consumption leads to dose dependent increases in cortisol secretion via stimulating the adrenal cortex…
 
…And elevated cortisol has been linked to lowered testosterone levels.
 
Here are the mechanisms of action behind cortisol’s testosterone suppressing effects if you’re not yet familiar with them:
 

 
Based on that it would make great sense that coffee – which increases cortisol – would also lower testosterone levels. However that seems not to be the case, at least if there’s any truth in the studies I managed to pull out yesterday when I was researching caffeine as a fat burner.
 
Just take a look at this:
 
 
 
 

The post Caffeine and Testosterone: Coffee Stimulates Testosterone Production, Possibly Due to Increased cAMP Activity appeared first on Anabolic Men.

This is not the first time I write about marijuana. In fact, about 6 months ago I wrote a post showcasing all the studies about its effects on androgen production, but since some serial-stoners decided to spam the shit out of the article, claiming that I was promoting propaganda, I just got tired to that and removed the whole thing.
 
After the deletion of the original posts, I’ve received a ton of inquiries about the subject, which is why I’m finally rewriting the old article about cannabis and testosterone.
 
Here you go:
 
 
 
 

Marijuana is just a goddamn herb. To claim that a single herb would be powerful enough to stop muscle growth, is beyond the scope of my understanding. It’s unlikely that you’d grow breasts by smoking it either.

 
Does this mean that marijuana is harmless for hormones? Well, not entirely I suppose:
 

The post Marijuana and Testosterone: The Effects of Cannabis on Male T Levels appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Royal jelly is an anabolic porridge like jelly secreted from the hypophranyx glands of the worker bees.
 
When the hive decides to change the queen bee, they select few small larvaes and start feeding them with royal jelly. This anabolic nutritional powerhouse will then grow the larvae to be 60 times bigger and live for 40 times longer than other bees in the hive, thus becoming the next queen bee.
 
Aside from the fact that the jelly is jam-packed with nutrients and enzymes, there’s also one other interesting benefit in royal jelly…
 
…It just might increase testosterone levels:
 
 
 
 

It’s probably a synergic effect of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, lipids, acetylcholine, the actual androgen, and a bunch of something that we don’t know of, which triggers the changes…

 
Or something completely different. Go and figure, but at least it seems to work very well for restoring youthful testosterone and fertility levels.
 
 
 
 

The post Royal Jelly and Testosterone: Can the “Anabolic Porridge” Help Restore Youthful T Levels and Fertility? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

There are multiple micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) that contribute to testosterone synthesis, such as: vitamins A, C, D, K2, zinc, magnesium, iodine, calcium, etc…
 
…But what is often left unmentioned is the trace mineral boron. When in fact it’s the boron that currently holds the most impressive results on natural T production in terms of scientific evidence.
 

Many experts believe that we’re getting significantly less boron through the diet than our ancestors did, and this is because the modern day “power farming” quickly depletes the soil in which our food is grown, leaving less boron – and less of multiple other naturally occurring micronutrients – into the end product.

 
But is boron something you’d want to miss from the diet? Definitely not according to the research:
 
 
 
 

However – as unnecessary as boron may seem like – what most of the guys don’t know is that boron can be easily labeled as a natural testosterone booster. This one ridiculously cheap and unpopular trace mineral is actually much more effective in raising ones natural T production than most of the “T-Booster” products flying of the shelves at your local GNC are…

 
Take this study from Naghii et al. as an example. The researchers in this trial gave eight of their male subjects ~10 mg’s of boron supplement, every morning for 7 consecutive days. After the week had passed, the scientists compared their subjects blood results from day 0 to day 7, and found out that:
 

• free testosterone levels had increased by 28%
• free estrogen levels had decreased by -39%
• dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels rose by 10%
• many inflammation biomarkers (hsCRP, TNF-α) dropped significantly

 
NOTE: The same researchers measured testosterone levels on their subjects in a study conducted in 1997 set to examine boron’s effects on cardiovascular risk, in that trial 10 mg’s of daily boron increased total testosterone levels by 15%, slight increases were also seen in total estrogen levels, which should be noted.
 
Another study from Mjilkovich et al. looked how boron supplementation impacts serum vitamin D levels, but on the side they also measured free testosterone levels. After 2 months of giving their 13 subject males 6 mg’s of daily boron (calcium fructo-borate) the levels of free testosterone had increased by 29,5% on average, a number similar to the findings of Naghii et al.
 
Two rodent studies (study, study) examining boron’s toxicity have also found significant dose-dependent increases in testosterone levels after boron supplementation, highest dose (500 mg/day) leading to a massive 160% increase. Though this amount – not only crazily expensive – would be highly toxic also, since dosages exceeding 25 mg/day start showing symptoms of toxicity and are not recommended.
 
 
 
 

The post Boron and Testosterone: Cheap and Unpopular Trace Mineral with Proven T Boosting Benefits appeared first on Anabolic Men.

As you might already know, I’m constantly on the look out for testosterone-friendly recipes. And few days ago, I found one from The Midnight Baker website. A slow cooker beef steak recipe with some great T boosting ingredients.
 
This is a rather simple recipe, in which you’ll only need a pan and a crockpot. But keep in mind that as this is a slow cooker recipe, you’ll have to slow cook the shit out of the steaks for 6-8 hours, resulting in ultimate tenderness and jaw-droppingly awesome taste.
 
Here’s the recipe:
 

The post High Testosterone Recipes: Slow Cooker Swiss Steak of Awesomeness appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Gentlemen, herein is a recipe that’ll blow your mind. Although not the fastest or easiest one to make, these scrambled egg avocado salmon toasts are so freaking good and filled with testosterone boosting greatness, that you’ll just have to prepare them.
 
Once you have mastered the recipe and made these toasts few times, it’ll take roughly 20 minutes per batch of 4 toasts.
 
Here’s the sacred T-boosting recipe :
 

The post High Testosterone Recipes: Scrambled Eggs Avocado Smoked Salmon Toast appeared first on Anabolic Men.

In this day and age, painkillers from mild to super strong, are being popped like candy. This is not good, especially when there’s some evidence suggesting that certain types of painkillers can significantly lower your testosterone levels.
 

Have a slight headache? Pop a pill! Fever? Pop lots of pills! Thinking you might be catching something? Take few to be on the safe side!

 
Sure there’s a legitimate reason for the existence of painkiller drugs, but taking them for nearly every little aching joint, or minor headache, or as a preventive measure is pretty dumb. Every drug has some side effects, especially when taken for longer periods of time, and unfortunately painkillers are not an exception. Of course, as in everything, the dose makes the poison…
 
…Which is why you should be cautious about the kind of painkillers you’re using, the duration, and if the use is actually damaging your health just for the sake of short-term pain relief:
 
 
 
 

• NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as: aspirin, paracetamol, ibupofein, and naproxen.
• Opioids (opiate-based drugs) such as: codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and morphine.
• Corticosteroids (steroid-based drugs) such as: hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, fludrocortisone, etc.

 
NSAID’s, aka. your everyday over-the-counter painkillers (the most used and abused) work by inhibiting the production of the enzymes that signal pain in the body (prostaglandins and thromboxanes).
 
There’s research suggesting that short-term use of a broad range of over-the counter NSAID’s (ibuprofein, aspirin, naproxen, etc) is not going to lower your testosterone levels, whereas the use of prescription NSAID’s can have a significant T suppressing effect (averaging at -19% for total-T and 18% for free-T). Unfortunately the study does not include the names of those prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers.
 
One study on aspirin showed that moderate doses of the drug can significantly reduce sperm motility in men without having significant effects on testosterone production. In a rodent study, a moderate dose of aspirin given to male rats for 30 days first increased testosterone levels during the first 15 days, but after that produced a reverse effect (lowered testosterone) for the remaining 15 days.
 
Opioids (opiate-based drugs) which tend to be much “stronger” painkillers, are well known for having a testosterone lowering effect. In this study, 74% of the men who used long-acting opioid painkillers had clinically low testosterone levels, whereas 34% of the guys on short-acting opioids had the same problem. Similar results were seen in this study of 54 male subjects. In a study that only had six male subjects receiving spinal injections of opioids for back pain, all of the subjects were found to have clinically low T.
 
It’s not completely understood why opioids lower testosterone levels, but at least one mechanism is the inhibition of the gonadotropin secretion (LH and FSH) from the brain. Conversely opiate-antagonist drugs that work in a reverse manner to opioids, have been found to increase testosterone levels.
 
Corticosteroids are used for a variety of ailments, but for pain relief, they’re most common among people with chronic joint pain or inflammation. The corticosteroids used as painkillers are synthetically made steroid hormones, similar to the ones that your body makes naturally, most commonly its the principal stress hormone; cortisol (hydrocortisone, etc).
 
Since high cortisol in itself is directly linked to lowered testosterone levels, it’s only natural to believe that synthetic corticosteroids – such as the hydrocortisone – would also have a testosterone lowering effect. Research seems to indicate this too. In a study of 35 male subjects using long-term inhaled corticosteroids, a trend towards lowered testosterone levels (-18%) was noted. Another study with 17 male subjects using corticosteroids for chronic inflammation, found out that corticosteroid therapy causes significant reductions in total- and free-testosterone levels.
 
NOTE: This is not medical advice, and none of the claims made here have been evaluated by the FDA.
 
 
 
 

The post Painkillers and Testosterone: Are you Damaging your T Levels just for the Sake of Short-Term Pain Relief? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Butea Superba (Red Kwao Krua) is an androgenic herb widely used among the males of Thailand as an aphrodisiac and to improve erectile quality. There’s only limited amount of studies available to prove its aphrodisiac effects, but what we know about the plant currently, is still quite interesting.
 
In fact, Butea superba has a really weird composition. It contains phytoandrogens and also phytoestrogens, however then it also contains anti-estrogenic compounds which could potentially balance out the estrogenicity of the plant…
 
…Here’s more:
 
 
 
 

The post Butea Superba and Testosterone: The Androgenic Effects of Red Kwao Krua appeared first on Anabolic Men.

This is a recipe from Michael Synom’s Carnivore cookbook. A super simple manly meatloaf with multiple testosterone boosting ingredients.
 
You can get Synom’s Carnivore cookbook from Amazon, it has 120 recipes for meat lovers. Highly recommended.
 

The post High Testosterone Recipes: The Carnivores Meatloaf appeared first on Anabolic Men.

It’s a well accepted fact that weight training stimulates testosterone production, while certain types of cardiovascular training (especially HIIT) can do the same.
 
What is not often talked about, is the effect of training order and/or timing of the workouts, which is what this article should answer. In particular, we’re going to focus on two big questions:
 

• Does it matter for T production if you do cardio after or before weight training?
• Does it matter for T production if you train at AM or PM?

 
Here’s what research says:
 
 
 
 

Immediately after the exercise regimen, the group that did cardio first had 7x higher serum testosterone levels (yes that’s not a typo, seven times…) The cardio first group had significantly higher post-exercise growth hormone levels too.

 
Why would the cardio first option be so much better? The researchers suggest that it’s all about stimulus interference that occurs if you do cardio after weights, and that sure does make sense.
 
NOTE: Post-exercise hormone fluctuations are not to be taken too seriously, since a) in many cases they quickly return back close to baseline and b) it takes constantly elevated hormone levels to actually cause significant differences in the rate of muscle growth. However, having 7x higher testosterone levels after your training sessions for multiple times a week, should over time – in my humble opinion – cause some major positive adaptations in the endocrine system.
 
Well what about the time of workouts then? For the sake of testosterone, is it better to train at AM or PM?
 
The answer is simple, it doesn’t matter. Common sense would suggest that morning training should be better since testosterone levels are highest in the morning. However, few studies have shown that over long-term period of time, resistance training increases testosterone levels, regardless of the time of the day (study, study).
 
Bottom line: Doing cardio before resistance training is significantly more “anabolic” than doing weights before cardio. These results however, are observed immediately post-exercise and likely fall back close to the baseline pretty quickly (hence, even though the increase in T is significant, it probably won’t do much for muscle growth). As for the time of your workouts, train whenever you feel like it, increases in testosterone occur similarly in the morning and evening.

The post Training Variables and Testosterone: Should you Do Cardio Before Weights? is AM Training Better than PM? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Gentlemen, herein is a recipe that’ll blow your mind. Although not the fastest or easiest one to make, these scrambled egg avocado salmon toasts are so freaking good and filled with testosterone boosting greatness, that you’ll just have to prepare them.
 
Once you have mastered the recipe and made these toasts few times, it’ll take roughly 20 minutes per batch of 4 toasts.
 
Here’s the sacred T-boosting recipe :
 

The post High Testosterone Recipes: Scrambled Eggs Avocado Smoked Salmon Toast appeared first on Anabolic Men.

In this day and age, painkillers from mild to super strong, are being popped like candy. This is not good, especially when there’s some evidence suggesting that certain types of painkillers can significantly lower your testosterone levels.
 

Have a slight headache? Pop a pill! Fever? Pop lots of pills! Thinking you might be catching something? Take few to be on the safe side!

 
Sure there’s a legitimate reason for the existence of painkiller drugs, but taking them for nearly every little aching joint, or minor headache, or as a preventive measure is pretty dumb. Every drug has some side effects, especially when taken for longer periods of time, and unfortunately painkillers are not an exception. Of course, as in everything, the dose makes the poison…
 
…Which is why you should be cautious about the kind of painkillers you’re using, the duration, and if the use is actually damaging your health just for the sake of short-term pain relief:
 
 
 
 

• NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as: aspirin, paracetamol, ibupofein, and naproxen.
• Opioids (opiate-based drugs) such as: codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and morphine.
• Corticosteroids (steroid-based drugs) such as: hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, fludrocortisone, etc.

 
NSAID’s, aka. your everyday over-the-counter painkillers (the most used and abused) work by inhibiting the production of the enzymes that signal pain in the body (prostaglandins and thromboxanes).
 
There’s research suggesting that short-term use of a broad range of over-the counter NSAID’s (ibuprofein, aspirin, naproxen, etc) is not going to lower your testosterone levels, whereas the use of prescription NSAID’s can have a significant T suppressing effect (averaging at -19% for total-T and 18% for free-T). Unfortunately the study does not include the names of those prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers.
 
One study on aspirin showed that moderate doses of the drug can significantly reduce sperm motility in men without having significant effects on testosterone production. In a rodent study, a moderate dose of aspirin given to male rats for 30 days first increased testosterone levels during the first 15 days, but after that produced a reverse effect (lowered testosterone) for the remaining 15 days.
 
Opioids (opiate-based drugs) which tend to be much “stronger” painkillers, are well known for having a testosterone lowering effect. In this study, 74% of the men who used long-acting opioid painkillers had clinically low testosterone levels, whereas 34% of the guys on short-acting opioids had the same problem. Similar results were seen in this study of 54 male subjects. In a study that only had six male subjects receiving spinal injections of opioids for back pain, all of the subjects were found to have clinically low T.
 
It’s not completely understood why opioids lower testosterone levels, but at least one mechanism is the inhibition of the gonadotropin secretion (LH and FSH) from the brain. Conversely opiate-antagonist drugs that work in a reverse manner to opioids, have been found to increase testosterone levels.
 
Corticosteroids are used for a variety of ailments, but for pain relief, they’re most common among people with chronic joint pain or inflammation. The corticosteroids used as painkillers are synthetically made steroid hormones, similar to the ones that your body makes naturally, most commonly its the principal stress hormone; cortisol (hydrocortisone, etc).
 
Since high cortisol in itself is directly linked to lowered testosterone levels, it’s only natural to believe that synthetic corticosteroids – such as the hydrocortisone – would also have a testosterone lowering effect. Research seems to indicate this too. In a study of 35 male subjects using long-term inhaled corticosteroids, a trend towards lowered testosterone levels (-18%) was noted. Another study with 17 male subjects using corticosteroids for chronic inflammation, found out that corticosteroid therapy causes significant reductions in total- and free-testosterone levels.
 
NOTE: This is not medical advice, and none of the claims made here have been evaluated by the FDA.
 
 
 
 

The post Painkillers and Testosterone: Are you Damaging your T Levels just for the Sake of Short-Term Pain Relief? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

It’s a well accepted fact that weight training stimulates testosterone production, while certain types of cardiovascular training (especially HIIT) can do the same.
 
What is not often talked about, is the effect of training order and/or timing of the workouts, which is what this article should answer. In particular, we’re going to focus on two big questions:
 

• Does it matter for T production if you do cardio after or before weight training?
• Does it matter for T production if you train at AM or PM?

 
Here’s what research says:
 
 
 
 

Immediately after the exercise regimen, the group that did cardio first had 7x higher serum testosterone levels (yes that’s not a typo, seven times…) The cardio first group had significantly higher post-exercise growth hormone levels too.

 
Why would the cardio first option be so much better? The researchers suggest that it’s all about stimulus interference that occurs if you do cardio after weights, and that sure does make sense.
 
NOTE: Post-exercise hormone fluctuations are not to be taken too seriously, since a) in many cases they quickly return back close to baseline and b) it takes constantly elevated hormone levels to actually cause significant differences in the rate of muscle growth. However, having 7x higher testosterone levels after your training sessions for multiple times a week, should over time – in my humble opinion – cause some major positive adaptations in the endocrine system.
 
Well what about the time of workouts then? For the sake of testosterone, is it better to train at AM or PM?
 
The answer is simple, it doesn’t matter. Common sense would suggest that morning training should be better since testosterone levels are highest in the morning. However, few studies have shown that over long-term period of time, resistance training increases testosterone levels, regardless of the time of the day (study, study).
 
Bottom line: Doing cardio before resistance training is significantly more “anabolic” than doing weights before cardio. These results however, are observed immediately post-exercise and likely fall back close to the baseline pretty quickly (hence, even though the increase in T is significant, it probably won’t do much for muscle growth). As for the time of your workouts, train whenever you feel like it, increases in testosterone occur similarly in the morning and evening.

The post Training Variables and Testosterone: Should you Do Cardio Before Weights? is AM Training Better than PM? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Tired of fried chicken? Want something similar but with healthy testosterone boosting ingredients?
 
Great, that’s what I have you for today. An extremely simple recipe for some mind blowingly awesome coconut shrimps with sweet and spicy dipping sauce.
 

The post High Testosterone Recipes: Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Spicy Dipping Sauce appeared first on Anabolic Men.

There have been many times in my life when the budget for food has been extremely tight, especially during my time in the military (where the “pay” at times was less than 150$ a month). However, I have always been able to eat in a testosterone-supporting manner, even at times when the income has been stupidly low.
 

Maintaining a diet that supports natural testosterone production, doesn’t mean that you have spend all of your hard earned cash for some special food items.

 
Sure, I often recommend organic foods (and eat them mostly myself too) for guys who are seeking to boost their natural T production (due to the fact that some pesticides have been found to be anti-androgenic), but this doesn’t mean that everything – always and forever – has to be organic in order to boost T.
 
When on a budget, there are many workarounds and it’s relatively easy to find multiple everyday foods that will nourish the endocrine system…
 
…You just have to know what to look for, and that’s where this article might come in handy:
 
 
 
 

After all, many of the BEST testosterone boosting foods, are indeed quite cheap

The post How to Find Testosterone-Supporting Foods on a Strict Budget, aka. Your Low-Cost T-Boosting Nutrition Guide appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Akarkara root (Anacyclus pyrethrum) is an aphrodisiac herb from the Indian herbal medicine, Ayurveda.
 
It grows pretty much all over the mediterranean region, and in Northern India, Himalayas, and some Arabian countries.
 
As a plant it’s quite similar to chamomille, and the bioactive compounds – alkylamides – are the same ones that can be found in the notoriously ineffective maca root.
 
Akarkara root is touted to be a strong testosterone booster, pro-erectile agent, and fertility booster…
 
…But is that the real truth, or just market talk? Let’s find out:
 
 
 
 

I would of have bought the root myself for testing purposes, but I soon found that nobody really sells the herb it in its natural form. The only supplement that I found containing Akarkara, is that bottle of ‘Muscle Pharm Battle Fuel‘ that you can see on the image above. However it also contains plenty of other testosterone boosting compounds, so it’s pretty useless for testing.

 
Here’s what the science says about Akarkara root:
 
a) In this study, the researchers gave 50-150 mg/kg of Akarkara root to their subject rats for 28 consecutive days. At the end of the study, they noted dose-dependent increases in both testosterone and luteinizing hormone, highest ones being 2x the baseline. Testicular weight was also increased in the rodents receiving Akarkara root extract.
 
b) An alkyaimde by the name of LS-MS, which can be found in Akarkara root (but not in Maca) is known to have a stimulatory effect on the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the master switch of the endocrine system and the stimulation of it is linked to increased testosterone production.
 
c) Both, the water and petroleum extracts of the herb improve erectile quality and mounting frequency in rodents. Surprisingly, the effects continued for up to 15 days after the supplementation was ceased (study, study)
 
 
 
 

The post Akarkara Root and Testosterone: New Discovery or Just Lame Market Hype? appeared first on Anabolic Men.

Fancy some testosterone boosting chips? Yes, that’s not a joke, you can make chips a T-boosting food (even if you’d use white potatoes) as long as you choose the right kind of oil.
 
The problem with store bought chips, is that they’re deep fried in high omega-6 vegetable oils that are mostly polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs). That’s not good for T because: a) PUFAs have been found to lower testosterone levels. b) PUFAs are not that heat stable and tend to oxidize pretty badly when used for deep frying.
 
For this recipe, we’ll use sweet potatoes, which are ridiculously dense in many T-boosting nutrients and a great carbohydrate source in a testosterone boosting diet (you can use white potatoes too), and also beets, which deliver your body some methyl-donor compounds (that’ll help to remove estrogen), and naturally occurring nitrates (which increase circulation).
 
Instead of using the unhealthy high omega-6 PUFA oils, the chips are made with olive oil, which is a dietary fat source filled with T-boosting monounsaturated fatty-acids (seriously, there’s even a human study where olive oil increased T by 17%).
 
NOTE: Unless you’re superb with knife and have a very sharp blade in your kitchen, I suggest that you use a “mandoline” or “V-slicer” to cut the slices.
 

The post High Testosterone Recipes: Oven Roasted Sweet Potato and Beet Chips appeared first on Anabolic Men.