1. TURMERIC
Turmeric is a yellow spice powder, most commonly used in curry.
It has been cited to be one of the world’s most healthiest foods, as it’s extremely high in bio-active antioxidants which provide the human body with a huge list of health benefits.
But the thing that most people fail to realize, is that turmeric is also a potent testosterone booster.
Turmeric has gained some big time reputation among women who use it successfully as an aid to beat breast cancer. It helps as it’s an extremely anti-estrogenic substance.
Even The Journal of Applied Bio medicine cites that turmeric could be very effective against moobs (man boobs). And of course turmeric should help as man breasts are caused by male estrogen imbalance.
But here’s where things start to get even more interesting:
1. A not even so high dose of curcumin, a principal bio-active compound in turmeric, has been shown to significantly increase serum testosterone levels in male wistar rats.Reports The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Obviously we are not rats, and rat studies are never the same as human equivalents, but still it’s worth to notice that male wistar rats share almost identical reproductive systems as us humans do.
A closer look into that study mentioned above shows that the rats fed with curcumin noticed a statistically significant 257% increase in serum testosterone levels. Also their sperm quality, motility, and quantity increased.
2. Then there’s this human study that found out the cardio protective effects of turmeric, as the researchers found out that a small dose of 500mg/day, increased HDL cholesterol by 29% (this is the “good” cholesterol that according to science, protects our heart and is the principal precursor of testosterone).
3. Also this animal study found out that curcumin (again the main ingredient in turmeric) is highly anabolic, which is awesome (yet again, animal study. But still a hugely positive sign).
4. Not to mention that the researchers at Hubei University of Medicine in China found out in their in-vitro study that turmeric truly is anti-estrogenic. Obviously everything anti-estrogenic will be beneficial for testosterone levels.
NOTE: Some report that turmeric won’t absorb into the body that well. However this research from India provides us with some relief, as the researchers found out that piperine (the principal ingredient in peppers) increases the absorption of turmeric by 2000%. Yes that’s right. You can make your turmeric 20 times more effective by consuming some pepper at the same time.
2. GINGER
Ginger is a hot spice, which is quite easy to get in organic powder form. Powdered ginger is easy to mix with water and gulp down. I do this almost daily and it has became one of the usual T boosting habits for me.
Here’s why:
Countless of animal studies done in-vitro and ex-vitro have provided us with the information that shows how ginger boosts testosterone levels in all sorts of male animals.
Of course those are animal studies and we are humans…
…That’s why there is also this human study that found out the T boosting benefits of ginger.
In the University of Tikrit, Iran. The researchers had 75 married men aged between 19-45 to go trough a trial with ginger, to see how it would impact their hormones.
The study doesn’t reveal how much ginger those men received, but it says that the trial lasted for 3 months…
…After those 3 months the researchers found out the following results:
a) The toxic free radical malondialdehyde in their subjects blood decreased significantly.
b) The protective antioxidant glutathione increased (this is beneficial as glutathione protects our T producing leydig cells from free radicals)
c) Testosterone levels rose by a nice 17,7%
d) Luteinizing hormone levels rose by a staggering 43,2% (this is awesome because LH is the hormone that triggers testosterone production in the leydig cells).
The researchers were not entirely sure why the men had such amazing improvements, and the research doesn’t show how much ginger were administered to those men.
However that doesn’t worry me a bit. At least I’ll be eating tons of ginger because of the study, and I believe that you should too.
3. CAYENNE PEPPER AND OTHER HOT CHILI’S
Cayenne pepper and hot chili’s are well known for their circulatory benefits. That’s why men with erectile dysfunction should definitely consume a ton of them.
However the latest rat research done in the University of Uludag in Turkey, has shown us that capsaicin (the compund that makes all chili’s hot) could also be a very potent testosterone booster.
This happens to be true, at least in the rats fed with low calorie diet (calorie deficit is notorious for driving down testosterone).
The mechanism is extremely complicated, but in human words, capsaicin has shown to decrease the testosterone lowering effects of grhelin (the hunger hormone) in the leydig cells. The mechanism of action is exactly the same as it is in humans.
Not only did capsaicin help to prevent the testosterone lowering effects of calorie deficit, it also was able to increase testosterone levels, despite the low calorie diet.
So at least according to this rat study, hot chili’s do have the potential to boost and preserve testosterone, during a diet.
NOTE: Most chili’s are also very high in vitamin A, which is a vitamin that boost testosterone levels.
4. NUTMEG
Nutmeg is a spice herb that has plenty of stories about its aphrodisiac testosterone boosting benefits.
Unfortunately there isn’t any human research ever concluded on the subject.
However I managed to find one study done on male wistar rats (again these fellows have extremely similar reproductive systems as humans, and that’s why they’re always used in these trials).
In this study the researchers fed rats with a nutmeg extract diluted in alcohol (kind of like a nutmeg tincture).
They found out that the tincture did increase the mating activity of these rats significantly. The extract also increased their mating performance and mounting ability. Also the periods between ejaculations and new mating session decreased significantly (all signs of increased testosterone levels).
But the truth is that it’s another animal study, but without further proof, I see the study as a valid example to take under consideration.
With that study in mind and the fact that nutmeg has plenty of stories and positive reviews about it’s aphrodisiac effects, I think we can conclude that this spice should have positive benefits on testosterone levels even in humans (in a way or another).
5. BASIL
Basil, or tulsi as it’s called in India. Is a herb that has a wide usage as a aphrodisiac, and it has some evidence of being able to boost testosterone…
…The reason why I say that there’s “some evidence” is that basil has yet to be tested on humans.
Still there’s 2 things that we should take under consideration as these hint that there may be some testosterone boosting benefits after all in basil (although I’m always skeptical when it comes down to new stuff).
a) Basil contains quite a nice dose of the flavonoid called apigening, which has been scientifically proven to increase testosterone levels (the same flavonoid is also present in parsley).
b) There’s this wild study done with rabbits, that found out something extremely weird. As holy basil was able to increase the testosterone levels of those male rabbits by so much that the reference ranges weren’t enough. Yes that’s correct. The research lab was able to test serum testosterone levels all the way up to 1500 ng/dl, but the rabbit’s had even higher concentrations of testosterone after consuming some basil leafs.
Although we have to remember that there’s a huge possibility that the spice won’t do a thing for humans, the increase in rabbits is still so huge that I’m definitely going to test basil (tulsi) out in the near future.
6. CARDAMOM
Cardamom is also one of the spices that lacks scientific validation when it comes down to testosterone.
However there’s something that I know about cardamom that basically in all the laws of common sense should make it a potent testosterone booster.
Here’s why:
a) Cardamom is loaded with lipids and antioxidants that are known to boost testosterone levels.
b) Cardamom is rich in α-terpinyl acetate which is a hormone regulator (in men α-terpinyl has been shown to increase testosterone and reduce estrogen).
c) Cardmamom is rich in hormone regulating enzymes (most of which in males will increase serum testosterone levels).
d) Cardamom is known to induce glutathione (antioxidant that protects our testosterone producing leydig cells from oxidative damage).
e) Cardamom has been scientifically proven to reduce oxidative stress (excessive oxidative stress will cause low testosterone).
All those points taken in consideration, I strongly believe that cardamom will increase testosterone levels in humans.
As you can see there is few spices scientifically proven to boost testosterone levels in humans. Then there’s even more spices that increase serum testosterone in animals, but are yet to be tested with humans. Those are the ones that I’m going to test personally in the near future, and if you’re not skeptical, you should too.
NOTE: Coffee and tap water lower testosterone levels. Google it.
NOTE: During the research I also stumbled upon a spice called dark clove. It has few studies that show it to increase testosterone levels, but higher doses seem to damage the testicles, for that reason I decided to leave it out of this post completely. Also few “spices” like onion powder, garlic powder should, and cinnamon (due to its blood glucose lowering effects) should by the laws of common sense, boost testosterone levels too.
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