Testosterone Boosters that Work: Benefits - Effects - Guide

Testosterone Boosters That Work: Top 5 Under Review

Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

There are a vast array of testosterone booster supplements available to buy.

However, what can you rely on, and are they different?

This article aims to help you understand these supplements so you can make an informed choice.

LAST UPDATED: January 2019 by Ben.

This evidence based article is supported by over 20 cited references.

Where to start

With so much choice and so many complications, not to mention little regulation regarding natural supplements, it can be easy to fall in to the trap of buying a supplement.

There’s no ‘standard’ fit or formula to a testosterone booster supplement. In fact, there rarely is for any supplement.

This means that many products are very different, or, if they are not, it is merely a prepackaged formula sold as a ‘private label’ supplement line and a different sticker is placed on the bottle.

This means many people (I used to do this) just buy it based on the ‘look’ or the brand. With the expectation that a major brand will sell the best product.

That’s literally what I used to do.

However, this is not the way.

Read on to find out why…

Nutrients

Back when I didn’t even take one look or consideration for the ingredients.

Or, if I did, it was based just on hearsay.

I mean, we have all heard of Tribulus, haven’t we?

So, its got to work then, surely?

Well, I will let you in to a little secret, it doesn’t work.

Well, it certainly doesn’t help increase test levels as claimed and much lauded.

Nope, that was most likely a diversion tactic that stemmed from Cold Ware era Olympic weightlifting to cover up the doping that was really going on behind closed doors.

However, the supplement world, as legit as it all seems is full of terrible products.

The problem is, unlike if you buy a car, you know if it is crap or not the moment the transmission starts making grinding noises.

Effects

With supplements, if you do not feel you are not getting a great deal of benefit or effect, it can just be blamed on your own lack of discipline, lack of correct nutrition and lack of gym time.

The problem is, it is ultimately quite subjective and people’s bodies react differently.

For example, I just cannot make any gains on a workout that involves doing more that five reps per set.

I tend to go as heavy as possible of three rep sets.

That’s just me, whereas others swear by much higher rep ranges.

However, you may not even really be sure about a natural test booster in the first place, so let’s take a look at what testosterone is, why it is important and ways to naturally increase it.

Then we can even look at which testosterone boosters are available that actually work.

That means, they include all of the proven ingredients required to stimulate your body in to producing more of its own natural testosterone production.

What is testosterone and why is it important?

Testosterone is a part of the male hormones which are known as androgens.

However, women also have a smaller amount of androgens circulating their blood stream which is produced in the ovaries and the adrenal glands.

So, it’s not just a male hormone. Women actually need it, too.

Importance

Testosterone helps with the growth and repair plus the function of the reproductive organs, and testosterone is also responsible for libido and sexual pleasure.

The levels of these hormones vary throughout the day and night, and, they are released in to the blood stream in pulses.

Yet, just like men, whose T levels start to deplete around the age of 30, women’s also deplete, but much younger, around 20 years of age. [1]

For men, low testosterone is can cause a number of complications and problems, including:

low energy
depression
impotency
lack of libido
low sperm count
weak bones
loss of muscle
increased abdominal fat
cardiovascular health issues

Women

Yet, there are also a few reasons why women would also want to increase their testosterone levels too.

Higher levels of testosterone can be used to treat breast cancer as well as post menopausal symptoms which can include:

low sexual desire
lack of energy
hypoactive sexual disorder

However, it can also be used to combat a few of the more common issues men are wishing to tackle, like muscle strength, fat levels, mood and bone density.

It is also important to note that testosterone is produced by the female body to then create a form of estrogen, called estradiol. [2]

Therefore, it is imperative that there is a healthy balance of natural testosterone being produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands in women and the testes in men.

What are the benefits of increased natural T levels?

Testosterone is responsible for a number of bodily functions, if you have too little testosterone it will adversely effect these areas it has an impact on.

Just like a car starved of oxygen or fuel will not perform to its best.

If you are low on natural testosterone, here are some signs to look out for:

– Depression
– Tiredness
– Lack of self-confidence
– Difficulty concentrating
– Sleep difficulties including insomnia and sleep apnea
– Declining muscle mass and bone density
– Increased body fat
– Lower sex drive
– Difficulty sustaining erections
– Cardiovascular ill health
– Apathy

As you can see, too little T can have a large impact on many areas of your life and quality of life, you can read more about quality of life and testosterone, here.

Let’s face it, even just one of the areas listed above would be bad enough, but low T levels can have such an adverse effect on people’s lives that it is considered a real problem.

If you are suffering from abnormally low levels of natural testosterone it is called hypogonadism.

Natural Decline

However, it must be remembered that a man will naturally experience a decline in natural test levels once he hits the age of about 30 years old.

He will then experience a steady and continued decline.

This will be more in some men than others, and the decline is generally so slow it is often not recognized for what it is.

This is known as the andropause and commonly compared to the menopause women experience when they hit around the age of 40.

Both can be treated, but both can bring the same number of symptoms that can reduce quality of life for the sufferer. [3]

However, what benefits can be offered by a natural test booster?

An effective natural testosterone booster has all of these required nutrients to maximize your natural production of testosterone.

This may be able to help overcome both andropause and hypogonadism.

In turn, not only can it help you increase muscle mass and strength in the gym but improve your overall quality of life.

The common misconception about testosterone boosters is that they are just for gym junkies who want nothing more than to get bigger and stronger.

This is obvious by the way many of the product were and in many cases, still are marketed.

Marketing

It is not uncommon to see bottles of pills with nothing more than aggressive sounding names or images of animals, mutants and hulk like characters plastered all over them promising explosive strength gains.

However, recently, there has been a visual trend that has moved away from the animalistic and pure gym thuggery to something that looks much more mature and almost pharmaceutical.

This, then attracts a new breed of consumer.

A customer that not only wants to retain and increase a bit of muscle mass, but they also want to sleep better, reignite their libido, improve their mood, increase energy levels and generally just feel more normal.

Yet, there’s further benefits,.

We mentioned earlier about convenience…

The number of ingredients found in a natural T booster can vary.

That said, there should be at least eight that are known to stimulate testosterone secretion.

However, these ingredients are found in foods, or in the case of Vitamin D3 it could be sunlight.

Limitations

Yet, there are limitations.

Trying to cram all the nutrients in the high doses found in some test boosters is quite difficult.

Especially if your diet consists of Pop Tarts and Lucky Charms.

Moreover, it is very time consuming, requires a strict level of dedication and can be expensive.

So, ensuring that you get your daily needs in just a few pills every 24 hours is going to be much easier.

What can I do to increase natural T levels?

It’s all about lifestyle…really!

Your lifestyle choices can be the killer or the winner when it comes down to natural testosterone production and then the accompanied benefits that are associated with it.

Many people believe that the reason they become fatter and experience ill health is down to age.

However, it tends more to be the fact as we age people become less active and we lead more sedentary lifestyles.

While playing sport every weekend in the cold and rain seemed fun when we were children, doing it when we are over thirty seems less attractive.

Therefore our lifestyle can change very easily, our exercise habits drop and we become fond of convenience.

With convenience comes an unhealthy lifestyle which damages hormone levels and can increase fat mass, obesity, reduce fertility and encourage other chronic disease. [4]

So there’s a number of things we can do before even hitting the counter with a mass of tablets and supplements.

Exercise

You may think that a bit of exercise just keeps the cobwebs at bay and helps prevent a bit of heart disease.

However, it runs (literally) much deeper than that.

A healthy exercise regime gets the blood pumping and flowing.

It strengthens the heart and your muscles.

With an increased blood flow comes quicker and better distribution of the nutrients your body needs to operate effectively not to mention a quicker.

Furthermore, it is a more effective way to transport all of the waste products away that can inhibit function and health.

Then, certain exercises are known to even stimulate more testosterone secretion, so its advisable doing these too, let’s remember, this is a free way to increase your own supply of steroid hormone.

Suggested exercises:

Squat
Deadlift

Overhead (military) press – standing preferable
Bench press – all three ranges

Bent over rows
Pull-ups

Rest

As tempting as it is to stay up until 3 am looking at memes on your phone or watching cats try to catch fish on an iPad this is harming your natural test level.

Your body releases the most amount of growth hormone while you are asleep.

Thus, ensuring you get a good amount of sleep each night is going to benefit not only your mental state and your physical shape but also your hormone levels.

Do enough physical exercise and you will want to do nothing more than sleep and take advantage of that increase of testosterone being released.

Nutrition

This is a biggie.

Unhealthy, processed foods can harm hormone levels. Testosterone and estrogen are sex hormones.

If they become unbalanced it can create and stimulate a world of problems.

As a man, do you want an excess of abdominal and breast tissue fat? No.

Do you want to lose strength or muscle mass? No.

Do you want weaker bones and cardiovascular issues? No.

These are all possibilities if your testosterone succumbs to an imbalance of estrogen, so we need to ensure the balance is restored.

In which case, lets start with foods.

I order to reduce estrogen production, we could do with foods that act as a estrogen regulator.

So, cruciferous vegetables are the order of the day.

Cruciferous vegetables contain DIM, and DIM suppresses too much estrogen getting out of hand.

DIM (Diindolylmethane) – Diindolylmethane appears to promote a healthy balance of testosterone in the body and is found in vegetables such as broccoli.

Cruciferous vegetables which contain high levels of DIM such as broccoli are eaten by many professional athletes such as rugby league players for their benefits. [5]

Cruciferous vegetables include:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Bok Choy
Brussels Sprouts

Basically, get lots of leafy greens down you to ensure against an estrogen uprising.

Then you want lots of natural, clean and whole nutritious foods.

Avoid processed foods and those high in saturated fats such as Omega-6 which can trigger diabetes and depression.

Make sure you get lots of meats, nuts, avocados, fish and dairy – including eggs. Not to mention a wide variety of vegetables.

A good place to start, includes the following:

Beef
Oysters
Salmon
Asparagus
Avocado
Kidney beans
Turkey
Nuts
Corn
Pumpkin
Spinach
Eggs
Low fat cheese

Also be sure not to drink too much alcohol, smoke or even get on the recreation drug wagon as these can all have reverse effects.

What’s so important about these foods?

These foods contain many of the vitamins and minerals required to promote a healthy level of natural testosterone.

You will have heard of many of these nutrients before, however, they can be difficult to get the sort of levels included in a test booster through your normal daily diet.

As such, these supplements provide a convenient, safe and convenient way of optimizing your nutritional intake for healthy bodily and hormone function.

Look for ingredients such as the following:

Zinc – Needed for many reactions in the brain and a key component for releasing the luteinzing hormone (LH). [6]

Vitamin K2 – K2 has been shown to help maintain plasma and testes levels of testosterone. [7]

Vitamin B6 – Vitamin B6 helps testosterone levels by stimulating androgen (a steroid hormone that acts as a precursor for testosterone) receptors in your body, making your testes produce testosterone. [8]

Magnesium – Research into magnesium supplementation also increased testosterone production. [9]

D-Aspartic Acid (DAA) – D-aspartic acid is a physiological amino acid occurring principally in the pituitary gland and has a role in the regulation of the release and synthesis of LH and testosterone in humans and rats. [10]

Vitamin D3 – Research by the US Library of Medicine has shown that testosterone productions are increased with Vitamin D3 supplementation. [11]

Ginseng – Asian red ginseng has been used for centuries to strengthen the immune system, boost energy, and increase longevity. In studies, ginseng has increased testosterone levels in lab animals. [12]

Oyster Powder – Again, research of this mollusc has shown that is aids your body to increase testosterone. [13]

Fenugreek Seed – It is claimed by researchers that fenugreek works to increase testosterone or androgen levels, which decrease as you age. [14]

Vitamin C – Widely hailed for its benefits. It can help protect the testes from stress and therefore preserve testosterone levels. Being an anti-oxidant helps with blood flow too. [15]

Vitamin E – Vitamin E plays an important and vital role in hormone production. [16]

Do females need testosterone too?

Absolutely, a healthy hormone balance is key to healthy bodily function.

There are studies available that demonstrate women who are both menopausal and post menopausal have experienced an increased sex drive and increased sexual pleasure when compared to those using a placebo.

Even as far back as the 1940’s there were studies which had recognized that women, testosterone and libido were connected.

However, the analysis seemed to grind to a halt, but then re-initiated in the early 2000’s which saw a burgeoning interest in the subject.

Libido

In fact, 88% of physicians now accept that there is a strong link between women who are suffering from low testosterone levels and also an impaired libido.

In addition, the majority of these medical professionals do believe that hormone levels should be increased by some form of treatment. [17]

Further studies also demonstrate that 25% of women who are menopausal along with an excess of 50% post menopausal women experience a reduction in sexual desire, fantasy and libido. [18]

Thus, research and clinical trials show that those receiving treatment for low testosterone also saw an improvement in the following areas [19]:

sexual satisfaction
improved orgasms
more sexual activity
increased frequency of masturbation
more sexual desire

This is then further supported by another study that shows a positive relationship between a higher level of testosterone and a higher level of sexual fantasies, thoughts and overall desire. [20]

Cardiovascular Health

Moving on from sexual function and desire, testosterone is also showing benefit for the cardiovascular system.

As demonstrated by this study which is cited. It shows that by increasing the levels of testosterone in women also improved cardiovascular health. [21]

Besides these benefits, amongst the record studies there have been no mention of any adverse side effects or negative health implications.

What options are available to increase testosterone levels?

The obvious option is steroids. People think this is an easy way to get a great body.

And, even without training, anabolic steroids do improve body composition. [22]

So, they are quite right.

However, to really strip the fat and build lots of lean mass hard work is required, and, importantly, so is good nutrition.

Anabolic steroids work by flooding your body with a lot of synthetic testosterone. Steroids provide much more than your body can produce naturally.

However, there are possible health implications. And, these cannot be ignored.

Health Implications

While there is a strong temptation for many to take steroids, especially as it can transform a persons physical form quite quickly and effectively in to a leaner and more muscular figure.

What must be appreciated is that this unnatural level of testosterone can have some serious side effects. [23]

These can include:

Breast tissue development (gyno)
Exacerbation of acne
Testicle atrophy
Reduced sperm motility and number
Accelerate baldness

For women, they may start to notice a development of male characteristics that may not be wanted, these can include:

Body and facial hair
Reduced breast tissue
Enlarged clitoris
Deeper voice
Oily skin

Legalities

Depending where you live, it may actually be illegal to posses and use steroids.

This could lead to arrest, a fine or even jail time.

In the UK it is not illegal to posses or use steroids. It is not even illegal to buy them abroad without prescription and bring them back in to the UK.

However, if the authorities suspect that these are not for personal use and you are selling them it could mean a 14 year jail term.

This means that people may be forced to buy from the black market which can bring with it other issues…

Black Market

Black market steroids are not bought by yourself from a chemist, pharmacy or trustworthy medical source.

As a result, you do not know the real source, or even the manufacturer.

It could be a fake product, or it could be a clone that is produced in a facility that is not regulated and does not adhere to any safety practices.

As a result, these could damage your health, these black market steroids could not be safe.

It is plausible they are manufactured in China whereby they do not necessarily have to comply with any legislation.

It may become a process of trial and error, until you find a product that works for you.

Also remember, black market products have no customer support, nor any guarantees that they work, are real or are safe.

Side Effects

We have already mentioned the unwanted side effects that you may suffer from taking anabolic steroids, especially if you are a regular user.

And while oral steroids can affect the liver and even cholesterol levels there’s further potential problems to worry about. [24]

If you take steroids for a long duration of time it may prevent your body from producing its own testosterone, even if you stop using steroids.

In addition, there are other implications such as needle use safety that needs to be considered. [25]

Shut Down

I have personally felt ‘shut down’ on a number of occasions.

This is a response to your body detecting an abnormal amount of testosterone in the system.

As such, steroids disrupt your hormonal function.

Because your body has detected this high amount of synthetic testosterone it stops producing its own, as it is not necessary or required.

However, when your steroid cycle finishes it can take a while for your body to recognize the situation and start producing its own hormones.

This period can leave you feeling ‘flat’, and low on energy, a loss of strength and a deflated mood.

In response, a PCT testosterone booster can help trigger hormone secretion, but in some cases, your body may never fully recover.

With this in mind, which testosterone boosters actually work?

This is the hard part, trying to scour through all of the test boosters on the market to find the ones that work.

Okay, trialing and researching every T-booster on the market will be nigh on impossible, however, we have found five that do work and are effective at raising natural test levels.

We have picked out the best testosterone boosters on the market that can help you lead a healthier and better life.

These test boosters contain not only D-Aspartic Acid but a wealth of other proven and supporting ingredients, it may not seem difficult, but many T booster supplements manage to omit most if not all of these ingredients.