Testosterone Boosters with Vitamin B6: How does it stack up?

Testosterone Boosters with Vitamin B6

Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

Can regular vitamin B6 intake boost testosterone levels?

Vitamin B6 might already be part of your daily supplement regime, but did you know that it could have an impact on your testosterone levels?

Here’s an in-depth look at the links between B6, health, and natural test levels.

LAST UPDATED: March 2019 by Ben.

Author: Nicola Joyce is a competitive athlete with many accolades and titles under her belt.

This article is supported with cited references at the bottom of the text.

Contents show

What Is Vitamin B6?

Vitamin B6 is one of the 8 B Vitamins – the complete B Vitamin complex is B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12.

Like all B vitamins, B6 it is water soluble, which means they ca be carried to soft tissue but can’t be stored there. [1]

Because your body can’t store an excess of B6, you need to constantly ensure an optimal intake for good health.

This can be done through a precise healthy diet, or via a simple daily B Vitamin supplement.

Even though B6 isn’t stored in the body, it is crucially for good health and a number of hormone functions including testosterone levels.

Vitamin B6 actually refers to lots of plasma vitamers which have Vitamin B6 activity. [2]

These molecules are Pyridoxine (an alcohol), Pyridoxal (an aldehyde), Pyridoxamine (which has an amino group) and their corresponding 5’-phosphate esters.

What Does Vitamin B6 Do?

Vitamin B6 plays a key role in 100s of metabolic reactions in the human body, including immunity, blood flow, brain development, and the metabolism of protein, amino acids, carbohydrates, and fats.

Two of its coenzyme forms (P-5-P and PMP) play an important role in the proper functioning of amino acids, sugars, and fats in the body.

Vitamin B6 is important for the regulation of your homocysteine levels (this is an amino acid associated with heart health and heart disease risk).

It also plays a role in regulating your steroidal hormones (including the sex hormones) and the hormonal secretions from your pituitary gland.

And, it even helps the body produce serotonin, melatonin, and norepinephrine, hormones associated with sleep and stress.

Maintaining optimal B6 levels will help support your energy levels and mood.

>>> See which supplements contain B6 to increase test levels

B6 Deficiencies

B6 deficiency is less common than other vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but you need to know the possible effects, especially if you are eating less than usual (as your B6 intake via food might fall too low).

– changes in mood
– anxiety and depression
– confusion and difficulty concentrating
– muscle pain
– muscle weakness
– low energy
– neuropsychiatric disorders
– chronic pain
– increased risk of heart disease

How Does B6 Affect Testosterone?

Low levels of Vitamin B6 can correlate with low levels of testosterone, which suggests that the vitamin has a supporting role in test production.

Some experts think that Vitamin B6 could work as a test booster by blocking T-binding activity in the cell receptors involved with binding to (and inactivating) testosterone.

In its P-5-P form, vitamin B6 could affect the function of specific cell receptors which bind to hormones – including testosterone.

Increased PLP concentrations can reduce the activity of these receptors. Vitamin B6 could also be linked to the synthesis of testosterone.

But it’s important to note that these suggestions come from animal studies and have not (yet) been studied in human subjects.

If you have enough B6, you are likely to have better energy levels.

The B Vitamins are important for converting fats and carbs to energy, and play a role in developing red blood cells and a healthy nervous system.

B Vitamin intake is also linked to libido. B6 helps to regulate prolactin (which impacts levels of sexual enjoyment).

So even if there is no direct link between B6 and your test levels, it’s clear that maintaining healthy B6 levels will have a positive impact on your energy, libido, healthy food choices, and training focus… all of which will help you train hard and boost your natural test levels.

This study was done on rats, but it’s still worth a mention.

Male rats were fed a vitamin B6-deficient diet and were then tested to examine their testosterone levels.

The result showed low serum test levels in the B6-deficient rodents, although their levels of luteinising hormone were unchanged by the B6-deficient diet.

The conclusion was that Vitamin B6 deficiency – in rats, at least – can lead to a reduced synthesis of testosterone. [3]

Getting B6 From Your Diet

Since the human body can’t synthesize B6, we must get it from our food or (ideally) from a quality B Vitamin supplement.

Poultry, fish, organ meat, dairy, whole grains, lentils, beans, and some vegetables are good sources of B6 in the diet, but don’t forget that the body can not store the vitamin.

This is why so many people choose to take a good quality B6 or B Vitamin Complex tablet once a day.

Supplementing With Vitamin B6

All B Vitamins – including Vitamin B6 – are essential to good health, immune function, protein synthesis and overall wellbeing.

The links between B6 and testosterone are limited, and mostly in animal studies at the moment.

However, the evidence from animal studies does suggest important links between B6, its vitamers, and its co-enzyme forms.

So it’s definitely worth supplementing with a good B6 supplement to ensure that you have the optimal levels of this important healthy vitamin.

When choosing a B6 supplement, be aware that it is also known as pyridoxine, pyridoxamine, pyridoxal, pyridoxal phosphate, pyridoxal-5′-phosphate, and PLP.

All good multicast will contain sufficient amounts of B6.

ZMA

But for guys who train hard, a great way to take a B6 supplement is within a ZMA tablet.

ZMA is a combination of zinc, magnesium (aspartate chelate), and vitamin B6 and is a popular supplement choice for athletic men who want to improve sleep and recovery.

An even better option is to take a proven natural test booster that contains a ZMA plus a number of other accompanying effective ingredients.

The recommended daily intake of B6 is just 1.3 milligrams – another good reason to use a supplement rather than winging it with diet. A tablet or capsule will help you get the precise dose you need.

As we get older, the recommended daily amount increases (over 50s need up to 1.7 milligram daily).

Also bear in mind that women will also benefit from taking B6 to ensure your testosterone levels are optimized.

Women also maintain a level of the male sex hormone, just not as much as estrogen. You can read more about women and natural testosterone boosters and how they work, here.