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Three Testosterone-Boosting Herbs That Work

Use three testosterone-boosting herbs that can substantially improve your testosterone — and with it, your mood, energy strength, body composition and libido — or spend a ton of money and get bioidentical hormone therapy, or do nothing and just let your manliness drop away. Choose one!

ALL THAT strutting and chest-bumping when you men were young. All that mojo and “can-do” attitude. The energy and resilience.  Much of that was due to testosterone, and unfortunately, if you’re over 30 years of age, yours might be in steep decline.

If you’re a man who wants to feel young again, you need to bump up your testosterone.  For that you have two basic choices:

(1) Take bioidentical testosterone hormone replacement therapy in the form of a salve or shot; or

(2) Take supplements that will stimulate your body to produce more testosterone.

My choice has always been the supplements, simply because they cost less than bioidentical testosterone, and they work with me instead of against me.  If you go bioidentical your testes eventually stop producing testosterone because it’s being supplied from an exogenous source.  If you go with supplementation, your testicular function improves and thereby produces more testosterone.

It did for me, I think.

I’d like to share three specific herbs that I’ve used that seem to work. Caveat: I say “seem to work”, because I did not take before and after blood or saliva tests to check pre and post supplement testosterone levels. That said, the mirror doesn’t lie.  Nor does those feelings of well being, energy and libido.

Gentlemen (and the women who love them), your objective is to stop this from happening:

 

{Women: unless you’re reading this for your guy, go read about bioideintical hormone therapy for women.}

Like with a lot of things, when it comes to increasing testosterone, there’s a long list of things you can do, from strength training, to sleeping deeply and regularly, to simply hanging around women. Yes, do all that… and also take these testosterone-boosting herbs…

 

1. Pine Pollen

Pine pollen is fairly new to me.  I didn’t know anything about it until about a month ago when my peripatetic friend, Mike, encouraged me to look it up and try it. So I did. I was encouraged by Mike’s experience and by what the literature has to say about pine pollen’s potential as a testosterone-boosting herb.

Mike is an attorney in his late 50s who was getting worn out by his constant travels all over Asia.  He’s been taking pine pollen ever since it was recommended by his Naturopath three months ago and says it’s really made a difference in his energy and attitude.

Like all anecdotes, this one goes into the “Folklore” column until more “proof” arises.  Now, having said that, proof can be a subjective thing.  Even if something works in a scientific study doesn’t mean it will work for you.  We’re all different, after all. As such, Mike’s recommendation was sufficient for me to try Pine Pollen, given that the research on it is positive; however, I need to experience the results first hand before I can urge you to try it yourself.

If I had read rather than skimmed Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Chef, I would have first learned about Pine Pollen from him, although the way he described it would not have been motivational:

I went to a friends house after having one of these pine pollen cocktails. His female dog, who’s afraid of everyone, came out and humped my leg for about 45 minutes. It definitely has a strong effect on pheromones.

Well, OK, Tim, that’s an interesting effect, but not quite the one I had in mind.  More appealing are the various testimonials found at Supermanherbs.com:

I would have to say that pine pollen is, hands down, one of the best things to happen to myself and my mother and father. It has changed their lives and mine. I no longer have the debilitating brain fog and lack of energy. I have tried numerous tonic herbs and love them all, pretty much equally, but if I could only have one, it would have to be pine pollen. — Greg Russel

Definitely feel the boost in energy during my workouts. Feel and see more results as far as muscle production. The increased “strong like bull” results aren’t a bad side effect either! Nicely done, great product. — AJ

I’m 47 and consider myself to be in pretty decent shape. But there’s always room for improvement. But being my age and not wanting to choose the steroid route, It was a challenge to keep my testosterone levels at a healthy base line where I would still be able to maintain and even put on added muscle, and have strong erections on command. I did my research, tried a few products, some were ok , and some were a waste of money, then I found Pine Pollen. Let me tell you, I swear by this stuff! It’s given me added strength and stamina in both the gym and in the bedroom.I prefer to use both the tincture and powder. I cycle the tincture 5 days on/ 2 days off. And the powder I take roughly 2-3 tsp. on a daily basis. — Ned

So, at this point we have good testimonials, but what do the scientific studies say?  Unfortunately, there aren’t any that I found that conducted double blind pine pollen studies of men using it, and those not, so that comparisons can be made between them.

My “go to” source on supplement research, Examine.com says this about Pine Pollen:

“… the testosterone content of Scots pine pollen appears to be too low to cause appreciable effects in the human body due to testosterone ingestion despite it being a higher concentration than the testosterone found in Royal Jelly. No studies have been conducted in humans on any parameter related to testosterone such as aphrodisia, muscle growth, or general male vitality.” (2)

It often comes down to this — testimonials vs science.  Usually, I go for the science, but this time I let myself be swayed by the testimonials, purchased some and am now taking it daily. Surely there’ll be some benefit because Pine Pollen is bursting with good stuff:

As mentioned, I’ve been using Pine Pollen for about two weeks.  I can not yet recommend it based on my personal experience, but it seems promising, and many men extoll it’s virtues.  I’m using VitaJing Pine Pollen Powder Extract for no other reasons than VitaJing is a reputable brand, is highly rated and is easy to buy on Amazon.com.

 

2. Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is a plump shrub with oval leaves and yellow flowers that produce a red fruit about the size of a raisin.  It’s from the “nightshades” family, just like tomatoes. Both the berries and the root of the Ashwagandha plant are used to create an herbal powder that is then packed into capsules or left in powder form to be blended or shaken with the liquid of your choice. (Beware, it’s bitter!)

Along with other herbs like Rhodiola and Ginseng, Ashwagandha is mostly used as an adaptogen. Adaptogens are typically herbs that help those feeling anxious or stressed by improving the health of their adrenals, which manage the physical response to stress.  But — as they say in those commercials — when it comes to Ashwagandha, that’s not all!

Ashwagandha promotes lean muscle and strength (3) and boosts testosterone. Researchers at the Indian Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University did a study showed that men taking a daily dose of five grams of Ashwagandha each day for 90 days could increase their testosterone by as much as 40%. (4)

In addition to helping the calm the body’s reaction to stress and improving testosterone, Ashwgandha is a strong antioxidant that helps improve memory and brain function, male fertility and energy output. (5)

I’ve been using Banyan Botanicals Ashwagandha Powder on an intermittent basis for more than a year.  I don’t mind its bitter taste, so I mix a teaspoon in my morning shake, along with three kinds of protein powder (hemp, pea and sprout), collagen and Indian Gooseberry.  An alternative is to use capsules to spare yourself from the taste.

 

3. Bulbine Natalensis

Bulbine Natalensis is the third and last testosterone-boosting herb. Originating in South Africa, this is an herb that can increase testosterone by 347% and reduce estrogen by 35%. (6) But this only happens by ingesting the exact right amount — too little and you won’t improve testosterone, and too much of it will actually reduce your testosterone. Moreover, the Bulbine Natalensis needs to be of highest quality to be effective, and that’s why I use a product formulated by strength coach and hormone expert Mike Mahler. He uses ProLensis™ extract, the same one used in the research that demonstrates its effectiveness.

The following two graphs show how well ProLensis’™ Bulbine Natalensis extract reduces estrogen and increases testosterone:

Mahler’s formulation enhances ProLensis™ by adding Stinging Nettle Root, Mucuna Pruriens and — wouldn’t you know it — Ashwagandha!

 

Like with Pine Pollen, Mahler’s Aggressive Strength Testosterone Booster gets many, many affirmative testimonials, some from people I’ve personally recommended it to.  And I’ll add my voice to them, and affirm that, yes, it works for me.  Again, I did not do a “before and after” testosterone test, but my mojo and musculature all improve when I’m taking “Aggressive Strength.  Go check out the testimonials.

 

Scientific Studies on Pine Pollen, Ashwagandha and Bulbine Natalensis

 

 

Some Extra Testosterone Umph

As mentioned earlier, I often check on the effectiveness of a supplement by seeing what Examine.com surmises through it’s research of the research.  You can save a lot of money by not purchasing supplements that give you more hype than help.

Examine offers various booklets about supplement “stacks”, which refer to a group of supplements that yield synergistic results for a specific health benefit.  Their testosterone stack of scientifically proven and unproven testosterone boosters include this one for testosterone:

Examine.com Testosterone Stack

Scientifically Proven	Scientifically Unproven Options
Zinc Magnesium Vitamin D3 Creatine DHEA	D-Aspartic acid Boron Coleus forskohlii

I have to refrain from revealing details about the above supplements, such as how much to use and when to take them, simply because that’s information Examine.com only offers paid subscribers.  You can learn more about that here.

Questions, comments?  Just pour your heart out in the Comments section below and I’ll do my best to opine.

Last Updated on February 25, 2024 by Joe Garma