Increasing Circulating Testosterone: Impact of Herbal Dietary Supplements

Abstract

Low circulating testosterone levels can present numerous problems related to the overall health and well-being of individuals, men in particular. This finding is well-documented in the literature and low testosterone appears more prevalent in older men, in particular those who are physically inactive and who present with elevated levels of body fat. Multiple botanical (herbal) products have been claimed to elevate circulating testosterone in men; however, data pertaining to the use of such herbal preparations obtained from human clinical trials are limited. This review examines the research to date pertaining to the use of herbal ingredients with regards to their ability to elevate blood testosterone levels. A collective summary of the findings indicate that certain herbal supplements may actually yield an increase in testosterone (e.g., Longjack root), while most others have little to no evidence in support of their use in human subjects. Additional, well-controlled clinical trials are needed to generate data relative to the use of herbal dietary supplements to increase circulating testosterone. Testosterone is generally measured as either "free" (unbound) or "total" (unbound and chemically bound). Men who have a morning serum testosterone level < 300 ng/dL are considered to be "low" and may be a candidate for testosterone replacement therapy-which has become more common in recent years due to the increased diagnosis of andropause [55]. Insufficient levels of testosterone due to either impaired production or uptake can present serious health consequences due to the wide array of applications of testosterone within the human body. Areas including skeletal muscle health, muscular strength, and overall well-being/vitality seem to be significantly affected by testosterone status. Increasing Circulating Testosterone: Impact of Herbal Dietary SupplementsTrintThe role of testosterone in muscle growth has been investigated extensively in both humans and animals [56][57][58][59][60][61][62]. One study in men concluded that the testosterone-induced increase in muscle volume is due to muscle fiber hypertrophy [63]. A follow-up study conducted a year later noted muscle hypertrophy in men over a period of 20 weeks of treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist and a 125-, 300-, or 600-mg weekly dose of testosterone enanthate. The main findings from this study indicated that testosterone administration was associated with a significant increase in myonuclear number in men receiving the 300-and 600-mg doses.Muscular strength is another important factor that has been shown to be affected by testosterone levels in the body [56,61,62,[64][65][66]. A recent investigation utilized 267 men with stages 2-4 of Chronic Kidney Disease to assess the impact of testosterone level on a variety of variables [64]. This study found that testosterone was significantly and independently associated with handgrip strength, muscle mass, and nutritional status as the disease progressed. Another study explored short-term testoste...

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