The majority of athletes who want to achieve a good-looking physique naturally without the use of anabolics would do well if they incorporated a strategy to increase their natural testosterone production. Having low testosterone levels reduces the overall quality of your life and can have a number of serious negative implications for your health like the greater risk for the development of diabetes, erectile dysfunction, depression and cardiovascular illnesses, not to mention the possibility of a premature death.
Testosterone boosting supplements are very popular among athletes of many sports, older people and people who aim to increase their libido.
So, what are the ways in which one can increase his T-levels in a natural and safe way? This is how:
Physiological Mechanisms
There are a lot of methods to naturally boost testosterone levels. All of them function on the basis of stimulating the testes and hormones which control testosterone levels in our brains. Testosterone boosters have been sold for decades by supplement companies. Before the 80s they weren’t extremely popular since some anabolic drugs could still be bought legally.
Law changes in 1990 made anabolics controlled compounds, putting bodybuilders who didn’t want to break the law in a very difficult position and unable to improve. Whey protein powder and creatine supplements provided an alternative of sorts to anabolics but they were far from the latter’s effectiveness in increasing strength and building muscle.
Throughout the 90s pro-hormones started appearing on the market with many bodybuilders claiming different results. The majority of these pro-hormones did not offer the same result in regards to building muscle and strength, while still causing the same anabolics’ side-effects. The “Anabolic Ster*id Control Act” then included prohormones too on their list of banned substances in the majority of sports associations, which resulted in them being removed from the market. Supplement companies have still found a way to “bypass” the system, so to speak, by labeling these substances as “designer pro-hormones”.
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Increasing testosterone levels
In recent years, the supplement industry created T-boosting formulas which claimed to boost testosterone levels. They started advertising these formulas to young and healthy men. It is important to note that choosing the right demographic group is essential since compounds that may offer benefits to people who are experiencing low T-levels might not have an effect on young healthy men who have no problem with their T-levels. Plus, taking the right dose is essential to having an effective product. It’s not possible to list all the right ingredients, so we list the most common ones:
Tribulus Terrestris
Tribulus Terrestris is a plant which gained popularity due to evidence of having T-boosting properties reported by researchers in Bulgaria, where it’s been found to have the biggest quantity of its active ingredients: saponins, over 90%. It’s also been long used in the Chinese traditional medicine, as a libido-booster.
Increases in libido have also been reported in several studies done on animals. But, it’s worth noting that Tribulus failed to increase testosterone levels or muscle strength in healthy, young men, either taken as a pure supplement or combined with other ingredients. It’s safe to say that it doesn’t cause any significant changes in testosterone levels or performance increase in young, healthy men. Yet, it is still a part of a lot of T-boosting supplements despite getting bad reviews from consumers.
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