How to Biohack Testosterone: Powerful & Natural Optimization

How to Biohack Max Testosterone

When I first paid attention to my blood work, my total testosterone levels hovered around the high-300s to the low-400s (ng/dL).

Today, I’m usually between 870-940 ng/dL. I maintain this without using any dedicated testosterone products or efforts.

To get here, I did a thorough analysis of the research around natural testosterone optimization.

I followed a process and made some tweaks to my diet, supplementation, and lifestyle. I’ll share all this below.

We’ll start with the basics and then progress to the advanced testosterone-boosting biohacks.

Step 1: getting your hormonal baseline

Quantified and qualified testing should form the foundational first process of any hormone optimization protocol.

Without it, you’re flying blind. How else will you know which, if any, of your efforts works?

There are two main classes of tests to run:

• Genetic analysis — foundational but requires an accurate and thorough service
• Blood panels — the core of most hormone optimization, repeated often

Most folks skip genetic analysis and go straight into blood work. While blood is the “red gold” of understanding hormone status, neglecting your DNA is a big mistake.

Your DNA contains all kinds of vital information such as hormonal setpoints, susceptibilities to particular nutrient deficiencies (vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients), and “healthy” lifestyle practices that might actually harm your endocrine system.

We can also use information about our liver function and enzymes (GGT, AST, cholesterol synthesis, APoB) and other hormonal tendencies (particularly prolactin), to build your personalized plan

Genetics can explain as much as 65% of differences in testosterone levels and metabolism between individuals. Plus, this can depict the why behind any issues spotted in blood labs. In this DNA software review, I explain why I only trust one particular company.

Once you’ve gotten your actionable DNA report, you’re ready for blood testing. Unfortunately, the body is a complicated system of systems (cybernetic). So you’ll want a thorough panel. The commonly recommended test include:

1. Total Testosterone
2. Free Testosterone
3. LH
4. DUTCH Cortisol Test
5. Albumin
6. SHBG
7. NMR Lipoprotein (Advanced LDL, HDL, Triglycerides)
8. Vitamin D & B12
9. Oestradiol (E2)
10. Liver Function Tests
11. Renal Tests
12. RBC Magnesium
13. Ferritin
14. Creatine Kinase (CK)
15. C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

The first eight are the most important. Many of the others will highlight potential problems arising from supplementation and living but are not quite as indicative of testosterone.

You can get some of these during your annual insurance-covered physical.

If you have the budget, you could also get a complete blood panel that tests you for deficiencies of all the micronutrients.

This baseline will highlight any important gaps currently keeping your testosterone low.

Step 2: remove testosterone kryptonites

Even if you take exogenous hormones, they won’t work as well and you’ll have more side effects if you don’t address certain things.

You can also notably naturally increase your testosterone without adding a thing.

Next, we want to remove or reduce the following testosterone destroyers:

• Stress
• Over-training
• Alcohol
• Certain medications
• Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
• Body fat

Stress is one of the major culprits of low testosterone. That’s because cortisol, the primary stress hormone, antagonizes androgens like testosterone. You can’t maintain high levels of both. Luckily, you have lots of ways to bioharmonize stress into your superpower.

Over-training, especially heavy endurance volume, is taxing on the nervous system and body. The research is quite clear — frequent and intense endurance training results in a prolonged net catabolic state. Lower the volume and/or switch to super walking combined with the Swiss Army Knife of fitness, KAATSU training.

Alcohol shifts hormonal balance towards catabolism too. It both damages tissues and stimulates the production of stress hormones like cortisol, prolactin, and catecholamines. I suggest choosing one of these powerful alcohol alternatives that still give you a nice euphoric buzz. If you must drink, at least biohack your alcohol.

Medications, unfortunately, often interfere with testosterone levels. These include blood pressure meds, antidepressants (SSRIs), antihistamines, statins, opioids, cocaine, ketoconazole (used to treat athlete’s foot, dermatitis, and dandruff), and benzamides. Work with your medical professional to find a suitable alternative.

EDCs & fat. The last two bullets above are related. Body fat is a sink for the storage of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The body stores these toxicants in fat tissue to insulate them. Visceral fat poses the biggest risks. So what do you do?

Lower your exposure to EDCs! These are substances that modify the functioning of the endocrine system (hence their name). They disrupt in two primary ways. First, by mimicking estrogen in the body (called xenoestrogens). Also, by directly impairing testosterone.

Here’s what you can do:

• Eat non-GMO, organic food whenever possible (especially when buying meat)
• Filter your water (I use the AquaTru system)
• Filter your air (I prefer either the budget Air Angel or the AirDoctor Pro)
• Switch from plastic containers to glass or steel
• Avoid plastic as much as possible
• Minimize canned food (they contain BPA, BPS, BPE, etc)
• Buy low-VOC, low-chemical furniture
• Use EWG’s free Think Dirty app to choose clean cosmetics & sunscreens

While EDCs are ubiquitous in modern life, conscious effort makes all the difference.

Each item in this list will help you.

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to move on to the more exciting part.

Step 3: implement these practices

Next up are the nutrients, protocols, and things to add.

I’ll split it into sections.

The primary targets of testosterone-boosting practices include:

• Sleep
• Stress management
• Nutrition
• Movement
• Dopamine

We’ll start with sleep.

Sleep

Sleep is the single most anabolic, tissue-building state of every 24-hour cycle. Virtually all repair and regeneration occur in this period, as does testosterone release. Research by Dr. Matt Walker conclusively showed that even short-term sleep restriction can reduce testosterone by up to 15%.

Sleep less than 4-hours per night, and your testosterone may drop by 60% compared to folks sleeping 8+ hours.

Shift workers, those with abnormal sleep/wake schedules, have lower testosterone and worse symptoms.

Together, this is why optimizing your sleep is among the most impactful ways to improve T levels. Before we go on to the popular strategies, let’s cover another.

Stress

We discussed stress’s role on testosterone previously, in the “things to remove” section. So we’ll keep it short here and provide a small list of anti-stress tips.

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone. It’s essential to life, but chronic elevation leads to major issues. In order to build the hormones, both testosterone and cortisol compete for the same nutrients and precursors. Since survival matters more than growth, cortisol wins every time.

Reduce stress, and testosterone will increase. Here are some of the many ways I biohack stress:

• Meditate
• EFT Tapping
• “Forest Bathing” Therapy
• Adequate nutrients, especially carbs
• Adaptogens like Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Ginseng, Holy Basil
• Magnesium
• Apollo Neuro Tech
• Neurofeedback
• Therapeutic Touch
• KAATSU Recovery Training

Of course, there are countless ways to reduce stress levels. These are just a few.

Nutrition

This section is actually fairly simple and straightforward.

The simple preface is that the body requires ample nutrients, calories, and fluids to produce optimal amounts of testosterone.

Now for the specifics…

Diet:

• Eat cholesterol
• Eat enough macros
• Eat saturated fat
• Eat adequate calories
• Hydrate

Fat and cholesterol are not the evil villain it’s often portrayed as. It’s actually a precursor required for all steroid hormone production. Restrict cholesterol and your T production suffers. Luckily some of the best sources of saturated (stable) fats are fairly cholesterol-rich.

For max bioavailability of fats and proteins, I get affordable grass-fed and grass-finished meat from Wild Pastures. It’s harder to get these high-quality nutrients on a vegetarian or vegan diet (cacao butter and dark chocolate do provide highly beneficial stearic acid). Plant-based proteins can harm testosterone-to-estrogen ratios.

Protein. The simple target is ~0.8-1g of clean protein per pound of ideal body weight. As long as you hit the lower range, in order to balance the anabolic & catabolic hormones, you want to consume adequate carbs. Avoiding carbs increases cortisol relative to testosterone.

Carbs. I personally feel best when about 20% of my calories come from clean, low-glycemic carbohydrates. On my 4,500-calorie diet, that works out to ~200g of carbs. I backload most of these carbs to the night for better sleep, improved thyroid, and to maximize body fat burned throughout the day.

Calories are biological energy. Fuel for metabolic processes. Including the synthesis of sex hormones. Without sufficient energy intake, the body conserves energy. Reducing unnecessary functions like testosterone production. Your ideal intake depends on your current body status.

If you’re lean and trying to bulk up, you’ll certainly want to eat a caloric surplus. If you’re lean and trying to lose weight, you should eat around maintenance. If you’re overweight, you can handle a slight caloric deficit. Try not to exceed a 10-15% deficit, and note that your thyroid still might suffer.

Hydration. Another unsexy topic. Hydration is more than just water intake — electrolyte balance matters. Without electrolytes, too much water can harm you. Basically, the more dehydrated you are, the larger the increase of cortisol and epinephrine and the lower your testosterone. Even just 1% dehydration makes a big difference.

Make sure to regularly sip on water throughout the day (about half your body weight in ounces is a very loose ballpark) and get adequate minerals. Either through diet, quality sea salt, or a special product (I use this electrolyte supplement).

Movement

Exercise, but not in all forms, is one of the highest-impact and most reliable testosterone-boosting hacks available.

Strength training, sprinting, blood flow restriction training, rucking, H.I.T., and H.I.R.T. appear to be the most effective. Increasing testosterone over the short-term and long-term.

Of all exercises, the hex bar deadlift likely has the largest beneficial impact on the release of sex hormones and anabolic hormones like growth hormones.

Best practices for hormone optimization exercise includes:

• Short sessions of <60 minutes (ideally <45 min)
• Luxurious rest periods
• Minimize medium to high intensity (jogging, running), steady-state cardio
• Choose compound lifts whenever possible
• Stop short of complete failure

To summarize, train hard and complete the workout in minimal time. Heavily reduce or avoid endurance training.

Dopamine

Dopamine and testosterone are intricately linked. Dopamine is an excitatory neurochemical that matches many of the characteristics of T. The two share a reciprocal, bi-directional relationship.

I found several articles that explain how low dopamine results in low testosterone. Essentially…

Increased dopamine —> increased GnRH —> more LH sent to the testes

So re-sensitizing the body to dopamine can improve levels of sex hormones. A one-week social media and news “detox” should help.

One easy and safe way to increase dopamine is to compete. This works regardless of the outcome. Self-sufficiency also increases dopamine, while reliance on others increases estrogen.

The jury is still out on how sex and masturbation impact testosterone. So far, it looks complicated.

Step 4: add targeted nutrients (& supplements)

Everyone’s favorite (and often only) approach to naturally increasing testosterone is through supplementation.

The right nutrients can make a big difference, and even more when implementing the previous steps.

We’ll break down testosterone-boosting supplements into three categories:

1. Essential nutrients
2. Adaptogens
3. Botanicals, herbs, spices

For max T and general health, consuming the right amount of essential nutrients matters most.

Essential nutrients

While many vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients contribute to healthy endocrine function, several stand out above the rest.

They are:

• Vitamin D
• Boron
• Zinc
• Magnesium

With a lot of these nutrients, deficiency drops serum level testosterone levels. One great example is retinol, the bioactive form of vitamin A. If you’re not getting enough from grass-finished meat, you may consider supplementation.

Others like vitamin D, however, directly increase total and free testosterone levels.

Vitamin D works more like a steroid hormone than a vitamin. It regulates 1,000+ bodily functions, and an estimated 50% of the world population is deficient.

A huge body of research suggests a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and sex hormones like testosterone:

• Association between plasma 25-OH vitamin D and testosterone levels in men
• Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men
• Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and testosterone deficiency in middle-aged Korean men: a cross-sectional study
• Association of vitamin D status with serum androgen levels in men
• Influence of Sunlight and Oral D3 Supplementation on Serum 25(OH)D Concentration and Exercise Performance in Elite Soccer Players
• Vitamin D and sex steroid production in men with normal or impaired Leydig cell function

A few notes. Much of the research has focused on men. The effects are consistent in both unhealthy obese folks and elite athletes, young and old.

So get plenty of natural sunlight or supplement with a quality vitamin ADK.

Boron is perhaps the most common mineral supplemented for its testosterone-enhancing benefits. It’s actually a trace mineral, naturally found within the soil. Deficiency impairs the endocrine system and cognition.

Dosing around 10mg reduces testosterone-inhibiting sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), as well as reduces inflammatory biomarkers like high sensitive CRP (hsCRP) and TNF-α. Supplementation takes about a week to increase free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, cortisol, and vitamin D. At the same time, it reduces estradiol. You can get it from some foods like certain fruit, almonds, and avocados.

Zinc is a micronutrient cofactor involved in many bodily processes. It’s another popular nutrient supplemented by those looking to improve T with supplements. Deficiency is fairly common as typical diets don’t include many zinc-rich foods, and deficiency is correlated with reduced levels.

Athletes and those that sweat/overexert themselves find zinc especially useful. It appears to work best in those with low baseline testosterone.

Magnesium is the best overall “super mineral”. Virtually everyone needs more to live optimally. Magnesium promotes anabolism by balancing stress hormones and excess neuroexcitation. It also improves sleep quality.

According to Dr. Thomas Levy, magnesium is a critical cofactor involved in over 80% of all chemical reactions occurring in the body. The late Charles Poliquin called mag one of the best anti-aging minerals. Magnesium is also a cofactor to help vitamin D perform all its functions.

Hormonally, magnesium increases bioactive free testosterone as well as total testosterone. Both in athletes and sedentary adults. Magnesium improves other key anabolic sex hormones, including HGH, and IGF-1, and also helps free-bound testosterone. Foods rich in magnesium include greens, nuts, chocolate, avocado, and even certain high-quality salts.

Creatine is another non-essential amino acid that’s synergistic in testosterone-boosting regimens. It improves exercise performance, improving hormonal response post-training. It also has a slight impact on increasing testosterone when supplemented at 5g daily.

Initial use increases the conversion of testosterone to the related but more potent DHT. But that seems to subside. Overall, creatine’s effect on testosterone appears mostly indirect and related to improved athletic performance. Meat and fish are the best sources of dietary creatine.

Adaptogens are some of my favorite substances. We’ll cover them next.

Adaptogens

Adaptogens are a special class of plants & fungi that fit very specific criteria regarding safety and mechanisms of action.

All adaptogens work by bringing the body into a greater state of balance (homeostasis). Adaptogens modulate the stress response and build personal resilience. Also building general health.

They generate and modulate the endocrine system, particularly the HPA axis which governs the production of anabolic and catabolic hormones. Many of them have indirect sex hormone-increasing effects.

Ginseng, for example, has three distinct hormonal mechanisms. First, it inhibits two hormones that lower testosterone (cortisol and prolactin). Ginseng also regulates the powerful and related androgen, DHT. Animal research showed an impressive 62% T increase from a high-potency ginseng extract. Another type called “Brazilian Ginseng” appears to directly increase testosterone too.

Shilajit is among the more unique substances supplemented by humans. This goo-like substance is harvested from high-elevation mountains, and affectionately nicknamed by ancient cultures the “conqueror of mountains”, “destroyer of weakness”, and “nectar of the Gods”. It acts on testosterone production enzymes and supports optimal synthesis. Shilajit contains one of nature’s most powerful electrolytes, fulvic acid, along with 80+ trace minerals. It, directly and indirectly, improves testosterone.

One study showed 90 days of supplementation significantly increased total testosterone (20%), bioavailable free testosterone (19%) and the precursor to testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (31%) (DHEAS). Another study focusing on fertility also found serum testosterone levels rose by 23%, and FSH by 9%.

Plus, this substance has natural energy-boosting/anti-fatigue effects, provides a cornucopia of micronutrients, and even acts as a cognitive-enhancing nootropic. Learn more in my shilajit super supplement guide.

Cordyceps is the favorite mushroom of athletes everywhere for its powerful ergogenic performance benefits. It helps increases cellular energy (ATP) production. It increases resistance to fatigue. Hormone-optimization-wise, animal research on cordyceps shows potential benefits.

It can increase testosterone release from the Leydig cells in the testes. Another rodent study showed increased serum testosterone and estradiol-17 (E2) concentrations (but not FSH, LH, or prolactin). Yet another found increased plasma testosterone. Overall, cordyceps seems best to help prevent the breakdown (catabolism) of T.

Finally…

Ashwagandha is an evergreen shrub that’s been a cornerstone in Ayurvedic medicine for millennia. It’s one of the most revered medicines in herbalism due to its pleiotropic benefits and outstanding safety profile. As with most adaptogens, ashwagandha modulates sex hormones and a few small-scale human studies confirm its testosterone-boosting potential.

A 2010 fertility study found ashwagandha restored optimal sex hormone levels. Other research found it improves strength, muscle mass, and testosterone. A later 2019 study of overweight men found a 16-week course of this herb increased DHEA-S by 18% and testosterone by 14.7%. Then a more recent 2022 study of healthy men found 8 weeks of ashwagandha improved testosterone by 15%.

Then you have the most popular ingredients found within testosterone-boosting supplements.

Other herbs & botanicals

These foundational herbs and botanicals make up the backbone of most male optimization products.

Cistanche is the premier natural testosterone enhancer. It has a long history of use in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is rumored to have been “Genghis Khan’s favorite herb”. This plant is so powerful it’s often called a natural selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). It also benefits immunity, overall health, and the brain through dopamine, nerve growth factor (NGF) & neurogenesis, and of course, endocrine function.

Sadly, there are actually not that much human clinical data on this ingredient. Yet it seems to work great and is recommended by Dr. Andrew Huberman and others in the testosterone-boosting space.

From the animal data, researchers hypothesize that cistanche increases LH levels and also upregulates testosterone synthesis enzymes in the testes. Plus, it also increases levels of human growth hormone. Extracts of cistanche activate dopamine D2 receptors and dampen prolactin (high prolactin has many undesirable estrogen-like effects). The primary active ingredients appear to be plant glycosides echinacoside and acetonide. It’s safe to take it daily.

Tongkat Ali is another classic herbal testosterone booster, suggested to help with various male health focuses such as athletic performance, muscle mass, fertility, and of course, hormones. The primary active ingredients are considered a family of compounds called quassinoids.

Some research does suggest that Tongkat Ali can increase testosterone levels. As well as ameliorate common symptoms of low T. This 2022 research shows dual-pronged benefits, “reduced cortisol exposure (−16%) and increased testosterone status (+37%)”. A meta-analysis of existing research suggests it improves testosterone, DHEA, IGF-1, and other hormones.

Tongkat seems best to reverse abnormally low testosterone and the symptoms associated with it. If you’ve already optimized and looking for a massive bump, you’ll be disappointed. In those cases, increases of 40-70 points are most common. Note that it may exacerbate prolactin issues. Therefore, it should be stacked with cistanche. It’s also a fairly powerful cortisol inhibitor, so you may want to stack it with ginseng.

Other supplement ingredients to boost testosterone levels include:

• Fenugreek: wide-ranging benefits in multiple studies, including increasing testosterone up to 46%
• Apigenin: reduces prolactin and improves recovery
• Pine Pollen: contains a natural biosimilar form of testosterone
• Tribulus Terrestris: increases LH production, and the high levels of saponins and protodioscin may increase testosterone
• Diindolylmethane (DIM): a natural compound derived from cruciferous vegetables that reduce the conversion (aromatase) of testosterone into estrogen
• Oyster Extract: contains 59 trace elements and is a rich natural source of zinc
• Stinging Nettle: natural aromatase inhibitor that also reduces SHBG, thus increasing free testosterone
• Ginger: increases LH production & cholesterol in the testes
• EGCG: inhibits myostatin which can increase lean muscle
• DHEA: steroid hormone precursor boosts testosterone, stacks nicely with pregnenolone and Tongkat, must be combined with some form of aromatase inhibitor
• Horny Goat Weed: modulates estrogen back into balance

What you take may be less important than what you avoid.