so onions have been getting a ton of attention lately for their supposed ability to increase
testosterone especially over on Tick Tock where some creators are claiming
that onions can increase testosterone by up to 300 percent my total testosterone
levels went from being in the low normal ranges to over tripling and being in the
high range now we all know that Tick Tock is a platform of a bunch of degenerates boy
that escalated quickly but with all jokes aside there is some interesting research surrounding
the effects of onions on testicular function and testosterone so in this video I want to
take a deep dive into that research so let's go ahead and dive in Afternoon Delight now whenever
I do research for a particular topic one of the first questions that I'm always asking is what
Does the clinical research say and the reason for this is that even though rodent data is extremely
helpful especially when it comes to figuring out what the specific mechanisms of action are
with specific supplements and compounds and food products some of this research doesn't always uh
carry over into a clinical setting and even when you start getting into the specifics of clinical
trials there's even a couple of tiers there that I'm interested in especially when it comes to
supplements and compounds that can be used to increase and improve testosterone production
and one of those tiers is a group of research that has been performed in young healthy active adults
and to be quite Frank this is fairly rare and some of the few supplements that would even fall into
the category of having research that has been performed in that subpopulation would be things
like ashwagandha and Tong catali that have been demonstrated to improve testosterone in young
healthy adults but the second tier of research is the research that has been performed in infertile
and hypogenatal men as well now the research that's been performed in hypogonadal and infertile
Min is still very important research however it's not as applicable to the general population when
compared to research that's been performed in young healthy active adults and when it comes
to the research that's been performed in onions in regards to testosterone production there's
really only one singular clinical trial that even exists and it was performed in men that were age
50 to 79 that were quote experiencing symptoms of Aging now these men weren't technically hypogonal
however we can infer from how the researchers wrote this paper that these men weren't in the
prime of life however the research here is still fairly uh relevant to our discussion today now
the researchers of the study gave an onion extract to the participants of the study over the course
of 30 days and found that onion extract did absolutely squat at increasing testosterone
levels now technically there was a slight increase at day 14 in testosterone levels however at day 30
this did drop back down to Baseline and there was no difference between the control and the
experimental group at the end of the study now it is worth noting that the researchers of the study
were using a extract that was a standardized for cysteine sulfoxide which is one of the compounds
that is found in onions that is thought to have some of the the testosterone regulatory
properties to it however it is entirely possible that one of the other compounds that is in that is
in onions is responsible for these effects and the reason I say this is that when you look at
all of the research that is in healthy rodents there is some evidence to suggest that there
are some testosterone regulatory properties to onion extract now when you look at the three
studies that have been performed in healthy rodents the evidence is somewhat conflicting
and a little bit all over the place in one study they found an improvement in luteinizing hormone
and testosterone levels but not in follicle stimulating hormone and in another study they
found an increase in luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone but not
in testosterone levels and in the third study they found an increase in testosterone levels
but didn't measure any other hormonal markers but one of the more interesting studies is the
second one that was mentioned in particular that found an increase in luteinizing hormone
and follicle stimulating hormone but no increase in testosterone levels now the reason this is so
interesting is that luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone are pituitary
hormones that are responsible for the production of testosterone and sperm in the testes and so
you would think think if you were to see an elevation of these hormones that you would
also see in elevation of testosterone but that was not the case in this particular study now
the researchers of the study were hypothesizing this is because of some type of negative feedback
whereby onion extracts at the specific dosage that was used in this study were actually making it
harder for the testes to produce testosterone or having some type of anti-androgenic effect
whereby there was a negative feedback loop to the hypothalamus and the pituitary to pump out more of
these hormones in order to stimulate testosterone production in order to maintain concentrations of
testosterone in the bloodstream now this is the same type of phenomenon that you see with a lot
of anti-androgenic drugs that either through blocking stimulation at the Androgen receptor
or by preventing the conversion of testosterone into the more potent Androgen DHT reduce overall
androgenic stimulation in the body there by increasing the stimulation of the production
of luteinizing hormone to the testes in order to increase androgenic levels in the body in order
to maintain homeostatic testosterone production and even though it's not super clear whether or
not that's actually happening here with onions it is quite possible that onions are having some
type of anti-androgenic effect that are actually causing this increase in testosterone that you're
seeing in these healthy rodents now when it comes to the research that's been performed
in hypogonal and in Fertile rodents the uh the research here is a whole lot more consistent
and in pretty much like seven out of the nine studies that I was able to find on the effects
of onions on infertile and hypoconadal rodents there was a positive correlation and positive
effect on both fertility markers and testosterone levels whereby onion extracts were able to prove
vent and preserve testosterone levels in the face of various toxins and specifically when it
comes to fertility onion extract was extremely consistent with all nine of the studies that
looked into this finding that onion extract was effective at preserving fertility in the face of
various toxins and so even though it's not super clear whether or not onions or onion extract would
improve or increase testosterone in healthy male human adults or even in healthy rodents it does
appear that onions are fairly potent at preserving testosterone and preserving fertility in specific
instances of infertility and hypokinadism which means that one of the most relevant uses for
onions and onion extract would actually be in preserving testicular functions specifically
in the instance of hypogonadism and infertility which actually brings us to today's video sponsor
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be looking out for for overall health however one of the best ways to measure whether or not
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so if you guys are interested in something like this make sure to check out the description down
below for 20 percent off of an at-home fertility test now the reason that onions appear to be
so potent at preserving fertility and preserving testosterone production probably comes down to its
extremely and unusually high polyphenol content now polyphenols and several different trials
have been shown to preserve testicular function and fertility and testosterone production and
with onions being so high in polyphenols it's no surprise that you would see some type of effect
on these markers now one of the primary ways by which polyphenols appear to do this is by reducing
oxidative stress in the testes and in instances of hypogonism and infertility there is and does
appear to be some level of increased oxidation oxidative stress in the testes and so because
onions again are so high in some specific polyphenols again it's no surprise that you
would see some level of reduction in oxidative stress and Improvement in fertility levels and
testosterone production when warranted now when it comes to the specific polyphenols and polyphenolic
compounds that are found in onions there appear to be three primary ones from the research that I was
able to find and that are the sulfur-containing polyphenols things like cysteine sulfoxide that
we've already talked about as well as facetin and quercetin now facetin is a polyphenol that onions
are particularly high in and has been shown to inhibit and reduce excitotoxicity from glutamate
in the tissues and prevent the oxidative stress from glutamate induced toxicity and glutamate
being your primary neurotransmitter in the body that is excitatory when levels are too high or
exceedingly High it can cause excino toxicity and facetin does appear to somewhat mitigate this
effect in the testes specifically and preserve fertility and testosterone production now the
most relevant polyphenol found in onions is likely quercetin and the reason for this is
that onions are higher in quercetin than pretty much any other food product and has been shown
in a handful of independent trials to have several different interactions with androgenic signal ink
in the body quercetin has been shown to increase testosterone levels decrease DHT levels inhibit
5-alpha reductase and improve fertility markers and so because onions are so high in quercetin it
is extremely likely that some of the effects that we're seeing in these infertile and hypogonadal
rodents are because specifically of the quercetin content of these onions and onion extracts that
are being used however it is worth noting here again that even though the polyphenolic content
of onions is likely reducing oxidative stress in the testes it is also quite possible able that
they are also reducing androgenic signaling in the body thereby increasing testosterone
and fertility markers as well and the reason I say this is that polyphenols appear to have
antagonistic effects on Androgen receptors some inhibitory properties on five Alpha reductase
and some inhibitory effects on the anabolic activity which ultimately May reduce overall
androgenic signaling and anabolic activity in the body now again the reason for this is that when
you reduce androgenic signaling by blocking the Androgen receptor and preventing the conversion
of testosterone into DHT your body senses that there is a reduction in androgenic signaling and
therefore produces more testosterone in order to increase androgenic signaling but at the end of
the day it's not super clear if this is actually a good strategy to increase testosterone this is
super similar to compounds like cystancia that appear to increase increased testosterone fairly
regularly and reliably in rodents but also reduces androgenic signaling and so it's not super clear
whether or not this would actually have a net positive effect in individuals that are healthy
that are not hypogadal and that are not infertile now there are some specific situations where men
might be hypogonadal or infertile or might even be dealing with some prostate issues where you
do actually want to reduce overall androgenic and anabolic signaling in order to increase fertility
markers or decrease prostate growth however these are very specific situations and circumstances
that warrant the use of compounds that might carry some anti-androgenic and anti-anabolic activity
but for the average guy that's walking around just trying to Simply improve athletic performance and
improve cognitive performance and improve just how you feel and overall health a much better
strategy is going to be you spending most of of your effort on improving Your Sleep Quality
improving your exercise regimen improving your sun exposure as well as just increasing the nutrient
content of your diet in order to improve your hormonal profile and then if you want to kind of
go beyond that trying substances like ashwagandha and tongue cataly as well as shilajit might also
be some good options however turning to compounds and even drugs that reduce overall androgenic
exposure and reduce androgenic signaling typically isn't going to be the best move for most men but
other than that guys make sure to check out the description down below for a link to 20 percent
off of an at-home fertility test as well as I link to all of the guides the free resources that
I've created over the years but other than that I think I will see you guys next time thanks so much