October 2017

What does Tribulus Terrestris do? Does it boost testosterone?

The Tribulus I use personally: https://amzn.to/2TacjKu

Testosterone- the male hormone, without it making gains is next to impossible. They’ve done studies where they have had guys work out, but given them a drug to suppress their testosterone, and they’ve made no strength gains- testosterone is important.  

Some guys have low testosterone, and some guys are within the normal range, then there is a third group, the guys who inject testosterone, and get levels significantly higher.

So when you see how important testosterone is, it makes sense that the idea of a supplement that could enhance testosterone gets people excited.

Tribulus terrestis is a legal herb which grows in China, eastern Asia, and extends into western Asia and southern Europe

The plants chemical structure varies based off where it is from, but Protodioscin which is the active saponin it is famous for, is highest in Bulgarian Tribulus.

Tribulus terrestris is also referred to as Gokshura in india and is used in traditional medicine.

So does it increase your testosterone?

So far all the studies confirm that tribulus terrestris doesn’t raise testosterone levels  if you are at normal levels already. 

The only studies that have shown that it increases testosterone are In people with testosterone that was already low, and who were facing problems of low sex drive and ED, in studies on these men, testosterone sometimes rises, but not enough to be statistically significant. 

Let’s look at this study. 

They took bulgarian tribulus terrestris, purchased from a company approved by the Bulgarian Ministry of Public Health and they confirmed that the active steroid saponins made up more than 60% of the dry weight. “the good stuff”. No impact on test, none on lh and none on x. 
STUDY: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...

But what does it do?

Well there is a lot of evidence that it still will raise both libedo and quality of erections. 

Scientists gave it to fertile wild boars and saw an increase in mounting behaviour by 20% and increase in the volume of certain… fluids.
Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

In one study, they gave normal rats Tribulus and found that it was as effective as more mainstream alternatives.
Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/...

What about in humans…

In a study on men with low sperm count, supplementation of 6g tribulus root was associated with a significantly greater self reported improvement in sexual health.
Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

In another study persons with low sperm count given 6g of tribulus root daily for two months (where almost half of participants reported erectile problems) saw significant improvements in … just trust me there were improvements , you can look it up if you want
Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Why does it do this? 

Well it looks like the high protodioscin tribulus from bulgaria, doesn’t increase overall testosterone levels, but it does increase the sensitivity of those receptors in the brain, at least that’s the theory scientists have right now. 

So although it won’t increase your gains, the studies say that you might see gains in other places.