Testosterone, sperm counts and endurance: Formula No. 24, Male Virility
My favorite intensive large scale case studies on herbal medicine were conducted by the Soviets, starting during world war II. Initially they sought something that would help their soldiers endure battle and in turn win the war, but this turned into extensive long term investigations into at one point over 158 herbs and substances, for not only their soldiers but their Olympians and astronauts as well.
“The government took these experiments so seriously that the scientists involved have been banned from speaking of their results or publishing their findings outside the country”, according to a 2008 National Geographic article on the topic.
One of the plants central to the study was Eleutherococcus senticoccus, also known as Siberian Ginseng. The Soviets started dosing their cadets with it in control groups and exposing them to extreme physical and mental stress to see how they held up, and found that the eleutherococcus helped them perform dramatically better - improving their endurance, stamina and overall resistance to stress.
I heard this, loved it, started taking eleuthero myself for a bit, and then doling it out to the men in my life for years. It’s such a wonderful herb for men’s overall health - helping them handle stress, cleansing the blood, and improving cognitive function and blood sugar. There are many herbs to consider for men’s health however, and men’s health as it relates to sex and sexual vitality has been some of my favorite stuff to investigate for Sexpot.
Addressing sexual health is also about addressing overall health, as hormone balance leads to general vitality, and libido signifies robust health. We all know testosterone. It’s the hormone that keeps men lean, energized, youthful; it promotes fertility and sexual appetite; it helps men stay healthy late into life. And testosterone production and male sexual health in general is a more important topic than you might think at present, because it’s acutely threatened.
Stephen Harrod Buhner writes, “There is significant evidence that scores of substances, usually synthetic chemicals that either are estrogens or mimic estrogens, are entering men’s bodies and altering the androgen/estrogen ratio far beyond the normal range that men have historically experienced… The males of every species, not just humans, are paying the price of these estrogenic pollutants.”
The pollutants and chemicals he’s referencing are called endocrine disruptors, and they’re found in our homes, in our food, sometimes in our air. We’re consistently in contact with them. The effects for men are devastating, not only in diminished testosterone production, which leads to everything from weight gain, brain fog, and poor sexual ‘performance’, but also in the incidence of reproductive cancers and infertility.
Generally men have misconceptions about their fertility, or fail to consider it at all. This is in part because, like other types of data about men’s reproductive health, men don’t seem to engage with each other as much as women do about these issues or how to address them, but it’s also because collectively the wealth of our understanding of fertility and reproductive health scales toward women. The data shows however that investing in male fertility is enormously important, as nearly half of all couples facing infertility find it to be what we call ‘male factor’ infertility, meaning simply that it’s due to the men in the equation. And with infertility becoming adequately pervasive to be considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a ‘global health crisis’, it’s more important than ever that we shift that paradigm and include men in these conversations about their reproductive health.
Buhner goes on to say, “Statistics show that at least 40 percent of cases of male infertility are due to low sperm count and/or weak inactive sperm… Many recent studies have shown that sperm counts are dropping around the globe - a distressful development even beyond the problem of infertility, because it shows a serious imbalance arising in our male population.”
When polled men also tend to generally overestimate the life of their fertile years, even though studies consistently show that by the age of 40, a man will take on average five cycles longer to impregnate his wife than he would at age 25, regardless of maternal age.
In an article published by the Guardian a few months ago, written by none other than Erin Brockovich, entitled, “Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanity”, she references the work of reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Shanna Swan, “Swan’s book echoes previous research, which has found that PFAS harms sperm production, disrupts the male hormone and is correlated to a “reduction of semen quality, testicular volume and penile length’'. Yes, not just function but form is changing.
The data is both terrifying and empowering, as there are so many things men can do to not only support their overall sexual health and performance, but also testosterone production, and sperm quality, count and motility.
To return to the eleutherococcus the Soviets tested, I’ve used lots of this formidable stuff in the male virility formula along with some other incredible root herbs for men’s health, like maca and tribulus, both of which are associated with improved sexual performance and sperm quality, motility and count. The tribulus is also known to boost testosterone production over time with regular use. I added one of the most important ayurvedic herbs as well - ashwaganda - known to support sexual vitality and testosterone production, and lastly some nettle root, deep nourishment for prostate health and an overall male reproductive tonic.
I love the Soviets for their covert mission. So many people ask me about case studies, and this is one of my favorite examples of a large scale case study on herbal medicine by far. It’s equipped us with a great source of information about herbs for men’s health, and even though it was conducted nearly a century ago, it couldn’t be a more important topic right now.
Xo, Jessica
