Potentially the most important hormone in the male body, testosterone plays many roles which can affect muscle mass, wellbeing, and general health.
It’s often a topic of focus for the fitness and weight-lifting population, due to its fundamental part in building strength and muscle mass.
This is especially of concern to older males, for whom testosterone levels are known to naturally decline over time. It can be detrimental not only to results in the gym, but can also impact sex drive, energy levels, and much more.
Fortunately, issues related to low testosterone levels can be corrected with the correct supplementation, known as “testosterone-boosters”.
To make it simple for you, we’ve taken a deep look into the Australasian test-booster market, and fished out our top picks for 2018.
You can take a look at these below – but first, let’s take a look at low-testosterone issues, their relevance in Australasia, and the methods used to address it.
What Causes Low Testosterone Levels?
Testosterone levels can be influenced by a whole range of lifestyle factors.
These include your choice of diet, the use of particular prescription drugs, chemical exposure, and illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or HIV (1).
The single most inevitable factor, however, is ageing.
The majority of males reach their peak natural testosterone levels at around the age of 20, and these tend to decline after about 30. This decline is known to accelerate with age, and tapers off to around 33% of peak levels, at the age of 80 years.
Effects and symptoms of natural testosterone decline often go unnoticed until as late age 50-60, which is often after the body has worn the impact.
Unknown to many, testosterone plays a huge part in bone health, as well as the health and function of almost all major organs. The most common cause of osteoperosis in males is low levels of testosterone (2).
Normal testosterone levels in men usually range between 300 and 1000 nanograms per decilitre, but many don’t notice symptoms of low testosterone until way down at 100-200.
This unfortunately gives a lot of time for damage to be done to the system.
What are the Symptoms of Low Testosterone?
Since testosterone has close ties to the function of so many organs, there are various symptoms of low testosterone levels.
Things to look out for:
- Decreased muscle mass
- Loss of strength
- Low sex drive
- Erectile dysfunction
- Trouble focusing
- Hair loss
- Wrinkling of skin
- Increases in body fat
Building Muscle With Testosterone-Boosters
Testosterone-boosters are most effective for those who have below-normal testosterone levels, but they’re not the only ones who can benefit.
Athletes and weight-lifters enjoy effects such as increases to physical performance, improved muscle mass, and reduced body fat levels.
Effects like these can be observed by increasing your testosterone levels to the high-normal range, no matter what your starting levels are.
Even though you should always take bold marketing claims with a grain of salt, there are plenty of benefits from using testosterone boosters, both physical and psychological.
Testosterone Prescriptions in Australasia
There has been a notable increase in testosterone prescriptions in Australia, which has led to recent government intervention to eliminate improper use.
Before prescribing testosterone treatment, the new legislation requires that GPs now consult with an endicronologist, a urologist, or a member of the Australasian Chapter of Health Medicine.
The testosterone level threshold has also been given a 25% lower cut-off point, meaning that many men are no longer eligible, despite having abnormal testosterone levels.
Very similar rules are also in place in New Zealand, making natural testosterone-boosters a potential last-resort solution for many across Australasia.
BEST TESTOSTERONE BOOSTERS IN 2018
Now that you know all about testosterone, here are our top test-boosting supplements for 2018!
# 1st Place: Prime Male
Our number one test-booster for 2018 is none other than Prime Male.
Boasting a massive 12-ingredient formula, it’s packed with potential to improve your testosterone levels via a bunch of different mechanisms.
There are 3 main effects that Prime Male targets:
- Increasing luteinizing hormone: This hormone has massive impact on testosterone production. D-aspartic acid (D-AA) is extremely well-proven by research for boosting luteinizing hormone, and in turn testosterone levels (3). Prime Male contains a special calcium-chelate form of D-AA, which is even more effective.
- Reducing sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG): SBHG is a substance that deactivates testosterone by binding to it. This can make it completely ineffective for the effects we need it for. Prime Male contains a few ingredients that counteract SHBG, including nettle root, magnesium, and boron. Each of these help to keep more free testosterone available for use.
- Reducing oestrogen and prolactin: These are both female sex hormones. If they are present in excessive amounts in the male body, they can negatively impact testosterone levels. Two ingredients, luteolin and boron can both reduce levels of these female hormones. Boron in particular has demonstrated up to 39% reductions to oestrogen levels in trials in men (4).
In addition to all the above, Prime Male also includes a bunch of extra ingredients:
- Zinc citrate – zinc plays a vital part in testosterone production, and the citrate form is very well-absorbed. Vitamin B6 is also included, which further increases zinc absorption.
- Mucuna Pruriens – a bean which is high in a compound called L-dopa. It’s been shown to improve mood and testosterone in men with fertility issues.
- Korean Red Ginseng – a type of ginseng well-known for increasing sex drive, which may also increase testosterone.
- Vitamin D3 – a fat-soluble vitamin which has been linked to higher testosterone levels. It works synergistically with Vitamin K2.
- BioPerine® – a black-pepper extract, improves the absorption of other ingredients.
Big Thumbs Up:
Prime Male does a stellar job in including a wide range of effective ingredients AND effective doses – a rare and impressive feat for many products in this niche.
Extra Marks:
Not only have they included great ingredients and doses, but they’ve also gone above and beyond to include the best-absorbed forms of these compounds, making sure you get the best value for your money.
Added Bonus: Also helps with libido, prostate health, mood, and energy levels.
Where to Buy:
You can grab Prime Male directly from their official website, www.primemale.com. They allow for international shipping.
2nd Place: TestoFuel
In second place, we have TestoFuel.
TestoFuel targets 5 main outcomes with their formula, all of which can be achieved via increases in testosterone levels:
- Building muscle
- Increasing strength
- Improving mood and energy levels
- Reducing body fat
- Increasing libido
Thumbs Up For:
Having a very similar ingredient profile to Prime Male. TestoFuel has many of the same effective additions including d-aspartic acid, ginseng, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6, as well as vitamins D and K2.
All of these ingredients are very powerful, and lay a strong foundation for the TestoFuel formula.
Thumbs Down For:
In contrast to Prime Male, this formula doesn’t go that extra mile to use superior forms of their ingredients, nor provide full and effective doses for all of them.
Prime male outdoes TestoFuel in a few ways here, including a better dose of zinc and more effective forms of both D-AA and vitamin B6.
The ingredients in both formulas are still well-researched and effective, but results in TestoFuel could have been further optimised with a little more effort.
A slightly controversial ingredient in the formula is fenugreek, due to a possible conflict of interest in its research; most published studies on it have been funded by fenugreek suppliers, who have a strong incentive to skew the results.
These studies and results could emerge to be legitimate, but for now don’t take them completely at face value.
Best For:
TestoFuel is a great back-up option, which should yield some solid effects across the board.
Where to Buy:
You can grab it from www.testofuel.com, their official website. International shipping is also offered here.