NoFap and testosterone are two things that are intricately linked and deserve our attention.
Testosterone is the ultimate hormone that’s responsible for everything masculine in a man.
Testosterone has been dubbed the ‘sex hormone’ after several studies conducted on it.
Researchers have also told us that testosterone is;
- the attractive hormone in a man,
- the hormone that boosts the sexual libido of a man, and
- what a man is rewarded with after partnered sex.
The ideal man (the alpha male) has this hormone in abundance. And when it gets too low in a man, several symptoms start popping up.
So, it’s common sense for a man to strive to have this hormone in abundance.
What you will learn
The cool benefits of having good testosterone levels as a man
- You’re more decisive, more goal-oriented, and more successful at being a man
- It gives you good libido and rock-hard erections
- You have more energy and strength
- You’ll have a good sense of well-being
- You’re more confident
- It gives more muscle mass and this results in a more masculine frame
- You have clearer skin and this makes you more attractive as a man
- You can easily focus and concentrate (no brain fog), and so on. If you want to increase your focus and concentration, you can check out receptra.
Before we get into checking the validity of whether NoFap increases your testosterone levels as one of many incredible NoFap benefits, you need to know some things first.
Three things you need to know about testosterone in men
There are variations to the testosterone in your body
When your body secrete testosterone, it enters your bloodstream. The entirety of the testosterone that enters your bloodstream is known as total Testosterone (total T).
About 98% of the testosterone that entered your bloodstream binds with SHGB (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) protein. This 98% testosterone is known as bound testosterone (bound T).
The rest—2%—of the testosterone that isn’t bound is known as free testosterone (free T).
It’s this free testosterone that’s available for your body to absorb. Free T is the testosterone that your body uses to produce all the cool benefits of the testosterone hormone.
Other factors can influence your testosterone levels
Having low values in your total T doesn’t mean you’ll have low free T. And having high values in your total T doesn’t mean you’ll have high free T values.
Having low T-levels (free T) doesn’t simply mean that your body isn’t producing enough testosterone.
It might be that you have a higher SHGB value in your body that are binding more with your testosterone. That means that your low T-levels is a symptom of something else.
So, if you want to have your T-levels checked, the best practice is you should have both your total Testosterone and free testosterone levels checked.
The normal laboratory values of the total T should be between 300 to 800 ng/dL.
Other factors influence the usage of testosterone in your body
Having high free T doesn’t mean your body can effectively make use of these free serum Testosterone.
For instance, Androgen Receptors (AR) in the brain governs the way your body executes testosterone-related traits as a man.
This study1 shows this by removing the brain AR of some male animals and found that their body can’t execute the testosterone in their body.
Even though these animals have adequate levels of testosterone in their blood.
What this means is that even if you have good T-levels, if your AR level is low, you won’t get the cool benefits of having good testosterone levels.
Other factors that contribute to the reduction in T-levels and the ineffective use of Testosterone by your body
Apart from having low brain AR, these are other things that contribute to low T-levels and ineffective usage of testosterone;
- Excessive PMOing which leads to wastage of testosterone and low brain androgen receptors.
- Lack of quality sleep during the night.
- Stress, which leads to a sharp increase in cortisol hormone in the body.
- Obesity.
- Age: the older you get, the lower your T-levels.
- Medications.
- Chemotherapy for cancer.
- Dysfunction of the pituitary gland: a gland located at the base of your brain (behind your nose and between your ears).
- Deficiency in some vital nutrients that helps synthesize testosterone. Such nutrients are zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin D.
Symptoms of low T-levels
Whether;
a) you have low free testosterone levels, or
b) a low total testosterone level, or
c) your body isn’t making effective use of the testosterone you have,
the following are common symptoms you might experience according to clevelandclinic.org2;
- low sex drive
- erectile dysfunction
- Loss of muscle and thinning of the bone
- Hair loss
- Fatigue/low energy
- Brain fog (memory problems, difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks and other things)
- Moodiness, depression, decrease in sense of well-being
- Increase in breast size
- Infertility, and so on.
……………….
Since studies have linked NoFap to an increase in testosterone levels, a lot of guys go for NoFap hoping to boost their testosterone levels.
So, Does NoFap increase testosterone levels?
The short answer, Yes.
But there are caveats attached to it as you’ll soon find out.
One thing you should know about frequent ejaculation is the loss of Zinc (and Magnesium) attached to it.
These two nutrients are essential in synthesizing testosterone. Losing them more than your body’s making is a pre-requisite to low T-levels.
So, when you go on NoFap hard mode (which is the most popular mode of NoFap), you stop watching porn, masturbating and ejaculating.
When you stop ejaculating like a crazy person, you’re retaining your nutrients, your vitality, and you’re helping your body make more testosterone.
Also, when you stop watching porn, the Androgen receptors in your brain increases. And this allows your body to use testosterone better.
The Chinese study that started the NoFap movement
This was seen firsthand in a study3 where 28 men were instructed to not ejaculate for a period.
After a week, a clear and whopping 45% increase was observed in the serum (total) testosterone of these men.
However, no further peaks were noticed and the testosterone levels started dropping after 14 days of abstinence.
Also, the 45% increase is only due to ejaculation-related drop in testosterone levels.
As I pointed out earlier in this post, other factors can cause/contribute to low testosterone levels.
The caveats to NoFap and testosterone increase
It’s good to point out that if the cause(s) of your low T-levels isn’t(aren’t) based on your frequency of ejaculation, you might do NoFap and not notice a major uptick in your T-levels.
And you should put it in mind that you’ll hit the flatline period on your NoFap which will mean that your testosterone levels will drop (as seen in the Chinese study quoted above) after about 14 days.
My argument is that you shouldn’t put all your testosterone-increase hope on NoFap. Because NoFap alone can’t get you past the 45% increase of the first week of NoFap.
If you think about it, intimacy with a partner is one of those things that MAJORLY boost your testosterone levels. NoFap hard mode (For instance) denies you of this. So it makes sense that the more hard mode you do, the lesser your testosterone levels.
If you want an increase in your testosterone levels, and keep it consistent, you can’t depend solely on NoFap.
When it comes to having good testosterone levels as a man, it has a lot to do with your lifestyle, your diet, and sometimes, your finances.
How to increase your testosterone levels further when you’re on NoFap
Continue with NoFap
As I’ve just said, wasting your semen will greatly reduce your testosterone levels as a man.
And just because NoFap won’t give you a consistent increase in T-levels doesn’t mean you should stop NoFap.
And the decrease that’ll happen after 14 days won’t make your testosterone lower than it was when you were constantly PMOing.
Plus if you’re wise, you can be using the extra energy and extra time you’re getting on NoFap to do those other things that directly increase your testosterone levels.
Supplementing with natural products
Most people are deficient in the vitamins and nutrients that the body uses to synthesize testosterone.
These vitamins and nutrients include; vitamin B6, Zinc, Magnesium (collectively known as ZMA), vitamin D, and so on.
The shocking thing is that most men are deficient in these nutrients. This directly affects how much testosterone your body can synthesize.
Also, some of the key ingredients for producing testosterone can’t be gotten from the food you eat (like vitamin D).
I don’t usually take supplements. But there are some supplements that you can’t avoid.
Testosterone is so important for your masculinity. And unfortunately, due to where you live, economic or time constraint, to get the nutrients your body needs for testosterone production is near-impossible.
And in my long-term exploration of how to boost testosterone, after trying different products, different diets, and different natural hacks, and after many many disappointments, I finally found the all-natural product that does the trick.
So, if you’re thinking of boosting your testosterone levels more, the natural way, you can check it out here.
Weight-lifting
Weight-lifting has been shown by several studies to instantly increase testosterone levels.
This study4 showed that there was a 21.6% increase in T-levels of 20 men after a thirty minutes weight-lifting session.
It’s not just weight-lifting exercises that have been shown to spike testosterone levels. The mere act of living a more physically active life has been shown by this study to increase testosterone levels by 18.3%.5
So, while you’re on NoFap, hit the gym and start working out.
You’ll reap the rewards in being more masculine because of all the testosterone boost you’ll be getting.
Get your finances in order
This will come as a surprise, but researchers have found that when you win in life—when you win the game of money, you get a boost in testosterone.6
And you don’t necessarily have to win, all you need is to have the ‘belief’ that you’re a winner and you get a testosterone boost.
This is evident in successful men that are around. They get a boost in social status and they get the better pick of ladies and almost everything masculine-related.
Final words: Does NoFap increase testosterone?
NoFap does increase your testosterone levels. But it’s for a limited time.
Because you do need to go through the flatline and the withdrawal stage of NoFap.
You’ll see the sign that your T-levels have decreased at this period.
But this doesn’t mean that NoFap isn’t worth doing.
At this period, a change in your lifestyle to complement your NoFap can give you a much-needed testosterone boost.
Sources and Footnotes
- The androgen receptor governs the execution, but not programming, of male sexual and territorial behaviors.
- If you need more symptoms that aren’t on this list, you can check the symptoms on the Cleveland clinic website
- This is the first study that exposed the world to the idea that abstinence from excessive masturbation can have a positive effect on the body. A research on the relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men.
- Comparison of serum testosterone and androstenedione responses to weight lifting in men and women. Although the study also found that the T-levels were reduced back to resting values 30 minutes post-weight-lifting.
- Physically active men show better semen parameters and hormone values than sedentary men.
- ‘Believing you’re a winner’ gives men a testosterone boost and promiscuous disposition.