EA Forums

Hello, I have heard a few times about plants like Pueraria murifica containing natural phytoestrogens and things like black licorice or fenugreek having an effect on testosterone production. Especially in the case of licorice, they were pretty significant according to this study:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 072200140X

So I wanted to ask whether anyone reading this has any experience with those plants and whether you'd be willing to share it?

No real personal experience in this area, other than having used saw palmetto for years because of it's claimed prostate health benefits.

Many here have reported using various herbs and other supplements for a variety of reasons, possibly the biggest being to increase growth for those on a more M->F trans path. Results have been mixed at best, some claimed they helped others said they only emptied the wallet... (does that count as weight loss? )

Similarly there are a LOT of pharmaceutical drugs, some prescription, some OTC that are also reported to reduce male function in different ways.

However there is no definite answer about licorice or any other natural supplement. Some is a lack of studies, some is because of the huge variability in the exact quantities and qualities of the various ingredients and their components (note the mention of this in the study you cited...)

Often there is a definite effect, but in practice either the amounts one needs to take to get that effect, are excessive, or there are other effects at high doses that become problematic.

Bottom line is that we haven't really seen anything that is consistent and reliable enough to suggest it as a general recommendation.... Taking licorice (Be sure to get the real thing, a lot of what's sold is imitations made in a chemical plant) is unlikely to do you any harm in reasonable quantities, but I wouldn't expect it to do a lot of good either.

WheelyFixed

Everyone should be cautious with licorice. The natural extracts contains a product that promote cardiac arrhythmia. I tried it, I liked the taste but it took me a long time to get rid of the arrhythmia after stopping using it. For licorice you have to search for the one "cleaned" of this natural product found it that root. I didn't find it with a rapid search. It seams rare.