Full Transcript Ginseng Benefits and Cautions 0:00 Only 10% or less increase in testosterone, which is still good, but huge increases in wellbeing, increases in mood, increases in energy. 0:10 Now there are different, many different ways to prepare ginseng and you need to know which are appropriate for you. 0:16 I've had some real shocking ones of people that came to me. 0:19 with kind of weird conditions. 0:21 And one guy, older guy came in and said, all of a sudden, like over two days, all this acne came out and I started having headaches. 0:28 And I said, what'd you do differently? 0:29 He said, well, nothing. 0:30 I said, are you taking ginseng? 0:32 And he said, oh yeah, one of my friends said it's great for old men. 0:35 I said, let me see it. 0:36 And it was a red Korean ginseng, which is very, very hot. 0:42 And so in Chinese medicine, when we say it's very, very hot, it will cause inflammation and other problems. 0:49 So I got them off of that. 0:50 Now for someone else, red Korean ginseng would be amazing. 0:54 I carry it. 0:55 It's very valuable. 0:56 But you need to know which ones are appropriate for you. 0:58 So I would recommend against using it unless you're getting it from a professional. 1:03 Hi, and welcome to The Balancing Point. 1:06 I'm Dr. 1:06 John Needers, and I'm here to make traditional Chinese medicine, functional medicine, and integrative health simple, practical, 1:16 and fun, so you can restore balance, boost vitality, and enjoy a healthier life every single day. 1:24 Howdy, this is Dr. 1:25 John back with another episode of The Balancing Point. 1:28 I want to thank you for tuning in. 1:31 Hopefully tuning in again. 1:33 And today is part two of a little talk about testosterone supplements.
Introduction to Testosterone Supplements 1:39 Last episode, I talked about testosterone testing and things to be careful of and. 1:46 why testosterone can be dangerous as a pharmaceutical. 1:51 It's not always, but it can be. 1:53 And it's often much safer to use herbs and supplements to increase testosterone levels. 2:00 And I will tell you absolutely from many decades of experience that they actually worked. 2:07 Now I'm a doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. 2:10 I'm certified in functional medicine and I've treated a lot of fertility cases and Chinese medicine is just brilliant for male and female fertility issues. 2:23 Now, I mentioned in the last episode that I'd speak from my personal experiences, as well as going over herbs and supplements that have the most credible 2:34 research available in how they increase testosterone levels, or relatively increase it by lowering sex hormone binding globulin levels. 2:44 Now, we went over sex hormone binding globulin in the last episode, but let's just say it's a significant issue In that under stress in particular, 2:54 the body makes more sex hormone binding globulin. 2:58 Sex hormone binding globulin does just what it says. 3:01 It binds your sex hormones. 3:03 estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, et cetera, and makes them ineffective. 3:08 So I'm going to talk again about my experience. 3:13 And again, I emphasized in the last episode that testosterone levels are critical for men and for women. 3:20 I have a great many, many, many female patients taking herbal supplements for testosterone to increase their testosterone and that they report that it 3:32 has been absolutely life-changing for them.
Personal Health Crisis and Recovery 3:36 So it's not just about men, it's men and women both need testosterone. 3:41 Now about me, in December of 2023, I was hospitalized for several days for congestive heart failure and pneumonia. 3:49 Now those of you that know anything about Medicine know that that is not a good combination for a 72-year-old man. 3:57 Oh, and by the way, I let myself go so far downhill that I had numerous other medical conditions. 4:04 I mean, very dangerous when combined with the pneumonia and the congestive heart failure. 4:10 In some ways, I was very lucky to leave the hospital alive. 4:13 I was very blessed. 4:15 And then it, but then my doctors kind of just said, okay, you're good. 4:19 And left it up to me to cure the myriad illnesses that I had allowed myself to fall into. 4:25 And this is easy to do. 4:27 You start going down the slippery slope. 4:30 You don't pay attention to it. 4:31 I was putting all my attention on my family and on my patients in particular and not on me. 4:38 And so that's why I ended up in the hospital. 4:40 I had diabetes, severe. 4:42 I had gout so bad that I needed a walker to get around. 4:47 I couldn't even get to the other rooms in my office and I had to be driven to work. 4:51 I had prostate enlargement and infection and multiple other problems. 4:56 We don't have an hour to go into all those, but there were plenty. 4:59 But one of the biggest issues is that all of these illnesses had sapped my strength, had just sucked the strength out of me to the point that I literally 5:10 could not stand up without assistance. 5:12 Right? 5:13 I needed to use both hands to get out of my chair. 5:16 My thigh muscles weren't strong enough off and I had to have someone help me up. 5:20 I put grab bars in my bathroom around the toilet. 5:24 So you get the picture. 5:25 I was very, very weak and That's very dangerous. 5:32 One of the main tests for longevity and for dementia is how long it takes you to stand up out of a chair. 5:37 So at any rate, I made a vow in the hospital, and again, I've done other shows talking about the specifics of that, but that I would change my life. 5:46 I would turn it around in four months. 5:48 I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. 5:50 I wanted to prove to my patients that I could do it. 5:53 And I wanted to create some hope in the world. 5:56 At the end of four months, I didn't need a walker. 5:59 I could easily stand up on my own. 6:02 I'm no longer diabetic and my prostate is in great shape. 6:06 Four months, that's all. 6:08 So if you can dedicate yourself to that, you can turn it around. 6:12 Now, I knew I had to increase my testosterone levels, and it would not be safe for me to do that with pharmaceuticals because I had my heart issues and 6:21 my blood coagulation issues. 6:24 Testosterone, uh, pharmaceutically can be very dangerous. 6:28 So what I used were herbs and supplements. 6:31 And here they are. 6:33 I used Dongkat Ali. 6:35 There are many theories about Dongkat Ali and why it works and how it works, but it's been used in Southeast Asia as an aphrodisiac and to increase fertility 6:48 and happiness for centuries. 6:51 There are many theories about why it works, but I think it's because it lowers sex hormone binding globulin. 6:57 I think there's some pretty good research on that. 7:00 If you run up this chat GPT, they say, the evidence is flimsy. 7:05 That's fine, but I know it worked for me, right? 7:08 My sex hormone binding globulin went up.
Herbs and Supplements That Raised Testosterone 7:11 Now, I was also using something else to lower sex hormone binding globulin. 7:15 At the same time, in fact, these came in the same product. 7:18 It's a product called Tomcat, which I just love that name. 7:21 Uh, and this was the second item that was in that compound were Changbai mountain ants. 7:30 Changbai is a mountain in China and the ants from that mountain. 7:36 have almost magical, mystical qualities. 7:38 And this has been well proven through research. 7:41 But at one time, only the emperor and a few select people were allowed to have those ants. 7:47 They were made into an elixir, and they drank it, or they ate it. 7:51 And they had these huge harems that they had to perform for. 7:54 That was part of their official duty, whether they liked it or not. 7:58 And so the Dongkhar Ali and the Chongbai Mountain Ants lowered my sex hormone binding globulin to the point that I could actually use the little bit of 8:08 testosterone that I had and I immediately started feeling better. 8:11 I was able to get to the gym five days a week. 8:14 Then I also did Chongbai Mountain Sika deer antler tips, quite a mountain Chongbai, and Sika antler tips have the highest level of human growth, 8:26 or growth hormone, I'll say, growth hormone and testosterone. 8:30 And so antlers, the deer isn't being hurt, they drop their antlers every year. 8:36 But if you cut off the very tips, that's the fastest growing part of the antler, which has to grow all the way back every year, 8:43 these huge antlers. 8:45 So it takes a huge amount of testosterone and a huge amount of growth hormone. 8:51 And so I did the Chongbai Mountain Cicadera antler tips to support my human growth hormone and testosterone levels. 9:00 By 72, human growth hormone is barely existent. 9:04 Testosterone's always very low. 9:06 So this was a good way to pump those up. 9:09 The fourth thing I used was pine pollen extract. 9:12 Now, there's very little evidence, research evidence for the effectiveness in pine pollen extract in humans. 9:20 There are some good studies that have been done on fish, actually. 9:22 It was very impressive. 9:24 And when you look at the biochemistry of pine pollen extract, it's very similar to testosterone. 9:31 So, you know, I thought maybe it'll work. 9:34 Again, even though the research wasn't good, I didn't see a downside. 9:38 And I believe that may have made the biggest difference in my recovery. 9:42 I can't prove that because I did all of these things at once. 9:45 But once I started the pine pollen extract, I got great success. 9:49 Unfortunately, the company that I got it from had a specialized process to produce it, and they are no longer in business, 9:57 but that's what I used. 9:58 Then Chinese herbs, we've got a couple that, well, one at least, that's been used for many centuries and has very good evidence for it, 10:08 and that's an herb called desert cistantia, C-Y-S-T-A-N-C-H-E, which in Chinese is called rochongrong. 10:18 It's actually a fungus, a parasite that has to be wild grown, but it's been used for centuries for increasing libido, for increasing vitality, 10:31 what in Chinese medicine is called kidney yang. 10:34 which for kidney young, you can think of male sex hormones for the most part, very, very effective. 10:40 I did that. 10:41 And then I did a supplement, creatine monohydrate. 10:46 Now, I was leery about that. 10:47 I'd heard some bad things, you know, some indeterminate things. 10:51 But when I started researching it, I read dozens of studies. 10:56 I read Arnold Schwarzenegger's blogs on creatine. 10:59 And they all showed incredible benefits for strength building. 11:05 Now, if you have higher muscle to fat ratio, you're going to have higher testosterone. 11:11 Body fat really destroys testosterone levels. 11:14 Higher muscle and activity will increase testosterone. 11:18 So for me, the creatine was probably the most effective thing for muscle growth and increasing strength, where the other supplements were really great 11:28 for increasing my testosterone levels and lowering sex hormone binding globulin levels.
Additional Supplements and Adaptogens 11:35 And so again, four months, I doubled my strength from my pre-illness plateau in four months, developed more muscle mass and better tone. 11:46 Now, other supplements, and these I did not use at the time, a couple of them I'm using now, that are well proven, ashwagandha, 11:55 the Ayurvedic herb. 11:56 Now, you know, I doubted that it was effective because it was in so many Ayurvedic formulas. 12:02 I mean, almost every time someone would come in and they'd been doing Ayurvedic formulas, they had ashwagandha. 12:07 And it's like, yeah, okay. 12:09 Well, then I started doing more research and the research indicates a 14 Doesn't sound like much, but it's actually very significant. 12:18 14 to 20% increase in testosterone. 12:22 Now I've used it a lot for adrenal support for my patients. 12:28 It's useful for almost everything. 12:29 It's good for mood. 12:30 It's good for testosterone. 12:32 It's good for the adrenals. 12:34 not too expensive either. 12:35 So ashwagandha, fenugreek extract. 12:39 Now women have been using fenugreek for, I don't know how long actually, but a very long time to help with milk production and it's very effective. 12:47 And one of the things it does with testosterone issues, it lowers dihydrotestosterone, which is a byproduct of testosterone and the more dangerous byproduct, 12:59 but it will lower DHT levels by 40%. Ginseng was one that we looked at. 13:06 Only 10% or less increase in testosterone, which is still good, but huge increases in wellbeing, increases in mood, increases in energy. 13:17 Now there are many different ways to prepare ginseng and you need to know which are appropriate for you. 13:23 I've had some real shocking ones of people that came to me. 13:27 with kind of weird conditions. 13:28 And one guy, older guy came in and said, all of a sudden, like over two days, all this acne came out and I started having headaches. 13:35 And I said, what'd you do differently? 13:37 He said, well, nothing. 13:38 I said, are you taking ginseng? 13:40 And he said, oh yeah, one of my friends said it's great for old men. 13:44 I said, let me see it. 13:45 And it was a red Korean ginseng, which is very, very hot. 13:51 And so in Chinese medicine, when we say it's very, very hot, it will cause inflammation and other problems. 13:58 So I got them off of that. 13:59 Now for someone else, red Korean ginseng would be amazing. 14:03 I carry it. 14:04 It's very valuable, but you need to know which ones are appropriate for you. 14:08 So I would recommend against using it unless you're getting it from a professional. 14:13 The exception is an herb called Siberian ginseng or Eleotherio because it's not really ginseng. 14:22 It's one of the most powerful adaptogens. 14:25 Adaptogens are when you're under stress and your adrenals are overtaxed and you're barely holding on. 14:32 You want those adaptogens. 14:34 They help you adapt to life and difficult situations. 14:38 Shilajit, S-H-I-L-A-J-I-T, which it's a compound, it's a fascinating compound. 14:44 It's from a breakdown of certain plants. 14:48 Anyway, I'm not going to go into it in detail, but there was a 10 to 20% increase in testosterone. 14:55 I don't use it in my practice because the potency and effectiveness can vary a lot depending on the sourcing, and I don't personally have a source for 15:04 it that I really know enough about. 15:07 Good chelagy will increase testosterone levels. 15:10 For minerals, boron and zinc can have a huge effect. 15:14 So those are two things. 15:15 Now, again, with a mineral, if you're not deficient and you take it, you're not going to notice much. 15:20 But if you are deficient and you take it, wow, things can really, really go wild. 15:25 Zinc I like in particular because at higher dosages, it's very effective as a COVID and antiviral.
Closing Advice and Professional Guidance 15:33 COVID protection and antiviral. 15:36 If you can get enough zinc into the cells, then it's very hard for the virus to replicate. 15:42 And so for COVID, I would recommend about 60 milligrams a day with some other things to help get it into the cells. 15:48 But boron and zinc, now there are tons of other herbs. 15:53 And you see studies that vary a lot. 15:56 Some show they're effective, some show they aren't. 15:59 Often when you see that it's because of production questions. 16:02 It's like, how was this herb sourced? 16:06 How was it processed, et cetera. 16:08 But things that have been used forever, things like horny goat wade, yin-yang ho or tribulus have shown some promise, but they aren't my frontline issues. 16:20 All right, so that's my testosterone supplementation in a nutshell. 16:25 It works. 16:26 Herbs and supplements are very effective at safely increasing testosterone levels. 16:32 With that being said, I highly recommend that you see a professional that's trained in their usage before you dive in head first. 16:41 All right, I hope this is helpful. 16:43 I want you to be happy, be healthy, and I'll be back next week. 16:47 Thank you. 16:50 Thank you for joining me on real clarity and balance can begin. 17:13 Visit AlamedaAcupuncture.com. 17:16 That's AlamedaAcupuncture.com to learn more, explore our supplements, or book a call. 17:23 We'd love to hear from you.
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