Hi everyone c: I'm a young trans guy. I'm pre T, and probably will be for around a year. I go to the gym and train a lot, and I was wondering if anyone knew if testosterone boosters, like these, http://www.predatornutrition.com/en/product/testosterone-boosters/bullk-60-caps/, were safe for trans guys (or cis biological females). If so, do you think they'd be effective, seeing as we don't have a similar biology T wise to biological males when we're pre T?
Do you think they'd be worth getting?
Thank you c:
Honestly? Personally I view those supplements as a waste of money....even for the Cisgendered men they are aimed at. Supplements aren't well regulated and can contain certain percentages of anything the makers want and not be listed on the label, so long as it is below the certain percentage. Also even prescription T isn't given orally because of the damage it does to your liver and it isn't very effective in comparison to other forms because of the digestive process.
On another note I have personally taught a former body builder to drive and he did use supplements. He told me how bad they were for you and told me to avoid them because now he suffers from kidney and liver problems and his stomach is a mess.
So yeah, I'd avoid them and save your money.
Dang, just watched a video today explaining why this sort of thing is a bad idea and cannot seem to find it now. It was by a trans man who specifically asked his doctor about trans men using T boosting supplements, and relaying the information his doctor provided.
The gist of it was:
A) T boosters will not work on trans men the way they work on cis men, because we don't have testicles.
B) Any effect they do have will not remotely compare to testosterone HRT.
C) T boosters can cause permanent liver damage, which is bad enough, but this may mean not being able to get on HRT later.
Basically it can cost quite a bit of money and best case scenario, not do what you need and waste the money, worst case scenario, totally screw you over.
As a Professional medic stick with eating right, drinking water, regular exercise and resting enough. The "herbals" and "supplements" can mess you up. :)
They don't even work for cis guys. There's one vid on YouTube where a cis guy tried one of the well known brands as he had low T levels. He actually had blood work done before and after and, believe it or not, the after levels were a tad less, not increased. It's purely psychological but these supplements are meant to boost male level T, not female level. At best the science suggests possible increases of 50%. For males at typical male levels, this can be a fair amount, for female levels it's an absolutely negligible difference. Save your money as they're ridiculously expensive, and don't bother.
If I find that video from that one guy I'll post it. In the end he eventually went with actual T injections.
Thanks for the replies everyone, yeah I'll give it a miss and just stick to what I'm doing :')
Thanks everyone c:
My PA is very much into alternative approaches when they might work, however, she is said she was happy I didn't take any of them and thinks they may be very more toxic to the liver than T.
--Jay