Testofen™: The Fenugreek Testosterone Boosting Connection?
Testofen is the name of the fenugreek derived compound created by Gencor Pacific for the purpose of boosting testoterone levels. It is standardized for “Fenuside” — which is what you’ll also see on label of any Testofen-containing product you may be interested in.
Fenugreek’s “claim to fame” (according to GP) is that it contains variety of powerful bioactive compounds, such as protodioscin and steroidal saponins (incidentally, protodioscin — a chemical “cousin” of DHEA — is also present in tribulus, another product marketed as a natural testosterone booster).
According to the manufacturer, “Fenuside” is a set of potent saponin glycosides unique to Testofen that have been specially extracted and standardized to yield the “highest potency and purity.”
Gencor Pacific has conducted several in-house studies in animals and humans to demonstrate that Testofen:
- improves libido and erectile function (rat)
- has anabolic and androgenic effects (rat)
- increases bioavailable (free) testosterone (human)
In the first study, Testofen (5 – 25 mg/kg) increased mounting frequency and other measures of sexual activity.
The second study demonstrated that castrated rats given 25 mg/kg Testofen had increases in seminal vesicle, prostate and levator ani muscle weights similar to controls injected with 0.5 mg testosterone.
The third study was a randomized, placebo-controlled, in-house clinical trial with 60 men, half of whom took 600 mg Testofen per day. After 8 weeks, the users’ free testosterone levels had nearly doubled, from an average of 17.76 pg/ml to 35.29 pg/ml.
On the basis of these tests, the makers of Testofen propose that it…
1. Stimulates natural androgen production by acting on the adrenals and pituitary gland.
and…
2. Binds independently to testosterone receptor sites to stimulate androgenic/anabolic responses.
Of course, these results need to be taken with a grain of salt, as promising as they may be.
In-house studies can certainly be credible, but it would be really nice to have some independently performed, peer-reviewed studies confirming Testofen’s testosterone-boosting potential. Likewise, it would be interesting to see if Testofen has any genuine effects on muscle mass and/or strength.
