+76% Testosterone & Protection From Insane Amounts of EMR With Rosmarinic Acid from O. Basilicum, Majoram, Thyme and Several Other Herbs in Your Kitchen Cabinet

Figure 1: O. basilicum extract was the rosmarinic acid (RA) source that was used in the study at hand; other common herbs which contain RA include rosemary (who would have guessed that ;-), Spanish sage, lavender, perilla and lemon balm, majoram, thyme and mint

That I am not a fan of testosterone boosters is probably an "open secret"... specifically in terms of "scientifically proven" ones, without any human data to back their claims and a single rodent study published in the African Journal of Pharmacology to back claims that like "increases lean mass" or "helps you shed body fat" that would not be supported by the study data, anyways... so, just to make sure that you, as a faithful student of the SuppVersity are the first to know about the (I bet) soon to be released "scientifically proven" testosterone booster, I decided to share with you the results of... exactly, one of those rodent studies from the January issue of the African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (Khaki. 2012), which would actually not have made it into the news, if it were not for the "ivory tower dose" of EMR the scientists used in this study.

Note: I do not intend to challenge the credibility of this journal or the authors of this study, but I do want to point out that studies into the beneficial effects of "polyphenols" on whatever biological functions do not get published in the influential journals for a good reason: Almost every herb, and I suppose there are millions, will show some sort of anti-oxidant and I would venture the guess, at the right dose, testosterone boosting or inhibiting effects. For the first 1 1/2 months of 2012, the estimated number of papers reporting novel or summarizing old findings on those natural-antioxidants is >1,400 (according to Google Scholar)... so, chances that the next best herb that is growing just before your door is a "potent antioxidant" (at high enough doses) is ~50%, with another 50% chance of associated increases in testosterone, 25% of all herbs are potential testosterone boosters and "scientifically proven" (at least, in supp-company terms) as soon as a single paper with respective data is published.

I guess, now that we have put things in perspective, I can say the magic words that will usually elicit commentaries à la "Where can I get this stuff on the net?" within the next 24h in either the comment area of the respective blogpost or on the SuppVersity's Facebook wall - ready? Then let's go: Treating male Wistar rats with 5mg/kg Rosmaric acid (RA), a polyphenol from herbal plants from the Lamiaceae family, for 40 days increased their total testosterone levels from 1.7 to 2.99ng/ml (+76%)...

Figure 1: Effects of 40-day treatment with unrealistically high amounts of EMR from 80G EMF (50hz), 5mg/kg rosmaric acid from 1.5g/kg O basilico or a combination of both on endocrine function in male Wistar rats (data calculated based on Khaki. 2012)

So, just in case you did not already run to your local GNC to ask the guy/girl at the counter, whether they have rosmaric acid in stock, you may as well be interested to see that the same 5mg/kg RA the rats received in the form of 1.5g/kg body weight O. basilicum extract (you see, you don't even have to go to your GNC for you daily dose of test-boosting herbs ;-) also blunted the -41% reduction in testosterone (cf. figure 1)the scientists induced by exposing the rats to EMF radiation at a completely unrealistic level of 80G - this is way more than 8,000x of what one of those stone-age microwave ovens emits, and another reason why studies like that don't get published in reputable journals.

Figure 2: Intact spermatogonia and spermatocytes in testis of untreated control and after 40-day treatment with unrealistically high amounts of EMR from 80G EMF (50hz), 5mg/kg rosmaric acid from 1.5g/kg O basilico (data calculated based on Khaki. 2012)

In view of the fact that the highest real-world 24h EMF exposure at 50Hz, I could think of would be right beneath a high-voltage powerline, which emits <150mG and thusly still 533x less than the EMF emitting device in the study, at hand, it is highly questionable, how significant the actual data on sperm and testis morphology in the EMF and RA + EMF groups actually is (cf. figure 2). The reason I still included it in this post, is that RA alone led to statistically non-significant, but still measurable improvement in sperm morphology, which could, after all, make the difference for any couple unable to conceive.

This testbooster should already be in your kitchen cabinet, so no reason to go to GNC

If we discard the questionable data on the exorbitant EMF exposure, this study leaves us with yet another "scientifically proven" testosterone booster, the real advantage of which is that it is naturally present not only in O. basilico, an extract of which was used in this study at a human equivalent dose of 243mg/kg body weight, but also in rosemary (who would have guessed that ;-), Spanish sage, lavender, perilla and lemon balm, majoram, thyme and mint - in other words, all those herbs you should have in your kitchen cabinet, anyway. After all, rosmarinic acid has anti-carcinogenic (Vencatachalam. 2012; Encalada. 2012), neuroprotective (Wang. 2012), anti-... ah, just the same effects as about every other polyphenol at the right dose - and did I mention that it is yet another caffeic acid derivate (cf. Caffeic Acid, AMPK and the Weight Loss Effects of Coffee)?