5 Mouth-Watering Testosterone Boosting Recipes
By Ali Kuoppala | Last reviewed Tue 25 September 2018
Medical Review by Dr. Vlad Belghiru, MD
Huge part of boosting testosterone levels naturally comes down to nutrition. You want to eat a good amount of starchy carbs, good amount of the right type of fats, and low-medium amount of protein mainly from animal sources (both muscle-meat and collagen-proteins). On top of all, it’s ideal to get plenty of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) with the foods you eat.
To achieve those goals, I have gathered you these 5 mouth-watering recipes. Simple, delicious, and most importantly; recipes that nourish the bodily testosterone production.
Let’s get to it shall we?
1. Spicy Lamb Stew
This spicy lamb shank stew is super-easy to make and it’ll last for days. One of my ultimate T-boosting favorites. Look closely to the ingredient list and you’ll see that almost everything on it has a positive effect on testosterone production;
- 3 lbs of lamb shoulder meat, cubed
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 red bell peppers, chopped
- 2 tablespoons of ginger, ground
- 1½ tablespoons of cayenne pepper, ground
- 2 cups of beef stock
- 5 tomatoes, puréed
- 1 handful of fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon of pure sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
Preparation:
— Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan or high sided pot. Add the lamb meat cubes and cook for 6-8 minutes until the cubes are evenly brown on all sides. Put the meat into a bowl.
— Heat the same pan or high sided pot that you cooked the lamb cubes in, but this time put it to medium-high heat and add in the onions and bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking for 1 more minute.
— Throw in the beef stock, lamb cubes, cayenne pepper, ginger, puréed tomatoes, and fresh parsley leaves. Bring the pan or pot to boil over high heat, then lower the heat to low and cook partially covered for 3 hours, or until the lamb is tender.
— Season with salt and pepper. Eat.
Why exactly is the lamb stew testosterone-friendly?
- Lamb meat is a good source of carnitine which is an amino-acid that increases androgen receptor density and sensitivity. There’s also saturated fat, cholesterol, high quality protein, zinc, several B vitamins, and CLA in lamb meat and all of which are linked to increased testosterone production.
- Olive oil consists mostly of monounsaturated fatty acids, which have been shown to be pro-testosterone. This study found out that olive oil converted cholesterol more easily into testosterone. And this study saw that healthy male subjects who switched to using olive oil as their main source of fat noted a 17% increase in their testosterone levels.
- Onions contain hefty amounts of quercetin and alliins, compounds that both are linked to increased T production. Moreover this study found out that feeding fresh onion juice to male rats more than tripled their serum testosterone levels.
- Garlic is also rich in alliins and quercetin, and it comes not as a surprise that few studies have found out its testosterone boosting effects, such as this and this study.
- Ginger increased testosterone levels by 17% in this human study, and it more than doubled testosterone levels in this rat study. This animal study also found out that it works similarly in diabetic rats.
- Cayenne pepper, at least according to this study, may have a testosterone boosting effect.
- Parsley contains a compound called apigening, which stimulates testosterone synthesis inside isolated leydig cells.
2. Guacamole
Who doesn’t love to dip everything in Guac? Nobody! This classic guacamole recipe combines all of the T-boosting goodness into the ultimate Mexican dipping experience. The ingredients speak for theirselves;
- 4 ripe Haas avocados
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 1 large garlic clove (minced)
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 diced tomato
Preparation;
— Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add lemon juice, cayenne pepper, diced onions, garlic, salt, and tomatoes.
Take a sharp knife and start dicing the avocado halfs into smaller pieces. Once done, mix well and you’re finished.
Why Guac is Pro-T?
- Avocados are loaded with testosterone boosting monounsaturated-fats (MUFAs), while also being a source of a bitter glycoside; oleuropein, which increased T levels by a staggering 250% in this rat study. Add in 20 dietary vitamins and minerals present in the flesh of an avocado. Many which your body uses and requires to produce testosterone: A, K2, C, B2, B5, B6, zinc, magnesium, and copper, and you have yourself one of the possibly best testosterone boosting ingredients as a base for this recipe.
- Cayenne pepper, Although not significant, there’s a study which suggests that the capsaicin in cayenne pepper can protect your testosterone levels from the stress of a calorie deficit.
- Garlic and onions both correlate heavily with increased T production in multiple animal studies (study, study, study, study, study).
3. Slow Cooker Swiss Steak
This recipe is courtesy of the Midnight Baker blog, it’s quite simple to made in a slow-cooker, and its chock-full of testosterone boosting ingredients;
- 6 beef blade steaks
- 8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 tbs fresh thyme, minced
- 1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup beef stock
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 1/4 cup sorghum flour
- 4 tbs olive oil
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
- salt & pepper to taste
Preparation;
— Heat a pan over medium heat. Add in 1 tbs olive oil and the mushroom slices. Cook until the mushrooms start to brown. Remove from pan and put into the slow cooker.
— Return the pan to medium heat and season the blade steaks with salt and pepper. Add 1 tbs of olive oil again and brown the steaks. Once browned, set them aside on a plate.
— Once again, return the pan to medium heat, this time add: 2 tbs olive oil, sliced onions, and ground cayenne pepper. Cook and stir for a minute, then add the sorghum flour and dry sherry into the mix. Cook again for a minute, then pour the contents of the pan into the crockpot.
— Add the blade steak slices on top of the mixture in crockpot, cover, and cook for 6-8 hours on low heat.
After 6-8 hours, remove the steaks into a serving plate and cover with foil so that they stay warm. Meanwhile add the heavy cream and chopped parsley into the liquid still in the slow cooker. Heat for another 10 minutes to make a sauce. Pour the sauce on top of the blade steaks, and serve with mashed potatoes.
Here’s why the swiss steak boosts testosterone;
- Beef steak is easily the best source of animal protein you would want to eat on a high testosterone diet.
- White button mushrooms are natural aromatase inhibitors, meaning that they inhibit the conversion from testosterone into estrogen (study, study, study).
- Onions have been linked to increased testosterone production in multiple animal studies (study, study, study, study).
- Cayenne pepper has a testosterone protecting effect in testicular leydig cells, that is, at least when you’re on a diet (study).
- Sorghum has a potent DHT boosting effect, which was noted in this in-vitro study.
- Olive oil is a great source of monounsaturated fatty acids, which are crucially important for healthy testosterone production (here’s why). Also, a study with young Moroccan men saw that 2 weeks of using olive oil as a main source of fat, increased testosterone levels by 20%.
- Heavy cream is a great source for saturated fat, a.k.a, the most testosterone friendly type of dietary fat (study, study, study, study).
- Parsley contains high amounts of a compound called apigening, which has been linked to significant increases in testosterone production, due to its stimulatory effect on testicular StAR protein (study).
4. The Men’s Salad
Salad doesn’t have to be a boring experience of rabbit foods. In fact you can whip up a hormonally nourishing health-bomb of a salad in few minutes with this recipe that includes;
- 3 cups leafy greens
- 2 eggs, boiled
- ½ cup blue cheese
- 5 slices bacon, crumbled
- 1 avocado
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Preparation;
— Cook the bacon, crumble into a cup. Boil the eggs and peel + slice them to your liking.
— Combine everything in a large bowl and now you have a salad.
Here’s why this salad is you high-testosterone fuel;
- If you use spinach as a lettuce base, it’s filled with natural nitrates that convert into nitric oxide inside of your body. This occurence will then increase your blood flow. Spinach is also filled with a natural steroid called ecdysterone, which is linked to elevated testosterone production.
- Eggs are packed with cholesterol, which is the direct precursor of testosterone and linked to elevated testosterone production in various studies. Eggs are also filled with choline, which helps your body to chelate (get rid off) estrogens.
- Blue cheese is filled with live bacteria, enzymes, and probiotics, and those are all linked to supreme health and elevated testosterone production.
- Bacon gives you some natural saturated fat which is the kind of fat that stimulates testosterone synthesis. Bacon will also give you hefty doses of testosterone boosting cholesterol.
- Avocado is jam-packed with mono-unsaturated fatty acids, which in this study increased testosterone production. Avocados also contain various T boosting vitamins such as: C, E, D, and K2.
- Olive oil will help your testicles to convert cholesterol more easily into testosterone. It also increased testosterone levels by 17% in this study. Olive oil also has a compound called Oleuropein which is shown to be anti-estrogenic in few in-vitro studies.
5. Max-Testo Burger
Every man needs a good burger once in a while. Heck, why not every day? If you make your own, using quality ingredients and T-boosting fats, this delicious recipe is far from “fast food”;
- 4 hamburger buns
- 1 lb beef, ground
- 4 bacon slices
- 4 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp himalayan or sea salt
- 1 tbsp ground pepper
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 4 white button mushrooms, chopped
- ½ cup blue cheese
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 cup mayo (olive oil base)
- 1 cup of lettuce
Preparation;
— Preheat a grill over high heat.
— In a bowl, mix the ground beef, mustard, salt, and pepper. Then shape the mixture into 4 evenly sized patties and grill for 5 minutes a side or until they’re roughly medium doneness. Then add the cheddar cheese slices on top of the patties and grill for 1 more minute.
— Throw the bacon slices, onion slices, and white button mushrooms into the grill or into a pan, grill/cook until they’re all evenly brown.
— Cut the buns in half and grill for 10 seconds the cut side facing down.
— Start assimilating the hamburger in the order you prefer.
Eat.
Here’s the T-boosting magic behind these burgers;
- Ground beef is a good source for carnitine which is linked to increased androgen receptor density and sensitivity. Also meat eaters tend to have higher testosterone levels than the fellows who refuse to eat it.
- Bacon is an excellent source for testosterone boosting cholesterol and saturated fat.
- All kinds of onions are filled with quercetin and alliins, which both are linked to increased testosterone production. Few studies have also examined the effects that onions have on testosterone levels and found only positive correlations (study, study, study, study).
- Blue cheese is filled with probiotics, healthy bacteria, and live enzymes, all of which are linked to elevated testosterone levels.
- White button mushrooms have the ability to inhibit the aromatase enzyme. It’s an enzyme that converts testosterone molecules into estrogen molecules. Thus, blocking its activity will naturally increase your testosterone levels.
Ali Kuoppala
