Most men would love to boost testosterone production. Even if you are a biological female, there are benefits of increasing testosterone naturally.
Although there are various strategies to actually increase testosterone levels, eating foods that increase testosterone can be one of the more effective ways to raise testosterone levels.
But, are there any fruits that boost testosterone? Are any of the best testosterone boosting foods fruits or vegetables?
In this article, we will discuss whether there are foods that increase testosterone production, focusing primarily on the best fruits that boost testosterone levels so that you can choose nutritious foods to add to your diet when you need a natural way to raise your levels.
We will cover the following:
- What Are the Symptoms of Low Testosterone Levels?
- Can Any Fruits Increase Testosterone Levels?
- The Best Fruits That Boost Testosterone
- Will Eating Testosterone Boosting Foods Actually Increase Testosterone Levels?
Let’s dive in!
What Are the Symptoms of Low Testosterone Levels?
Before we explore the fruits that boost testosterone, it is helpful to look at reasons why you might want to increase testosterone and the signs and symptoms of low testosterone.
Depending on the level of your testosterone deficiency, it might be more or less obvious that you have low testosterone levels.
For example, a severe or significant testosterone deficiency in men can cause infertility, difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection, and hypogonadism (or reduced testicular size).
These symptoms are usually readily apparent.
Then, there are symptoms of low testosterone that can occur with more of a moderately low testosterone level or a slight decline in testosterone from normal testosterone levels.
For example, low sex drive, loss of body hair, difficulty building muscle or maintaining muscle, an increase in body fat percentage, and fatigue can be signs of low testosterone.
Because testosterone helps support muscle growth and repair, you may also experience muscle weakness with low testosterone, and some men and women experience excessive sweating.
If you suspect that you have low testosterone levels, it is highly recommended that you speak with your healthcare provider.
Although evidence suggests that our testosterone levels decrease by about 1 to 2% per year after age 30, there can be other medical causes that lead to decreased testosterone levels.
For example, certain chronic diseases, medications, and obesity can impede testosterone production and may decrease testosterone levels faster than would be expected with aging.
Furthermore, because some of the low testosterone symptoms can be present with other conditions aside from decreased testosterone, it is important to seek further evaluation.
Can Any Fruits Increase Testosterone Levels?
While some fruits may help increase testosterone, if your testosterone levels are significantly low or if there is an underlying reason for low testosterone other than the natural aging process, your doctor may have more aggressive alternatives than dietary strategies to boost testosterone production.
Ultimately, even the fruits thought to most significantly boost testosterone are generally not the most potent or powerful way to increase testosterone naturally, let alone with the aid of medications, if necessary.
Many of the studies that have investigated fruits that boost testosterone or other testosterone boosting foods have been either conducted with animals or involve extracts or supplements from fruits or other foods rather than the whole fruit source itself.
All of this is to say that while you may have some success increasing testosterone levels with particular fruits that boost testosterone, there isn’t an abundance of research that specifically points to significant increases in testosterone production or serum testosterone levels solely by consuming certain fruits or foods.
With that said, as long as you are eating a nutritious, well-balanced diet and are not experiencing clinically low levels of testosterone but rather would just like to increase testosterone levels naturally if possible, it certainly shouldn’t hurt to add the fruits that increase testosterone (or that may potentially boost testosterone) to your diet.
After all, even if you get a negligible increase in testosterone from eating fruits, most fruits provide an abundance of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals that can improve your health in other ways and certainly should not impede testosterone production.
The Best Fruits That Boost Testosterone
Here are some of the best fruits to increase testosterone production naturally:
#1: Pomegranates
Perhaps the fruit best known to increase testosterone levels is the pomegranate.
For this reason, pomegranates are actually an ancient symbol of fertility and sexual function.
There are numerous reasons why pomegranates are one of the best fruits to boost testosterone levels in the body.
For one, pomegranates are a rich source of key antioxidants. Antioxidants help reduce inflammation and combat the deleterious nature of free radicals, which would otherwise cause oxidative damage to the body.
Excessive free radicals in the body can potentially inhibit testosterone production and compromise male fertility.
The antioxidants in pomegranates may also help support heart health, which in turn ensures adequate circulation for producing the hormone testosterone and enhancing penile blood flow for an erection during arousal.
Studies have found that eating pomegranates may indeed elevate testosterone levels in both men and women.
For example, one study looked at the effects of drinking pure pomegranate juice for 14 days.
In the study, 60 healthy men and women drank pomegranate juice for 14 days while researchers tested salivary testosterone levels three times per day.
At the end of the two-week study, both men and women experienced an average of 24% higher testosterone levels, along with improvements in mood and reductions in blood pressure.
High blood pressure can also impact sexual performance.
Therefore, the combined effects of boosting testosterone and supporting better circulation may make pomegranates one of the best fruits to boost testosterone levels and sexual function.
An older animal study also found that drinking pomegranate juice helped increase testosterone levels.
This was thought to be potentially due to the direct stimulation of pathways that produce testosterone, but evidence suggested that pomegranate juice helped boost testosterone levels indirectly by protecting against oxidative damage that would otherwise harm components in the biochemical pathways necessary to produce testosterone.
The pomegranate juice also seemed to help protect Leydig cells from injury. These are the specific cells in the body that produce testosterone.
#2: Berries and Cherries
In addition to pomegranates, some of the fruits that boost testosterone include cherries and berries such as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
Much like pomegranates, cherries and berries are high in many of the same flavonoid antioxidants.
Studies suggest that the flavonoids in berries and cherries may help provide protection against oxidative damage from free radicals for the cells that produce testosterone.
In this way, consuming these fruits may boost testosterone levels by preventing injury or harm to the cells and pathways required to manufacture testosterone in the body.
Essentially, diets high in antioxidants, particularly some of the flavonoids found in fruits that boost testosterone, can help support higher testosterone levels.
It’s not necessarily that these fruits will directly increase testosterone production, but they help preserve normal testosterone production and prevent a decrease in testosterone production due to cellular damage that is often associated with aging (due to chronic exposure to free radicals).
#3: Avocados
Avocados are often lumped in with vegetables, but the avocado is actually a nutrient-dense fruit.
One thing that is fairly unique about avocados in terms of falling under the umbrella of “fruits“ is that avocados are rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. This is one of the reasons that avocados are among the best fruits that boost testosterone.
Studies have found that olive oil is one of the best testosterone-boosting foods. In many ways, the nutritional profile of olive oil overlaps significantly with that of avocados. Olive oil and avocados are both rich sources of monounsaturated fats and vitamin E.
Therefore, given the fact that avocados provide even more nutrients beyond just those present in olive oil, and olive oil has been shown to be a food that boosts testosterone, it’s reasonable to conclude that avocados may be one of the best fruits that increase testosterone levels.
To this end, avocados also contain other compounds aside from fats that can help increase testosterone levels in the body.
For example, avocados are rich in magnesium, and studies have found that magnesium is a mineral that can increase testosterone production.
Avocados are also one of the best food sources of potassium, an electrolyte that provides numerous functions in the body, including improving circulation and reducing blood pressure, both of which can potentially help support healthy testosterone production and can improve sexual function in terms of achieving an erection or arousal of the genitals for women.
Moreover, avocados provide a trace mineral known as boron.
Research indicates that boron may help increase testosterone levels in the body by improving testosterone metabolism and providing protection against the degradation of testosterone.
In this way, boron may provide a two-pronged approach to optimizing testosterone levels—increasing testosterone production and decreasing premature testosterone loss by preserving the testosterone that the body has already produced.
It is important to note that boron is considered a trace mineral for human health. This means that the body only needs very, very small quantities of boron.
Excessive boron intake may be detrimental to your overall health as well as testosterone production. For this reason, unless medically guided otherwise, you should not take boron supplements to boost testosterone.
However, adding foods that provide boron, such as avocados, to your diet may be one potential way to support higher testosterone levels naturally without causing an overdose of boron.
Will Eating Testosterone Boosting Foods Actually Increase Testosterone Levels?
It is important to note that while certain fruits may help increase testosterone levels, and certainly a nutritious, well-balanced diet can help support healthy testosterone production, it is equally important to look at foods to avoid that can lower testosterone levels.
For example, obesity is one of the main causes of accelerated decline in testosterone levels. If you are overconsuming calories, particularly in the form of processed foods and excess sugar, you can be sabotaging your efforts to boost testosterone through diet.
Of course, obesity is a very complex, multifactorial disease that is caused by the confluence of many factors, not just a product of what you eat.
However, to the best of your ability, if you are dealing with excessive body weight, it may help to work with your doctor or a nutritionist for strategies to try and improve the overall quality of your diet and nutrient density.
Even if you do not carry excess body weight, if you are consuming a lot of simple sugars such as high fructose corn syrup, candy, soda pop, fruit juice, fruit snacks, etc., your diet may be working against you in terms of supporting healthy testosterone levels.
Moreover, a diet high in sugars and refined grains can, over time, increase the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
These metabolic conditions can also lower testosterone levels and compromise sexual performance in males by making it more difficult to maintain and achieve an erection due to poor circulation of microvasculature.
Processed oils, excessive refined grains, drugs, and alcohol are also recognized as consumed goods that can lower testosterone levels.
Studies have even concluded that alcohol abuse can potentially cause irreversible hypogonadism.
In addition to fruits that boost testosterone, foods like fatty fish, oysters, green leafy vegetables, eggs, and ginger may help increase testosterone levels in the body.
Want to learn more about natural ways to increase testosterone levels? Check out our guide about Tongkat Ali supplements.
