Testosterone Boosters

The entry above sums up most of what I have read about boosting testosterone without supplements. Here is some more info:

Testosterone is a powerful anabolic hormone that stimulates and controls the development of different organs such as muscle, bone, skin, sex organs, and most other masculine, physical features. Male testosterone is produced in the testes by a group of cells known as the Leydig cells. They begin secreting high doses of testosterone during puberty to trigger increased lean muscle mass, sex organ development, bone formation and higher energy levels. Testosterone levels peak during a man's early to mid twenties.
Luteninizing hormone gradually slows down and diminishes as we age. Tribulus terrestris can naturally boost levels of LH -- the increased LH then leads to more healthy testosterone production once again. Zinc and magnesium also help maintain testosterone levels (ZMA).

from Mike Mahler - andropause is considered normal for men in their fifties. The essential factor in optimizing hormones is your ability to handle stress. the stress hormone, cortisol, must be within reasonable range to optimize your hormones and thus feel great. Too much cortisol cannibalizes the sex hormones, such as pregnenelone, and in turn DHEA, androstendione, and finally, testosterone.

Another critical component in natural hormone optimization is maintaining insulin levels within ideal ranges. Insulin levels within the optimal range are balanced with the hormone glucagon. Protein provides the body what it needs to make glucagon, so a simple rule of thumb is to eat protein and carbs at every meal.
The fatter you are, the more estrogen receptors you'll have, which reduces the cellular access to testosterone. This is why you can't utilize extra testosterone, no matter how much you are making (or supplementing) if insulin is not properly managed.
Don't let your cholesterol get below 180. The body stops making hormones then. IGF 1 is a wonderful anti aging, muscle-sustaining hormone that gets low with high stress levels.

from Sean Nalewanyj - Quite simply, testosterone is the most important muscle-building hormone in your body and is one of the limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can build.
First, the brain releases a substance called Luteinizing Hormone, LH basically �tells� the body to start producing testosterone. Once this occurs, the adrenal glands release DHEA into the bloodstream. LH and DHEA then travel together to the testes where testosterone production begins. Testosterone can now be released into the bloodstream.
Do compound exercises with intensity, train legs hard, increase Essential Fatty Acids, limit soy and alcohol, increase broccoli & cauliflower, lower stress and get more sleep.

from Tom Incledon - So, what is the best type of diet to follow if your only concern is to increase T levels and make more of it available to the body for the purpose of improving lean body mass and/or performance? It would seem that CHO intake must exceed PRO intake by at least 40% to keep the bioactive fraction of T high.
Fat intake should be at least 30%, saturated fat needs to be higher than PUFA, and fiber intake needs to be low. A sample diet would have roughly the following calorie breakdown: 55% CHO, 15% PRO and 30% fat.

Most prohormones that were available through 2009 are now classified as steroids by the Drug Enforcement Administration effective January 4, 2010 as detailed here. These include:
Boldione ( Androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione)
desoxymethyltestosterone (17[alpha]-Methyl-5[alpha]-androst-2-en-17[beta]-ol) and (madol)
19-nor-4,9(10)-androstadienedione (19-Norandrosta-4,9(10)-diene-3,17-dione; and estra-4,9(10)-diene-3,17-dione)

The DEA uses this criteria - "a drug or hormonal substance as an anabolic steroid if the following four criteria are met: (A) The substance is chemically related to testosterone; (B) the substance is pharmacologically related to testosterone; (C) the substance is not an estrogen, progestin, or a corticosteroid; and (D) the substance is not dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)."
Anabolic Steroids (hormones) are generally a synthetic form of testosterone, which is why they are effective at boosting muscle and strength. Pro-hormones are generally a few steps removed from the actual testosterone hormone and require a few processing steps in your body to convert to testosterone. Test-Boosters generally cannot convert into testosterone - their purpose is to set the conditions for your body to use more of your own testosterone by optimizing your body's testosterone receptors, minimizing the estrogen receptors, reduce the aromatizing of testosterone into estrogen, or by some similar action.
This is the best summary that I can come up with after reading through a lot of information. You really need to read up on this yourself and know what you are doing if you use these test-booster supplements Click on any product above and read all of the information Do NOT buy these test boosters if your are under 21.

It's common knowledge that after 40, men start losing testosterone and strength. - Yeah, maybe if you just sat on your ass for the last 20 years! This is wrong. You start dropping test and strength when you stop eating right and lifting heavy weight as explained at the bottom of this page - and then eventually when you are old like me.
I got my max deadlift of 375 on my 54th birthday taking vitamins and plenty of protein. It was not until I turned 56 that I started with the ALRI Evo-Stack. At that age it did help me to keep up my strength.

I don't know if I will get past 375 on my deadlift, but I recently carried 200 pounds in each hand for 49 feet in a competition. At practice I got 210 each hand for 55 feet and 195 for 120. And I pulled a 465 partial deadlift with the bar starting at 18 inches. It seems harder to boost up my maximum in some lifts, but there is potential to keep moving up in others. So eventually test boosters help, but you still have to eat right and lift heavy or you will just waste your money.

from Dave Draper's site - Fat cells, especially in the abdominal region, produce aromatase enzyme, which converts testosterone into estrogen. More estrogen causes more body fat, which produces more aromatase enzyme. If the aromatase enzyme is not inhibited, more testosterone may just convert into more estrogen. There is much more information in this article.....