GradedHealth

Testosterone boosters: do any of them work?

Ashwagandha, fenugreek and tongkat ali modestly raised testosterone in small trials; most others, like tribulus, did not. Zinc helps only if you're deficient.

Published October 2026

Short answer

A few boosters - ashwagandha, fenugreek, tongkat ali - raise testosterone modestly in small, short trials. Most others, including tribulus, did not, and the evidence is early. Evidence grade C (Limited). Several meta-analyses of small, short randomized trials; findings vary widely between ingredients and reviews, so downgraded for inconsistency and small samples.

Key takeaways

  • In small trials and meta-analyses, ashwagandha, fenugreek and tongkat ali raised testosterone modestly in men [1] [2] [3].
  • Most other ingredients tested, including tribulus and D-aspartic acid, did not change testosterone [4] [5].
  • Zinc mainly helps men whose zinc is low, and vitamin D supplements did not raise testosterone in meta-analyses [6] [7].
  • Some boosters carry more than the safe upper dose of zinc or B vitamins, and FDA tests found steroids in 89% of flagged muscle-building supplements [8] [9].

The short version

A few testosterone boosters do raise testosterone a little. In small trials, ashwagandha, fenugreek and tongkat ali lifted blood levels in men [1] [2] [3]. Most other popular ingredients, including tribulus and D-aspartic acid, did not [4] [5]. Zinc helps mainly when the body is low in zinc [6], and vitamin D supplements have not raised testosterone in men [10]. The trials are small and short, so treat these results as early [2].

What the studies show

Ashwagandha and fenugreek. In a 2015 trial, 57 young men who took 600 mg of ashwagandha a day for 8 weeks while strength training saw testosterone rise by about 96 ng/dL, against 18 ng/dL with placebo [11]. In aging, overweight men, ashwagandha raised salivary testosterone about 15% more than placebo [12], and a 2026 meta-analysis of 23 trials found testosterone about 57 ng/dL higher in men, with no rise in women [1]. For fenugreek, a 2026 meta-analysis of six trials found a small rise in total testosterone (a small effect size of 0.25) but rated the certainty very low [2], matching an earlier review in athletes [13]. A company-funded 2024 trial found a 37% rise in saliva testosterone but no significant change in blood plasma [14].

Tongkat ali. Five small pooled trials found tongkat ali raised total testosterone, with an unusually large effect size for a supplement (SMD 1.35) [3]. A two-week trial in 32 young men found testosterone and free testosterone rose [15], and in men over 45 with age-related androgen deficiency, a 200 mg supplement plus exercise improved erections and testosterone [16]. The 2024 review of boosters still called it only possibly effective because the trials are small [17].

Tribulus and D-aspartic acid. A 2025 review of 10 tribulus trials (483 men) found no robust testosterone effect: eight of ten studies saw no significant androgen change, and the two positive studies were small and in men with hypogonadism [4]. A 2026 meta-analysis found tribulus improved erectile-function scores versus placebo but did not change total testosterone [18]. Two trials of D-aspartic acid - 3 g and 6 g a day for four to twelve weeks - found no change in total or free testosterone [19] [5]; the one 2025 trial that saw a rise used a mixture with zinc and coenzyme Q10, so D-aspartic acid cannot be credited for it [20].

Zinc, magnesium and vitamin D. Zinc is the textbook case of fixing a shortage: when older men with marginal zinc deficiency took about 30 mg of zinc a day for up to six months, testosterone rose from about 8.3 to 16 nmol/L [6]. A 2023 review concluded zinc mainly helps when zinc status is low [21]. In athletes with an adequate diet, an 8-week zinc-magnesium (ZMA) trial found no hormone changes [22], while one 4-week magnesium trial reported higher testosterone [23]. Low vitamin D is linked with low testosterone, but trials have not shown that raising vitamin D raises testosterone: two meta-analyses found no effect in men [10] [7], including a 12-week trial in healthy men with lower vitamin D [24] and three small trials in men with heart failure, nursing-home residents and deficient immigrants [25].

DHEA. DHEA is a hormone sold as a supplement, and it does raise testosterone - by about 21 ng/dL on average in men in a meta-analysis of 42 studies [26]. But 25 trials in older men found no improvement in sexual function or quality of life [27].

The overall picture. A 2024 systematic review of 52 studies covering 27 boosters found most did not raise total testosterone; only a few were counted as possibly effective [17]. A survey of 50 top-selling products found 61.5% had no published data on their effect on testosterone at all [8].

The nuances

Effects were measured on hormone levels, not symptoms: trials checked blood or saliva testosterone, so a rise does not prove men felt better [1] [27]. Some measurements disagreed - fenugreek moved saliva testosterone but not plasma [14]. Most trials studied young, healthy men rather than men diagnosed with low testosterone [28], and some had ties to supplement makers [14] [29]. Ashwagandha has been linked to liver injury in case series: five patients in Iceland and the US developed jaundice but recovered, and in an Indian series three men with existing liver disease died [30] [31]. Some products carry more than the safe upper limit of zinc, vitamin B3 or magnesium [8], and FDA sampling found synthetic steroids in 89% of muscle-building supplements flagged for adulteration and sildenafil (Viagra's ingredient) in 47% of flagged sexual-enhancement products [9].

What this means for you

Talk to a doctor if low testosterone is a concern. None of the trials here showed boosters fixing symptoms - in older men, DHEA did not improve sexual function or quality of life [27] - and even the best-supported boosters moved testosterone only a little [1].

Go deeper

  • Testosterone Boosters — Some testosterone boosters modestly raise testosterone: in small trials, ashwagandha, fenugreek and tongkat ali lifted levels in men, and the hormone DHEA rais…
  • Ashwagandha — Ashwagandha root extracts lower anxiety and stress scores and cortisol levels in meta-analyses of randomized trials, and small trials suggest better sleep.
  • Vitamin D — In people with prediabetes, vitamin D supplements lower the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
  • Magnesium — Magnesium supplements modestly lower blood pressure, mainly in people with high blood pressure or low magnesium levels, and may slightly improve blood sugar in…

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