Natural T boosters will typically try to give you confidence in their effectiveness in one of two ways.
There’s our personal favourite, proudly displaying an impressive ingredients list in all its fully dosed glory.
Then there’s other brands who just price themselves at higher end of the supplement market and expect us to assume we must be paying for quality.
TestroVax by Novex Biotech falls into this second category and aims to:
In fact they claim the product can boost T 42% in just 12 days. Absolutely benefits worth paying for, the only question being, is TestroVax the one to deliver them?
Proprietary blends give us the names of everything we’re taking but keeps us out the loop on dosages. There’s really no good reason for any makers to do this and it should ring alarm bells straight away as far as quality.
Still, let’s not pre-judge and check it out.
Starting to see the problem with proprietary blends? We’ll take a closer look at what that involves after the scores…
TestroVax offers us a few ingredient high spots from its giant mystery mash-up of a proprietary blend. Vitamin B6, D-Aspartic Acid and fenugreek in particular are all welcome in any good booster. The problem is, with the exception of B6, we don’t have any information on volume.
All these choices will have a minimum dose they need to reach to be useful. Below that and they might as well not be there at all.
There’s an awful lot of filler in this formula too. Things that won’t help our testosterone much if at all. Again we have no way of knowing which there’s more of – good choices or bad – thanks to the secretive blend. But the fact that they won’t tell us should give you a hint.
If it was quantity that made a good supplement, TestroVax would be well within its rights charging just under $60 a bottle. There’s certainly a lot of ingredients crammed in. But clearly it’s not quantity which makes a worthwhile product, it’s quality.
Again the proprietary blend is part of the problem. But even without the numbers, looking at the names on the label, there’s not enough stand outs to justify the high price tag.
When talking about trust there are two ways you can look at it. On the one hand, it’s fair to say TestroVax isn’t unsafe. It’s U.S made and carried by some big retailers, so it one of those supplement horror stories you sometimes here.
But then that’s only half the battle when it comes to these products. At the end of the day using a proprietary blends mean we’re cut out when it comes to a lot of vital info. Like whether the best ingredients are there to work or just make the label look good.
TestroVax doesn’t offer any testimonials on their official site meaning we miss out on the detail. Instead you’ve got to go looking for short user reviews from various retail sites.
This might be fine if all the feedback was glowing, but actually it’s a pretty mixed picture. A lot of people report either no effects or hardly any, while others note a slight rise in energy. Difficult to feel confident before you buy then and a high price to take a punt.
Novex Biotech have their headquarters in Salt Lake City Utah and have been in the supplement game for 20 odd years. In that time there have been no major scandals or obvious scams linked to them.
So whatever we think of TestroVax, Novex Biotech at least seem legit.
The label states you should take 3 capsules of the product before breakfast to last you the day. Sounds simple, but taking a T-booster only once per day can only get you so far. Its effects will last for a couple of hours.
In order to get long-lasting benefits of a T-booster, you need to take 3-4 servings spread out throughout the day.
While TestroVax isn’t known for producing side effects, it does contain a proprietary blend. Which is a concern since you can’t tell the dosage of individual ingredients, some of them could be overdosed.
This could lead to you experiencing negative side effects. Especially if you’re sensitive to some of its ingredients.
Testrovax is available from Amazon, GNC and a host of others for around $60 (inc shipping). You should shop arond for the best offers.
Vitamin B6 is a bit of an unsung hero when it comes to T boosting. Because it does the unglamorous job of keeping estrogen, the female hormone down. That’s crucial though because the male and female hormones are on opposite ends of our balance, when one’s low the other high up.
We have dosage for B6 which is a rare treat for TestroVax, but at just 2mg it’s disappointingly low. You’re looking for double figures at least.
D-Aspartic Acid is a great amino-acid for boosting T. It encourages Growth Hormone, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone, the essentials for healthy male hormone output. It may also help improve sperm health too.
The 42% T surge in 12 days is actually taken from a study on D-AA, so it is possible with right dose. Whether that amount is here though, we don’t know.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19860889
Fenugreek is another strong choice for as it helps us out on 3 fronts. The Indian cuisine favourite not only helps manage blood sugar levels, keeping insulin balanced and out the way of T production, it also stimulates the androgens testosterone needs. To top it all off it’s a natural libido booster.
However, bad news: we don’t know fenugreek’s dosage in TestroVax and we need between 500mg-1000mg,
Some claim (without much evidence) that resveratrol has anti-aging properties. But nobody claims it has T boosting effects, which makes this an odd pick.
In fact, resveratrol is not only pointless in a testosterone booster, it can also reduce the anaerobic capacity in athletes. Possibly a reason why TestroVax is shy about their dosages?
Grape seed extract helps you improve blood flow. It also indirectly reduces blood pressure. However, we have yet to see a study which links it to direct benefits in testosterone levels.
That said, there is one study showing that Grape Seed Extract was successful in blocking aromatase. However, we need more evidence to prove the results of this one study.
L-Arginine is an amino acid which raises your blood nitric oxide levels. This leads to better pumps in the gym and stronger blood flow.
Sadly, L-Arginine has a poor oral absorption rate, so there’s not much you can get when you take it in a capsule, even if we knew the dose was large. Which of course we don’t.
This herb is known to help us reduce stress both mentally and physically, meaning lower cortisol, which disrupts T. Another huge plus of this ingredient is it helps support high energy levels.
So there’s really no bad news apart from that damaging all of TestroVax choices. We don’t know the volume. Why is this important? Because Rhodiola only works at dosages between 280mg-690mg.
Ironically, Licorice contains an acid that’s shown to reduce testosterone levels. A modern study found that men who consumed licorice for just one week had their testosterone reduced by 26%.
There are pointless choices and then there are bad choices and this is the latter.
Red clover can be a great help…to menopausal women. Men looking to up their T though? There’s not much to report.
This is one of those useless ingredients which could, for all we know be taking up most of TestroVax’s proprietary blend. That means no room for the few components in there that will actually help.
A favourite in traditional medicine, Damiana is often said to be great libido booster. But there’s not a lot of science to back that up. Or that it helps lower estrogen. Or at least not enough.
So what we’re left with is just another along-for-the-ride ingredient taking up space. TestroVax’s run of duds continues.
Ashwagandha can directly increase T levels, but it needs more than most supplements will be able to offer, so we don’t have that here. The good news is, in a lower dose of around 300-600mg it can reduce the stress hormone cortisol. Therefore clearing the path for testosterone.
The bad news is, you got it, we don’t know if we’ve even got enough for those pluses, so no promises.
Again, no help for T. Possibly some use in reducing muscle cramps after exercise however, but without a dose that’s by no means certain.
All it’s really doing then is sitting in this formula cramping TestroVax’s style, and more importantly it’s substance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22855206
A medicinal herb which shows promises in reducing inflammation in the body and helping you guard against colds. Sadly, there’s no evidence that links it to any testosterone benefits. So more filler really.
Apart from vital dosage information, we’re also missing key T boosters like vitamin D, boron and panax ginseng.
TestroVax isn’t a truly terrible booster but it has a long way to go to be as impressive as it claims. Or worth the money it’s asking for that matter.
It’s not even so much about what TestroVax needs to add – although a few additions wouldn’t go a miss – the focus should be on what it needs to lose.
Namely a whole lot of pointless filler ingredients and all the secrecy around how much of what is in the formula.
Until then we’re just guessing and the high price means we can’t even really afford to just try it and see.
