Can you actually boost testosterone naturally? What the science says

What did @drbrycegallagher actually say?

The video lays out three tips for men with low testosterone: cut sugar and processed food, exercise to build muscle, and take the herbal supplement tribulus. The creator links sugar consumption directly to estrogen conversion, saying excess sugar causes testosterone to "break down via a metabolic pathway into estradiol and estrone." He also claims tribulus "stimulates your pituitary gland to produce luteinizing hormone," which then drives testosterone production. These are specific mechanistic claims, not just lifestyle advice, and they deserve a closer look.

Does the science back this up?

Partially, yes. The diet and exercise claims have real support. The tribulus claim does not hold up nearly as well as the video implies.

On sugar and fat: visceral adiposity is genuinely associated with higher aromatase activity, the enzyme that converts androgens into estrogens. A 2020 study by Jayaraman et al. in Frontiers in Endocrinology confirmed that adipose tissue aromatase is a significant driver of estrogen excess in men with obesity. The liver connection also has merit. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease impairs sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) production, which can reduce free testosterone. So the creator is not wrong that a "beer belly" can hurt your hormone profile.

On exercise: resistance training reliably raises testosterone acutely and improves insulin sensitivity, which reduces the metabolic conditions that suppress androgen production. A meta-analysis by Riachy et al. (2020, Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology) confirmed that resistance training positively affects testosterone levels in men.

On tribulus: the evidence is thin. Most randomized controlled trials in healthy men show no significant effect on testosterone or LH. A 2014 study by Rogerson et al. in Journal of Ethnopharmacology found no hormone changes in rugby players using tribulus supplementation.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

The mechanistic framing around sugar is oversimplified but directionally correct. Sugar does not directly convert testosterone into estrogen. What actually happens is that excess caloric intake drives fat accumulation, which increases aromatase activity. The pathway runs through body composition, not a direct metabolic conversion triggered by eating a cookie. Saying sugar causes testosterone to "break down" into estradiol implies something more direct and dramatic than what the physiology actually shows.

The tribulus claim is the weakest part of this video. The creator says it stimulates the pituitary to produce luteinizing hormone, which is how testosterone production is signaled. That mechanism is accurate in theory. The problem is that tribulus has not been shown to reliably activate that pathway in clinical trials on humans. A 2016 review by Qureshi et al. in Journal of Dietary Supplements found inconsistent results across tribulus studies, with most well-controlled trials showing no LH or testosterone elevation in men with normal baseline levels. Recommending it as "herbal support" without that caveat is a meaningful omission.

The dietary and exercise advice, stripped of the mechanistic overclaiming, is solid. Reducing ultra-processed food, managing body fat, and building muscle mass are all legitimately associated with healthier testosterone levels.

What should you actually know?

If your testosterone is clinically low, lifestyle changes matter but they have a ceiling. For men with true hypogonadism, diet and exercise may improve numbers modestly, but they are unlikely to fully correct a clinically significant deficiency on their own. A 2013 study by Heufelder et al. in The Aging Male showed lifestyle intervention combined with testosterone therapy outperformed lifestyle alone in men with metabolic syndrome and low testosterone.

The aromatase-fat tissue connection the creator gestures at is real and clinically relevant. Losing visceral fat does reduce estrogen conversion in men. That is a legitimate reason to address body composition, independent of any supplement.

Tribulus is not dangerous for most healthy adults, but spending money on it based on this video's framing is premature. The LH stimulation claim in humans remains unproven at typical supplement doses.

• If you suspect low testosterone, get a morning serum total and free testosterone test before buying any supplement.
• SHBG levels matter. Low SHBG, often seen with fatty liver and insulin resistance, can make total testosterone look normal while free testosterone is low.
• No supplement currently has strong clinical evidence for raising testosterone in men who are already eugonadal (normal levels).
• Resistance training two to four times per week has more consistent evidence for androgen support than any over-the-counter supplement on the market.

Bottom line

The diet and exercise advice in this video is defensible and reasonably grounded in biology. The mechanistic explanation for sugar is simplified to the point of being partially inaccurate. The tribulus recommendation is getting ahead of the evidence. Men with genuinely low testosterone should work with a licensed clinician, get their labs checked, and not count on an herbal supplement to fix a hormonal deficiency.