What did @endthestrugglenow actually say?
The creator lists five signs of low testosterone: anxiety, low energy, low sex drive, no interest in competing, and no longer taking risks. They say they were "convinced" they had low testosterone, did some research, and started three supplements: Tongkat Ali, Fadogia Agrestis, and Turkesterone. They also recommend lifting weights, cold showers, and better sleep. After four to five months, they report getting their "ambition back," improved sex drive, strength gains, and reduced belly fat. No blood test is mentioned. No doctor visit is mentioned. The entire self-diagnosis rests on recognizing feelings they relate to personally.
To be clear: the creator is not a clinician. They are sharing a personal experience and product recommendations. That framing matters enormously when we assess whether what they said is accurate, safe, or useful for the 396,000 people who watched this.
Does the science back this up?
Partially, but the weakest claims get the most airtime. Low sex drive and difficulty building muscle are genuinely associated with hypogonadism. Anxiety and fatigue have some supporting evidence. But "no interest in competing" and "not taking risks" are not clinical symptoms of low testosterone, they are personality descriptions.
On the supplement side, Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) has the most credible evidence. A randomized trial by Talbott et al. (2013, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition) found modest improvements in testosterone and stress hormones in stressed adults. Fadogia Agrestis has almost no human data. Most citations trace back to a single rat study by Yakubu et al. (2005, Asian Journal of Andrology) that showed increased testosterone in male rats at doses that also caused testicular toxicity. Turkesterone is an ecdysteroid with some anabolic interest in rodent research, but human clinical trials are essentially nonexistent as of 2024. Claiming these are "scientifically shown" to raise testosterone in humans is a stretch, particularly for Fadogia.
What did they get wrong (or right)?
They got the lifestyle recommendations right. Resistance training consistently raises testosterone. Solberg et al. (2008, European Journal of Applied Physiology) confirmed this. Sleep deprivation measurably suppresses testosterone levels, with Leproult and Van Cauter (2011, JAMA) showing a 10-15% drop after one week of restricted sleep. Cold exposure has weaker evidence but is not harmful.
Where this goes wrong is in two specific areas. First, the symptom list conflates genuine hypogonadism symptoms with general dissatisfaction with life. "You don't take any risks anymore" is not a diagnostic criterion. It is a motivational coaching trope, and dressing it up as a hormone problem is misleading. Second, saying Fadogia Agrestis "has been shown scientifically to raise testosterone levels naturally" without flagging the rat-study-only evidence base, or the toxicity signals in that same animal research, is irresponsible. People will buy this product based on that claim. The creator also never mentions getting a blood test, which is the only way to actually know whether your testosterone is low.
What should you actually know?
Low testosterone, or hypogonadism, is a clinical diagnosis. It requires a serum total testosterone test, typically done in the morning when levels peak, plus a clinical evaluation. The American Urological Association defines low testosterone as below 300 ng/dL with symptoms present. Symptoms alone are not enough, because fatigue, low libido, and mood changes overlap with depression, thyroid disorders, sleep apnea, and a dozen other conditions.
If you genuinely suspect low testosterone, the path is a GP or urologist visit, not a supplement stack. For men with confirmed hypogonadism, testosterone replacement therapy is an evidence-based option. For men with normal or borderline levels, the supplements mentioned here have modest to negligible human evidence. Tongkat Ali is the most studied and lowest risk. Fadogia Agrestis warrants real caution given the animal toxicity data. Turkesterone is essentially unstudied in humans at meaningful doses.
The lifestyle advice in this video, sleep, lifting, stress management, is genuinely good. If the video had stopped there, it would have been fine. The supplement claims cross into territory that needs a lot more evidence before 396,000 people act on them.