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Andrew Huberman
Jul 2, 2026
33 protocols
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Essentials: Tools for Hormone Optimization in Males | Dr. Kyle Gillett
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Behaviors
Testosterone and SHBG Blood Test
“And with testosterone, you want to get either testosterone and SHBG or a free testosterone.”
1:20 ·
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In this episode
33 protocols
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1:20
Testosterone and SHBG Blood Test
Behaviors
“And with testosterone, you want to get either testosterone and SHBG or a free testosterone.”
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2:11
Repeat Blood Work Every 6 Months
Behaviors
“Using shared decision-making with their physician, usually a good follow-up is about six months.”
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2:32
Exercise
Behaviors
“Diet and exercise are the first two.”
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2:32
Diet
Behaviors
“Diet and exercise are the first two.”
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2:35
Sleep
Behaviors
“In puberty, sleep is particularly important, of course.”
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2:49
Dairy
Diet
“For example, during puberty, if you're consuming dairy and then all of a sudden you cut out all dairy, dairy can help increase IGF-1 and free IGF-1.”
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3:57
Balanced Diet With Quality Protein, Fruits, Vegetables, and Starches
Diet
“I realize that some of this relates to ethics and food allergies and things of that sort But would you say that on balance that most people would benefit from eating a combination of you know quality proteins from animal sources and non-animal sources, fruits, vegetables, and starches?”
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4:21
Avoid Extreme Restrictive Diets in Teens and Early 20s
Behaviors
“In their late 20s, it might be a reasonable option. In early 20s and certainly teens, it is a horrible idea because it is likely to significantly decrease your free androgens.”
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4:43
Prebiotic Fiber
Diet
“Fiber is going to be paramount in kind of like setting your set point of your gut microbiome the rest of your life.”
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5:05
Essential Fatty Acids
Diet
“And would you say that the prebiotic fiber and getting essential fatty acids, that would be important to do throughout the lifespan or just for people in their 20s and 30s? Throughout the lifespan, particularly important in the teenage 20s, thirties, because it helps with brain development.”
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5:42
Caloric Restriction for Overweight Individuals
Behaviors
“if somebody is overweight, they have excess fat adipose tissue, then getting rid of some of that adipose tissue through caloric restriction and exercise, as provided it's done not too fast in a healthy way, is going to be beneficial for testosterone in the long run.”
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6:50
Stress Management
Behaviors
“Stress is probably the next one. During both puberty, but also the 20s and 30s, individuals are figuring out how they want to cope with stress and also figuring out what they want to choose to put their effort into.”
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9:45
Exercise 3-4 Vigorous and 3-4 Less Vigorous Sessions Per Week
Behaviors
“For really vigorous exercise, around three to four times a week is very sustainable over a long period of time.”
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10:18
Limit Vigorous Exercise Sessions to Under 1 Hour
Behaviors
“But the takeaway from that is basically, it is not hormonally helpful to train, especially regularly train vigorously for longer than an hour.”
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12:43
Creatine
Supplements
“Let's mention creatine as the first one. Creatine is interesting because it has multiple different effects. It helps with amino acid synthesis. It also helps with oxidative stress.”
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14:04
Do Not Avoid Creatine Due to Hair Loss Concerns
Behaviors
“Hair loss is not a reason to avoid taking creatine. Think of it as just bringing you to what you are naturally inclined to have”
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14:50
Betaine
Supplements
“Another one we can loop in with creatine is beta-ene some people are non-responders to creatine so you can increase that to 10 grams or you can use its cousin beta-ene to help with amino acid synthesis and shunting of energy.”
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15:33
Homocysteine Blood Test
Behaviors
“Only if their homocysteine is persistently elevated. And homocysteine is kind of like an inflammatory marker that can build up if you're not converting enough of it downstream. How would I know? Just a blood test.”
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16:53
L-Carnitine
Supplements
“Usually I recommend for oral L-carnitine between 1,000 milligrams and up to 4,000 or 5,000 milligrams. So one to four, maybe even five grams.”
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17:32
Garlic
Diet
“There's a compound in garlic called allicin. I believe it's A-L-L-I-C-I-N. It's also part of the scientific name, the genus of types of garlic. And this can help decrease the conversion to TMAO.”
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17:45
Berberine
Supplements
“Berberine actually slightly decreases the conversion to TMAO as well, probably through alteration of the gut microbiome.”
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17:49
Optimize Gut Microbiome
Behaviors
“And then just optimizing your gut microbiome can decrease conversion.”
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19:39
Vitamin D3
Supplements
“Let's briefly mention vitamin D, which is also a hormone. It's actually a sterol hormone. And if you have deficient vitamin D and you replace it, then you will optimize your testosterone.”
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19:49
Boron
Supplements
“Let's also mention boron. So if you have a very high SHBG, boron can acutely help lower it, usually in a dose of 5 to 12 milligrams per day.”
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20:01
Dates or Raisins From Greece or Turkey
Diet
“In many countries, I believe it very high in soils in Greece and Turkey So eating dates or raisins that are from those areas potentially have more boron”
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22:01
Tongkat Ali
Supplements
“What sorts of dosages of tongkat do you recommend to your patients? Anywhere from 300 to 1200 milligrams a day.”
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26:35
Fadogia Agrestis
Supplements
“So it's not directly equitable, but to be safe, another regimen that I have people take 600 milligrams every other day or 600 milligrams three times a week, often Monday, Wednesday, Friday?”
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35:28
Limit Alcohol to No More Than 3-4 Standard Drinks Every 2 Weeks
Diet
“In general, I would not recommend more than three to four standard drinks. One huge glass of wine is probably five standard drinks every two weeks.”
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37:28
Tadalafil
Supplements
“But in general, I recommend no higher than 10 milligrams a day, usually just two or five milligrams.”
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38:50
Ketoconazole
Supplements
“Many people that have just a bit of predisposition, they can use things that are topical antiandrogens. Ketoconazole is one of them.”
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38:59
Topical Caffeine
Supplements
“Caffeine is actually another one. Wait, you have to explain how this works. How do people get caffeine into the hair follicle? Topically, the caffeine enters the scalp and crowds out, like somewhat crowds out the androgen.”
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39:25
Avoid Topical Spironolactone Unless Specifically Prescribed
Behaviors
“Of note, spironolactone can be prescribed topically, but it is absorbed systemically because of the size of the molecule. So unless your doctor specifically prescribes that for you, especially as a male, do not use topical spironolactone.”
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39:55
Topical Dutasteride
Supplements
“Topical dutasteride is likely a tiny bit systemically absorbed, but it's unique because its half-life is much faster at a lower dose. So topical dutasteride will not affect your systemic DHT at all.”