The short answer is no. I don’t know how to increase DHT, but I don’t think you want to. I don’t think increasing DHT will result in bigger loads. Only the opposite which is reduction of and blocking DHT receptors results in smaller loads. So I don’t think you need to increase it. Just don’t block it’s production and receptors with Saw Palmetto or similar blocking drug.
I think the best thing to do is let your body produce the natural amounts.
I do take a little DHEA which is the prehormone to testosterone. This gives the body what it needs to produce as much testosterone as it wants. That testosterone will end up used, as estrogen, or DHT. Testosterone gets converted by the enzyme "5-alpha reductase" so I guess you need to boost that enzyme to convert free testosterone to DHT. I don’t know anything about how that enzyme is naturally created or what regulates it (yet.)
So I guess the answer is we look at whatever you should take to support normal production of "5-alpha reductase" enzyme so that you’re not deficient, and let your body naturally regulate it. I don’t know yet what that would be. It may be as simple as vitamins or amino acids to support it.
I’m kind of bent out of shape about Saw Palmetto. It’s in a lot of products.
Also was taking GNC Mega Man Prostate & Virility because it seemed like a great "base" vitamin. It’s basically a multivitamin with extra Zinc and 6 other ingredients 3 for virility (Horny goat weed, Maca, yohimbe,) and 3 for prostate (saw, pumpkin seed, and pygeum.) It’s all great except for the Saw Palmetto IMO.
These companies are out there marketing it as a sexual health product. In fairness reducing BPH (enlarged prostate) helps some guys with ED due to BPH. It does so by essentially reducing DHT as well as blocking the DHT receptors which has been incorrectly written off as a useless hormone with only negative affects past puberty. However, DHT may be very important to your actual sexual health and performance. Furthermore it throws off the hormone balance feedback loop (of testosterone and estrogen!) M@THRF!@R!!
Furthermore this page actually lists Saw Palmetto as something to increase loads!
http://www.incr easespermvolume … er-sperm-loads/
I’d say everything else on that list is likely to help except Saw Palmetto.
More about DHT: DHT: Separating Fact From Fiction and The DHT Myth | The truth about the hormone Dihydrotestosterone Of course Google about DHT and you’ll find plenty. Also Google
Also:
Yahoo answers is by far the worst source of info in general, but this is a good post about Saw Palmetto and this guy ripped his text directly from a good source:
Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos
He also links a great image of the hormone pathways which was educational to me:
I caution against messing with DHT at all. The higher levels of DHT signal the body to produce *less* testosterone (because there is apparently enough/too much.) Conversely blocking DHT actually blocks this feedback loop and your body will produce more testosterone. If that testosterone isn’t used (by working out, or whatever) then it’s free testosterone that can result in higher conversion to estrogen which you don’t want.
I looked into estrogen blockers. Those don’t block the production of estrogen, they just block the receptors. It’s possible that blocking the receptors means that free estrogen levels remain higher (unused) so the body may convert less testosterone to estrogen. Excess testosterone may end up as DHT instead in this case. I only speculate that because the side effects of blocking estrogen are suspiciously similar to the side affects of what DHT causes (acne, male baldness, prostate enlargement & cancer.)
But I don’t know that for sure. Blocking estrogen could tell the body to produce less testosterone (I don’t know,) and that doesn’t mean more enzymes will convert to DHT (I don’t know.) Hormone balancing is apparently very tricky and as soon as you manipulate one, you’re throwing off another. As I mentioned I take a small amount of DHEA which is kind of risky because it’s manipulating hormones. But I’m almost 45 and the level I’m taking is supposed to be well within the range of what I’ve lost with age. I should get tested by a doctor to know, but it’s pretty safe to say I can take what I am. I had hoped it would support testosterone and thus labito and semen.
There is some indication that giving men DHT directly (instead of testosterone) can be more effective than testosterone therapy because DHT is 2.4 times more potent than testosterone. Relative potency of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in preventing atrophy and apoptosis in the prostate of the castrated rat. - PMC
I’m still confused as to whether DHT and testosterone can both work on DHT receptors (just testosterone less effectively). Or do you really need DHT for certain functions?
I’m admittedly not an expert on this and my info and conclusions may not be accurate. I encourage people to do their own research.
I just wanted to raise the alarm bell on this study that DHT blocking reduced in significantly reduced semen volume.
For the record, I have been taking the holy grail and a lot more as well as a lot of water and have seen a *reduction* in semen. I have been mystified as to why I’m producing less when I’m taking more supplements.
I’m eliminating Saw Palmetto as of today so we’ll see if there’s a change in the next few days (I hope there is.)
Before I was 35, especially in my 20’s had huge loads. I took it for granted and never knew it was anything special until a girlfriend that comment about how unusually huge my loads were. They say one teaspoon is the max end of the range but I swear it seemed like more than that (probably just my vivid imagination and fantasy memory, LOL!) Now in my 40’s, they are much smaller (bummer) and I’ve just been trying to help in whatever way I can to increase them.
One final thing (unrelated.) I found this in the comments section of a post about how there’s no way to increase loads with supplements:
Of course there is scientific evidence (placebo-controlled clinical trials) to support increasing semen volume using nutritional and herbal supplements: for example:
* L-carnitine significantly increased the semen volume (P = .001) Safety and efficacy of clomiphene citrate and L-carnitine in idiopathic male infertility: a comparative study
* Chinese herbal increased sperm volume by 18%
[Multi-centered clinical trial of Fufang Xuanju capsule for oligoasthenospermia]
*NAC had significant improving effects on the volume..
Effects of N-acetylcysteine on semen parameters and oxidative/antioxidant status
* Combination of l-arginine aspartate and Pycnogenol (Prelox) Treatment with Prelox increased significantly the semen volume
Improvement of seminal parameters with Prelox: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial