SEX MACHINE II
Details and Dangers
Too much of a good thing can hurt you. Toxicity is serious business. If the topics of testosterone and libido are important to you, it’s better to know too much rather than too little. This chapter will help you avoid problems, provide more background, and amplify results by personalizing the prescription.
If overwhelmed after your first pass-through, just remember the synopsis in Sex Machine I, which wraps up the general program in concise terms. That said, do not ignore the warnings here.
Here’s the nitty-gritty on both protocols.
Protocol #1: Long-Term and Sustained
FERMENTED COD LIVER OIL + VITAMIN-RICH BUTTER FAT—
TWO CAPSULES UPON WAKING AND TWO CAPSULES BEFORE BED
I began taking fermented cod liver oil and butter fat after conversations with several MDs trained at Harvard and UCSF who cited the findings of Weston A. Price (1870–1948).
Price, nicknamed “the Charles Darwin of Nutrition,” was a researcher and dental surgeon who traveled the world throughout the 1930s recording the health and whole-food diets of isolated indigenous populations. Using meticulous notes and hundreds of photographs, he then compared each group with members of the same populations who had moved into cities and adopted industrialized diets. Through hundreds of settlements in 14 countries, from the remote villages of Lötschental, Switzerland, to the Jalou tribes of Kenya, from the American Indians to the Aborigines, he documented a diverse range of traditional diets.
Some contained almost no plants, while others contained a plethora; some ate nearly all food cooked, whereas others preferred all foods, even animal meats, raw. Despite these differences, there were a few commonalities among the diets of the groups with the least incidence of disease. Three types of food are of particular interest in our libido discussion:
1. Lacto-fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, or Japanese natto, which appear a few times in this book, were staples.
2. 10 -fold the U.S. consumption level of vitamin D and vitamin A (animal-based retinol, not plant-based carotene) were consumed from sources such as egg yolks, fish oils, butter, lard, and foods with fat-rich cellular membranes (fish eggs, shellfish, and organ meats).
3. The diets included foods rich in what Price called “Activator X,” now thought to be vitamin K(2) based on analysis performed by Chris Masterjohn. Common sources included fish eggs, cod liver oil, organ meats, and the deep yellow butter from cows eating rapidly growing green grass. If “Activator X” is, in fact, vitamin K(2), then Japanese natto is perhaps the best traditional source at 1,103.4 micrograms per 100 grams. It outguns goose liver pâté (yum) (369 micrograms) in second place and the hard cheeses (76.3 micrograms) in third place by almost 3 times and 14 times, respectively.
Why are these three relevant to our discussion?
Vitamin A has a direct positive effect on testosterone production in adult testes, and supplementation along with zinc has been shown to be as effective as anabolic steroid administration (oxandrolone and testosterone depot) in stimulating growth and puberty, the latter defined as an increase in testicular volume of 12 milliliters or more.
Vitamin K(2) activates vitamin A- and D-dependent proteins by conferring upon them the physical ability to bind calcium. Dr. Price had no shortage of real- world examples of how K(2) amplifies the effects of A and D:
Cod liver oil, which is high in both vitamins A and D, partially corrected growth retardation and weak legs in turkeys fed a deficiency diet, but the combination of cod liver oil and high-Activator X butter was twice as effective.
It has also been hypothesized that vitamin D toxicity is often a result of vitamin K deficiency. If you choose to supplement with vitamins A and D, as I do with cod liver oil and liquid vitamin D, it is important to ensure adequate K(2). Suggested sources include butter from grass-fed cows and the aforementioned lacto-fermented foods.
In practice, and as a personal example, this just means I have a few forkfuls of kimchi or sauerkraut in the morning while I wait for my scrambled eggs9 to cook in—what else?—butter from grass-fed cows. Easy peazy.
VITAMIN D3—6,000–10,000 IU PER DAY FOR FOUR WEEKS
One of the top sports scientists in the United States, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted a single anecdote that led me to a closer reexamination of vitamin D:
One NFL player I ended up treating had experienced debilitating shoulder pain for years and had two surgeries as a result, all to little or no effect. Upon testing his vitamin D levels, it became clear that he was severely deficient. Six weeks after taking vitamin D, his shoulder pain was nonexistent. He had two surgeries for no reason.
Vitamin D, it turns out, does a lot more than most vitamins.
Once vitamin D is activated within the body as calcitriol, it acts as a steroid hormone and regulates more than 1,000 vitamin D–responsive genes, including those that code for specific muscle fibers. It can increase the size and number of type 2 (fast-twitch) fibers, which, as indicated earlier, have the greatest potential for growth. It is one of the most overlooked “sleeper nutrients,” according to John Anderson, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of North Carolina.
The effect can be substantial. Even at just 1,000 IU10 daily for two years, 48 elderly females deficient in vitamin D (as I was) tripled their percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers and doubled fiber diameter in functional limbs. The control group experienced no gains.
Peak athletic performance appears to begin when blood levels approach those obtained through persistent full-body exposure to natural summer sun: 50 ng/ml.
Do you think you get enough sun? It’s unlikely. Even in the endless summer of subtropical Miami, a surprisingly high incidence of vitamin D deficiency has been recorded, as most people either use sunblock or avoid prolonged sun exposure. Forty percent of Louisiana-based runners tested in another study, all of whom trained outdoors, registered insufficient vitamin D levels. Indoor workers and athletes are top candidates for major insufficiencies: Lovell and collaborators found 15 of 18 elite female gymnasts tested to have levels below 30 ng/ml, and 6 to have levels below 20 ng/ml.
Simple at-home tests (see the resources listed in the “Getting Tested” appendix) can tell you where you are, and consistent UV-B or sun exposure (20–30 minutes at least twice per week, depending on latitude), along with sublingual D3, can get you to our minimal target of 50 ng/ml. More than 100 ng/ml is considered excessive, and more than 150 ng/ml is considered toxic.
If you don’t get tested and blindly take vitamin D, you run the risk of overdose. One mild overdose symptom can be a metallic taste in the mouth, which Neil from “Occam’s Protocol” experienced. In our rush to start the program, and based on the average deficiencies I’d seen in the blood reports of past subjects, we neglected to get his vitamin D tested. I didn’t realize that he surfed for several hours a day.
Establish your baseline first.
My Experience
Baseline from first blood test: 32 ng/ml
Second test on 8/20/09 (after two months of taking 1,000 IU/day and 20 minutes of sun exposure daily): 35 ng
Third test 5 weeks later on 9/25/09 (after increasing intake to 7,200 IU/day): 59 ng/ml
I split the 7,200 IU into two doses: 1.5 droppers full of Now® liquid vitamin D3 upon waking and again before bed. It’s important to test droppers, rather than trust label claims: even though the bottle claims 5,000 IU per dropperful, the average dropper yield was just 24 drops and 4 drops is 400 IU, so the average full dropper therefore contained 2,400 IU—roughly half of the label claim.
I saw the greatest impact on performance once I crossed the 50 ng/ml barrier and reached 55 ng/ml, after which the effects plateaued. The performance enhancement of vitamin D is well documented, at least as a result of using UV lights:
In 1944, German investigators irradiated 32 medical students, twice a week for 6 wk, finding irradiated students showed a 13% improvement in performance on a bike ergometer, whereas performance of the control students was unchanged. In 1945, Allen and Curaton measured cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance for 10 wk in 11 irradiated male Illinois college students, comparing them with 10 matched unirradiated controls, both groups undergoing similar physical training. The treatment group achieved a 19.2% standard score gain in cardiovascular fitness compared with a 1.5% improvement in the control students.
Shed some light on yourself or take some drops.
Supplemental vitamin D increases your need for vitamin A, so don’t forget the aforementioned cod liver, which includes both.
SHORT ICE BATHS AND/OR COLD SHOWERS—
10 MINUTES UPON WAKING AND BEFORE BED
Using ice baths and cold showers to affect sex hormones is largely untested in the literature, but there appear to be plausible mechanisms.
The preoptic area of the anterior hypothalamus is responsible for regulating thermogenesis—the generation of heat in response to cold exposure. The very same preoptic area also contains most GnRH-releasing neurons, making it a primary site of GnRH production. Pulses of GnRH, you might recall, then trigger either FSH (low-frequency pulses) or LH release (high-frequency pulses).
Looking at blood test changes after removing and then reincorporating both baths and showers as an isolated variable, I believe intermittent cold exposure has a positive impact on high-frequency pulses of GnRH, resulting in higher levels of LH and testosterone.
Protocol #2: Short-Term and Fun
20–24 HOURS PRIOR TO SEX
The evening before your target sex day, consume at least 800 milligrams of cholesterol within two hours of bedtime.
I’ve duplicated the sex drive–increasing effect in more than a dozen trials, which began with high-dose grass-fed beef at 16–20 ounces per sitting. I initially thought that higher meat consumption was accountable. Based on the literature, it seems that overfeeding or carnitine could be responsible, the latter of which has been shown to be important for sperm production (spermatogenesis) and quality (motility).
The problem with this hypothesis is that four ounces of beef steak contain 56–162 milligrams of carnitine. Grass-fed beef is higher in L-carnitine content and (in general) the redder the meat, the higher the carnitine content. But even if we assume the higher per ounce value of 37.5 milligrams (150 milligrams in 4 ounces) for medium-rare grass-fed beef, we’d need to consume 53 ounces of meat to reach the clinical dosing of two grams per day. Even for an avid meat-eater, this is disgusting. Though I suspect there are nontrivial effects at doses less than two grams per day, I wanted to look for alternative explanations.
The simple solution was found in eggs.
I wanted to isolate cholesterol as a variable because of its potential dose-dependent SHBG-lowering effect, and a single large egg yolk provides more than two-thirds of the USRDA cholesterol limit of 300 milligrams, meaning 200 milligrams per yolk.
The minimum threshold for a very noticeable effect appeared to be 800 milligrams of cholesterol, or four whole eggs.
If you want a tasty bonus, add in reduced-fat Swiss cheese, which has the highest levels of CLA (conjugated linolenic acid) of all cheeses, with natural Muenster in second place.
FOUR HOURS PRIOR TO SEX
4 Brazil nuts
20 raw almonds
2 capsules of the aforementioned cod/butter combination
Brazil nuts have been shown in clinical studies to be more effective than supplementation for increasing selenium, which is important in our context, as selenium has been shown to increase sperm production and sperm quality. Both good things for the twins.
But why was I deficient in selenium in the first place? Was it simply because I didn’t eat enough selenium-containing foods like beef?
Or, and this is critical, was something else competing with selenium or removing it from my body? This is the more neglected question. It is also a bigger problem, as you can’t fix it by slamming pills or potions.
Based on a review of published studies, I formed three hypotheses related to my selenium deficiency:
1. Even though I consumed large quantities of supposedly selenium-rich animal foods, like beef (seven ounces satisfies the daily USRDA), the animals grazed on grass from selenium-depleted soil.
2. Going in and out of ketosis had created a selenium deficiency. Unbeknownst to me, long-term ketogenic dieting has been associated with selenium deficiency. This was a real lightbulb moment.
3. Selenium protects against mercury by binding to it. Elevated blood mercury levels, which I tested positive for, could therefore also contribute to selenium deficiency.
Once I had a few plausible explanations, it was time to test corrective actions:
Late one evening, after realizing my bachelor refrigerator contained nothing but alcohol and various disgusting protein powders, I descended on a single large bag of almonds out of desperation. I was starving and ate about 30 almonds (one ounce).
The following day, I had a much higher than normal sex drive and was puzzled. I was able to correlate it with the almond intake only after looking at a detailed food log. But what in almonds could have this effect? The only potential mechanism seemed to be high vitamin E content.
Lo and behold, after this first experience, I tested deficient for vitamin E on the same SpectraCell test that uncovered the selenium issue.
Looking more closely at the research studies on PubMed, I realized vitamin E not only had the potential to counter the oxidative stress that lowers testosterone and sperm production, but it had also been used successfully in combination with selenium and vitamin A (amazing coincidence, right?) for treating partial androgen deficiency in males.
Most interesting to me, vitamin E stimulates the release of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) from the hypothalamus.
Bingo.
One ounce (30 almonds) gives you approximately 40% of your daily value (DV). I consume both raw almonds and organic almond butter to reach no more than 150% DV, often having two heaping tablespoons of the latter on celery stalks with breakfast.
Like most things, too much vitamin E is as bad as too little. Rock it like Goldilocks: get it just right and get levels tested every two to three months. The results appear to be worth it.
I do not have explanations for the apparent additive impact of several of the ingredients in the protocol cocktail, but removing any one piece seems to decrease the libido effect.
To confirm this, I’ve systematically removed each item. For example, I stopped vitamin D intake for six weeks while increasing Brazil nuts to eight per day. My testosterone jumped to 835 (normal is 280–800), but my libido and vitamin D decreased, the latter to 31.3 (normal is 32–100).
Be smart and test regularly.
Even with the perfect diet, it is possible to develop nutrient deficiencies. How? By using drugs that prevent specific nutrient absorption, or by overengaging in training that taxes a particular biochemical system.
Here is a small sample of drugs and training regimens matched to some of their associated deficiencies.
Have you used any of them?
Used for: birth control
Associated deficiencies: folic acid, vitamins B-2, B-6, B-12, and C, zinc, magnesium
Associated deficiencies: molybdenum, B-5, potassium, magnesium, vitamin C
Used for: bacterial infections
Associated deficiencies: B vitamins, folic acid, vitamins D and K11
Used for: depression
Associated deficiencies: vitamin B-2
Used for: recreation
Associated deficiencies: folic acid, thiamine, vitamin B-6
Associated deficiencies: vitamins B-12 and D, folic acid, and the minerals calcium, iron, and zinc
Used for: epilepsy, bipolar disorder
Associated deficiencies: biotin, folic acid, vitamins B-6, D, and K
Used for: high cholesterol
Associated deficiencies: vitamins A, D, E, and K
Used for: dental anesthesia, recreation
Associated deficiencies: vitamin B-12
Used for: cancer treatment
Associated deficiencies: folic acid
Used for: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
Associated deficiencies: vitamins B-2 (riboflavin) and D
Used for: atrial fibrillation, preventing blood clots
Associated deficiencies: vitamins E and K
Used for: arthritis, rashes, asthma, hepatitis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, eye inflammation, adrenal insufficiency
Associated deficiencies: calcium, DHEA, magnesium, melatonin, potassium, protein, selenium, vitamins B-6, B-9, B-12, C, and D, zinc
Used for: type 2 diabetes
Associated deficiencies: folic acid, vitamin B-12
Used for: muscular growth, athletic performance, wasting/immune disease
Associated deficiencies: vitamins B-6, B-9, B-12, C, and D
Used for: asthma, fat-loss among bodybuilders
Associated deficiencies: taurine and cardiac magnesium (potentially fatal)
Training-specific deficiencies per Charles Poliquin:
Characteristic: taxed GABA and nervous system
Associated deficiencies: taurine
Taxed system: muscular damage
Associated deficiencies: lysine
