Published 21st April 2023
Is it safe?
The ingredients included in transparent labs supplements are all natural ingredients and as such will be safe for human consumption.
Are there any transparent labs vitality side effects?
There are no adverse affects directly associated with the ingredients included but of course there will be outliers so we recommend you discontinue use immediately and seek medical attention should you encounter any.
Where can I purchase Transparent labs vitality?
Transparent labs Vitality is only available directly.
Let's take this testosterone booster apart to see what's really going on under the hood.
Zinc (as L-OptiZinc) - 15mg
You may or may not have heard of the expression "micronutrient" before, and zinc is what is known as a vital micronutrient, meaning it's something we absolutely for many different processes in the body.
For Zinc that means everything from facilitating protein folding to regulating gene expression, and it's deficiency is known to cause a condition known as hypogonadism in men [1].
Without going to deeply into it, we can understand hypogonadism as a medical term for decreased functional activity of the testes, leading to an impaired ability to properly produce testosterone and other important hormones such as estradiol and progesterone [2].
It makes sense then that we might see Zinc in a testosterone booster like this, not that it will boost testosterone levels exactly, but it will certainly help to maintain healthy testosterone levels and keep testosterone production where it needs to be.
The dosage here is spot on, with the recommended amount for Men sitting at 11mg per day. On top of that L-Optizinc has superior absorption and retention that other forms of Zinc thanks to it being paired with amino acid methionine.
Organic Ashwagandha Extract - 600mg
This evergreen shrub is found naturally growing in Asia and African, and can be traced back to use in classical medicine to around 6,000 BC, where in India it found use as a tonic, aphrodisiac, narcotic and many more.
It is named after the fact that it supposedly smells like horse (Can't say we've ever had the chance to sniff it ourselves), and it was believed that consumption would give one the power of a horse.
In modern times it's been clinically observed to have a number of uses, though unfortunately none can quite be equated to equine power. It's mainly used these days to relieve stress which is related directly to cortisol production.
Cortisol levels and testosterone levels work antagonistically against one another, which means stress induced cortisol secretion can directly and negatively impact your natural testosterone production [3].
We found a study that directly observed the impact ashwagandha extract has on testosterone. 50 overweight individuals that reported fatigue were randomly separated into two groups, one with placebo and one supplementing 600mg of ashwagandha extract. What was found was a significant increase to testosterone levels by 14.7% when compared with placebo.
As we can see the ingredient is a great inclusion and Transparent Labs have got the dosage bang on.
Quercetin Dihydrate - 250mg
A major polyphenolic flavonoid with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, quercetin dihydrate is often found within fruits and vegetables.
We found many claims online advocating strongly for it's health benefits, including claims it can help battle cancer of all things. Once we looked into this though we were unable to find any evidence to support thee claims.
We did however manage to find two clinical trials that tested it's effects on testosterone levels, though one of the supplemented it alongside Vitamin D3 which is a well known way to optimize testosterone levels and as such, is a common inclusion in many testosterone boosting supplements, so we've ruled that one out as neither us or the researchers can attribute any observed changed to quercetin itself.
That leaves one, and it's a clinical trial observing the effects quercetin has on testosterone levels in diabetic rats. It was observed that the rats body weight and testicular weight were improved and that testicular damage was alleviated which promoted testosterone production [4].
We're very happy for the rats but overall we're disappointed that transparent labs chose to include such a poorly tested ingredient with no relevant scientific backing.
DIM (Diindolylmethane) - 125mg
Smelly cruciferous vegetables are a staple of any healthy lifestyle, being nutrient rich and high in anti-oxidants. A lesser known effect they have is that when we eat them our bodies create the very compound we're discussing here, DIM.
Now before we get into how this ingredient works let's talk about how estrogen levels can effect men negatively. Now don't get us wrong here, estradiol plays a crucial role in male sexual function, being a necessary modulating factor for libido, erectile dysfunction and sperm quality [5].When men's estrogen levels get too high however, it can lead to weight gain, infertility, depression and erectile dysfunction.
Some testosterone boosters aim to reduce estrogen levels in men, but the method typically used is to inhibit a protein known as aromatase as this enzyme synthesises testosterone and converts it into estrogen, therefore having a seesaw effect. Estrogen levels up means testosterone levels down, but this isn't how DIM tackles the problem, so we can really see how boosting testosterone will be an affect of its supplementation.
We looked through many clinical trials and what seemed to be the consensus was that DIM modulates the activity of estrogen in the body by blocking receptors, potentially working well as a way of reducing the risk of or even treating patients of thyroid cancer [6].
We're left scratching our heads on this one, our research team are thorough and could find a needle in a hay stack so it seems this ingredient is just filler, so let's quickly move on.
LJ100 (Standardized Eurycoma Longifolia Extract) - 100mg
Typically referred to instead as Tongkat Ali, LJ100 is a herbal medicine derived from the southeast asian Eurycome Longifolia. Despite it's long standing use as a a natural aphrodisiac, it was used by malaysians and indigenous asians to treat diseases.
Similar to ashwagandha extract, standardized eurycoma longifolia extract aims to improve testosterone levels by tackling stress induced cortisol secretion. As we stated previously, more cortisol means low testosterone levels, and vice versa. On top of this however, it has been noted that there is an observed increase in physical strength and muscle growth.
We found a trial that tested 13 healthy male recreational athletes and placed them on either 400mg of LJ100 and following 6 weeks of supplementation observed no significant difference in testosterone levels when compared with both the placebo and the baseline measured values [7].
That said we did also find a study that took 63 subjects (32 and 31 women) that were screened and included based on stress indicators. After 4 weeks supplementation at 200mg daily, significant improvements were found such as a 16% reduction in detectable cortisol levels and a 37% increase to testosterone levels [8].
It seems then that if you're stressed this inclusion should increase testosterone levels first of all, it's dosed about half as much as the clinical doses and secondly we don't think it's reasonable to believe this ingredient will help improve lean body mass as a testosterone booster.
Boron - 5mg
One of the more commonly found ingredients for testosterone boosters and it's popularity is not unfounded. Boron is arguably the more effective dietary supplement when it comes to establishing healthy testosterone levels and maintaining high testosterone production. This is why it's found in almost every one of the best testosterone boosters that are available today.
Boron is a non-metallic chemical element that is present in many foods, it has diverse and vitally important roles in metabolism that render it a necessary part of the human diet. It's considered a vital micronutrient because of it's plethora of uses, such as: being essential for the growth and maintenance of bone; greatly improving wound healing; beneficially impacting the bodies use of estrogen, vitamin D and testosterone; boosting magnesium absorption... The list goes on.
We found a case study on boron that included all of the information we've provided you with so far as well as clinical trials that observed these positive effects. For example there is a clinical trial that observed that after only one week of boron supplementation at 6mg per day there was a significant increase in free testosterone levels which from 11.83 pg/ml to 15.18pg/ml.
It might seems like 5mg is a little short considering these effects were observed at 6mg but it's very standard and you should still see this Boron work as a testosterone booster.
Bioperine (Black Pepper Extract) - 10mg
We'll be brief on this one as it doesn't work directly as a testosterone booster, but you'll still see it quite commonly in the best testosterone boosters as it's quite effective at increasing the bioavailability of the ingredients included.
That's basically fancy talk for saying you'll get more out of the ingredients with it than you would without it.
References
1 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20141096
2 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3255409/
3 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3880087/
4 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8977087/
5 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4854098
6 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048776/
7 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4085925/
8 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3669033/
9 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712861/