There are usually two ways a supplement will try and charm its way of the shelf into your fitness regime. They’ll either try to wow you with science, using a lot of technical words and names, or they’ll try to dazzle you with results.
Testrol Gold ES from GAT Sports is definitely the latter. Everywhere you look in the marketing for this there’s guys with more muscles that your average British seafood restaurant.
If it’s meant to imply this stuff is Mr Olympia in a bottle, then that’s ridiculous. But to be fair, naturally upping your T is the first step on that journey; the question is, just how good a first step is Testrol Gold ES?
We’re promised;
- Increased muscle & male performance
- Estrogen support
Short but sweet. Keep estrogen out the way and let T improve muscle mass, stamina, libido, body fat etc. If it works we’re on board. But that’s a big if. This may be gold by name, but in this review we’ll decide together if it’s gold by nature.
To their credit, GAT keep the bodybuilding ethos going by not being afraid to put everything on show. No proprietary blends here. Every ingredient is individually dosed and on the label, which is one gold star at least. Let’s see what we’ve got.
How Does It Work?
At a Glance
- ZMA to support overall and free T
- Tribulus to supposedly boost T
- DIM to block estrogen
- Longjack & Horny goat weed for libido
- L-Arginine for energy
- Fenugreek to balance blood sugars
- Munica Pruriens for L -Dopa
We have A LOT of ingredients to get through here folks, so put in some eye drops, take a bathroom break and we’ll dive in after the scores.
The Scores
Testrol Gold ES has a LOT of ingredients, which users might be excited by, but quite honestly a lot of them need a rethink.
You’ve got 4 categories here: The good – vitamin B6, zinc, mucuna pruriens ; the good with problems – fenugreek (not enough), magnesium (too much) ; the bad – tribulus terrestris.
And the OK we guess, but could’ve be a lot better. Which is almost everything else here.
All in all, it’s underwhelming and falls a long way short of delivering the T levels of it’s rippling, golden, poster boys.
Around $30, while not cheap, is around average for this kind of supplement and as we’ve just seen, it sort of matches the formula: average. So in terms of value, for what you’re getting, you might argue that this price is not terrible. However only true quality gets rewarded on this site and there are certainly better options out there for the same cost.
Let’s give some props first. Testrol Gold ES is cGMP certified, so whatever else it is, it hasn’t been badly manufactured. Plus it doesn’t use proprietary blends which always gets a plus one from us.
We haven’t found anything to suggest the product or GAT Sports isn’t trustworthy. We are only marking down here because a lot of the formula is filler, and also due to the marketing BS surrounding their recommendation that you need to cycle the product. We’ve covered this before in many reviews, this is to try and make out that the product is so powerful it has to be treated like steroids.
Because Testrol ES is sold through online retailers rather than direct from the company, we don’t have really detailed testimonials to sink our teeth into. It’s all user feedback from the various shops where it’s available. These are mostly positive to be fair but are mainly just short paragraphs from faceless authors with little depth.
There are a handful of poor reviews too, which plant a seed of doubt, but when a product is a big seller that will always be the case. You can’t keep all the people happy all the time.
GAT Sports is a company which operates out of Wyoming in the U.S. They’ve been around for about 20 years and have built up quite a range of natural supplements covering all aspects of fitness.
They also have plenty of athletes endorsing their product and a lot of good information about themselves on the website. We might disagree on formula choices, but this is a highly professional set up.
How Do I Take It?
Just the 1 serving of 2 caps a day on an empty stomach is all users need apparently. They also say you should cycle for 8 weeks or 2 bottles then give your body a rest.
Two things here. First, there’s no way just one serving of any natural supplement is enough to sustain active ingredients for a full day of activity. Testrol Gold ES is bound to stutter out before you do.
Secondly, why cycle? These boosters are supposed to stimulate the highest T possible within your natural range. You shouldn’t have to give your body a break from what it can safely cope with. Certainly not from anything in Testrol Gold ES.
Cycling products like these is a marketing gimmick to give the impression of extra potency in my opinion.
Any Testrol Gold ES Side Effects?
This booster gets a little ‘magnesium happy’, going over the current RDA for men. Long term this could result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and tiredness among other things, so just be aware.
Where Can I Get It?
You’ll find a month’s supply of Testrol Gold ES at Bodybuilding.com for $29.99
Ingredients – In Detail
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is really effective at controlling the female hormone, estrogen. It works to naturally limit production and the influence of what’s already made on your body. Helps to keep the balance tipped in T’s favour. 10mg is a solid amount too.
Magnesium
Magnesium itself is great. It helps lower levels of a protein called SHBG, which binds to T and keeps it dormant. Magnesium effectively releases more T for use. The only worry here, is you can have too much of a good thing. The advised daily amount for males is 420mg. 450mg may cause side effects, and coupled with your dietary intake, this amount could quite easily push you over that threshold.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0731708508005955
Zinc
Zinc is another strong mineral choice. It stimulates the key building blocks for healthy T such as growth hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone. It’s tough to get enough from diet alone to so supplementing is great. Again, possible to overdo it, but 30mg is fine.
Folic Acid
The benefits of folic acid are geared more towards overall health, but there are some benefits for performance. It helps to maintain muscle by repairing damaged tissue and stimulating key DNA and RNA synthesis. It also promotes nitric oxide which aids blood flow and energy.
Selenium
Selenium can have some useful antioxidant effects, and may help to maintain a healthy prostate but does nothing directly for T. Especially not in such a small amount.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22648711
DIM
DIM is often a natural booster’s estrogen blocker of choice and studies do show it can have that effect. Problem is it’s not an estrogen blocker, it’s an estrogen modulator. It can also stimulate female hormone in some cases, so we’re wary of it.
Tribulus
Tribulus terrestris is a terrible choice to make your most plentiful ingredient. There was a brief window when it was thought to be great for your hormones, but near enough every proper examination since has found it to be useless. The Limp Bizkit of the T boosting world. 500mg is a huge waste.
Fenugreek
Fenugreek is a decent choice because it helps us in a few ways. It stimulates the androgens which T needs and is also a bit of an aphrodisac so can help put us (and others in the mood). Beyond that it helps to balance blood sugars to stop isulin levels interfering with T. Just 100mg is a bit disappointing though.
Mucuna Pruriens
Mucuna pruriens, or velvet bean, is one of the better choices thanks to its effect on L-DOPA. This amino acid helps lower the stress hormone cortisol, stopping it blocking T production and helping you to feel more relaxed. 100mg is a solid amount.
Shalajit Extract
A traditional medicine favorite which may actually help to stimulate luteinizing hormone, one of the things healthy T relies on. Probably needs more research in the future though and more than 100mg right here and now.
Eurycoma Longfolia
Good for your libido certainly but beyond a couple of studies showing it might help guys with clinically low T back into normal range, no real serious T maximizing potential. 100mg that could’ve been better spent.
L-Arginine
L-Arginine is able to stimulate nitric oxide in the body. As we’ve said this is good for blood flow an energy, but there’s a problem. L-Arginine isn’t well absorbed into the system when taken orally and you need a high amount to see a difference. 150mg isn’t that amount.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9809945
Avena Sativa
Avena sativa is sometimes called oat straw. It shows some glimpses of being able to help estrogen levels, but nothing too convincing yet. Other than that just anti-inflammatory benefits.
Epimedium Extract
Horny goat weed as it’s more often known doesn’t do much for T but may work as a libido booster and be natural help for erectile dysfunction. Another 100mg that could’ve been used better though.
Damiana Leaf
Touted as another estrogen blocker but most research so far has been done on lab rats. Not terribly convincing so far.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18948180
Saw Palmetto
Yet another ingredient which doesn’t directly effect T. May help maintain prostate health which is vitally important as we age, but not really what we’re here for. Just 50mg is probably of limited help anyway.
Cnidium Monnieri
Used in Chinese medicine as a sort of natural alternative to Viagra. No effect on T of note so 30mg down the drain in my opinion.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10799242
Anything Missing?
I estimate that if Testrol Gold ES dropped about 8 or 9 of these ingredients and just split their combined volume between D-Aspartic Acid and Vitamin D3 it would be much better for your hormones (and this reviewer’s wrists).
Overall
Testrol Gold ES isn’t terrible, it’s just not that great. There’s far too much emphasis on number of ingredients rather than quality of ingredients which means ultimately this booster is less Gold Standard and more just Standard.
