Does Black Tea Raise Testosterone? What Animal Studies Found

Short answer: A short rat experiment reported higher testosterone after black tea, but a prostate-tumor mouse study found no statistically significant increase and a later 52-day rat study found no change. Preparation and study duration matter to the result.

What Happened in the Short Black-Tea Rat Experiment?

A 2008 study gave male rats black-tea brew or water, with nine animals per group. Researchers observed mating behavior three hours later. Reported effects included shorter delays before mounting and intromission, a longer delay before ejaculation, and higher serum testosterone. The authors suggested that reduced anxiety and hormone changes might help explain the behavior. Read the black-tea and sexual-competence study.

This was an acute animal experiment. It tells us something about those rats under those conditions; it does not establish a lasting testosterone effect in people. Sexual behavior, a blood hormone measurement and hair growth are also three different outcomes.

Was the Reported 34% Testosterone Increase Convincing?

In a separate 2003 prostate-tumor mouse experiment, testosterone averaged 34.4% higher with black tea, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.50). That finding does not establish an increase. Read the mouse hormone study.

Did a Longer Black-Tea Study Find the Same Effect?

A 2020 experiment gave male Wistar rats 2% or 5% black-tea extract as their drinking fluid for 52 days. Testosterone remained statistically unchanged relative to water controls. Some reproductive-tissue measurements did change, including smaller seminiferous-tubule diameter and epithelial height. Read the longer rat study.

This longer exposure did not reproduce the testosterone rise seen in the short experiment. Neither study measured human hair growth.

Follow the hormone connection: Our black-tea and DHT review examines the enzyme and cell experiments behind the hair-loss discussion.