American River Nutrition’s supplement revives CoQ10 biosynthesis for natural testosterone boost

08 Jan 2024 --- The Applied Science and Performance Institute, US, has conducted a “first of its kind” test on American River Nutrition’s (ARN) GG-Gold geranylgeraniol supplement — derived from the annatto plant — to assess the product’s safety profiles and impact on hormone levels in healthy adult males and females. The findings indicate significant increases in total-, free- and bioavailable testosterone in a subgroup of males with low testosterone.

The test has been designed to evaluate the safety of a novel dietary ingredient in humans.

“The known way to increase testosterone is to use testosterone itself. Needless to say this is effective and comes with a cost. Its safety was debated in the New England Journal of Medicine as recently as 2023,” Dr. Barrie Tan, ARN founder and president, tells Nutrition Insight. “Direct testosterone repletement may risk plaque progression, cardiovascular events such as atherosclerosis, and prostate issues among others.” 

“We need natural ingredient solutions to fill this need gap and market gap safely. We have conducted research to substantiate that GG (geranylgeraniol) increases CoQ10 in plasma — without CoQ10 supplementation — another ARN first-to-show CoQ10 biosynthesis in the human body.”

Life-giving hormones
According to the company, research observes that one in four men over 30 have low testosterone levels — a condition affecting nearly 13 million men in the US. Low testosterone levels cause infertility, sexual dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease risk, fat accumulation, loss of muscle mass and loss of energy.

“Our work is ongoing on GG’s effect on vitamin K2 (MK4). It is in ARN’s DNA and lifeline to conduct R&D on benefits of natural ingredients such as testosterone increase,” says Tan. 

“GG returns metabolism to where it belongs — the human body to make its own testosterone. GG is in the mevalonate pathway — arguably the most trafficked ‘highway’ of essential metabolism well-known to biochemists worldwide.”

Maintaining testosterone levels helps preserve general health and well-being. According to ARN experts, testosterone replacement therapies are not always reimbursed by health insurance and can cause side effects such as peripheral edema, blood thickening and increased prostate volume. Natural alternatives can provide safe and effective treatment.

“There are supplements and vitamins that may enhance testosterone in the marketplace. Geranylgeraniol is different — it is a true bio hacker’s delight. GG is an endogenous nutrient — always there in our body from day 1 for essential biochemistry/metabolism and nutrition. This is how GG fills the gap,” Tan explains.

“GG is the ‘building block’ for CoQ10, MK4, skeletal muscle and testosterone — the biochemistry/metabolism piece of the human body. They are the constructed building blocks.” 

“These building blocks produce strong muscle with proper cardiovascular functions, strong bones sweeping calcium from soft tissues to bones, preventing muscle mass loss and maintaining consistent energy level/output — the nutrition piece of the human body,” he continues.

GG is a compound or nutrient synthesized endogenously in the human body via the mevalonate pathway — the same biochemical route that produces cholesterol, MK4, steroid hormones and ubiquinone (CoQ10). It is crucial to tissue systems and metabolic processes, such as ensuring healthy mitochondrial function and the generation of adenosine triphosphate.GG-Gold supplementation demonstrated a considerable improvement in the testosterone levels of test subjects.

GG occurs naturally in certain foods and is an essential building block in muscle and bone strength, hormone regulation and nutrient synthesis. Its production is inhibited by statins and bisphosphonates and declines as a person ages. GG can stave off physical decline and skeletal muscle fatigue.

GG was shown to regulate the steroidogenesis pathway in testis-derived cells, enhancing testosterone and synthesizing its precursor, progesterone.

Molecular brilliance
The study recruited 66 healthy participants between 39–49 years who were administered 150 mg of GG-Gold daily for four weeks and 300 mg twice a day for another four weeks. The findings, which demonstrated a significant increase in testosterone in the male participants, were published in Nutraceuticals.

“It was shown in Japanese non-human pre-clinical studies that GG increases testosterone, and ARN had previously shown GG safety, resulting in self-affirmed GRAS. However, this clinical study efficaciously shows GG taken by healthy men and women is safe and increases testosterone in men with lower levels of the hormone,” says Tan.

MK4 with a fully embedded GG molecule and GG were shown to stimulate testosterone production by increasing cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels via protein kinase A activity, which signals various biological processes to the body.

The total, free and bioavailable testosterone increased significantly by 7.5%, 15% and 14.8% for those men who took GG, while the levels decreased in the placebo group. Enhanced free and bioavailable testosterone is critical for indicating the availability of viable forms of the hormone. The researchers propose GG supplementation to improve testosterone levels in men.

“The significance of GG to raise testosterone in certain healthy men is made more remarkable in comparison to the drop within the placebo group,” says Tan.  

“GG’s ability to increase testosterone in men corroborates well with its support for CoQ10, MK4 and skeletal muscle. We look forward to sharing more on this ongoing research soon.”

Meanwhile, a US study revealed that ARN’s annatto tocotrienol supplements could keep bone loss at bay in postmenopausal women. The results demonstrated significantly higher tocotrienol levels and metabolites. 

By Inga de Jong