Hi Mark,
Would you like to hear about a really strange reason for small testicles?
Here’s what happened to me. I started taking hydroxycitric acid for weight loss after hearing about it from Dr. Oz.
This is an extract made from the garcinia cambogia fruit which is usually called tamarind by most people. Right after I started using it I noticed that my testicles were shrinking like crazy.
After a week of this I’d had enough and started thinking about what I was doing differently and the only thing I could come up with was the hydroxycitric acid. So I did a google search and low and behold, I came across a site that explained that hydroxycitric acid causes testicular atrophy!!!!!
Please warn your readers about this Mark, because I still haven’t recovered and don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I have for the last several months.
Thanks,
LM.
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Hello LM,
Thank you very much for sharing your story, I really appreciate it. The Oz man comes out with so many supplement recommendations I’m having a hard time keeping up. I’m still getting emails about the green coffee bean he recommended 2 years ago even though that stuff has Placebo Effect written all over it.
In other words, don’t waste your money.
But this hydroxycitric acid is a special one, and it deserves a deeper look than you’re going to get out of a 3 minute segment from the Oz man. I followed your lead and hit the web after I got your email, but I went straight to pubmed to track down original the study.
And I’ll tell you right now….
If Dr. Oz had mentioned this study in his 90 second informercial, men like you who’d rather hang onto their testicles, would never have taken it. Here’s the title of the paper (emphasis mine):
High dose of Garcinia cambogia is effective in suppressing fat accumulation in developing male Zucker obese rats, but is Highly Toxic to the Testis.
I wonder if the Oz man would have still gone on national television to promote this stuff if he’d done his homework? I doubt it. And I guarantee you he never would have taken it himself. As you mentioned, this supplement is extracted from the garcinia cambogia fruit, commonly known as tamarind.
Unless you’re from India or some other Country were the fruit is popular, you probably haven’t eaten too much of it. I happen to be a big fan of Indian food, especially when it’s cooked in real ghee, so I eat this stuff occasionally.
I know that the rats used in the trail were exposed to high doses of the extract, but I like to err on the side of caution when it comes things that impact my testicles. So I’ll still eat my Indian food, but from here on out I’m going to pass on the tamarind chutney just to play it safe because I’m not a huge fan anyway.
And I’ll definitely never use hydroxycitric acid in an attempt to lose some weight. Anyway, thanks again for taking the time share this information and good luck with your recovery.
References:
High dose of Garcinia cambogia is effective in suppressing fat accumulation in developing male Zucker obese rats, but highly toxic to the testis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hydroxycitric+acid+testicular+atrophy