How Tim Ferriss Tripled His Testosterone Naturally: The 4-Hour Body Testosterone Protocol

In his best-selling book, The Four-Hour Body, Tim claims he was able to triple his total testosterone from 244.8 to 653.3 ng/dL (it later jumped to 835 with the addition of Brazil nuts). In addition to that, Ferriss was able to more than double his free testosterone and cut his estradiol (estrogen) in half.

Tim now follows two protocols that he believes are the most effective for increasing his testosterone levels, based on multiple and repeated blood test results.

The first of these protocols is for long-term maintenance and overall well-being. The second protocol is designed for a fun, short-term “nitro” boost of sex drive and testosterone. Now, let’s take a deeper look at both protocols.

Tim Ferriss’ Testosterone Protocols

Protocol #1: Long-Term and Sustained

• Blue Ice Butter Oil / Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend – 2 capsules upon waking and before bed
• Vitamin D3 (NOW Liquid Vitamin D3) – 3,000-5,000 IU upon waking and before bed (6,000-10,000 IU daily) until you reach 55 ng/mL blood levels. You can test your vitamin D levels at home.
• Short ice baths and/or cold showers – 10 minutes each, upon waking and right before bed
• Brazil nuts – 3 nuts upon waking, 3 nuts before bed. I use this brand of Brazil nuts.

Protocol #2: Short-Term and Fun “Nitro Boost”

20-24 Hours Prior to Sex

Ferriss recommends consuming at least 800 milligrams of cholesterol with three hours of going to sleep the night before you plan to have incredible sex. You can get 800 milligrams of cholesterol from at least four whole eggs. What’s the point of doing this? Easy, testosterone is derived from cholesterol, which is mainly produced during sleep between midnight and 4-6 in the morning.

Four Hours Prior to Sex

• 4 Brazil nuts
• 20 raw almonds (You can get these at your local grocery store or pick them up in bulk online)
• 2 capsules of Blue Ice Butter Oil / Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend

RELATED READING: Tim Ferriss’ Daily Supplement Stack

The Importance of Vitamin D

As you can see from Protocol #1, vitamin D plays a crucial role in your testosterone levels. If you don’t spend enough time outside soaking up the sun, you could very likely be deficient in vitamin D. According to this study, about 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency. In contrast, 50% of the population has vitamin D insufficiency.

Tim recommends not guessing your vitamin D levels, as overdosing will produce side effects. Ferriss says an at-home saliva test will get the job done. We recommend Everlywell’s saliva mail kit, which you can pick up on Amazon, which is a cheaper alternative to doing blood tests (which are more expensive but more reliable).

After establishing your vitamin D baseline, you can use things such as sunlight, UB-B lamps, and vitamin D supplementation such as NOW Liquid Vitamin D3 to increase levels. After eight weeks, you can perform an “after” test to track the changes in your vitamin D levels.

RELATED READING: Andrew Huberman’s Supplement List: The Complete Guide

Does Tim Ferriss’ Testosterone Protocol Work?

You may be wondering – does any of this actually work? Well, if you know anything about Tim, you know he documents everything. Below, you will find a before-and-after of his hormones from his first experiment (protocol 1, excluding Brazil nuts) pulled from The 4-Hour Body:

Tim Ferriss’ Testosterone Before and After

Total testosterone: 244.8 to 653.3 (normal range is 170-780. Ferriss later jumped his total to 835 with the addition of Brazil nuts)
Free testosterone: 56 to 118 (normal: 47-244)
Percentage free testosterone: 2.3% to 1.8%
Bioavailable testosterone: 150 to 294 (normal: 128-430)
Albumin: 5 to 4.6 (normal 3.5-4.8)
DHEA-S: 170.5 to 201.8
FSH: 6 to 8.5 (normal: 1.27-19.26)
Estradiol: 39 to <20 (normal in males: <47)

As you can see, Tim’s testosterone levels changed drastically for the better. From tripling his total testosterone while lowering his estrogen levels at the same time, his results can’t be denied. You can actually test your testosterone levels using this at-home test by ZRT.

RELATED READING: How Andrew Huberman’s Testosterone Supplements Tripled My Levels Naturally

Tim Ferriss’ Recommended Tools and Tricks for Testosterone

Blue Ice Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend – This is the cod/butter combination that Ferriss recommends in The 4-Hour Body. According to Ferriss, the Blue Ice brand is vulnerable to selling out. If it’s sold out, Ferriss recommends substituting the two products below.

Carlson Super 1000mg Cod Liver Oil – This is Tim’s recommended cod liver oil supplement if the above blend is sold out. I have also seen Joe Rogan rave about Carlson brand supplements before. Consume this supplement at the same time as the butter below.

Kerrygold Irish Butter – Take this butter with the above cod liver oil supplement to simulate the butter oil/fermented cod liver oil blend. To find a store that carries this butter near you, check out their website. You can also pick it up on Amazon.

UV-B/F Lamps – If you are someone who can’t tolerate direct sunlight or oral vitamin D supplements, you can actually get your vitamin D levels up by using a UV-B fluorescent lamp. Tim recommends the Sperti UV-B lamp.

NOW Liquid Vitamin D3 – This is the vitamin D3 supplement Ferriss recommends in The 4-Hour Body.

RELATED: Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s Vitamin D Protocol

Additional Resources

• 2011 NCBI Study “Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men”
• Buy The 4-Hour Body
• 13 Hacks Tim Ferriss Uses To Optimize Sleep
• Tim’s blog
• Complete Guide To The Slow Carb Diet