Testofen (Fenugreek)
Gencor, standardized fenugreek seed extract
Evidence grade 2 of 5, Thin. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.
The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.
- FDA
- Dietary ingredient (not FDA-evaluated for efficacy)
Reference only. Not medical advice.
What can go wrong
Evidence is mixed and frequently supplier-funded. Fenugreek can interact with anticoagulants and affect blood sugar. The 'clinically proven' framing was challenged in the Robbins/Ryan v. Gencor litigation.
This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about testofen (fenugreek) in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.
Testofen is a Gencor-branded fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seed extract standardized for furostanolic saponins ('Fenuside'), and the single ingredient behind the testosterone claims of Nugenix, Test X180, Ageless Male, and many others. Gencor-funded trials report modest free-testosterone and libido effects (often at 600 mg/day), but the ingredient was the center of the ~$7M Robbins v. Gencor false-advertising settlement, and independent trials in trained men found no testosterone change.
The most-litigated extract in the category, the engine behind Nugenix and Test X180 claims.
What people take it for
These are the reasons people give for taking it. They are not effects it has been shown to have.
What people get wrong
Often saidTestofen is 'clinically proven' to raise free testosterone by 46%
ActuallyThat percentage and the 'clinically proven' framing were central to the false-advertising litigation; independent trials in trained men found no testosterone change, and one cited study was alleged to be unpublished.
Who profits, and who pushes back
Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.
At a glance
- Supplier
- Gencor
- Standardization
- Furostanolic saponins (Fenuside)
- Typical dose
- 600 mg/day
- Litigation
- Robbins v. Gencor (~$7M settlement, 2018)
What this entry does not yet cover
What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about Testofen (Fenugreek). A short entry is not a safe entry.
- Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
- Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
- Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
- Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
- What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
- How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
- Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
- Where we land. We have not taken a position on this yet.
Sources
The studies below are named and described, but not linked. You cannot open them from here and check our reading against them, which means this page is our summary of the literature rather than a document you can verify. Weigh it accordingly until the links exist.
The studies that matter
Testofen RCT (Gencor-funded)2016
600 mg/day, 12 weeks: improved aging-male symptom scores and testosterone in men 43-70
Independent fenugreek trial,
No significant testosterone change in resistance-trained men