Pine pollen and nettle root are one of the most searched pairings in men's daily routines. Search any men's health forum and the same two names sit side by side: pollen from the male cones of a pine tree, and the root of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Men pair them for a specific reason, a protein in your blood called SHBG, and the research on each plant circles back to it. Pine pollen is the base of the stack. Nettle root rides along.
Why men pair pine pollen and nettle root
Testosterone travels through your blood in two states. Most of it is bound to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). A smaller share circulates free. Men who read their blood work tend to watch both numbers, total and free, and SHBG sits between them.
The two plants were studied from different directions. Pine pollen has human pilot studies in men that measured total testosterone, free testosterone and SHBG. Stinging nettle root has lab work from the 1990s that looked at how compounds in the root interact with SHBG itself. Put those side by side and you can see why men stack them. Pine pollen is the base, the one with results measured in men. Nettle root is the second bottle men add because its research points at the same protein.
What the pine pollen studies found in men
The story starts in 1971. Šaden-Krehula and colleagues analysed Scots pine pollen and isolated testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione from it. It was the first time those hormones had been found in a plant.
Decades later, two small pilot studies tested pine pollen in men directly:
- Wolkodoff and colleagues, 2024: 10 men aged 47 to 78 took pine pollen for 8 weeks. Average total testosterone rose from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL. Their scores on the qADAM, a questionnaire men fill in about how they feel, went from 23.9 to 31.7.
- A 2025 pilot in 11 men: free testosterone rose from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL, and SHBG fell.
That second result is the link to nettle root. The pollen study saw SHBG fall, and the nettle root research is built around the same protein.
Outside the lab, men who take pine pollen most often report two things: stronger morning wood and more drive through the day. Pine pollen also has a long record as food. It has been written into Chinese herbal texts as song hua fen (松花粉) since the Tang dynasty and is listed in the 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In Korea it goes into songhwa dasik tea cakes and songhwa milsu, a drink of pollen and honey.
Total testosterone rose from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL in 8 weeks.
Stinging nettle root is the part men pick
Nettle is sold as leaf and as root, and they come from different parts of the plant with different chemistry. The European Medicines Agency even assesses nettle root under its own name, Urticae radix, separate from the leaf. The SHBG research men cite was done on the root.
Two papers in the journal Planta Medica are the ones men keep pointing to:
- Hryb, Khan, Romas and Rosner, 1995: a water extract of stinging nettle root blocked SHBG from binding to its receptor on human prostate membranes in the lab. The effect started at about 0.6 mg/ml and binding was fully blocked at 10 mg/ml.
- Schöttner, Gansser and Spiteller, 1997: the team isolated six lignans from nettle root. All but one, (−)-pinoresinol, bound to human SHBG in their test. One lignan, 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran, bound with what the authors called outstandingly high affinity.
The idea men take from this is simple enough. If root compounds occupy SHBG, less of it is left to hold testosterone. Bodybuilders picked up on 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran for exactly that reason. These were test tube findings on root compounds, which is why men who stack the two keep nettle root as the add-on and pine pollen as the core.
Start the stack with pine pollen
If you only buy one of the two, buy the pine pollen. It is the half of the pair with measured results in men.
Mara's Pine Pollen is a spagyric tincture made from wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen. Each pollen grain has a tough outer wall with two small air sacs, and cracking that wall opens the grain up before extraction. Spagyric means the pollen is extracted, then the minerals left behind are returned to the liquid, so the whole plant ends up in the bottle. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract.
A few practical reasons men pick the tincture over a bag of powder:
- A dropper measures the same amount every morning. No scoops, no shaker bottle, no powder on the bench.
- The 50 ml bottle is dark Miron glass, which keeps light off the extract. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction. Miron is the gold standard, and it is what Mara uses.
- It fits in a gym bag or a desk drawer and lasts 30 to 50 days at 1 to 2 droppers a day.
The taste is soft and lightly earthy, with a faint sweetness. You can take it straight.
Pine Pollen – Spagyric Pine Pollen Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen.
Add to bagHow to take nettle root and pine pollen together
Most men keep this to one moment in the morning, before coffee or right after training:
- Take 1 to 2 droppers of Pine Pollen and hold it under your tongue for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow.
- If you have added nettle root, take it alongside, at the same time.
- Repeat daily. The 2024 pilot ran for 8 weeks, so give the routine at least that long before you judge it.
If you would rather not take it straight, stir the Pine Pollen into water, juice or a smoothie. Keeping both at the same time of day makes the habit stick, and the morning is the slot that is easiest to keep.
Male pine cones release their pollen each spring, and the full story of how it is gathered and used is in our complete guide to pine pollen. Men who want the testosterone side in more detail can read pine pollen for men.
Pine Pollen considerations
The product page recommendation: "Contains alcohol. If you're pregnant, nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it."
Questions men ask about this stack
Can you take pine pollen and nettle root together?
Yes. Men who stack them take 1 to 2 droppers of Pine Pollen under the tongue each morning and take their nettle root alongside it at the same time.
Should I use nettle root or nettle leaf with pine pollen?
Root. The SHBG studies from 1995 and 1997 were done on extracts and lignans from stinging nettle root, so that is the part men pair with pine pollen.
Which one should I buy first?
Pine pollen. It is the half of the stack with pilot studies in men, including total testosterone going from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL over 8 weeks in the 2024 study.
What species is Mara's pine pollen?
Wild-harvested Pinus radiata. The pollen is cracked-cell and made into a spagyric tincture in a 50 ml dark Miron glass bottle.