Pine Pollen Cortisol and Testosterone (What the Studies Found in Men)
Men who search "pine pollen cortisol" are usually describing the same week. Long hours, short sleep, a flat afternoon, and a sex drive that has gone quiet. You've probably read that cortisol and testosterone pull against each other, and that pine pollen is the plant men reach for when the second one feels low.
Cortisol and testosterone in men
Cortisol is the hormone your adrenal glands release under pressure. Testosterone is made mostly in the Leydig cells of the testes. Researchers have tested how the two interact since the 1970s.
In 1976 the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published a study of 72 healthy men split into six groups of 12. Men given oral cortisol over 24 hours (60 mg, then 30 mg every two hours) lost almost all of the normal night-time rise in testosterone. Daytime levels moved less. The night rise is the part that sets up a man's morning.
In 1983 Cumming and colleagues, in the same journal, raised cortisol in men two ways (with hydrocortisone, and with insulin-induced low blood sugar). Serum testosterone fell quickly both times. LH, the pituitary signal that tells the testes to make testosterone, did not change. The authors read that as cortisol acting on the testis directly.
Brownlee, Moore and Hackney (2005, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine) took blood from 45 men before and after 60 to 90 minutes of hard endurance exercise. After exercise, cortisol rose from about 229 to 596 nmol/L, and the higher a man's cortisol, the lower his total testosterone (r = −0.53). At rest, the two were not linked. Cortisol and testosterone track against each other when a man is under load, which is the exact state most men searching this are in.
Pine pollen cortisol and androgens, as chemists measured them
In 1971 the Croatian chemist Marija Šaden-Krehula and her colleagues reported testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) pollen, in the journal Experientia. Per 10 g of pollen they measured about 0.8 µg of testosterone, 1.1 µg of epitestosterone and 5.9 µg of androstenedione. Pine pollen was the first plant material in which these androgens were isolated.
The same group went back in 1979 with pollen of the black pine, Pinus nigra, and published the results in Phytochemistry under the title "Sex hormones and corticosteroids in pollen of Pinus nigra." Alongside testosterone (about 0.7 to 0.9 µg per 10 g), androstenedione and progesterone, they found a set of corticosteroids: cortisol (about 0.3 to 0.7 µg per 10 g), cortisone, corticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol and 11-deoxycorticosterone. So the pollen a pine tree sheds each spring carries both sides of the hormone pair this page is about, made by the tree itself.
How does pine pollen increase testosterone?
The clearest answer comes from two small pilot studies of a pine pollen tincture in men, both published in Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports. Each ran for eight weeks, with 1 ml of tincture under the tongue twice a day, five days on and two days off.
In the 2024 study, Wolkodoff followed 10 men aged 47 to 78. Average total testosterone went from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL. Scores on the qADAM questionnaire, which men fill in to rate low-testosterone symptoms, went from 23.9 to 31.7, a 32.6% rise (p = 0.0035).
The 2025 study followed 11 younger men, aged 25 to 50. Here the movement was in how much testosterone was free to act. SHBG, the protein that binds testosterone and holds it inactive, fell from 29.1 to 27.4 nmol/L. Calculated free testosterone rose from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL. The men's quality-of-life score went from 13.09 to 19.45 and their sexual function score from 15.27 to 20.09.
Those are the two routes the studies point to: a higher total in the older group, and less SHBG holding testosterone back in the younger group. There is more on both trials in our write-up of pine pollen and testosterone.
Pine pollen and cortisol in the pilot studies
The pilots asked the men about the things a stressed, flat week takes away. The nine qADAM items in the 2024 study cover sex drive, energy level, strength and endurance, enjoyment of life, happiness, erection strength, work performance, sports ability and how often a man falls asleep after dinner. All nine feed into that 23.9 to 31.7 rise. The 2025 questionnaire drew on qADAM and two sexual function scales.
Animal work has looked at fatigue more directly. Wu and colleagues (2010, Modern Food Science and Technology) gave mice flavonoids from Pinus massoniana pollen and ran them through a weighted swim test. The mice on the pollen extract swam longer before exhaustion than the control group, with lower blood lactic acid and more glycogen stored in the liver, and the longer times came with the higher doses.
What men say changes
Men who take pine pollen most often describe more drive. Some mean sex, with stronger morning erections in the first few weeks. Others mean drive in general: wanting to train, wanting to get the next thing done. These are the same areas the qADAM questions ask about.
Pine Pollen – Spagyric Pine Pollen Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen.
Add to bagA tincture fits a man's day
Both pilots used a tincture, and Mara's Pine Pollen is one. It is wild-harvested, cracked-cell pollen of Pinus radiata. The pollen grain has a tough wall, and cracking it opens the grain before extraction. The process is spagyric: 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.
Take 1 to 2 droppers a day. Hold it under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and swallow, or stir it into water, juice or a post-training shake. The taste is soft and lightly earthy, with a faint sweetness. A 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days at that rate, and it sits in dark Miron glass, which keeps light off the extract so the last dropper matches the first.
The men who stay with it make it a fixed point in the day. A dropper with the first glass of water in the morning, before the inbox opens. Another before the gym, or at the desk when the afternoon starts to sag. It takes 30 seconds and lives in a jacket pocket or a gym bag. For a broader look at the plant, its history in Chinese herbal texts since the Tang dynasty and how it is harvested, see our guide to pine pollen.
Pine Pollen considerations
Our recommendation: Contains alcohol. If you're pregnant, nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask
Does pine pollen contain cortisol?
Yes. Šaden-Krehula's group found cortisol in Pinus nigra pollen in 1979, at about 0.3 to 0.7 µg per 10 g, along with cortisone and three other corticosteroids.
What is the link between cortisol and testosterone?
In studies of men, raising cortisol lowered testosterone. Cumming and colleagues (1983) saw serum testosterone fall soon after cortisol rose, and a 1976 study found cortisol almost removed the night-time testosterone rise.
How long did the pine pollen studies run?
Both the 2024 and 2025 pilots ran for eight weeks, with 1 ml of tincture twice a day, five days a week.
What species is Mara's Pine Pollen?
Pinus radiata, wild-harvested and cracked-cell, made into a spagyric tincture.