Pine Pollen Estrogen and Men (Free Testosterone Up, SHBG Down)

Type "pine pollen estrogen" into Google and the suggestions that come back are all from men with the same worry: does pine pollen increase estrogen, does it lower it, will it push the wrong hormone up. Fair question. Pine pollen is sold to men for the testosterone side of the picture, and nobody wants to take something that tips the balance the other way. The two pilot studies run in men point in the direction you want. Across 8 weeks, free testosterone rose from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL and SHBG fell from 29.1 to 27.4 nmol/L.

Does pine pollen increase estrogen?

Pine pollen is known for androgens, the testosterone family of hormones, and the research in men was designed around exactly that. Both human studies measured testosterone. The second one also measured free testosterone and SHBG, the protein that holds sex hormones in the blood. On the androgen side, the numbers went up.

The men in those studies also filled in symptom questionnaires about sex drive, erections, energy and mood. Their scores climbed in both trials. Those are the things a man pictures going wrong when he worries about estrogen running high, and in these groups they moved the other way.

Testosterone was found in pine pollen first

In 1971 M. Šaden-Krehula and colleagues analysed the pollen of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and published the result in the journal Experientia. They isolated testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione. It was the first time testosterone had been found in a plant. Androstenedione came out highest, at 5.9 micrograms per 10 grams of pollen.

All three are androgens. That 1971 paper is the reason men started buying pine pollen in the first place, and it set the frame that has stuck to it for more than fifty years. For the plant itself, how pine pollen forms in the male cones and how it has been eaten in China and Korea for centuries, read our complete guide to pine pollen.

Pine pollen estrogen and SHBG, in numbers

Both pilots were run by the same team, Neil Wolkodoff, Gerald Haase, Robert Mordkin and Stacy Beal, and both appeared in the Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports. The men took a pine pollen tincture under the tongue, 1 ml a day split between morning and evening, five days on and two days off, for 8 weeks.

2024, older men

Ten men aged 47 to 78 finished the trial, average age 63. Their average total testosterone went from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL. Nine of the ten men went up. The biggest single change was a man who started at 282 ng/dL and finished at 703. Scores on the qADAM, a questionnaire about drive, erections, energy and mood, rose from 23.9 to 31.7. The authors reported no adverse effects in any participant.

2025, younger men

Eleven men aged 25 to 50 finished the second trial, average age about 40. This time the lab panel added free testosterone and SHBG.

• Free testosterone: 10.48 ng/dL at the start, 11.72 ng/dL at 8 weeks, about a 12% rise.
• SHBG: 29.1 nmol/L at the start, 27.4 nmol/L at 8 weeks, about a 6% drop.
• Symptom score (built from the qADAM and two sexual function questionnaires): 28.36 to 39.55.

SHBG is the number to understand on an estrogen question. According to MedlinePlus, the US National Library of Medicine's health site, SHBG is made mostly in the liver and binds both testosterone and estrogen. A hormone bound to SHBG can't act on your tissues. Only the free share can. In the 2025 men, SHBG went down and free testosterone went up, so more of their testosterone was the usable kind.

What men say happens

Outside the lab, men who take pine pollen report two things more than anything else. Stronger morning wood is the first. More drive is the second, both in bed and in getting up and getting on with the day.

They line up with what the questionnaires in the two pilots picked up, since those asked about erections and sex drive directly. If you want the wider picture of how men use it, from timing to training days, our post on pine pollen for men covers it.

Mara's Pine Pollen

Mara's Pine Pollen is a spagyric tincture of wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen. Pine pollen grains have a tough outer wall, and cracked cell means that wall has been broken 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.

Pine Pollen – Spagyric Pine Pollen Tincture

50 ml dropper bottle. Wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen.

Add to bag

It's a 50 ml bottle with a dropper, the same format the pilot studies used. Take 1 to 2 droppers a day. Hold it under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and swallow, or stir it into water, tea, juice or a smoothie. A bottle lasts 30 to 50 days. The taste is soft and lightly earthy, with a faint sweetness.

The glass is dark Miron glass. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction for any extract, but Miron is the gold standard, and it keeps light off the tincture for the life of the bottle. Keep it next to the kettle and take a dropper first thing, before the day gets going.

Why a tincture and not powder

Raw pollen powder is fine and dusty, it sticks to everything, and the grain wall is hard to get past. A tincture has already done the extracting. It takes a few seconds under the tongue, it travels in a jacket pocket or a gym bag, and it is the form both human pilots were run with.

Does pine pollen lower estrogen?

Men take pine pollen for the androgen side. The measured changes in men were free testosterone up and SHBG down, with total testosterone up in the older group. If your goal is a better testosterone picture, those are the numbers that count.

Questions men ask about pine pollen and estrogen

Which hormones were found in pine pollen?

The hormones isolated from pine pollen in 1971 were testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione, all androgens, from Scots pine pollen. It was the first time testosterone had been found in a plant.

What happened to SHBG in the pine pollen study?

In the 2025 pilot, 11 men aged 25 to 50 saw SHBG fall from 29.1 to 27.4 nmol/L over 8 weeks while free testosterone rose from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL.

How long did the men in the studies take it?

Eight weeks, 1 ml a day under the tongue, split between morning and evening, five days on and two days off.

Which pine does Mara's Pine Pollen come from?

Wild-harvested Pinus radiata. The pollen is cracked cell and made into a spagyric tincture, bottled in dark Miron glass.