Hydrochloric Acid: It Does a Body Good

How important is hydrochloric acid to general well-being?  Turns out very important. Dr. Rob D'Aquila explains that "A need for hydrochloric acid supplementation is definitely one of the most common things I see in patients. Especially those patients who complain of digestive difficulties like bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, yeast overgrowth (even vaginal), and even heartburn. Additionally, patients who complain that they “lost the taste” for meat tend to need HCl as well. Lastly, it should be investigated in everyone with mineral deficiency symptoms, especially osteoporosis."

Nutritionist and Certified Trainer, Brad Sly, observes, "The digestive system is really the corner stone of our wellbeing, as it is involved in so many processes. If our digestive system is in order, we feel great, we can perform at the level we want, and we can push ourselves to make bigger and better gains in the gym. If our gut health is poor, we can end up with impaired immune and nervous systems, and it can also wreak havoc with our hormonal function throughout the body."

He made an interesting point about coffee, which I had suspected, and that is that the caffeine renders the gut more permeable and can . . . can lead to a leaky gut.  Not good.  Not good at all.

WHAT ROLE ZINC?

Both Sly and D'Aquila note the importance of zinc in the repair, maintenance, and formation of HCL.

D'Aquila explains that zinc plays an important role in the formation of hydrochloric acid, ". . . it takes more energy to make HCl in the body than any other chemical. Additionally, the mineral zinc is absolutely necessary to make it. Hydrochloric acid production is formed by the interaction of carbon dioxide and water, which is mediated by an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase, which is zinc-dependent. As a result, I always supplement zinc when I find a patient needs HCl, and then eventually wean them off the HCl. By the way, a generally accepted reliable indicator of the need for more zinc is white spots on the finger nails. I can’t find conclusive scientific evidence for this, however, I’ve had personal experience with it and also with my patients."

He finishes by saying that the best way to fix HCI deficiency is that ". . . 90% of the time, the patient must alter their diet. Very often, HCl supplementation is one of the main solutions." 

HOW TO REPAIR THE GUT?

Sly recommends the following. 

"In this first step we remove the offending foods and toxins from your diet that could be acting as stressors on your system. This means caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, bad fats, and any other foods you think may be causing issues, like gluten and dairy. All of these all irritate the gut in some form and create an inflammatory response."

Though not surprised I was disappointed to read this.  Not for any perceived or tested inaccuracy but for the inclusion of dairy as a stressor. Yes, I've heard how dairy is inflammatory, but I'd always thought that at least in its purer forms that it was actually beneficial for your immune system.  Must be a kind of inflammatory but perhaps in certain amounts or for certain conditions it is beneficial.

 

He continues, "The next step is to begin to repair the gut and heal the damaged intestinal lining. You do this by consuming an unprocessed diet and giving your body time to rest by providing it with substances that are known to heal the gut, like L-glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, antioxidants (in the form of vitamins A, C, and E), quercitin, aloe vera, and turmeric."

FOOD REMEDIES FOR THE GUT

Marilee Nelson explains that eating ". . . unpasteurized unheated salt-free sauerkraut . . . helps to raise stomach acid "if" it is too low, and it lowers stomach acid "if" it is too high. Eating 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sauerkraut with meals is very helpful to the digestive system. I recommend making your own or buying Rejuvenative Foods.

Here is a second article on the importance of this acid and how to rebuild it.

It's hard to sift through the amazing assortment of foods on the market and figure out which ones serve our health and which ones compromise it.  

We've all heard how important fruits and vegetables are for our health.  But is this true or is the grower's public relations that we're being fed?  Man cannot live on spinach alone.  And we're always told that the most nutrient dense foods are green leafy vegetables. Yum.  If you love salads, yum.  If you're Popeye, yum. But what if you're trying to restore, rebuild, and remineralize?  That was a mouthful.  I ask this question to put a mild damper on the categorical truth that all vegetables are good for you.  Maybe in small portions perhaps.  But what about vegetarians?  I'll get to them later. But are all vegetables good for us?  

Carrots help our eyesight, right?  But what about their sugars? 

Spinach builds strong muscles, right?  But what about its oxalates?

Broccoli fights cancer, no?   

So, yeah, vegetables are good for us.  But they're also bad for us.  Amy Kubal explains how:

Let’s think about this logically. Animals have ways to make sure they don’t become some other animal’s dinner (including a human being’s). They can run away, or they can stay and fight with claws, horns, or teeth. If they win, great. If not, fire up the BBQ! Plants aren’t so lucky. Since they can’t defend themselves physically, they’ve evolved multiple insidious ways of warding off predators biochemically. Plants produce a variety of harmful substances collectively known as antinutrients. (Not harmful to the plants, but harmful to the poor saps who eat them.) They’re exactly what they sound like: they work against you absorbing nutrients from those foods.

Oy, vey!  Wish people would make up their minds.  Are they good or are they bad?  Well, both.  Vegetables do contain enzymes that help us digest other foods we eat like meat. They contain Vitamin C which allows our bodies to make the ever important gelatinous protein collagen to help repair our muscles and joints.  

So why are they bad for us?  Oxalic and Phytic Acids.  Some acids are good for us, while others not so much.  Essential fatty acids are good for us, even essential.  Citric acid helps prevent scurvy and protects our gums.  So not all acids are bad.  But Phytic Acid and Oxalic Acid are not recommended. Why?  Because they can block the absorption of important minerals.  Minerals don't always get the press that vitamins and oils and herbs do but they're every bit as important if not more important since we tend to use them up. Recently I found Bill Sardi's article on how Zinc, which is a vital mineral for men, can actually rebuild the Thymus gland back to its original size.  Talk about your miracles.  In the medical journals Zinc gets better represented as a remedy, but in your popular press and commercial ads, it's not zinc that gets air time.  It's usually calcium.  And Calcium isn't even the most important mineral, yet the manufacturers of it have scared people into believing that if they don't get enough their bones will break.  One mineral by itself is not the answer, though that report on zinc is impressive.  Even Linus Pauling didn't realize the importance of zinc.  Not all of his treatments with Vitamin C succeeded.  It wasn't until Abraham Hoffer in Canada who was mixing Vitamin C with zinc that the nutritionists community took notice.  Sort of.  

So Oxalic and Phytic acids you should avoid.  Actually, the reports on Pytic acid are mixed because so many healthy foods contain some levels of phytic acid. Realfoodsforlife writes

Foods that contain significant amounts of oxalic acid are ( in order from highest to lowest): buckwheat, star fruit, black pepper, parsley, poppy seed, rhubarb stalks, amaranth, spinach, chard, beets, cocoa, chocolate, most nuts, most berries, and beans. If you had to really avoid oxalic acid that would be difficult.

Okay, so it's the chelating function of phytic acid that prevents absorption of zinc, magnesium, and calcium, which is not good.  But this chelation is beneficial, according to Bill Sardi, when it chelates excess iron from your body.  And this is especially beneficial for men, since women have a built-in biology that eliminates blood monthly.  

Phytic acid—also called inositol hexaphosphate, or IP6—is comprised of six phosphorus molecules and one molecule of inositol. It has been mistakenly described for decades as an "anti-nutrient" because it impairs mineral absorption. However, in the 1980s food biochemist Ernst Graf, Ph.D., began to tout phytic acid for its beneficial antioxidant properties achieved through mineral chelation. [32]

Phytic acid in foods or bran should be distinguished from supplemental phytic acid, which is derived from rice bran extract. In foods, phytic acid binds to iron and other minerals in the digestive tract and may interfere with mineral absorption. As a purified extract of rice bran, taken between meals so it will not bind to minerals in the digestive tract, phytic acid is readily absorbed into the bloodstream, where it acts as a potent mineral chelator. [33] Phytic acid binds to any free iron or other minerals (even heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium) in the blood, which are then eliminated through the kidneys. Phytic acid removes only excess or unbound minerals, not mineral ions already attached to proteins.

So maybe nuts and chocolate and berries and beans are still worth eating.  I do recall my dad warning me as a kid not to eat raw rhubarb.  It was because of the phytic and oxalic acids but he couldn't articulate that reason but that's what it was. Not because it's particularly poisonous--I mean people made rhubarb pie (delicious) for Godssakes--but because he knew of the wisdom of cooking certain vegetables.  Here are the facts on rhubarb:  

From an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for Oxalic acid, LD50 (LD50 is the Median Lethal Dose, which is the dose of a drug or chemical predicted to produce a lethal effect in 50 percent of the subjects to whom the dose is given) in rats is 375 mg/kg. So for a person about 145 pounds (65.7 kg) that’s about 25 grams of pure oxalic acid required to cause death. Rhubarb leaves are probably around 0.5% oxalic acid, so that you would need to eat quite a large serving of leaves, like 5 kg (11 lbs), to get that 24 grams of oxalic acid. Note that it will only require a fraction of that to cause sickness.  – The Rhubarb Compendium

If those foods listed don't fit neatly into the Mediterranean Diet that we're all supposed to worship, then I don't know what does.  Not that these foods if eaten are going to kill us, right?  Maybe not but there still are problems with oxalic acid.

Oxalic acid poisoning symptoms include weakness, burning in the mouth, death from cardiovascular collapse, on the respiratory system, throat – burning in the throat, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, and coma.

In addition, there is this.  Realfoodforlife again:

Oxalic acid binds with some nutrients, making them inaccessible to the body. To eat large amounts of high oxalic foods over a period of weeks to months  may result in nutritional deficiencies, most notably of calcium.

This is the real concern, because the oxalic acid, along with phytic acid, blocks mineral absorption, like calcium, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus which is essential for teeth.  Is this the reason why so many Americans are mineral deficient, particularly in magnesium and zinc?  Probably not.  The NCBI states that vegetable sources are minimal in the Amerian diet and the main way that Americans anyway get oxalates is through coffee and tea.  That's what I feared.  I love my joe.

The main sources of oxalate in diets were regular tea and coffee (80-85%). Only 15-20% of oxalate was derived from other plant foods. Patients did not adhere to high fluid diet and, what is more, as common beverage they chose rich-oxalate black tea. Patients' daily intake of calcium was low and didn't exceed 520 mg. Vitamin C consumption was higher than Polish Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) and vitamin B6 lower than DRI.

What does it all mean?  It means you're going to have to forego coffee and tea.  It means you're going to have to find something else hot to drink, like hot lemon water.  

Imagine eating a raw vegetable diet.  All that oxalic acid is not doing your teeth any favors.  But there is a way around this and still get the nutrients locked inside vegetables.  Cook your vegetables.

Eating oxalic acid foods together with calcium-containing foods such as yogurt, milk and other dairy products may reduce the risk of kidney stone formation, advises the University of Maryland Medical Center. In addition, a study published in 2005 in the “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry” reported that several cooking methods help lower the oxalic acid content of vegetables. The researchers tested nine raw and cooked vegetables and found that boiling and steaming significantly reduce oxalic acid in vegetables with a high content of the compound, such as spinach.

Now it's time to turn the tables.  Are all oxalic acids bad, or do they provide any or some kind of health benefit?  Let's read Realfoodforlife:

It has been assumed that black tea due to its high oxalate content increases kidney stone formation but recent research has shown it to have a preventive effect.

Victoria Boutenko of the Raw Food Family cites research on how high oxalic acid foods actually reduce the formation of kidney stones.  The true cause of kidney stones is not oxalic acid but actually animal protein.

Oxalic acid linked to the cure or prevention of cancer:When cancer is diagnosed there is always a low level of oxalic acid in the blood. It is important to have the enough oxalic acid in our blood because this eliminates all abnormal cells without harmful side effects.

Every alternative cancer cure that is successful is filled with foods, herbs, grasses, and teas that are full of high amounts of oxalic acid.

American Cancer Society conducted tests over 50 years ago using oxalic acid in the treatment of cancer and the results in papers and evidence were positive.

“When oxalic acid is in our blood; in foods & beverages we eat and drink, and testimonials confirm oxalic acid kills cancer cells, virus, bacteria, and decalcifies the material in plaque in arteries; and is in the blood of all warm blooded mammals”. From booklet.“ Questions and Answers About E- M- F, Electric and Magnetic Fields Associated with the Use of Electric Power.

Radiation will decompose oxalic acid in the blood. This usually weakens the immune system so the body is unable to fight off viral or bacterial disease.  Is this why many cancer patients die from cancer related to viral pneumonia.

So, where does that leave us?  Cook your vegetables. Cooking them lowers the amount of oxalic acid while still getting enough for prevention of bad things.  Nothing is simple.  Biology is not simple.  Knowledge of biology is certainly not simple.  Here is what I mean.  How many times have I read that Vitamin C is vital for health?  I've posted articles and videos to that fact.  Think of Linus Pauling Abraham Hoffer and their curing of cancer patients using high dose Vitamin C.  Maybe Vitamin C should only be taken in large amounts over short periods where you are fighting something serious.  Anyway, give this a read from Dr. Andrew Saul:

Ascorbate (the active ion in vitamin C) does increase the body's production of oxalate. Yet, in practice, vitamin C does not increase oxalate stone formation.  Drs. Emanuel Cheraskin, Marshall Ringsdorf, Jr. and Emily Sisley explain in The Vitamin C Connection (1983) that acidic urine or slightly acidic urine reduces the UNION of calcium and oxalate, reducing the possibility of stones. "Vitamin C in the urine tends to bind calcium and decrease its free form. This means less chance of calcium's separating out as calcium oxalate (stones)." (page 213) Also, the diuretic effect of vitamin C reduces the static conditions necessary for stone formation in general. Fast moving rivers deposit little silt.  

It appears that the biggest risk from oxalates are kidney stones.  

And I am sure they serve their purpose, whatever that is. But what is that purpose?  I've read claims that green

One of the features of nutritional articles on the web is that they're laid out in the positive.  In other words, they're often promoting Vitamin C for skin and hair and eggs to reduce stroke.  Try this, get plenty of that, make sure you're taking enough of magnesium. Which is all very helpful if we're living in a deficient world. And some of us may be doing just that.  But deficiencies are a real thing and their cause is multiple.  Yes, big-agra with its monoculture crops can depleted the nutrition in food.  I don't know for sure, but that's what I've read and heard.  Also, people just don't know what to eat.  We often eat what is put in front of us regardless of what it is or ignorant to what is inside it.  But there is another factor that causes deficiencies.  And that's the interaction of foods.  

O, Complication!

Maybe it's not as complicated as you think.  See there are chemicals in plants that help plants survive.  Just as there are thorns on a rose bush and needles on cactus, these are all features that help the plant survive even after it gets eaten.  I believe that there are desert animals whose digestion has adjusted to eating cactus and are not harmed by the spiny vegetation.    

Wound Healing with Food Remedies and Beyond

When it comes to surface or external wound healing, Vitamin E may be your best bet.  As a topical I myself have witnessed surprising and remarkable acceleration of healing a skin wound with Vitamin E.  So for surface stuff or cosmetic wounds, absolutely, grab a Vitamin E capsule, pierce it with a lance, and ooze out the oil onto the wound and watch the magic happen over the next few days.  I've also seen remarkable recovery of a viral skin wound on an 89 year old woman who used a Barry Sears' Zone Diet product called cellular serum.  The key ingredient in that is Hydrophobic GLA.  So in my immediate experience I have seen both of these products accomplish impressive results. 

But what about internal injuries, the kind we hear about from sports or accidents?  Well, we either rely on doctor prescribed medicine or food remedies.  And perhaps the most important consideration when it comes to repairing internal tissue is time, er, ah, timing.  You cannot wait.  But nor should you or do you rush into things.  Remember, this is a primarily a blog on food remedies.  So the non-professional recommendation here is to begin internal wound healing with the right foods.  If you wait and hem and haw, what you're doing is transferring the healing of your body over completely to your body to heal itself.  And certainly it will. Your body is remarkable in that it thrives on healing.  But will the body's own healing mechanism restore full function to a specific muscle, joint, or organ?  Ah, there in lies the rub.  So when treating an internal wound, you need to get on it as soon possible.  By which I mean you start on the nutritional regimen immediately.

Abbey Housefield asks:

   . . . is there anything you can do nutritionally during this “waiting period” to help decrease healing time and get back on the run?

 YES! Your body is built to heal from the inside out and nutrition plays a dynamic role in the healing of injuries. If you provide the right foods and nutrients to your body during the time of healing the duration of an injury can be shortened.  

 Okay, so we know that the "right foods" play a role in accelerating wound healing.  But what are those right foods?

George Mateljan writes:

Virtually all vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and macronutrients like protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids are going to help with the healing process.

That statement is general enough that I cannot disagree with it.

A low quality diet that has few whole, natural foods is going to work against healing, and a nutrient-dense diet filled with whole, natural foods is going to be supportive.  

Okay, this I can get on board with as well.  Food provides comprehensive options for getting all of the nutrients you need for wound healing.

Some nutrients have taken center stage in the animal research on healing, and these nutrients include vitamin C, flavonoids, vitamin A, protein, and zinc. Rich sources of vitamin C and flavonoids include fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, and berries. 

So far so good.

When it comes to vitamin A, some of these same foods will also be very helpful since they will provide you with rich amounts of beta-carotene, a "pro-vitamin A" nutrient that can be partially converted into fully active vitamin A. Other foods that can provide you with preformed, fully active vitamin A include dairy products and eggs, and calf's liver, which will also provide you with the protein important for healing. Zinc is especially concentrated in red meats as well as nuts and seeds. 

Did you read that?  ". . . dairy products and eggs, and calf's liver . . ." are those "right foods."  Those along with grassfed butter, chicken liver, cod liver oil, cold water fish.  These are the right foods.  Animal sources are the healing foods.  I would not rely exclusively on a vegetarian diet to heal internal wounds.  You need animal fats.  Mateljan's  subordinating position of the meat source of Vitamin A, Retinol A, to the vegetable source, beta carotene, was disheartening.  Yes, you can get water soluble Vitamin A, or beta carotene, from the reliable vegetables sources like carrots, bell peppers, and others.  But Retinol A from cheese, eggs, chicken liver and, yes, calf liver, is by far more readily absorbed than foods containing beta carotene which your body has to convert to Retinol A.

And then the author adds the silly recommendation to be sure and get the very leanest cuts of meat.  This is just not helpful.  It's proven that that beef stock and tallow are great sources to build collagen.

(If you're increasing red meat to support the healing process, however, make sure that you stick with the very leanest cuts of red meat such as top round, bottom round, eye of round, or ground beef made from them as high intake of total fat and saturated fat are not going to help your healing process, and you'll be at risk in these areas unless you stick with very lean meats.)  

His recommendation for fiber is excellent:

While less directly connected to the specifics of healing, fiber is one additional nutrient that deserves special attention in healing. When healing from a surgery or wound, it's especially important to have food flow healthily through the digestive tract, allowing for optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients. A healthy digestive tract can be one of the secrets for optimal healing. Dietary fiber plays a key role here, and should not be overlooked. In addition to the fruits and vegetables already discussed, legumes and beans and whole grains will often be essential in getting your fiber intake up to a level that can promote optimal healing.  

 Okay, so we know what we need to heal wounds:  Retinol A from eggs, chicken and beef liver and fish.  Not convinced?  Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation's recommendations on the importance of fat in the diet. Remember, fats are stored energy.  So when you begin consuming fish oils, cod liver oil, eggs, grass-fed spring butter, olive oil, beef, and fish, you will be getting adequate fat into your diet.

I do like Mateljan's emphasis on zinc:

Some nutrients have taken center stage in the animal research on healing, and these nutrients include vitamin C, flavonoids, vitamin A, protein, and zinc. Rich sources of vitamin C and flavonoids include fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, and berries. When it comes to vitamin A, some of these same foods will also be very helpful since they will provide you with rich amounts of beta-carotene, a "pro-vitamin A" nutrient that can be partially converted into fully active vitamin A. Other foods that can provide you with preformed, fully active vitamin A include dairy products and eggs, and calf's liver, which will also provide you with the protein important for healing. Zinc is especially concentrated in red meats as well as nuts and seeds. (If you're increasing red meat to support the healing process, however, make sure that you stick with the very leanest cuts of red meat such as top round, bottom round, eye of round, or ground beef made from them as high intake of total fat and saturated fat are not going to help your healing process, and you'll be at risk in these areas unless you stick with very lean meats.)  

Another source explains the value of zinc:

Zinc helps the body synthesize proteins and develop collagen, so it is an important mineral for wound healing. As long as you are taking in sufficient amounts of protein from meats, you should be getting enough zinc in your diet

Follow the prescriptions laid out by the Weston A. Price Foundation for wound healing here.  

Want to Treat Gastric Ulcers? Try ZINC CARNOSINE

The world of disease is complicated, unknown, with so many receptors, binding proteins, epithelial cells on membranes that it's quite difficult to make sense of it all.  Sometimes the best we can do is rely on the old standbys, like vitamin D3, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and others to keep ourselves free of pathogens--viruses, bacteria, etc.  And oftentimes the fearmongering around diseases seems interminable.  You find out one thing about a pathogen, and you panic.  Doctors love it when they can cause you to panic when they give you or a loved one a diagnosis of cancer or some other progressive, degenerative, even debilitating disease.  For this reason, medical doctors have lost me.  Recently, I'd learned that the spike proteins that are invading our bodies via the vaccines or transmission of exosomes are recking havoc on our cells and cell membranes, and the quality of our blood.  And given this nightmare, I don't see how folks are still worried about COVID.  COVID seems to be the last of our worries. Was recently reading about prion disease, proteins that cause other proteins to fold and malfunction.  The kinds of conditions caused by prion disease are Parkinson's, Mad Cow Disease, Alzheimer's [I thought this was caused by amyloid plaque], and others.  John Hopkins Medical reports that

A prion is a type of protein that can trigger normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. Prion diseases can affect both humans and animals and are sometimes spread to humans by infected meat products. The most common form of prion disease that affects humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

Which is frightening enough.  Science can be fascinating, but if you get a talented scientist placed under the influence of mass murders, like Ralph Baric of North Carolina University, then the world is doomed.

But maybe, just maybe there are some small, insignificant interventions that people can take to either prevent disease or outright cure it into non-existence.  Zinc is one such powerful compound as to elicit respect for what it can do to restore and maintain health.  Here is what PubMed has to say about zinc: 

Zinc (Zn) is abundantly present in the brain, and accumulates in the synaptic vesicles. Synaptic Zn is released with neuronal excitation, and plays essential roles in learning and memory. Increasing evidence suggests that the disruption of Zn homeostasis is involved in various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, a vascular type of dementia, and prion diseases. Our and other numerous studies suggest that carnosine (β-alanyl histidine) is protective against these neurodegenerative diseases. Carnosine is an endogenous dipeptide abundantly present in the skeletal muscles and in the brain, and has numerous beneficial effects such as antioxidant, metal chelating, anti-crosslinking, and anti-glycation activities. The complex of carnosine and Zn, termed polaprezinc, is widely used for Zn supplementation therapy and for the treatment of ulcers. Here, we review the link between Zn and these neurodegenerative diseases, and focus on the neuroprotective effects of carnosine. We also discuss the carnosine level in various foodstuffs and beneficial effects of dietary supplementation of carnosine.

The complex of carnosine and Zn, termed polaprezinc sounds interesting.  What is that exactly?  It's Zinc Carnosine, and it's used to heal gastric ulcers.   

OYSTERS: THE MOST NUTRIENT-DENSE FOOD BEHIND LIVER?

If you are deficient in zinc, you could potentially develop something called hypogonadism.  Your gonads actually shrink because you don't have enough zinc.  Testosterone is made by the gonads.  Some say that we shouldn't be consuming shellfish because of the microplastics.  One point on that is that if you eat Pacific Oysters, you'll have the lowest amount of microplastics.  But so is the lack of nutrition in our diet.  And the lack of nutrient-dense food, so we kind of have to balance things out.  Remember, there are no solutions, only trade-offs.  But oysters are literally at the top of the list of nutrient-dense foods.  And when you're trying to build up testosterone, it's not just about increasing that one hormone, it's about supporting the entire endocrine system, all the hormones in the right balance, so this could help you on many different levels.  Oysters are loaded with zinc and copper in the right ratios, tons of B12, iron, vitamin D, B6, omega 3 fatty acids, and choline.  [Sounds like oysters would be a better option than sardines maybe.]  There are other things, too, that can negate or nullify your results.  For example, if you're on a statin drug that blocks cholesterol, which is needed to make cholesterol, that can nullify any foods that you eat or supplements that you take to boost your testosterone.  

FOODS THAT LOWER TESTOSTERONE IN THE BODY:

Soy decreases testosterone. 

Grains, or the phytic acid in them, decreases testosterone.  Phytic acid blocks zinc.  

Low Hydrochloric Acid.  HCL is necessary to absorb trace minerals, especially zinc.  How do you know if you have low HCL?  Well, . . . heartburn, Gerd, indigestion, acid reflux, all are indications of low HCL. 

Sugar: too much sugar, too many refined carbohydrates will kill testosterone. 

Stress.

Lack of sleep is a really big one.  And the more fat you have in your body, the more estrogen that you'll make and the less testosterone that you'll make.  In fact, your body will start converting testosterone into estrogen.

Iron.  Too much iron can really damage the liver and leave you with very low testosterone levels.  Even though oysters are high in iron, 

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO INCREASE TESTOSTERONE

HARDCORE EXERCISE with a lot of SLEEP.  The hormone pathways of testosterone follow the hormone pathways of growth hormones.  If one is higher, the other is higher.  Consuming enough fatty foods: this is why eggs are good, this is why red meats are good.  Butter, too, is good because it's made of cholesterol. 

From a Friend . . .

1. Whenever you take any supplement, always, always, always include Magnesium.  Magnesium always makes things more effective.  So always take magnesium whenever you’re taking anything.  Magnesium Glycinate comes highly recommended.  2.  You need a foundation: start with a multi-vitamin, called Molecular Multi.  https://bit.ly/3urhwCI.  Take it with 1 of your meals.  3.  Fast occasionally. 4.  Start TODAY with these: Multi-vitamin, 10,000IU D3, Zinc 50mgs/day, 800-1,000mgs magnesium glycinate, 500mgs vitamin C every 4 hours.  5.  Create shoebox-sized plastic containers where you place all of the brain nutrients into one box, the heart nutrients in another, and label each one.  It has to be this organized, otherwise, she’ll be confused and not know what to do or where to go to get relief for this or that.  Something like this but in white, https://bit.ly/3v4KmYU.  And with labels writ large so that she can read it from across the room.
Brain	Vitamin D Magnesium Fish oils, the Zone Diet fish oils came advertised as the cleanest.  Take with a vitamin E. Benfotiamine, this is fat-soluble B1 Ubiquinol, the absorbable form of COQ10
Immunity	Beta-Glucans.  Wellmune is a specific type of beta-glucans and the superior form.  https://bit.ly/3OcTDXF. Vitamin D, 10,000 to 20,000IU/day Zinc, 50mgs/day. Zinc [Acetate, or zinc lozenges] helps regrow the thymus gland back to its original size.  Start on this immediately.  Magnesium Glycinate Glutathione, 1 capsule per day.
Gut immunity	Garlic prevents H. Pylori.  https://bit.ly/3JuXUBQ. Zinc carnosine prevents intestinal ulcers. Anti-parasitic, Artemisinin. https://amzn.to/3OcUTtR.   Dandelion Root kills 95% of colorectal cancer cells in 48 hours.  https://bit.ly/3Js42ej.
Heart	Ubiquinol Resveratrol (Longevinex is the only resveratrol anyone should be consuming).  Resveratrol has lots of anti-aging compounds, like fisetin, found in strawberries.  https://longevinex.com/. Magnesium
Arthritis	Hyaluronic Acid IP6
Beauty	Hyaluronic Acid Niacin is excellent for the skin.
Leaky Gut	Apple Pectin
Circulation Vascular system	500mgs every 4 hours Vitamin C.  Vitamin C is extremely important for the eyes. Niacin [FYI, Niacin cures schizophrenia and more.
Sleep	Melatonin, 20mgs.  Shortages of this compound is problematic.  Doesn’t hurt to go up to 20mgs.  Cancer patients are recommended to take up to 30mgs/night.