Argan oil is the oil produced from the argan tree kernels and its mostly used in Morocco.
Recently argan oil has been introduced to the world of cosmetics, due to its benefits on skin health. (you may have seen those ads in TV where women are soaking in argan oil with happy faces like there would be nothing better than that).
And at least according to Wikipedia, argan oil is “heart healthy gourmet product”.
But the thing that caught my attention was this human study:
In the Université Hassan II Mohammedia Casablanca, Derouche et al. and his group of assistants tested the effects of virgin argan oil on the hormone parameters of their 60 Moroccan male volunteers aged between 24-40 years.
All the volunteers were first put into “stabilization period” where they ate butter as their main source of fat for 2 weeks.
Then the researchers divided the volunteers into 2 even groups. The first group ate virgin argan oil as their main source of fat, and the second group ate extra virgin olive oil as their main source of fat.
After 3 weeks the researchers tested serum androgen levels from their subjects and saw that in both groups testosterone levels had increased significantly (19.9% in argan group and 17,4% in olive oil group).
The thing that separated the oils from eachother was the fact that in the argan group, luteinizing hormone (LH) increased by 42,6%, whereas in the olive oil group the increase was only 18,5%.
LH is the hormone that triggers the testosterone production process in the gonads, and according to the results, argan oil seems to be more “active” inside the testicles than olive oil (which seems to increase testosterone mainly via other pathways).
However the synergistic effect of both oils together would probably yield even bigger increases in serum testosterone levels than argan or olive oil used separately.
That study was actually a “fresh find” for me, and inspired from the results, I instantly ordered a bottle of hand pressed organic argan oil