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Tanya- Right?! And leave it up to our Lotus flower to nerd it all up! I was just gonna infuse some ground cloves in oil. People and their big ol brains.

Tanya Squirrel,

You piqued my interest too (thanks girlfriend, lol). In low doses clove increased testosterone levels by way of 3 beta HSD and 17 beta HSD. Very interestly higher doses inhibit testosterone via lowered sperm production (spermatogenesis). I'm looking into how hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase can effect the LH surge in women and when clove oil can benefit in their cycle.

Syzygium aromaticum flower bud (clove) extract with respect to testicular function in mice.
Mishra RK1, Singh SK.
Author information


Abstract
The flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum (clove), a common food flavor, have been used as indigenous medicine for the treatment of male sexual disorders in Asian countries. However, the possible mechanism(s) by which it acts at testicular level remain obscure. Therefore, to investigate its effect on testicular function, chronic oral exposure of hexane extract of flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum in three doses (15 mg, 30 mg, and 60 mg/kg BW) were evaluated for a single spermatogenic cycle (35 days) in Parkes (P) strain mice. The treatment did not induce systemic toxicity at the doses tested. Lower dose (15 mg) of the extract increased the activities of Delta(5) 3 beta-HSD and 17 beta-HSD, and serum level of testosterone. The higher doses (30 and 60 mg) of extract inhibited these parameters and induced non-uniform degenerative changes in the seminiferous tubules associated with decrease in daily sperm production and depletion of 1C (round and elongated spermatids) population. Taken together these results suggest biphasic action of hexane extract of Syzygium aromaticum flower bud on testicular function, thereby advocating a cautious use of the flower bud as an aphrodisiac in indigenous systems of medicine in Asian countries.
PMID: 18765266 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]