For some reason I can't edit my comment to add the link to the study.
This study shows a 45% spike in testosterone after 7 days of abstinence.
This study shows a 45% spike in testosterone after 7 days of abstinence.
The T boost from refraining from masturbation is disputed, and AFAIK no one has even asserted that there is one from refraining from porn, as such.
“Some folks online claim that refraining from masturbation makes them feel more manly, more masculine, more assertive, more dominant, and more attractive to females. They allege that this effect emerges from a supposed increase in testosterone when they stopped masturbating.
“These claims are often supported by reference to a very small, un-replicated study from China, which involved a very small sample of 10 males. Being interested in this study and how the analysis was conducted, colleagues have attempted to obtain the study data to verify, but have been unable to. But better research finds that testosterone isn’t as simple as these claims would have it.”
— https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/2020...
“In other words, while there is indeed some research finding that sexual abstinence is linked to higher testosterone in men, the evidence is—at best—very mixed. Also, if you look to the overall trend in the data, it actually suggests that being sexually active in general increases testosterone, with the most consistent finding being that looking at porn enhances T.”
— https://www.lehmiller.com/blog/2020/1/24/can-abstaining-from...
If you need to motivate yourself to hit on women, this is a positive.
If you need to do something intellectual -- work or play -- it's a sharp negative, though. Evangelists tend to gloss over this point.
Let me guess -- if I nofap for months and eat less, it will also help with weight loss? Whenever a fad needs to be combined with a well-known active ingredient in order to be effective, it makes me suspicious that the fad isn't effective at all.
The constantly receding goalposts are another sign. With nofap, first it was "before an athletic competition," then it was "for a week," then it was "for a month," and now that a significant number of people have given that a try it's multiple months? Not a good look.
By this point I've gone from 30% to 90% sure this whole thing is just christian sex angst rebranded for the web.
I think this is a good trend because without the pressure to be masculine, the patriarchy's power is dismantled and we create a more equal, fair, and just society.