NoFap, semen retention, jelqing and gummies: what the science actually says

Your feed has probably told you that giving up masturbation will turn you into a testosterone-fuelled machine, that pulling on your penis will make it bigger, that a gummy bear can give you a rock-hard erection, and that porn has broken your generation’s sex life. Some of that is nonsense, some of it is genuinely risky, and one bit is closer to something sex therapists actually use.

Here’s the straight verdict on each trend, with the evidence linked so you can check it yourself. No sermons.

What’s true, what’s debated, what’s risky

Does NoFap raise your testosterone?

No, not on any good evidence. The number you’ll see everywhere, a 145% testosterone spike on day seven of abstinence, comes from a tiny study whose English version was retracted in December 2021. The original Chinese version involved 28 men. That’s not a foundation for a lifestyle.

What we do know:

• There are no good-quality studies on whether ejaculating affects your testosterone (Healthy Male).
• In a survey of 1,063 people recruited on Reddit, the motivation to abstain was linked mainly to attitudes, such as seeing masturbation as unhealthy, religiosity and lower trust in science. The authors also point out that no negative health effect of masturbation has been shown (Zimmer & Imhoff, 2020).
• Speaking to NPR in January 2026, urologist Ashley Winter said there’s no proof for the promised benefits on testosterone, erections or depression, and psychologist Joshua Grubbs described abstinence as a therapy goal as unreasonable (NPR, 2026). The same piece notes that the NoFap company charges $20 to $120 a month for its accountability groups.

If you want a break from porn because it doesn’t sit right with you, that’s your call. Just don’t expect it to work as a hormone treatment.

Is semen retention good for you?

It’s the most talked-about men’s health topic on TikTok and Instagram, and according to a 2022 study reported by NPR, none of the posts analysed came from doctors (NPR, 2026). The claims (more energy, magnetism, curing ED) aren’t backed by research.

Healthy Male, an Australian men’s health body, says there’s no evidence for the promised boosts to energy, confidence or focus. It adds that the practice probably won’t harm your body, but doing it out of guilt or shame about ejaculation can affect your mental health.

Does jelqing actually work?

There’s no scientific evidence that it works. Jelqing means repeatedly pulling and squeezing a semi-erect penis, and a urologist quoted in 2024 coverage of the TikTok trend warned it may raise the risk of Peyronie’s disease, a condition where the penis bends, often painfully (Psychology Today, 2024).

The same urologist said he mostly sees young men asking about it, often looking for anonymous advice online. If size is on your mind, a GP conversation is free and confidential, and most size worries turn out to be about comparison, not medicine.

Do sex gummies, honeys and “boosters” work?

Most of what’s sold online falls into two groups: products that don’t do much, and products that work because they’re secretly spiked.

The ones that don’t do much. An analysis of 50 testosterone boosters found 90% claimed to raise testosterone, but only 24.8% of those had data supporting the claim, and about 10% of the ingredients had been shown to lower it (Clemesha et al., 2019). An Italian analysis scored 25 erection supplements and put 80% in the “no expected efficacy” group, based on their ingredients and doses (Nutrients, 2023). Ginseng, for example, had only a trivial effect on erections in a Cochrane review.

The ones that are spiked. The US regulator keeps a list of “sexual enhancement” products with hidden drug ingredients, including gummies such as Rhino 69 Gummy and honeys. Of 776 tainted supplements it flagged between 2007 and 2016, 45.5% were sold for sexual enhancement, spiked with drugs such as sildenafil or tadalafil. In the UK, the MHRA seized around 19.5 million doses of illegal erection medicines between 2021 and 2025, many of them sold illegally online (The Pharmacist, 2026).

Why this matters: hidden sildenafil or tadalafil can cause a dangerous drop in blood pressure if you take heart medication called nitrates. You can’t know the dose, and neither can the seller. If it’s food rather than pills you’re curious about, we went through the evidence in foods to last longer in bed.

The honest alternative: sildenafil is available legally from UK pharmacies after a chat with the pharmacist, and a GP can check what’s really going on. For the full comparison of sprays, pills and training, see our honest look at your options in the UK.

Is porn-induced ED real?

It’s still debated: we found no meta-analysis showing that porn causes erectile dysfunction, though problematic use was linked to more erection problems in a survey of 3,419 young men, with the direction of cause unclear. The studies, and what to do about it, are in does porn cause premature ejaculation?

What changed with UK age checks in 2025?

Under the Online Safety Act, sites that publish their own porn have had to run proper age checks since 17 January 2025, and the wider child-safety rules for platforms were due to be fully in effect by summer 2025 (GOV.UK). It’s too early for any study to tell us whether this has changed anything about young men’s sex lives, so ignore anyone claiming it has.

Does edging help you last longer?

Here’s the trend with something behind it: done deliberately, edging is essentially the stop-start technique the NHS lists for ejaculation problems, and in a systematic review, two small trials found techniques like this added several minutes compared with a waiting list. The difference is attention (rating your arousal, stopping at about 7 out of 10, breathing it down), and our edging to last longer guide turns it into a week-by-week solo plan.

So what actually works if you want to last longer or get harder?

Less exciting than a TikTok trend, but backed by more: stop-start and squeeze, pelvic floor exercises (which a 2026 urology review calls promising, pending larger studies), exercise and weight loss, and medical treatment when you need it. The control side is ranked by evidence in how to last longer in bed, and the erection side in harder erections.

If you’d like that training laid out for you, Duro is an iPhone app that builds a 5-minute daily session from a 3-minute check-up: guided Kegels, breathing exercises, challenges and Victor, an AI coach (an AI, not a doctor). It’s a training programme, not a medical treatment, and Duro is currently in French only. If it isn’t on the App Store yet when you read this, you can leave your email on the homepage to hear when it’s live. If it keeps happening, talk to your GP.

When should you see a GP?

Skip the forums and book an appointment if:

• your erections have got weaker or stopped suddenly (erection problems can be an early warning sign of heart disease, according to the British Heart Foundation);
• you have pain, a new bend in your penis or a lump, especially after jelqing or rough handling;
• you see blood in your semen or urine;
• you’ve taken a “natural” sex product and felt dizzy, faint or had chest pain (call 999 for chest pain);
• porn or masturbation feels out of control and it’s affecting your mood, work or relationship.

None of this is embarrassing to a GP. They’ve heard it all, and it’s confidential. Here is when to see your GP and what happens at the appointment.