No smoking cigars does not give you a real or safe testosterone boost. A few studies show smokers with slightly higher total testosterone, but that’s a misleading effect: nicotine raises a protein called SHBG that locks testosterone up so your body can’t use it. Meanwhile, cigar smoke damages the cells that make testosterone and hurts your erections and sperm. Here’s the real science behind the myth.

If you saw a video or a cigar blog claiming cigars boost testosterone and make you “more alpha,” you’re right to be skeptical — the claim is mostly bro-science, and the people pushing it often sell cigars. A cigar is rolled tobacco that delivers nicotine and dozens of other chemicals when you smoke it. Nicotine briefly stimulates stress hormones, which is where the “testosterone boost” idea comes from. But that effect is small, temporary, and misleading — and the long-term chemicals in cigar smoke damage the cells and blood flow your testosterone and sexual health depend on. Let’s break down exactly why the “higher testosterone in smokers” finding fools people, and what cigars really do.

Does Smoking Cigars Increase Testosterone? (Quick Answer)

No. Cigars do not meaningfully or safely raise testosterone. Some research finds smokers have higher total testosterone, but that rise comes from increased SHBG — a protein that binds testosterone and makes it inactive — so your free (usable) testosterone isn’t actually higher. On top of that, the nicotine and toxins in cigar smoke damage testosterone-producing cells, raise cortisol, and harm erections and fertility over time. Any “boost” is an illusion with a real cost.

Why Some Studies Show Smokers Have Higher Testosterone (the SHBG Trick)

This is the part the cigar blogs leave out. It’s true that some studies — including large datasets like NHANES analyses linking nicotine exposure to higher total testosterone found smokers with elevated total testosterone. But “total testosterone” isn’t the number that matters most.

Your testosterone travels in your blood in two forms: bound (stuck to proteins like SHBG and unusable) and free (active and available to your body). Nicotine raises SHBG, and more SHBG means more testosterone gets locked up. So a smoker’s total T can look higher on paper while their free T — the part that actually drives energy, libido, and muscle — stays flat or even drops. It’s like having more money in an account you’re locked out of. This is exactly why testing both numbers matters; see our guide on the right testosterone test and on lowering SHBG to raise free testosterone, which is the opposite of what smoking does.

Cigars and Testosterone: Myth vs Reality

Here’s the claim next to what the science actually shows.

Every “pro” in that left column either isn’t real or is cancelled out by the right column. The cigar-testosterone story survives because it sounds manly and because cigar sellers repeat it — not because the science supports it.

How Smoking Cigars Actually Lowers Testosterone Over Time

Behind the misleading total-T number, cigars work against your testosterone in two big ways. First, they damage the factory. Lab research shows nicotine and its byproduct cotinine can reduce testosterone production in Leydig cells — the cells in your testes that make testosterone — by a large margin. Poison the factory, and output falls no matter what your SHBG does.

Second, cigars spike cortisol, your main stress hormone. Cortisol and testosterone work like a seesaw: when cortisol goes up and stays up, testosterone tends to go down. Nicotine triggers that stress response every time you smoke, so the “relaxing cigar” is quietly tilting your hormones the wrong way. Over months and years, that combination of damaged cells and chronic cortisol is how chronic smoking is linked to lower testosterone, not higher.

What Cigars Do to Your Erections and Sperm

Even if testosterone were a wash, cigars hit the things men actually care about. Smoking damages blood vessels and depletes nitric oxide, the molecule that lets blood flow into the penis for an erection. That’s why smoking is a well-established cause of erectile dysfunction — and cigars are not exempt just because you don’t inhale as deeply. The vascular damage is systemic.

Fertility takes a hit too. Smoking is linked to lower sperm count, reduced motility, and more DNA damage in sperm, all of which make conception harder. So the “alpha” habit quietly undercuts the two things it’s supposed to signal — sexual performance and virility. If you’re noticing low energy, low drive, or weaker erections, those are worth taking seriously; here are the silent signs of low testosterone to watch for.

Does Quitting Smoking Increase Testosterone? (and What Actually Works)

Quitting won’t magically spike your testosterone, but it removes the things dragging it down — the Leydig-cell damage, the cortisol spikes, the vascular harm — so your body can work the way it’s supposed to, and your erections and fertility often improve. That’s a far better trade than chasing a fake number.

If your real goal is higher testosterone, the proven levers are simple and free of tobacco:

• Lose excess body fat (fat converts testosterone to estrogen)
• Sleep 7–8 hours — most testosterone is made during sleep
• Lift weights and stay active
• Manage stress to keep cortisol down
• Treat a real deficiency medically if your labs are genuinely low

A real example: a 33-year-old picks up a cigar habit after seeing it called a “testosterone hack.” Months later his total T looks “fine,” but his free testosterone is low, his morning erections have faded, and he’s more tired than ever. Quitting, sleeping more, and getting his free T and SHBG checked turns it around — the cigars never helped. To understand what real treatment looks like if labs are low, see our TRT guide.

The Bottom Line on Cigars and Testosterone

Smoking cigars does not increase your usable testosterone. The “higher T in smokers” finding is a total-testosterone illusion created by raised SHBG, while the nicotine and toxins damage your testosterone-producing cells, spike cortisol, and harm your erections and fertility. If you want more testosterone, skip the cigar and go after the real levers — sleep, training, fat loss, and proper testing.

If you’re chasing higher testosterone, skip the cigars and find out what your levels — total and free — actually are. Book a testosterone test with TRT NYC to get full bloodwork, see if low T is really your issue, and get a plan that works instead of a habit that backfires.

Frequently Asked Question

Why do smokers have higher testosterone in some studies?

Because nicotine raises SHBG, a protein that binds testosterone. That pushes total testosterone up on a lab report, but the extra hormone is locked up and inactive, so free (usable) testosterone isn’t actually higher. The studies measure total T, which is why the result looks better than it is.

Does nicotine increase testosterone?

Not in any useful way. Nicotine can cause a brief hormone spike and raise SHBG (inflating total T), but lab studies show it also damages the cells that produce testosterone and raises cortisol, which lowers it. The net long-term effect is harmful, not helpful.

Does smoking lower free testosterone?

It can. Because smoking raises SHBG and damages testosterone-producing cells, your free (active) testosterone often stays flat or drops even when total testosterone looks elevated. Free T is the number that affects energy, libido, and muscle.

Does smoking cigars cause erectile dysfunction?

Yes, smoking is a known cause of erectile dysfunction. It damages blood vessels and reduces nitric oxide, cutting blood flow to the penis. Cigars aren’t exempt because the vascular harm is body-wide, not just in the lungs.

Does smoking affect sperm or fertility?

Yes. Smoking is linked to lower sperm count, reduced motility, and more DNA damage in sperm, all of which make conceiving harder. This is one of the clearest, best-documented harms of tobacco for men.

Does quitting smoking increase testosterone?

Quitting doesn’t cause a big testosterone spike, but it stops the damage — less cortisol, healthier blood vessels, and recovering testosterone-producing cells. Erections and fertility commonly improve after quitting, which matters more than any lab number.

Do cigars boost testosterone or is it a myth?

It’s essentially a myth. The “boost” is a misleading total-testosterone reading caused by SHBG, not a real gain in usable hormone, and it’s outweighed by damage to your hormones, erections, and sperm. The claim is popular largely because it sounds manly and cigar sellers repeat it.

Does smoking cigars increase testosterone?

No. Cigars don’t give a real or safe testosterone increase. Any higher reading is bound, inactive testosterone from raised SHBG, while the smoke harms the cells that make testosterone and damages sexual health. If you want more testosterone, cigars are the wrong tool.