Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice. All statements are merely the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to testosterone enhancement.

Choq is a men's health brand that suggests that their supplements can support healthy testosterone (T) levels. The brand uses exotic ingredients like shilajit and Mucuna pruriens extract in their formulations, and has a message to "Reclaim Your Vitality" in bold on the homepage of their website.

But are these ingredients actually proven in medical studies to support healthy testosterone levels? Do Choq supplements contain any questionable additive ingredients? How do real users rate and describe the effects of Choq? And what retailer sells their products for the best price?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze every ingredient in Choq Daily (the testosterone supplement) based on medical studies to give our take on whether it's likely to be effective for increasing testosterone levels, or if it's a waste of money.

We'll share our concerns about some health and testing claims made by Choq, feature real customer reviews, and provide a cost comparison to document which retailer sells Choq for the best price.

Choq Daily Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in Choq Daily, which the brand claims "supports increased free and total testosterone," are shown above.

Shilajit was shown to increase free and total T levels in healthy adults a clinical trial published in the Andrologia journal. Choq Daily provides the same shilajit does as used in the trial.

Musli extract was shown to increase serum T in a 2013 clinical trial, but its effects were less significant than the effects from a placebo pill, suggesting it's ineffective.

Tribulus terrestris is frequently included in T-boosting supplements, although a 2014 medical review concluded that the herb “is ineffective for increasing testosterone levels in humans.”

Mucuna pruriens extract is clinically shown to improve erection quality, as we documented in our Drachen review article on another men's health supplement containing this ingredient, but we can't find any evidence it increases T levels.

Cacao extract is another ingredient we can find no research backing for in regard to testosterone improvement, nor does Choq cite any on their product page.

Overall, we consider Choq Daily potentially effective for enhancing testosterone levels given its effective shilajit dose.

We don't believe this supplement is a cost-effective way to naturally support testosterone, given that we can only find research backing for one of its active ingredients, but we don't consider it a bad option. 

The good thing about Choq Daily is its inactive ingredients are safe and non-toxic, and we do not believe this supplement is likely to cause side effects.

But does the brand really have superior testing to back their products? We'll discuss in the next section.

Our Issue With Choq's Test Results

Choq’s website has a link to “view the actual lab report on our Shilajit.” Here is the link. This link is to a certificate of analysis (CoA) which is a document submitted by raw materials suppliers to supplement companies detailing contaminant levels. 

This is not finished product testing and is not as reliable as finished product testing.

The gold standard of dietary supplement testing is finished product testing, meaning the actual product that customers ingest is tested for contaminants. This is important for two reasons:

1. It ensures that contaminants have not been added to the formulation during the manufacturing process
2. It provides an additional layer of testing and assurance beyond data submitted by a supplier, which is incredibly important given that suppliers have an economic incentive to misreport contaminant data in some cases

We’re a supplement company and we have received supplier contaminant data in the form of a CoA that was simply inaccurate. If we had just trusted the information in the CoA, we would have been selling products to customers that were higher in heavy metals than our standards.

The key takeaway here is that a CoA is better than nothing, and it's a good thing that Choq publishes some test results because many supplement brands publish none, but the document shared by Choq is not based on finished product testing of their entire supplement, just one of its ingredients prior to manufacturing, and it has an "effective date" in 2017.

The lead level in the Choq CoA is shown below:

We sell three dietary supplements and the highest lead level in any of them (based on finished product testing at an independent laboratory) is currently equivalent to 0.073 parts per million (ppm). The lead level in Choq shilajit is reported as 0.5 ppm, or nearly 7x higher than our product with the highest reported lead level.

Lead is unfortunately present in nearly all foods, drinks, supplements and tap water due to environmental contamination, but the lower your intake of lead the better.

Is Shilajit Overhyped?

A YouTube creator named "ListedFit" shared his experience after taking shilajit for two weeks straight in an unsponsored review:

Questionable Health Claims on Choq Site

Choq’s website has a number of questionable and united health claims. As documented above, the brand claims that one of the ingredients they use, Tribulus terrestris, supports sexual vitality and cardiovascular function without providing any proof.

In a blog post titled “Is Shilajit Safe?” the brand fails to answer the question in the title and states that clinical studies have been completed on shilajit and that their shilajit was tested in a lab. Whether or not an ingredient is safe depends on the results of safety studies and of contaminant testing. The fact that there are studies and testing alone proves nothing.

Consider an entirely safe and non-toxic supplement like melatonin. It’s been thoroughly studied in clinical research and proven safe, but if a supplement brand were to sell melatonin with high levels of cadmium, it would be unsafe.

Choq also claims that their “ultra pure” shilajit is “safer” than most of the shilajit sold by other brands, without any proof.

The way to prove this claim would be to compare contaminant testing data from Choq’s shilajit and that of other brands, which Choq does not appear to have done. Without this data, this is an unproven marketing claim that provides no value to consumers:

We consider bold health claims without citation to be a sign of a low-quality brand, and we recommend that consumers disregard such claims entirely.

The Chief Scientific Officer of Choq is a “Doctor of Acupuncture,” and we’ll leave it up to consumers to decide if they believe a Doctor of Acupuncture is a good candidate to formulate and manage testing for ingestible testosterone supplements.

Real Customers Review Choq

A YouTube creator named "Noah's Arc" reviewed Choq Shilajit in an unsponsored video:

A TikTok creator named Liberty Hope Lee shared her favorable experience with Choq supplements and the brand's customer support:

@holistic_liberty Choq is where its at #choq #nutrition #healthyliving ♬ original sound - Liberty Hope Lee UGC

Where to Buy Choq for the Best Price

Choq is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here's a price breakdown for a one-time purchase of Choq Daily and Choq Shilajit at the time of publishing this article:

Choq Daily

Brand website: $69 (plus shipping – link)

Choq Shilajit

Brand website: $44 (plus shipping, link)

Amazon: $44 (free shipping – link to official Amazon listing)

At the time of updating this article, Choq Daily only appears to be available at the brand's website, but the Shilajit supplement is currently cheaper on Amazon when factoring in shipping fees.

Our Testosterone Support Picks

Ashwagandha extract was shown in a 2019 clinical trial to cause a 15% greater increase in T levels than placebo.

Nature Made Ashwagandha Extract is our top ashwagandha extract supplement because it contains no unhealthy additive ingredients and is highly affordable at only $22.89 for a one-time purchase. 

Interested consumers can check out Nature Made Ashwagandha Extract at this link to the product page on the official brand's website.

Panax ginseng extract is an herbal libido enhancer, and was shown in a medical review published in the Spermatogenesis journal to increase sex drive in men when taken daily.

Illuminate Labs sells a Panax Ginseng Extract supplement which is third-party tested to ensure label accuracy, potency and purity, and which contains no questionable additive ingredients.

Interested consumers can check out Illuminate Labs Panax Ginseng Extract at this link to the product page on our website, where the supplement can be purchased for only $15 on a subscription basis.

Before taking supplements or medications to improve T levels, it makes sense to get a hormone panel that actually tests T levels. Without knowing your baseline T levels, it's impossible to track progress and make research-based decisions.

PlushCare is an online doctor service that allows patients to work with a doctor to order labs like testosterone tests. PlushCare accepts major health insurers like United and Aetna, and also accepts patients paying out-of-pocket.

How it works for bloodwork is that PlushCare will send the order to a lab local to the patient. Interested consumers can check out PlushCare at this link to the brand's official website.

Pros and Cons of Choq

Here are the pros and cons of Choq in our opinion:

Pros:

• Provides effective shilajit dose
• May improve T levels
• No dangerous ingredients
• Shouldn't cause side effects
• Brand publishes CoA with contaminant data

Cons:

• Only 1 of 5 Choq Daily ingredients is likely effective in our opinion
• Doesn't appear clinically tested
• Brand website has questionable health claims
• Shilajit may be relatively high in lead
• Brand website charges for shipping

Conclusion

Choq formulates testosterone supplements primarily based on shilajit, and the dose of shilajit appears to be effective for improving T levels based on our review of medical studies.

We can't identify any other active ingredients in Choq Daily that we consider likely to improve T levels, so consumers looking for shilajit may benefit from taking it alone, as this could save money.

Choq provides testing data of their shilajit in the form of a CoA, which is useful to consumers. However, the "effective date" listed is in 2017, which is confusing to us, and this is not equivalent to finished product testing which is more comprehensive.

There are a number of questionable and uncited health claims on Choq's website, including the suggestion that Tribulus supports sexual vitality. The medical review that we could find on this botanical ingredient concluded that it had no effect on T levels.

For consumers intent on purchasing Choq supplements, Amazon appears to be best option for Choq Shilajit and the brand's website appears to be the best option for Choq Daily.

We don't currently recommend either supplement, because we have concerns over the relative lead levels in shilajit, but we don't consider either supplement likely to cause side effects, and we do believe Choq's formulations have more research backing than the average T-boosting supplement we've reviewed on Illuminate Health.