What Is Orchic Substance, and Why Is It in SodaPeak?

The short answer

Every page, every journal post, the bottle facts and the ingredients go through review by Dr. Janyna Mercado before they ship. Orchic substance, sometimes printed as “orchic extract,” is dried and powdered testicle tissue, usually from cattle. It has been used in supplements for decades, and it belongs to a group called glandulars: adrenal, thymus, liver, pituitary and so on.

On the SodaPeak label it sits seventh in a blend of eight, which by US labelling rules makes it a smaller share than the six herbs listed above it. No amount is published.

Where glandulars come from

Glandular supplements come from an old idea, sometimes called organotherapy: that eating tissue from an organ will support that organ in the person taking it. It predates modern endocrinology, when hormones themselves were first extracted from animal glands.

Some real medicines did begin that way. Desiccated thyroid, still prescribed today, is made from animal thyroid and contains actual thyroid hormone. That history is why glandulars sound plausible.

The difference is that thyroid extract is a regulated drug with a measured hormone content, while a glandular supplement is a food-grade powder with no stated hormone content at all.

What the evidence shows

We looked for a reviewed government or cancer-center summary of orchic substance and found none. There are no published clinical trials we could point you to showing that it raises testosterone, builds muscle or improves sexual function.

There is also a basic biological problem. Proteins and hormones in tissue are broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Testosterone taken by mouth in its plain form is mostly destroyed by the liver on the first pass, which is why prescription testosterone comes as a gel, patch, injection or specially modified capsule.

So even if a glandular did contain a meaningful amount of hormone, which none is required to state, swallowing it is a poor delivery route (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, “Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance”).

Safety questions worth asking

Animal-tissue ingredients raise questions that plant ingredients do not: which country the cattle came from, how the tissue was handled, and whether it was tested for contamination.

Reputable makers can answer those questions with a certificate of analysis. The FDA’s consumer guide explains that supplements are not approved before sale, so the burden of asking falls on the buyer (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Dietary Supplements”).

• Where is the orchic substance sourced?
• Is it tested for heavy metals and microbes?
• Is there a certificate of analysis for this lot?
• How many milligrams are in a serving?

What orchic substance means for vegetarians

This is the part that matters for a lot of readers. A “vegetarian” seal appears among the ten badges in the seller’s images for SodaPeak. The label does not support it.

Two things on the panel are animal-derived: orchic substance, which is bovine tissue, and the gelatin capsule itself, listed under other ingredients (calcium carbonate, microcrystalline cellulose, sodium starch glycolate, stearic acid, magnesium stearate, silicon dioxide, gelatin capsule).

If you are vegetarian, vegan, or avoid beef for religious reasons, this product does not fit, whatever the badge suggests. We would rather tell you now than sell you a bottle you cannot use.

Why glandulars keep coming back

Glandular ingredients have a marketing advantage that evidence cannot beat: they sound direct. If you want your testicles to work better, taking testicle seems logical in a way that a vitamin does not.

They are also cheap, they are shelf-stable, and they let a label say something unusual next to the same six herbs everyone else uses. Once one brand adds orchic substance, competitors follow so that their ingredient list does not look thinner.

None of that makes the ingredient work. It explains why it is still here, decades after the science moved on.

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What to look for instead

If the goal is muscle and strength, the ingredients with real evidence are dull and cheap: enough protein, creatine monohydrate, and progressive training. If the goal is a hormone question, the answer is a blood test, not a blend.

If you specifically want a men’s herbal formula, look for one that lists each ingredient with its own amount and uses a vegetable capsule if that matters to you.

How to read an ingredient you have never heard of

1. Search the exact name

   Use the name as printed, plus “NIH” or “Memorial Sloan Kettering.” Those summaries are written for clinicians and say plainly when evidence is thin.

2. Check what it is made from

   Plant, mineral, animal tissue or laboratory compound. That alone answers diet and allergy questions.

3. Look for a dose

   If research exists, it used a specific amount. Compare it with the label.

4. Ask why it is here

   Sometimes the answer is evidence. Often it is that the name sounds relevant.

5. Email the seller

   Sourcing and testing questions are fair, and the answer tells you a lot about the company.

Other animal ingredients you may meet on a label

Reading “other ingredients” is the quickest way to answer a diet question. It is at the bottom of the panel, in the smallest type, and it is where the capsule shell is declared.

What “glandular” products are allowed to say

US rules let supplements make structure-function claims, such as “supports healthy muscle,” without FDA review, as long as the label carries the standard disclaimer and the maker holds some substantiation. They may not claim to treat a disease.

That is why you see phrases built around “supports” and “helps maintain” rather than “raises testosterone by 20%.” A glandular ingredient can sit quietly inside a blend while the front of the bottle does the selling with a horse crest and the word “advanced.”

Reading the panel first, then the claim, puts those two in the right order.

The bottom line

Orchic substance is dried bull testicle tissue with no reviewed evidence behind it and a delivery route that argues against it working. It is not dangerous in the way a contaminated product would be, but it is not doing the work the front of the bottle implies.

Its clearest effect on you as a buyer is practical: with orchic substance and a gelatin capsule on the panel, SodaPeak is not a vegetarian product.

Sources

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dietary Supplements. FDA, current revision. Checked September 23, 2026.
2. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance. NIH ODS, current revision. Checked September 23, 2026.