Ben Greenfield on health: what the evidence says · JRE #1069
SUBJECT: HEALTH
The short answer
Greenfield explains that withholding ejaculation during orgasm (retaining 'life force'/jing) while still producing oxytocin and testosterone responses is grounded in Chinese medicine, implying ejaculation causes a meaningful loss of vitality. The jing/life-force framework is a traditional-medicine concept, not a physiological mechanism verified in modern research, and no controlled human studies establish that avoiding ejaculation during orgasm produces anti-aging or vitality benefits via oxytocin or testosterone.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
So this is all based on Chinese medicine principles.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Greenfield frames non-ejaculatory orgasm as preserving a Chinese-medicine "life force" (jing) while still yielding oxytocin and testosterone benefits, implying ejaculation itself causes meaningful vitality loss. The jing/life-force framework is a traditional-medicine concept, not a physiological mechanism verified in modern research, and no controlled human studies establish that avoiding ejaculation during orgasm produces anti-aging or vitality benefits via oxytocin or testosterone. The single study most often invoked to support a testosterone rebound from abstinence (a small 2003 report of 28 men) is listed on PubMed as a Retracted Publication. A 2024 peer-reviewed study (Int J Impot Res, Nature portfolio) of online "semen retention"/"NoFap" ejaculation-training programs found they routinely advertise testosterone and other health benefits without scientific support. Current evidence classifies the claim as unsupported: it rests on a traditional-medicine belief system rather than demonstrated physiology, and the specific study sometimes used to buttress it has been retracted.