Testosterone: What It Is and How It Affects Your Health

Testosterone is a naturally occurring hormone that plays a vital role in both men and women – although it does present itself in higher concentrations in men. It is also plays a significant role in optimizing a number of sought-after traits, or qualities, of the modern-day man, including –

• Higher muscle mass
• Higher energy levels
• Improved cognition
• Decreased risk of osteoporosis
• Better insulin management

Sounds pretty cool, right?

On the flip side, however, if your testosterone levels aren’t optimized (or are low), you get the privilege of rocking a completely different set of characteristics, including, but not limited to -

Lack of confidence

• Depression
• Irritability
• Difficulty sleeping
• Low energy levels
• Loss of desire
• Higher fat storage

Sounds like a nightmare, right?

Now, before we go on, I should make it clear that our testosterone levels naturally decline steadily from the age of 27, and then more rapidly after the age of 35. So if you’re over the age of 35, you in particular need to pay attention to the natural fixes contained within this article.

How Do You Find Out If You’ve Got Low Testosterone?

Well, it seems simple, but you get them checked by a doctor. There really is no other way around it. You can display the symptoms of low testosterone, yet have levels that are completely normal, and have it be that those symptoms are being caused by something completely different. In fact, I feel so strongly about the need for testing, and diagnosing, low testosterone levels that I think that everyone reading this, if you haven’t already done recently, should get their levels tested.

12 Ways To Naturally Increase Your Testosterone Levels

1) Get lean and stay lean, because the more body fat that you have, the more likely that your hormones are going to be out of whack. In fact, there has actually been a lot of research done in this area, with many studies showing that the more fat you carry, the lower your testosterone levels will be. So it’s definitely worth getting your eating under wraps, and starting an exercise program aimed at burning through some of that excess fat.

2) Get 7-8 hours of sleep each and every night, and try to nap during the day if you can. Getting adequate sleep has a strong correlation to optimal testosterone levels, and should be high on your priority list if you’re serious about correcting them. In fact, a study published in the University of Chicago showed that men who averaged just 5 hours of sleep or less experienced a drop in testosterone levels of 10-15 percent. So your goal is to get at least 6 hours a night of solid sleep, but 7-8 seems to be what’s optimal.

3) Ensure that you’re getting an adequate intake of healthy fats such as fats from coconut oil, raw olive oil, nuts, avocado, fish oil and lean animal meats. This will ensure that there are high enough levels of cholesterol to support proper testosterone production functioning.

4) Limit your intake of alcohol, as alcohol consumption definitely has a negative impact on testosterone levels, not to mention your waistline.

5) Start your day with a high protein/medium fat/low carbohydrate meal like eggs or steak, along with some green vegetables and avocado/nuts. Most people who I’ve seen switch from a carbohydrate-dominant breakfast, to a high protein/moderate fat breakfast immediately report increases in energy, satiety (the feeling of fullness), and almost always end up leaner from that one change.

6) Control your carbohydrate intake, limit your consumption of starchy or simple carbohydrates to the 2-3 hour window after your training session for the day. This will ensure that your body is adept at handling the insulin spike a little better, and will also limit your consumption of these types of carbs to one meal per day – leading to better testosterone levels.

7) Eat lots of vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Cruciferous vegetables contain indoles, which have been shown to remove the bad estrogens from our body. In general, vegetables also help to support alkalinity, and keep inflammation down (kale and spinach are great for this, as are blueberries), which will help promote a lean body, as well as overall health – both of which can indirectly help with testosterone levels.

8) Keep your training sessions to 45-minutes, or less, of intense work. Once you start getting beyond 45-minutes of intense training, you cortisol levels start to elevate significantly, causing there to be a decrease in testosterone.

9) Make sure you do your big, compound lifts frequently – squats, deadlifts, rows, bench presses, shoulder presses and lunges have been staples in many successful programs for decades for a reason. It’s because exercises that are associated with larger muscle groups have been shown to result in increases in testosterone.

10) Be mindful of your stress, and be sure not to let it get out of control.  A high level of stress increases cortisol (sometimes chronically), and when cortisol is high, then testosterone is low. Putting some stress-management processes in place will help you keep this under wrap, as well as improve your mental focus and well-being.

11) Keep your conditioning (fitness) work to higher intensity stuff, such as interval sprints or cardio finishers. HIIT style training has been shown to have a positive correlation to testosterone levels.

12) Don’t restrict calories by too much (no more than 20% below base needs) when trying to lose fat. Yes, your low calorie diet is not only bad because it’s driving you insane, and making you feel like crap everyday, but it can also be lowering your testosterone levels.

5 Supplements That Can Boost Testosterone Levels

1) DHEA – It is a naturally occurring hormone that is very effective in increasing testosterone levels, especially in those who are older in age (40 years+). The reason for this could be because our DHEA levels naturally drop as we age beyond 30, and so we need a little bit of external help when it comes to getting our levels up. The effective dose of DHEA seems to be between 25-200mg/day.

2) MAGNESIUM OIL – It will definitely help testosterone levels, particularly is you’ve found out that you have a magnesium deficiency. Considering that magnesium is a mineral that’s used mostly when we’re stressed, there is a good chance that you might be low if you haven’t been supplementing with it.

3) ZINC CITRATE – A deficiency in zinc levels can most definitely result in low levels of testosterone; in fact it’s one of the most crucial minerals for optimal test functioning. In fact, there is research out there showing that a zinc deficiency can lead to as much as a 50% reduction in testosterone levels. Again, this is something that you can easily check with a blood test.

4) FISH OIL – Fish oil is the cream of the crop in regards to healthy fats. The effective dose for fish oil is around 2-3g of the active ingredients (EPA/DHA) per day, so be sure to find a high quality fish oil supplement, otherwise the amount of capsules that you have to swallow can become ridiculous.

5) VITAMIN D – vitamin D is another nutrient that can play a role in decreasing testosterone should the body be deficient in it. While our bodies should get a lot of our vitamin D from the sun, given that the majority of the population works in indoors nowadays, this simply isn’t the case anymore. Research has shown that supplementing with anywhere from 3-5000IU of vitamin D per day can help fix this deficiency, and as a result, increase testosterone levels.

Regardless, the list above is extensive enough for you to go and make some changes to your nutrition and lifestyle habits so that you can get a little extra kick start to your training & recovery.