I have always said, “testosterone feels good!” Even as a woman, we need testosterone. The benefits of healthy testosterone levels include:
- A drive for life
- Increased muscle mass
- Increased heart health
- Increased libido for men and women
- Stronger bones
- Increased energy
- Increased fat burning.
When you don’t have enough testosterone, even as a woman, you will constantly be tired, possibly be depressed, have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, increased fat storage, and low libido. As we age, our hormones get out of balance and we need to make sure we are stabilizing all of our hormones including testosterone. Most of us, men and women, lose testosterone as we age. Normal testosterone in a man ranges from 425 to 1000 NG/DL (nanograms per deciliter).
What Happens When a Man’s Testosterone is Low?
Unfortunately, testosterone naturally lowers as we age. Symptoms of low testosterone in men may include prostate enlargement, low libido, erectile dysfunction, shrinking testes, muscle loss, inability to maintain muscle definition, loss in vitality, loss in body hair on the lower parts of your legs or chest, man boobs, and a high voice. These are symptoms that no one wants to experience! Although we are focused on men, the symptoms of low testosterone in women are similar and include fatigue, lack of sex drive, lack of motivation, weight gain, and inability to maintain muscle definition.
What Causes Low Testosterone in Females and Males?
1. Insulin
When insulin is chronically released from the pancreas it shuts down the production of testosterone. Insulin’s job is to shuttle carbs and sugar out of the blood and into the fat cells. So your body releases it only when you are eating sugar and carbs, and that mechanism automatically shuts off the production of testosterone.
Furthermore, as you are insulin resistant and overweight, your fat cells hold more estrogen, and estrogen increases fat storage; it is a vicious cycle. And, as estrogen goes up, testosterone goes down. Being overweight increases insulin resistance and can lead to type 2 diabetes. This increase in insulin decreases the production of testosterone, increases estradiol which is a type of estrogen, and increases sleep problems.
All of these factors will lower your motivation and your feel-good hormones. Even if you are at a normal weight, if you have visceral fat around your belly, that could be a sign you have insulin resistance and low testosterone.
2. Sleep Apnea
In one study, sleeping only 5 hours a night over 8 days lowered testosterone by 15%. Most testosterone is released during sleep, so if you are not sleeping that production of testosterone is disrupted. The vicious cycle continues as low testosterone leads to poor sleep.
3. Estrogen
Estrogen is coming from our plastics, our conventionally fed meat and our exposure to GMO Foods. All of the environmental plastics we are exposed to including BPA, BPS, PVC, phthalates, GMO grains, soy, and corn that our animals are being fed inhibit testosterone by disrupting the endocrine system. Not only do they lower testosterone, but they have been shown to cause reproductive harm in baby boys, linked to cancer, linked to early puberty and linked to infertility. These toxins affect your hormonal balance in addition to negatively affecting the health of your future bloodline. Anytime estrogen is increased in the body, testosterone automatically decreases.
4. Chronic Cortisol
Testosterone and human growth hormone are the anabolic hormones of growth and repair. The counter hormone is cortisol, the stress hormone, as it is catabolic and breaks things down. They can’t coexist, so when cortisol is high and stimulates the adrenals, it lowers testosterone. However, if you release cortisol during exercise, it doesn’t reduce testosterone, probably because the adrenals contribute free testosterone. Therefore, stress from fear, anxiety, and overworking will cause chronic cortisol to be released and lower your testosterone, but stress from exercise will not.
5. Low Thyroid
Low thyroid hormone can be caused by an iodine deficiency, hormonal imbalance, autoimmune issues like Hashimoto’s, poor sleep, chronic stress, and an extremely low calorie diet. If you have low thyroid, it can lead to low testosterone.
6. A Low Fat Diet
Fat is needed to give the body cholesterol, which is needed to make hormones. Without cholesterol, your body cannot make the proper sex hormones including testosterone.
7. Low Vitamin D
Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone that helps produce testosterone. Low testosterone and low vitamin D are interrelated; it not only inhibits testosterone production but also suppresses the immune system.
8. Fatty Liver
If you have a fatty liver, it suppresses the production of testosterone and increases estrogen. A fatty liver comes from drinking alcohol or eating a high carb diet.
9. High Iron
Iron is necessary for a healthy metabolism, but too much isn’t a good thing. As we age, we accumulate more iron and have a hard time getting rid of it. Too much iron will cause cirrhosis in the liver, Inflammation in the joints, and increased oxidative stress. Increasing zinc, avoiding iron supplements, and incorporating Intermittent Fasting will help lower your iron levels.
10. Substance Abuse and Medication
Alcohol, marijuana, statin drugs, blood pressure medication, and diabetic medications will reduce testosterone. These things will actually turn testosterone into estrogen in the body. This is why many men actually start to grow man boobs and lose body hair on their chests and lower legs.
11. Pornography and masturbation
Both of these can lower testosterone. Furthermore, pornography is linked to depression. On the other hand, sexual activity with a real person can increase testosterone.
What are Natural Remedies for Low Testosterone?
Here are my top 10 ways to increase Testosterone and HGH:
1. Get Quality Sleep
To improve your sleep, focus on stabilizing your blood sugar with a low-carb ketogenic diet. Eliminating your exposure to light, abstaining from cell phones and computers 3 hours before bedtime, and going to bed before 10:30 p.m. to set your circadian rhythm properly help increase testosterone and HGH.
2. Take Accelerated Keto
By switching to a ketogenic diet and reducing insulin resistance, your testosterone will increase in addition to your human growth hormone. Everywhere growth hormone goes, testosterone follows. Therefore, when you increase growth hormone, you increase testosterone.
3. Take Traditional Herbal Remedies for Male Vitality
Virility Caps promotes male fertility, and is useful for impotence, poor sperm count, and poor sperm mobility
4. Take Male Forty Plus
This formula frees up bound natural testosterone to pump up energy levels, builds muscles, burns fat, facilitates better circulation, protects the prostate, improves sexual desire and performance, and balances the adrenals.
5. Supplement with Acceleradine Iodine
Iodine deficiency is linked to hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s and an imbalance of hormones.
6. Experiment with Intermittent Fasting
By squeezing your meals within a short period of time, you will reset your insulin sensitivity and increase testosterone and growth hormone.
7. Get More Vitamin D
The best way to get vitamin D is through sunlight. If you are unable to do so, you want to make sure you’re supplementing with Vitamin D and eating foods rich in vitamin D which include fatty fish, egg yolks, meat, mushrooms and cheese. All of these foods additionally help with testosterone production and are part of the ketogenic diet. It also lowers cortisol.
8. Incorporate HIIT Exercises
Exercise and especially high intensity interval training have been shown to increase testosterone and human growth hormone. I recommend doing two to three hit training sessions a week. On the other hand, over exercising or doing too much cardio can lower testosterone.
9. Add Specific Herbs
Taking herbs like Ashwagandha, Reishi Mushrooms, and the Calm Spirit formula can help lower cortisol.
10. Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods
These foods include parsley, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms. You can also take a supplement called DIM that is a concentrated version of these vegetables. They help flush the bad estrogens out of the body.
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