Little Sour Taste Might Help You
When it comes to boosting testosterone, its not always about the biosynthesis, sometimes preventing the factors that lower t-hormone might also help.
Vitamin C is one such nutrient that can lower the cortisol, which is a stress hormone that can inhibit the circulating testosterone.
What else is better than citrus fruits to unleash the magic of vitamin C?
Fruits like orange, lemon, pineapple, lime, grapefruit, etc. are rich in vitamin C and adding them into your daily diet might supplement enough Vitamin C to suppress cortisol.
Also, citrus fruits can reduce estrogen production, which is another factor that might hinder testosterone bioavailability.
Foods That Increase Testosterone And Lower Estrogen
If you have too much estrogen and not enough testosterone, you can solve two problems at once with aromatase-inhibiting foods.
Foods That May Help Boost Testosterone
Testosterone is a sex hormone that affects:
- sperm production
- blood cell production
Testosterone declines as you age, but other factors can also cause low testosterone, including certain medications, high body-fat levels, and some health conditions .
Low testosterone, also called hypogonadism or low T, occurs when testosterone levels fall below 300 nanograms/deciliter . Low testosterone can be medically treated through testosterone replacement therapy .
Hypogonadism is very common. In fact, around 40% of men over 45 years old and 50% of men in their 80s are considered hypogonadal .
A health-promoting lifestyle, including diet, is important for maintaining optimal testosterone levels. Some studies have found that diets high in ultra-processed foods and low in nutrient-dense foods may reduce testosterone levels .
If you have low testosterone levels, follow a medical professionals recommendations. Additionally, you may consider adopting a dietary pattern rich in foods that contain nutrients important for maintaining healthy testosterone levels.
Many nutrients, including vitamin D, magnesium, and zinc, are important for maintaining optimal testosterone levels .
However, theres limited research investigating the impact of specific foods on testosterone levels.
This article covers 7 foods that are rich in nutrients that may help promote healthy testosterone levels.
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Address Any Underlying Medical Conditions
“I think something many men may not realize is that low testosterone is rarely a phenomenon on its own. It’s often linked to and potentially even caused by one or more underlying health condition that a man may not even know he has,” says Dr. Starke.
We’ve already discussed that obesity can contribute to low testosterone, but so can other common health conditions, including:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
“Low testosterone can also be caused by medications you might be taking for a health condition you already know about or a previous therapy you’ve received, like chemotherapy and radiation,” adds Dr. Starke.
Seeing and being evaluated by a doctor who specializes in men’s health can help you understand what might be causing your low testosterone.
In addition, your doctor can help you understand which of the lifestyle changes above might be most important for you, recommend testosterone treatment and/or refer you to specialists who can help treat any underlying health condition that might be contributing to your low testosterone levels.
“If you’re having issues related to low testosterone, such as weight gain and difficulty exercising due to fatigue or muscle loss, starting testosterone treatment can make your weight loss goals and lifestyle improvements much easier to achieve,” adds Dr. Starke.
Next Steps:
Cruciferous Vegetables The Super Healthy Veggie: Foods To Increase Testosterone #3
- Eating cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, garden cress, Bok Choy and Brussels sprouts is a very good natural way to increase your testosterone levels.
- These veggies pack in Vitamins A, C, E and K, along with minerals such as Magnesium and Zinc. These nutrients take part in some biological processes that work in tandem to raise your testosterone level. They lower the stress hormone cortisol and help your endocrine system, thus speeding up testosterone production.
- Not only do these veggies increase your testosterone levels. They help you get rid of the excess estrogens from your body. Excess estrogens in the body block testosterone production by your endocrine system. When chewed, cruciferous veggies release a compound called Indole-3-carbinol. This compound converts excess estrogens into safer forms and thus helps you reduce those ugly man boobs.
- These veggies have a high fiber content, which improves your digestion. The excess fiber in your diet results in a healthy gut, which in turn aids weight loss. This weight loss also helps to boost the testosterone production in your body.
- You can cook these veggies in many ways, which is not true most of the time for your regular healthy veggies. You can have them tossed up with salad dressing in an Italian salad. Or mix them in a nice hot chicken soup for those chilly December days. These could just be the natural testosterone boosters you have been looking for all along.
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Increased Strength Of The Musculoskeletal System
Optimal levels of testosterone in the body help to improve the bone density. As you age, your bomewrun the risk of developing osteoporosis, a serious condition which makes the bone surface porous, thereby losing their strength. The presence of testosterone helps in avoiding this condition and retains the strength of the bones.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for multiple areas of your overall health and wellbeing. Research suggests that when characteristics like BMI, obesity, waist circumference, fat mass, and muscle mass fall outside certain ranges, these parameters can all contribute to lower testosterone levels .
Living a healthy lifestyle by exercising often, eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and managing stress levels may support maintaining a healthy weight and may benefit your overall health.
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Signs That You Have Low Testosterone
There are many symptoms that a man has low testosterone, and each will vary from man to man. Thats why we tend to stress getting a hormone levels test done by your doctor to know for sure how low your T levels are right now.
Knowing what level your testosterone is at right now, will help guide you forward in knowing how to adjust lifestyle and dietary habits to best improve your heart, hormone, and sexual health.
Get Plenty Of Restful High Quality Sleep
Getting good sleep is just as important for your health as diet and exercise .
Sleep quality may also have major effects on your testosterone levels. In fact, one study involving 2,295 teenage boys and men found that impaired sleep could be linked to lower levels of testosterone .
The ideal amount of sleep varies from person to person, but a small 2011 study found that sleeping only 5 hours per night was linked to a 10%15% reduction in testosterone levels .
Interestingly, one study involving older men found that increased sleep duration of up to 9.9 hours was associated with increased testosterone levels. Conversely, sleeping more than 9.9 hours was actually tied to lower testosterone levels .
Although some people seem to do fine with less sleep, most research recommends aiming for at least 7 hours of sleep every night .
Summary
Its important to get plenty of high quality sleep to maintain healthy testosterone levels and optimize overall health.
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Butter From Grass Fed Cows
Butter contains a ton of fat, and most of it is saturated.
This is both what caused it to be demonized in the past when everything had to be low in fat , and what causes it to be classified as a T boosting food today.
Testosterone is made from saturated fat and cholesterol like that found in butter.
Choose Butter from Grass Fed Cows if you want the added benefits of Vitamins A, D, and K and Zinc.
Elm & Rye Testosterone Supplement
Image courtesy Elm & Rye
Youll find that this sustainably sourced, GMO-free, and soy-free product is a fabulous addition to take when you cant get the food to increase testosterone on a regular. Be sure to check out Elm & Rye testosterone supplement in detail so that you can add it to your safe list of options to improve testosterone by 52 percent.
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Get Some Good Old Fashioned Exercise
show that total testosterone levels increase after exercising, especially after resistance training. Low testosterone levels can affect your sex drive and your mood. The good news is that exercise improves mood and stimulates brain chemicals to help you feel happier and more confident. Exercise also boosts energy and endurance, and helps you to sleep better. Fitness experts recommend 30 minutes of exercise every day.
Top 7 Foods That Boost Testosterone
Did you know the average 100-year-old Okinawan male has much higher levels of testosterone than the average American male who is 30 years younger, and today, low testosterone in males is rapidly growing? There are a few factors, including lifestyle, body weight and not eating enough foods that boost testosterone.
Maintaining the right level of testosterone can be tricky, and Im not just talking to guys here. Healthy women make up to 300 micrograms of testosterone in their ovaries and adrenal glands every day.
Like men, women with low testosterone levels often experience chronic fatigue, a stunt in their libido and a decreased sense of well-being. This truly is a hormone that everyone should keep tabs on.
However, low testosterone in men has especially become a major health issue today, and I will explain why and how you can fix.
If you have low testosterone, like many men do, these testosterone-boosting foods and lifestyle changes will help you overcome it faster.
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Exercise And Lift Weights
Exercise is one of the most effective ways to prevent many lifestyle-related diseases. Not only that but it can also boost your testosterone levels.
One 2015 study involving men with obesity found that increased physical activity was more beneficial than calorie restriction for increasing testosterone levels .
According to one literature review, the effects on testosterone levels can vary based on several factors, including the type of exercise and the training intensity .
Resistance training, such as weightlifting, has been shown to boost testosterone levels in the short term .
High intensity interval training can be very effective as well, although all types of exercise should work to some extent (
What you eat can affect levels of testosterone as well as other hormones .
Additionally, constant dieting or overeating may disrupt your testosterone levels .
Eating enough protein can help you maintain healthy testosterone levels and can aid in fat loss, which may be beneficial too .
Consuming plenty of healthy fats may also help support testosterone levels and hormone balance. Some research shows that a low fat diet could actually decrease testosterone levels .
Therefore, a nutritious, well-rounded diet based mainly on whole foods is best. A healthy balance of protein, fat, and carbs can help you optimize your hormone levels and support your overall health.
Other Natural Testosterone Boosters
In addition to consuming more foods that boost testosterone, the following lifestyle changes can help with T levels.
1. Intermittent Fasting
The first of the natural testosterone boosters is intermittent fasting.
One of the biggest intermittent fasting benefits? Its been shown to increase testosterone by nearly 200 percent or even up to 400 percent.
In addition, a study by the University of Virginia Medical School noted that growth hormone levels increased 2,000 percent over the baseline in men who ate no calories for 24 hours, and growth hormone levels are correlated with testosterone.
Intermittent fasting allows your organs to rest, especially your liver, which is so crucial for naturally balancing hormones, especially testosterone.
2. Heavy Weight Training and Interval Training
If you want to naturally boost testosterone and HGH, then combine weight training with HIIT workouts .
Go to the gym at least three days a week, and lift heavy weights. Lifting heavy weights for six to 12 reps with larger muscle groups like your quadriceps, hamstrings, back, shoulders and chest will help your body pack on the maximum amount of muscle.
Researchers at Ball State University found that strength training can induce growth hormone and testosterone release.
Burst training involves exercising at 90 percent to 100 percent of your maximum effort for a short interval in order to burn your bodys stored sugar , followed by a period of low impact for recovery.
3. Liver Detox
5. Vitamin D
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Good Fat For Testosterone
Fat is an inescapable macronutrient that has hundreds of metabolic functions starting from cell construction to complex signaling processes.
Generally, bodybuilders consume lots of meat to aid muscle development, along with which it also plays a role in increasing testosterone production.
In a study published in Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, it was found that men who consumed above-average levels of fat in a week had more testosterone production than average fat consumers.
Good fat or high density lipoprotein can lower the levels of globulin protein, which otherwise would bind to testosterone and decrease its bioavailability.
Nut family, in general, contains high levels of HDL, like walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, and others. Also, they are good sources of minerals and vitamins as well.
The whole egg is a great choice for protein as well as omega-three fatty acid, and testosterone biosynthesis promoters like zinc and HDL are abundant in egg yolk.
Fish oil, capsules or raw fish meat are great sources for good cholesterol and please mind to fry your fish in virgin olive oil as its an HDL factory itself.
What Is Testosterone And Why Is It Important
Testosterone is the main male sex hormone, produces mainly in the testicles. Quite simply, if we didn’t have testosterone, we’d all look distinctly prepubescent. While testosterone is responsible for all things we go through during puberty, it also increases the potential for muscle growth by forcing our body to increase protein synthesis, according to the Journal of Applied Physiology.
According to research, at the age of 30, testosterone production begins to drop off, resulting in:
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How To Tell If You Are Testosterone Deficient
According to the ‘What Is TDS’ campaign, hypogonadism is a condition where the testes produce an unusually low level of testosterone, or dry up altogether. Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome has many symptoms, most notably, a loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, depression, anxiety, loss of wellbeing and a decline in cognitive functions.
If you are worried your T levels are dropping, visit your GP for a blood test.
What Do The Experts Say
According to experts from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, you cannot increase natural testosterone levels without external interventions, such as supplementation.
However, there are things that you can do to help prevent your testosterone levels from dropping. Eating a diet rich in healthy fats, such as the Mediterranean diet, may help maintain your testosterone levels. A diet that is too restricted in fat may contribute to low levels, since fat is needed to make sex hormones like testosterone.
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Cocoa And Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate and cocoa products are a source of magnesium and flavonoid antioxidants. Flavonoid antioxidants can help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals and oxidative stress.
A 2020 study found flavonoids and isoflavonoids may help increase testosterone levels, though the study is small and additional evidence would be needed before forming larger conclusions .
Oysters Are The Best Testosterone Boosters
Zinc is necessary for testosterone production and overall health. If youre looking to stack up on this mineral, you should turn to oysters.
They have a massive concentration of zinc, even higher than meat or fish. These hormone-enhancing properties are likely the origin of the conventional wisdom that oysters are an aphrodisiac .
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Boneless / Skinless Chicken
Weve already talked about how increasing your protein intake will help fuel your workouts and the get you the muscle building results youre after, which then increases your testosterone levels by providing you with more lean muscle to engage.
One 3 1/2 ounce serving of chicken comes in at a respectable 31 grams of protein, but theres more to it than that.
In addition to being a rich source of protein, meat also provides an abundance of fat, and depending on the type of meat, either a lot of a little of it is saturated fat.
While saturated fats turn into cholesterol which actually helps produce testosterone, too much could contribute to heart disease and/or Type 2 Diabetes.
Boneless, Skinless Chicken contains some needed saturated fat, but far less than some red meats, making it a good choice for balancing your need to produce testosterone and your need to remain heart healthy.