Boosting Testosterone Levels

Do I supplement testosterone, or can it be done ‘naturally’?

 

It is a commonly accepted concept in medicine that by improving your general health you will be much more resilient and resistant to disease and illness, as your body has the tools required to heal, repair and recover much more effectively than if you were unhealthy. 

This can now also be seen when it comes to male hormone health, and more specifically testosterone. 

Treatments like Testosterone Replacement Therapy are very effective at correcting levels of testosterone in men who have deficiencies, however it is always more desirable to do whatever you can to raise the levels through more conservative means such as lifestyle changes, diet, stress management and so forth first, before considering some form of replacement therapy, rather than simply approaching TRT as a silver bullet fix-all. 

Now in many cases of low testosterone, your healthcare expert may advise that you do both, supplementing testosterone in some manner, as well as optimizing your health, as in many cases it is unlikely you will recover a totally ‘normal’ balance of testosterone levels through conservative means only, due mostly to the huge amount of external stressors and potential historical factors such as substance use or abuse and so forth, however it will definitely help establish a more natural and healthy overall physiology, and there are obviously other positive results to consider from becoming healthier. 

 

 

Let’s check the numbers.

 

A recent US based study performed as part of the Diabetes Prevention Program has shown that it is actually possible to increase testosterone levels in overweight men by reducing weight, so this is one thing you should consider if you plan on embarking on a plan to boost testosterone. 

In a nutshell, this study showed that men who were overweight, and demonstrating signs of prediabetes, demonstrated lower levels of testosterone overall. The men were split into 3 groups, with one group given a medication designed to regulate blood sugar but no dietary changes, one group given a placebo, and one group prescribed ‘lifestyle changes’ which included 150 minutes of exercise per week and reduced calorie intake. 

The men in the lifestyle group lost an average of 7.8kg over the year-long study, and the prevalence of low testosterone levels in this group showed a 46% decrease, which indicated an increase in testosterone levels in these men, directly correlated to the loss in weight and decrease in waist measurement. 

This is a very positive finding to support the concept that by increasing general health you can positively affect specific markers such as testosterone levels. 

Also, as mentioned, don’t forget the other benefits of losing weight not explored in this study, where exercising and managing your calorie intake can also improve cardiovascular health, bone density, metabolism, cell autophagy, repair and recovery to name but a few, all of which can lead to increased energy and motivation needed to make further lifestyle adjustments. 

So, using this study as an example, if you are overweight and have demonstrated low testosterone levels which are negatively affecting your health, it is important to first examine your general health, fitness and body composition status to see if you can begin to correct or at least support the correction of any imbalances in your hormone levels with some basic dietary, exercise and stress management alterations. 

You can read an article discussing the study in question here.

If you would like any more information on testosterone, TRT, TOT or male health in general, please don’t hesitate to contact NuaCell, and you can read more here.