Tips To Naturally Boost Testosterone Levels In Men

Testosterone is the hormone that gives men their manliness. It is responsible for the deep voice, big muscles, and body hair, amongst other things. Unfortunately, as men age, their testosterone levels start to decline. This can lead to a whole host of problems, such as low energy levels, loss of muscle mass, and decreased sex drive. The good news is, there are a number of things you can do to naturally boost your testosterone levels. In this blog post, we’ll give you some of the most popular tips.

How Does Testosterone Affect the Body?

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone. It plays a key role in reproductive and sexual development, as well as affecting muscle mass, bone density, and red blood cell production. Testosterone levels decline with age, which can lead to some common symptoms such as loss of muscle mass and decreased libido. In order to maintain optimal health, it is important to keep testosterone levels as high as they will naturally go.

Testosterone is produced in the testes, a small gland near the base of the penis. The main way testosterone is distributed throughout the body is through the blood, but it also travels through other pathways. Testosterone levels are highest in young men, usually peaking between the ages of 20-25, and then gradually declines over time. This process is sometimes referred to as the male menopause, even though the reduction is far less abrupt than in women.

Signs of Low Testosterone

There are some telltale signs that men experience as a result of low testosterone levels. These may include:

Difficulty Building Muscle

Men with low testosterone levels tend to have an upward challenge when it comes to building muscle and developing strength. This is because testosterone plays an important role in the growth and development of lean muscle mass.

Testosterone is, after all, the primary natural anabolic used for hypertrophy.

Decreased Libido

Testosterone is responsible for regulating sexual desire in men. Low testosterone levels can lead to a decrease in libido both mentally and physically, making it more difficult to become aroused and have an erection.

While reduced blood flow is another primary cause of ED, when that is addressed and the problem is still not rectified, usually the culprit is a low testosterone level.

Fatigue or Decreased Energy Levels

Having low testosterone can lead to feeling exhausted all the time, even after getting a full night’s sleep. This is because testosterone influences energy levels and can make it more difficult to get out of bed in the morning or have the drive to exercise and stay physically active.

Depression, Mood Swings & Irritability

Having low testosterone can cause men to become easily irritated, experience mood swings, and even suffer from depression. The mental health effects of low testosterone can be just as impactful and damaging as the physical changes it causes.

Reduced Fertility & Sperm Count

Testosterone is an essential hormone for male fertility, as it plays a key role in sperm production. Yet testosterone is responsible for more than just sperm production. Testosterone levels dictate the development of the male testes, regulate reproductive behavior such as arousal and libido, and mediate growth factors that enhance spermatogenesis and semen maturation.

In other words, testosterone is essential to ensuring the health of both the cells responsible for creating sperm and the overall ecology that influences their numbers. Imbalances in these can lead to infertility or decreased fertility.

As such, evaluating testosterone levels before attempting conception is an important step in understanding fertility potential and developing tailored support strategies if needed. In contrast to many female hormones that fluctuate during the reproductive years, maintaining steady testosterone levels is important for a man's fertility because any changes can affect his sperm concentration and motility leading to infertility issues such as erectile dysfunction and low sex drive.

Increased Body Fat

Unfortunately, low testosterone is also associated with higher body fat levels. Testosterone plays an important role in metabolism, helping the body to use energy more efficiently. Testosterone also helps build muscle mass, and muscle burns calories more effectively than fat. Low testosterone can lead to muscle loss, which reduces the rate at which calories are burned and makes it easier for fat stores to accumulate over time.

Additionally, low testosterone can slow down calorie burning during exercise, making it more difficult to shed those extra pounds even with regular physical activity. Overall, it’s clear that maintaining healthy levels of testosterone is essential for proper metabolism and keeping body fat in check.

Natural Ways to Boost Testosterone Levels

Weightlifting

Weight lifting is well known for having a positive effect on testosterone levels, but the actual mechanism behind this effect may not be as widely understood. Testosterone is controlled in the body by an endocrine feedback loop known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.

Basically, when testosterone levels dip below a certain threshold, this information is sent to the hypothalamus, which then triggers the production of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). This GnRH then signals to both the pituitary and gonads, stimulating them to secrete testosterone. Resistance exercise such as weight lifting activates receptors within muscle tissue that inhibit this system of control.

This inhibition can cause testosterone values to increase for several hours after a workout. In addition, lifting weights also increases IGF-1 levels in the blood which helps stimulate new muscle growth and augment the release of LH from the pituitary gland resulting in higher testosterone production.

Resistance exercise performed at a high intensity and at 80-90% of your 1RM appear to elicit the greatest gains in testosterone. For this reason, it makes sense to ensure your support strength and lean muscle gains by using a smart supplement such as our Foundation, a combination of creatine and Peak ATP.

As we can see, there are a number of complex interactions happening within the body that help explain how weight lifting boosts our hormonal balance with an increase in testosterone production. However, further research is needed to fully understand all these dynamic processes at work. 

Getting Enough Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for maintaining good health, and recent research suggests that it can have an important effect on testosterone levels. The mechanism behind this is complex, but in brief, the body releases hormones as it is falling asleep and these act on the testes to regulate testosterone production.

During restorative and prolonged periods of deep sleep - such as REM sleep - certain neurotransmitters that inhibit hormone production are suppressed, allowing for an increase in testosterone levels.

A decrease in direct sunlight exposure has also been linked to increased levels of melatonin which helps combat stress-induced changes in hormone production by improving the body's ability to regulate its release of cortisol.

That being said, sleeping too much has been found to have an adverse effect and cause a decrease in testosterone levels. In order to get the right balance of restful sleep and maintain optimal testosterone levels, it is advisable to aim for between seven and nine hours every night. In doing so you can ensure your body receives the necessary rest while avoiding any drastic fluctuations in your hormone levels. This way, you'll reap all the benefits of enhanced physical performance and improved muscle mass that comes with higher testosterone.

You Need Saturated Fat

Saturated fat gets a really bad rap sheet. However, while it is a possible harbinger of cardiovascular issues, eating saturated fat remains an important part of any healthy diet and is especially beneficial for maintaining a healthy level of testosterone production in the body.

One way that eating saturated fat can help facilitate these processes is by increasing cholesterol levels. Cholesterol influences testosterone production by acting as an essential building block in cellular membranes that control hormone flow within cells.

Additionally, it helps to produce enzymes that help to convert cholesterol into testosterone. Therefore, eating a moderate amount of saturated fat is an important part of hormone maintenance - it supports adequate levels of cholesterol necessary for efficient enzymatic activity so that cells can optimize hormonal flows.

Make sure you never adopt dietary practices that seek to eliminate this fat from the diet completely, or your hormone levels will tank in the process.

Increase Zinc Intake

Did you know that zinc is one of the most important nutrients in men's health? This is especially true in men who work out and are sexually active, as loss occurs at a high rate in these demographics.

It is well-known that zinc has many benefits for the body, and greater zinc consumption has a positive effect on testosterone levels. When consumed in moderation, zinc helps to stimulate luteinizing hormones in the testes, which is responsible for controlling testosterone production.

Luteinizing hormone does this by sending signals to cells in the testes that start the process of producing more testosterone. This increased testosterone production can then provide more energy and focus while also improving male fertility.

Zinc also helps to block aromatase activity in certain tissues, leading to higher amounts of free testosterone circulating in the body. Intriguingly, it appears that consuming too much zinc can actually lead to lower testosterone levels, so it is important to strike a balance when supplementing with zinc. Knowing how zinc affects testosterone production can allow individuals to optimize their health and wellness through smart supplement choices and balanced diets. Intake of around 25-50mg daily is recommended for testosterone optimization.

Get More Vitamin D

Vitamin D has long been known to be important for health and happiness, but it has recently come to light that it can also affect testosterone levels. Scientists have studied the mechanisms behind this connection and determined that vitamin D works in tandem with a protein called vitamin D receptor (VDR). VDR is present throughout the body—particularly in testicular tissue—and binds with the hormone responsible for sperm production. By activating the VDR protein, vitamin D increases tissue sensitivity and encourages testosterone production, leading to increased testosterone levels in men. Additionally, studies have shown that higher levels of serum vitamin D are associated with higher concentrations of testosterone in otherwise healthy men.

We recommend every man take a Vitamin D supplement, whether they are exposed to glorious sunshine all year round, or not.

This is because deficiencies occur even in men who routinely get enough sun, so why take the chance?

2000IU taken daily in warmer climates, and up to 5000IU in cold climates is a good plan.

Reduce Beer Consumption

We know, many guys would never sacrifice their brew of choice, which is why we opted to go for a reduction, instead of restriction.

Beer is typically made from and contains phytoestrogenic ingredients, which have a negative effect on testosterone levels.

Studies have found that beer can have a negative effect on testosterone and that the decrease in serum testosterone is directly correlated to the number of beers ingested.

If you’re looking to up your T-levels, reducing your beer intake may be an easy way to make it happen. Try limiting yourself to drinking at most, once per week, and going less than that is even better.

Control Your Stressors

If you've been a regular reader of the blog for any amount of time, you would have routinely seen how often we advocate for stress management.

Stress, and its associated manifestations, are bad for the body (at least, the chronic levels we are exposed to on a daily basis).

You need to do what you can to pull the reins in on stress, especially since testosterone and cortisol have a negatively inverse relationship.

What this means is that as one goes up, the other goes down (hence, stress up, test down).

Final Words

Maintaining a high testosterone level should be on every man's mind, whether he's 75, 50, or 25. That's because poor lifestyle and dietary habits can chip away at this precious resource and leave you feeling horrible for your relative age.

There are dozens of specific foods, and other tips that you can try to further boost testosterone levels, but the tips above are a great starting point. Once you've got them down, you can always experiment further with other supplements and dietary/lifestyle habits to take your performance and health up another notch.

Just remember that balance is key—you don't want to overdo any of these things in an attempt to boost T-levels. Too much of anything, even good things, can be a bad thing in the end.