When you think of testosterone, what comes to mind? Macho men? Aggressive, impatient, type A behavior? Road rage? Violence?
Testosterone’s role in bad behavior is largely a myth. What’s more, testosterone plays other important roles in health and disease that may surprise you. For example, did you know that testosterone is a key player in prostate cancer? Or, that women need testosterone, too?
There’s more to testosterone than guys behaving badly. Learn all about the sex hormone here, including its primary benefits.
What is testosterone?
Testosterone is a sex hormone. Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers. They travel from one organ or another place in the body, usually through the bloodstream, and affect many different bodily processes.
Testosterone is the major sex hormone in males. It is essential to the development of male growth and masculine characteristics.
Signals sent from the brain to the pituitary gland at the base of the brain control the production of testosterone in men. The pituitary gland then relays signals to the testes to produce testosterone. A “feedback loop” closely regulates the amount of hormone in the blood. When testosterone levels rise too high, the brain sends signals to the pituitary to reduce production.
Testosterone plays multiple important roles in the body, such as:
development of the penis and testes
deepening of the voice during puberty
appearance of facial and pubic hair starting at puberty; later in life, it may play a role in balding
muscle size and strength
bone growth and strength
sex drive (libido)
sperm production.
Testosterone and women
If you thought testosterone was only important in men, you’d be mistaken. Testosterone is produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. It’s one of several androgens (male sex hormones) in females. These hormones are thought to have important effects on
ovarian function
bone strength
sexual behavior, including normal libido (although evidence is not conclusive).
The proper balance between testosterone (along with other androgens) and estrogen is important for the ovaries to work normally. While the specifics are uncertain, it’s possible that androgens also play an important role in normal brain function (including mood, sex drive and cognitive function).
How would low testosterone effect your workout?
Testosterone is essential for building muscle, so if you have low T, no matter how hard you try to build muscle mass and strength you won’t see any results. This can be very frustrating. It may also make your exercise recovery more difficult resulting in under-recovery.
Low testosterone can also make losing fat more difficult as testosterone helps to burn fat. In a recent study, testosterone-deficient men who received testosterone replacement therapy lost fat, not lean muscle.
Low testosterone can also affect your workout by simply preventing you from getting to the gym. Symptoms of low testosterone include lack of motivation, fatigue and depression. It is hard to get to the gym when you can barely get off the couch.
How you can Boost it?
you can take supplements like:
Zinc: Zinc is an essential mineral for your healthy body function. Zinc deficiency has been linked to low testosterone levels. Zinc may promote testosterone production in the testes. Long-term zinc supplementation may lead to increased testosterone levels.
Magnesium: Taking magnesium as a supplement has been shown to increase free and total testosterone values. This may work for both sedentary people and athletes. People who exercise had higher testosterone increases.
Vitamin D: Your body naturally produces vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight. However, people who don’t have much exposure to sunlight may be deficient in vitamin D. In a yearlong study, 65 men who took 3,300 IU of vitamin D daily increased their testosterone levels by 20% over those who didn’t.
Ashwagandha: Also called Indian ginseng, people have used this plant for thousands of years in traditional medicine, particularly the Indian practice called Ayurveda. It’s taken for many conditions, including anxiety and insomnia, and to improve male fertility.
Tongkat ali: Is an herbal remedy that has been a part of traditional Southeast Asian medicine for centuries.
It’s often used to treat a variety of ailments, including fevers, erectile dysfunction, and bacterial infections.
Studies suggest that tongkat ali may boost male fertility, relieve stress, and improve body composition.
Natural Testosterone Boosters
Supplements aren’t the only way to increase your testosterone levels naturally. Several lifestyle interventions may boost your testosterone and better your overall health, including:
Exercise: The best types of exercise to increase your testosterone levels are weightlifting and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Building muscle mass triggers your body to produce testosterone. By contrast, endurance exercises like cycling for hours or running marathons can actually reduce your testosterone level.
Maintain a healthy weight: If you’re obese, you’re four times more likely to benefit from testosterone replacement than non-obese men. Obesity is directly linked to low testosterone levels. Aging 10 years increases your odds of having low testosterone by 36%, but a 4-inch increase in waist size may increase your chances by up to 75%.
Diet: There’s evidence that both a low-fat diet and a diet high in foods that promote inflammation, like saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugary carbs, can lower testosterone levels. So it makes sense that a testosterone-boosting diet should be full of lean protein, healthy fats, and foods high in antioxidants, like berries and leafy greens. You may also want to include foods rich in the natural testosterone boosters zinc (oysters, beef, oats), magnesium (nuts, seeds, spinach, beans), and vitamin D (fatty fish, fortified milk).