Natural Ways to Boost Your Testosterone Levels

Testosterone is a hormone essential for men’s health. You need it to maintain muscle mass, build lean mass, help improve bone density and keep sex drive alive.

Production of testosterone is highest while men are young adults and teenagers. As men get older, production drops slightly each year. Here are a few helpful and simple on how to increase testosterone naturally.

Sleep is the first line of defense against dropping your testosterone. According to Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago, “low testosterone levels are associated with reduced well being and vigour” and that “as research progresses, low sleep duration and poor sleep quality are increasingly recognised as endocrine disruptors.”

In Van Cauter’s study, ten men from the University of Chicago were tested to determine how sleep influences testosterone levels. Getting only five hours of sleep reduced testosterone by 10 to 15%.

A recent study of 891 middle-aged men determined that low testosterone levels are most common among overweight men and decreasing weight can improve testosterone levels. The study set up a lifestyle modification group that exercised and changed their diet to lose weight. After one year, the group lost 8kgs on average and had increased testosterone. The rate of low testosterone in the group decreased from 20% to 11% over the course of the year.

Zinc deficiency is an overlooked problem all over the world. A study in the academic research journal Nutrition tested the results of zinc restriction in the diet of 40 normal men. The study determined that lack of zinc had negative consequences on testosterone production. After 20 weeks of restriction, the test group with zinc restriction experienced significant reduction in testosterone. Zinc supplementation increased testosterone. You can find a variety of natural sources of zinc including oysters, meats and beans to help you increase testosterone naturally. Just avoid the vitamins and supplements as they will do more harm than good.

There are foods that increase testosterone and then there’s the rest. Diets high in sugar sap testosterone producing ability. The Endocrine Society discussed the negative relationship between high levels of dietary sugar and testosterone by reflecting on a study conducted by Lisa Caronia a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital. In her study, men who were given a glucose sugar solution experienced decreases of testosterone as high as 25%. The study included men with normal health as well as men with pre-diabetes and type-2 diabetes. Regardless of health status, sugar consistently reduced testosterone.

Exercise is one of the best ways to boost testosterone production. A study of resistance training indicated that weight lifting increases testosterone and growth hormone production. Additional research, however, has indicated that some forms of exercise – like long distance running or cardiovascular exercise of long duration – can decrease testosterone levels. If you are looking to raise your testosterone, exercise is an essential natural tool. You need to pick your exercises wisely! To naturally increase testosterone, choose short resistance-based exercises.

• Bone density

• Fat distribution

• Muscle strength and mass

• Red blood cell production

• Sex drive

• Sperm production

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