Hormones and the way they interact with our bodies are complicated, to say the least. Not only are they present in everyone, whether it’s testosterone or estrogen, but they control many different aspects of our bodies.
More specifically, hormones work as messengers to our organs and muscles, basically giving them tasks to do.
The chances are, you’re aware that testosterone is known to be a masculine hormone and gives us more manly features, higher sex drive, and more muscle mass and strength.
We all have varying levels of this hormone, which can be influenced by many different things, from diet and lifestyle to genetics and illness.
Women also have small amounts of testosterone, just as we have some estrogen in our bodies.
The main form of estrogen in men is called estradiol, and this helps to regulate our sex drives, defend against erectile dysfunction and help to create sperm.
Why Do Men Need Testosterone?
As mentioned above, testosterone is what makes us more masculine.
The main function is to help men develop sexually through puberty and maintain libido and sexual functions, and it also influences masculine physical features as boys grow into adulthood.
Remember that peach fuzz beard you grew in high school and the near-constant awkward voice breaks?
Those were all being influenced by the testosterone in your body as you became more masculine over the years.
Today, while testosterone isn’t making dramatic changes to your physiology, it still plays a massive part in the growth and development of muscle and bone, as well as strengthening them too.
Testosterone helps your body absorb protein and encourage the growth of muscle, which makes those sessions at the gym all the more worthwhile.
What Happens When Men Have Low Testosterone?
When you have low testosterone levels, spending all that time lifting weights at the gym will be nowhere near as impactful as a man lifting lighter weights but with more testosterone in his body.
Remember, muscle growth is about how your body handles repair and growth post-workout.
The weights merely damage and tear muscle fibers, and you need heavier weights to continue to damage those fibers as your muscles get used to it.
As well as having reduced muscle growth, depending on the testosterone level, you might even experience a lack of sex drive, changes in your physical appearance making you appear less masculine, a loss of muscle mass, erectile dysfunction, infertility and weight gain, among other things.
Who Can It Affect And What Can Cause It?
Low testosterone can affect any single one of us. However, as we get older, our testosterone levels naturally drop, which accounts for muscle loss and problems with our libido.
Other than aging, other things can impact our testosterone production, including:
- Obesity
- Excessive use of drugs and alcohol
- Anabolic steroids
- Medication
- High cholesterol and blood pressure
Of course, any of these could apply to you, no matter your age, meaning you could suffer from low T levels.
Certain medical conditions harm testosterone production, such as cancer, diabetes, and AIDS. Specific injuries, especially to the testicles, can also offset testosterone production.
What Are The Signs?
While reduced sex drive and muscle loss are pretty big giveaways as to whether or not you have low testosterone, there are plenty of other symptoms that it’s worth being aware of.
If you experience anything from the following list, it may be worth looking into this further:
- Quick hair loss
- Tiredness and a lack of alertness
- Brain fog
- Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety
- Increased weight gain
- Infertility
- Insomnia
- Enlarged breast tissue
Of course, having these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean your T levels are low. Some of these can be caused by lifestyle and diet, or even just genetics, such as baldness.
If you have a number of these and have been concerned about your testosterone levels anyway, it’s worth speaking to your doctor about it for some peace of mind.
If it turns out you do have a reduced level of testosterone, though, there are plenty of things that can be done to fix this.
What Can You Do If You Suspect You Have Low Testosterone?
First of all, your doctor will be able to test your hormone levels and identify potential causes for this change.
If any serious problems have been ruled out, you’ll then be able to focus on sorting out your hormone balance, whether it’s with help from your doctor or off your own steam.
Replenishing your own T levels is a long-term task, though, so don’t expect overnight changes. Instead, you may have to make significant changes to your lifestyle and diet to start bringing everything back into balance.
What you shouldn’t forget, though, is that this can happen to any one of us and is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
Remember, our bodies are biological machines that sometimes just requires a bit of repair and refinement.
However, committing to this process is on you and deciding to do something about it requires a level of integrity, strength, and self-discipline.
Are There Any Medical Treatments?
In some cases, especially where your T levels have dropped dramatically via health problems or genetic disorders, you can receive medical treatment in an attempt to rebalance your hormone levels.
In this case, it would be testosterone replacement therapy.
However, you must know the risks of this treatment, as it may be worth trying a more natural route instead.
Several side effects can come with testosterone replacement treatments, including minor things such as skin irritation from transdermal patches and injections to more serious risks such as prostate cancer and blood clots.
However, where nothing else works, this hormone replacement can be incredibly beneficial for men with severely low testosterone levels.
It can improve your mood, muscle mass, and sex drive quickly and effectively, although this treatment doesn’t always help everyone.
Some men report no change whatsoever, while some find that it improves their lives dramatically.
How Can You Remedy This At Home?
When it comes to finding ways to treat low T levels at home, there are plenty of things you can try.
One of the main ways our bodies produce testosterone is via exercise, as this hormone’s job is to send signals to our muscles to repair and rebuild stronger after a workout.
More importantly, the heavier the weights you lift, the more damage you’ll do to your muscle fibers and the more testosterone your body will produce to help grow those fibers back bigger and better.
So, if you want to encourage higher T levels, start piling on those weights and stepping up your game.
Of course, be careful not to hurt yourself by overdoing it—the last thing you want is to be out of action for weeks or even months with an injury.
As well as weight lifting, you should consider throwing in some high-intensity interval training or HIIT to your routine.
When you’re not lifting and have a day off to repair and recharge those muscles, do a killer cardiovascular workout such as HIIT or going for a run.
This is also a great way to keep your heart healthy and reduce your heart disease and stroke risk.
As well as exercising, our diet can have a massive impact on our testosterone production as particular macro and micronutrients can encourage testosterone production.
Foods You Can Eat To Boost Testosterone
Talking about food is probably one of our favourite things to do.
You can add so many different things to your diet to boost those hormone levels without needing to visit obscure stores or buy strange natural medicines online.
The following list of foods are just some that can help to increase your testosterone levels and are all easy to get a hold of:
- Oysters
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Tuna
- Salmon
- Avocado
- Eggs
- Lean Red Meat
However, when it comes to foods like red meat and eggs, it’s essential to eat these in moderation and to try to only eat lean cuts of meat due to the higher levels of bad cholesterol from saturated fats in non-lean cuts.
Cholesterol is good for your T levels, but too much can result in higher risks of heart disease and stroke caused by hardened arteries and high blood pressure.
What Happens If You Have Too Much Testosterone?
The chances are you’re never going to experience this. Aggression and sexual promiscuity are commonly linked, falsely, to high testosterone.
Unfortunately, you can’t blame your attitude on your testosterone levels—that’s just a sign of poor self-control.
Usually, those with too much testosterone have been athletes who have abused anabolic steroids to cheat their way to being ripped.
This comes with some serious risks, and we highly recommend avoiding these at all costs.
Excessive testosterone can shrink your testicles, lower your sperm count, increase your blood pressure and the risks of disease that come with that cause imbalances to your mood and even impair your judgement.
Our bodies need balance in everything from nutrients to hormones to operate at peak efficiency, so avoid straying down this path.
It isn’t worth it.
If you suffer from low testosterone symptoms or other issues as you age, you need to change your lifestyle and consult your physician.
You can then get your life back on track and enjoy the energy to do the things you love.
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