Testosterone also known as the male sex hormone plays a vital role in male reproduction and sexuality. Other than this, it also plays a vital role in regulating hair growth, muscle mass, level of red blood cells, bone density and sense of wellbeing in males. The levels of testosterone start declining as people age and it usually doesn’t have profound effect on them. But sometimes people may experience the symptoms associated with low testosterone such as decrease in sex drive, depressed mood, erectile dysfunction, memory loss and difficulty in concentrating.
People with low testosterone can improve their testosterone levels by testosterone replacement therapy where testosterone is provided to the person in form of pills or injections. But this is not the only way to boost up our testosterone level, there are many lifestyle changes which we can do and that will definitely result in increased production of testosterone by our body.
- Eat Fat: Fat is always considered a villain when it comes to physical wellbeing, but research has proved that fat is one of the best source of increasing your testosterone level. The study found that intake of monounsaturated and saturated fats in higher amounts boosts the testosterone level. Men who changed their diet from high fat to low fat experienced lower testosterone production and low circulating androgen level. Olive oil, avocados, almonds, peanut butter are the examples of monounsaturated fats and egg yolks, red meat, coconut oil, cheese and dark chocolates are the examples of saturated fats.
- Cholesterol Intake: Cholesterol is needed to produce sex hormones, so testosterone production also depends on amount of cholesterol in our body. If the cholesterol level is down in our body, there will be depletion in testosterone. Eating cholesterol rich food will be beneficial for testosterone production. Top cholesterol containing foods are egg yolks, red meat and sea food such as lobster, shrimp and squid.
- Consume Testosterone-Boosting Ingredients: There are ingredients like Testofen (fenugreek extract), zinc, D-aspartic acid, Vitamin D and Diindolylmethane which shows significant increase in sexual drive, performance and satisfaction in healthy adult males. These ingredients also help in maintaining the fertility in men.
- Free Weight Movements: Like as our diet helps in increasing the testosterone level, high intensity weight training also helps in stimulating the testosterone level. We must choose the right exercise and the right equipment to get the benefit of testosterone production. Exercises like squats, deadlifts and bench presses helps in jacking up the testosterone production.
- Avoid Longer Workouts: Duration of exercise plays an important role in testosterone production. If you are regularly doing lengthy workouts and with long rest periods it may hit your testosterone level. Longer workouts can lead to stress and thus buildup of cortisol which will result in decrease of testosterone level. To maximize the testosterone production, make your rest period short and workout for the duration of 60 minutes or lesser than this.
- Quality Sleep: Lack of sleep can lead to the decline in the testosterone production level and also effect the muscle mass. It was found that a good night’s sleep results in high amount of testosterone production. It is recommended to take at least 7-9 hour sleep per night to optimize the testosterone response.
- Eliminate Sugar from Diet: After the intake of sugar, our testosterone level decreases immediately because sugar leads to the high insulin level which in turn leads to low testosterone level. It is recommended to take less sugar in your diets if you are worried about your testosterone level. The total consumption of fructose should be 25 grams per day only.
- Lose Weight: Overweight men are more likely to have low testosterone production level. Reducing the sugar intake helps in losing weight and also helps in optimizing the testosterone level.
- Reduce Stress: Under stress, our body releases high level of cortisol. This hormone restricts effects of testosterone in body. If you are in stress, indulge in activities like meditation, yoga, laughter etc. to eliminate stress from your life. Less stress will be good for your general wellbeing as well as it will have an added bonus of stimulating the production of testosterone in your body.
