A few years back, I was facing a few health issues.
However, some of them were really terrifying for me, as for example:
- decreased libido;
- reduction of muscle mass and strength;
- no secondary sexual characteristics;
- vitality decrease;
- fatigue and irritability;
- depression;
- reduced ability to concentrate;
- reduction of mental and memory abilities;
- slow metabolism, which led to an increase of fat deposits.
So, I asked the doctor what’s the problem and he told me that my list of symptoms is caused by a single problem – low level of testosterone. I googled on the Internet and found out that in fact, many (and mostly) young men often have low testosterone levels. First of all, it is connected with unhealthy lifestyle: the abuse of bad habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol, unbalanced diet, insufficient sleep, lack of physical activity, etc. That is why people have problems with health and sex hormones production.
Then, I connected my symptoms with the specific problem and started to solve it. Young healthy men don’t usually have all these problems that I have just described above. Moreover, there is no doubt that testosterone is the most important hormone for us men!
That meant it was high time to figure out how to naturally increase testosterone levels.
Why naturally? I am not a fan of excessive drug effects on the human body, and try to minimize the things that are unnatural for the body. So, I opted for natural increasing of the hormone levels. The first thing I noticed while reading a great number of articles on the Internet was nutrition.
Way #1: Nutrition
Without proper nutrition, you can forget about testosterone at all. I found out why and I’m going to tell you about it. Production of hormones is a complex process that involves the work of many organs. In order to start this process, it is necessary to provide the body with essential substances. This process can be compared to the fire: to make a big fire, you need a lot of firewood – without them there will be no fire. The same applies to the production of androgens – the whole group of male hormones. And so, after analyzing the information available on the internet I have compiled the following list of recommendations.
First of all, control the intake of necessary substances for the synthesis of testosterone:
- Minerals. The main building block of testosterone molecule is zinc. Without this element the synthesis of testosterone is almost impossible, so the first thing for you to pay attention to is sufficient quantity of zinc in the body. Zinc is found in seafood (squid, anchovies), fish (salmon, trout, saury), nuts (walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, almonds), pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
Other essential minerals involved in the biosynthesis of testosterone are selenium, calcium and magnesium;
- Vitamins. Of course, a healthy body needs all the vitamins. But a special role in the synthesis of testosterone play such vitamins as C, E, F (omega-3 and omega-6) and vitamins of group B. Vitamin C, F, and B are involved in the synthesis of testosterone and vitamin E protects the molecule of testosterone from the decay. These vitamins are found in citrus fruits, rosehips, black currant, fish oil, avocados, nuts;
- Proteins, fats, carbohydrates consist the basis for human nutrition and activity, and without which no biochemical process is possible, including the testosterone synthesis. For example, fats are a source of cholesterol, which is required for the synthesis. That is why men have to include meat in their diet. However, it should be mentioned that it is necessary to eat non-fatty meat. I’ve recently worked out a list of 19 greatest protein sources that are low in calories.
- Drink clean water. Depending on your body weight, you should drink at least 2 liters of ordinary purified water. Increased water consumption is necessary if you are actively engaged in sports. And remember, soda, store juices, soft drinks and other drinks are not water.
This information I’ve found on the most authoritative sites on the subject of nutrition. If you are too lazy to read the whole text, I made a simple list of foods that men should include in their diet: seafood, nuts, beef, eggs, fruits and vegetables, fish.
Food that inhibits the production of testosterone
My experience with low testosterone level taught me that there is also the second aspect, which directly affects the level of testosterone in the male body. There are some products that inhibit the production of testosterone. If a man wants to be healthy and strong, he must exclude from the diet the following products:
- Fast carbohydrates (cakes, pastries, white bread, chocolate, sweets, sweet products);
- Fatty foods. Such foods contain excess fat, which is actively deposited by our body, forming overweight;
- Sparkling and fizzy drinks. They contain a lot of sugar and are extremely unhealthy.
Another important thing which I noticed while reading the articles concerning this issue was weight normalization.
Overweight men are known to have a lower level of sex hormones, and it’s a proven fact. If you see an overweight man, you can be sure without any tests that he has a low percentage of hormones.
The fact is that the adipose tissue converts male sex hormones into women hormones estrogens, and the more estrogens, the less testosterone. However, you may not bother with abstruse words – the main idea, which you must understand is this: “The more overweight you are, the less testosterone you have.”
If you feel like you could lose a few pounds, here are my 8 simple and fun ways to lose weight fast.
Another great number of articles devoted to the topic of natural increase of the testosterone level in men is – Physical activity and exercises with weights.
Way #2: Physical activity and exercises with weights
It has been proven that moderate exercises with weights help to increase testosterone levels. What has always distinguished the male from the female? It is an ordinary man’s strength compared with the women’s one. Therefore, competent training with weights will increase the male hormone. But the main thing is not to overdo it, as you can get the opposite result.
Basic rules of training with weights to boost testosterone levels:
- The duration of a workout should not exceed an hour. It means nearly 10-15 minutes of warm-up, 45-50 minutes of weight training. Why you should do so, I’m going to explain below;
- The number of workouts should not exceed 2-3 in a week. Between workouts you need to rest for at least one day, for muscle recovery and strength of the body;
- Train your large muscles: the back, legs, and chest. Always include basic strength exercises such as squats, bench press, deadlift into a training program to increase testosterone;
- The weight of the barbell should be suitable for you to do 8-10 reps. The last repetition should always demand maximum effort.
These four basic criteria that must be followed if you want to keep your hormones at a maximum level. These rules are not something fictitious – they are proven by research. For example, the duration of the training shouldn’t exceed a specified amount of time, because after 45-50 minutes of training, the production of catabolic hormone cortisol, which is an antagonist of testosterone, is started. Up to that time testosterone is actively produced.
A significant increase in hormonal background is performed by training of large muscle groups. If you believe that the active training of biceps, triceps, calves of the legs, forearms and press will provide you with the right level of the hormone, you greatly mistaken. Only the training of large muscle groups is capable of doing it.
Workout samples:
Workout 1:
- T-bar row.
- Seated cable row.
- Lying barbell or dumbbells row.
- Dumbbell flyes on a bench.
- The French bench press.
Workout 2:
- Squats.
- Straightening of the legs on the simulator.
- Standing Straight-Bar Military Press.
- Seated bench dumbbell row.
- Dumbbells or barbell biceps curl.
Take into consideration the basic rules listed above while training. Take care of proper nutrition after workouts.
And once again, in order not to bother you with much buzz words – train large muscle groups, but not for too long, otherwise it will be more exhausting than useful.
And another huge factor, which affects the testosterone level, is giving up bad habits.
Way #3: Give up bad habits to boost sexual drive
After alcohol gets into the body, it converts the molecule of testosterone into estrogen. Moreover, it causes systemic harm to the body, which cannot but negatively affect the development of hormones. Moreover, alcohol volumes do not play an important role in its negative effect. For example, beer contains analogues of female sex hormones that dramatically affect the hormonal background. The exception may be a natural wine. A couple of glasses a week will not cause much harm to your health.
However, if a decision to completely give up liquor is not suitable for you, try at least not to abuse them. Also, get yourself familiar with the amount of calories different alcohol beverages have – and what kinds of alcohol beverages it is safer to drink (if you can’t give up the bad habit).
To sum up, that is what I can say. Tell me, what is not affected by bad habits? There is no need to say abstruse words, because everything is quite clear. Bad habits bring harm.
Way #4: Are you sleeping well?
The last topic that I will cover today is healthy sleep. Not long ago, I’ve covered 9 highly effective tips to make you sleep like a baby.
In a phase of deep sleep most of the sex hormones are produced, and if you don’t sleep enough, all the measures taken to increase testosterone levels, will be reduced to zero. Healthy sleep should last more than 8 hours and should take place in complete silence and darkness. That is why it is so important to provide these conditions.
Here as well, everything is clear. Even a child knows that a lack of sleep is bad, while sleeping well is useful. It is a simple, but important recommendation to every person, not just to men suffering from low testosterone level.
Here are also a few of my personal recommendations:
- Try to be sexually active.
- Avoid stressful situations.
- Try to win. Testosterone – is the hormone of winners!
Conclusion
If you are too lazy to read the whole article – just read the conclusion 🙂
First and foremost, you need to get rid of the factors which reduce the production of sex hormones, and then focus on testosterone increase. You should increase testosterone comprehensively, in such a way the effectiveness of the treatment and prevention of androgen deficiency will be much higher. I seriously followed all the rules mentioned above, and got the result – I have returned to the normal level of testosterone, and fully got rid of all the symptoms that I mentioned earlier.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you felt like your libido drastically decreased, or you had a significant reduction of muscle mass and strength? Or have you ever been extremely fatigued and irritated by pretty much everything? Or have you experienced all of this at once? If you have, it’d be best to check your testosterone levels.
If you are one of us – the winners, who have overcome the so-annoying low testosterone level problem – let me know in the comments below what methods have you used to raise your testosterone levels?
