Men with Low Testosterone has become a silent epidemic of sorts. This affects society, mental health, physical health, and families and relationships directly.
Today we will be covering common natural causes for low testosterone in men, and how to boost and optimize testosterone naturally.
What is Testosterone, and Why Does it Matter?
Testosterone for men is key for them to have the drive for life, have the grit to make effort feel good, and the physical competence to be the natural protectors of their friends, family, and loved ones.
When testosterone levels become chronically low, men and their character or personality tend to become severely diminished. There has been a very prevalent decrease in testosterone generationally. A study from the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism compared the testosterone levels of 60-year-olds measured in 1989 being significantly higher than 60-year-olds whose blood was tested for testosterone in 1995. Through further studies and longitudinal analysis, we can illustrate that there is a generational decrease in testosterone levels among men. Regardless of the age bracket, men today have lower testosterone when compared to men of the same age a few decades ago.
One could also postulate that this decrease in testosterone correlates with the extremely high suicidality of males. Males make up 49% of the population but account for nearly 80% of suicides since 2019.
With morbid statistics like this, it should motivate many to look towards hormone health as a possible solution.
Hormones have a direct effect on our mental and physical wellness, so the mental and physical health impacts of low testosterone in men shouldn’t be understated. What’s more, is the common factors that are contributing to the decline in testosterone to be addressed. This highlights the ability for root cause issues to have natural solutions, so thankfully we have more in our own control than most people think.
So how can we optimize and boost testosterone naturally?
How to Boost Testosterone Naturally
In order to boost our Testosterone levels naturally, it would be wise to fix common issues across our lifestyle, from activity, diet, and biological states which can prevent or subvert testosterone levels.
Step #1: Fix or Avoid Exposure and Lifestyle Factors that Lower Testosterone
Biological States that Lower Testosterone:
- Being overweight or obese
- Being overstressed or dealing with chronic stress
- Extremely low body fat percentage
- Prolonged calorie deficit
- Prolonged veganism
- Prolonged ketosis/fasting
- Very low-carb diets
- Low-fat diets
- Low self-esteem
- Negative self-talk
Foods, Drinks, and Consumables That Lower Testosterone:
- Alcohol Consumption (Especially Beer)
- Soy & Soybean Products
- Fluoride
- Aluminum derived Deodorant/Anti-perspirant
- Mint (spearmint/peppermint essential oils)
- Lavender (essential oils)
- Licorice Root
- Hydrogenated/vegetable oils/trans fats
- Bromine & brominated oils
- Processed sugar/candy/soda pop (high fructose corn syrup)
- Flax/flaxseed
- Factory Farmed and Ultra Processed Animal Foods
- Conventional dairy products
- Food pesticides & glyphosate pesticide residue
- Eating/drinking from plastics/styrofoam (tv dinners/Tupperware/heat sensitive receipt papers) – Bisphenol A (BPA), BPS, BPF, phenols, etc.
- Teflon (non-stick pan coatings)
- Aluminum Can and container plastic liners
- Polyester fabrics
- Lotions, Soaps, Sunscreens with endocrine disruptors: phthalates, parabens, PFAS, PFOA, benzene, triclosan
- Heavy metals such as lead or cadmium
- Artificial dyes such as: red 40 (allura red ac), red 3 (erythrosine), yellow 5 (tartrazine), blue 2 (indigo carmine), green 3 (fast green)
Lifestyle Habits, Activities, and Treatments That Lower Testosterone:
- Staying up late/disrupted sleep patterns
- Excessive Masturbation
- Socially Withdrawing
- Sleep apnea
- Overly sedentary life & quarantining
- Hair loss medications (DHT blockers)
- Steroid & drug use (SARMS & amphetamines)
- Overtraining
- Excessive sauna/hot tub sessions
- Marijuana
- Body Tattoo inks (heavy metals: cadmium, lead, etc.)
- Graveyard Shift/Night-work
- STI’s, STD’s, and other Venereal Diseases
- Opioids, Beta-blockers, Anti-psychotics, Statins, Antidepressants, and Anti-anxiety medications
- Teste injury/cancer/removal
- Klinefelter’s syndrome (XXY chromosomes)
- Pituitary gland tumors
This extremely vast list should give you a great idea of causes or leading causes in excess that might be contributing to lower testosterone levels. A lot of these are unavoidable in modern life, so our goal should be to limit exposure or consumption.
My list is not meant to scare you, but to find control and look introspectively and cover these bases to the best of your abilities.
Step #2: Building a Better Lifestyle & Outlook
When it comes to body states, I feel like these are some of the first things people should look to normalize or optimize for. Reducing excess body fat, implementing strength training, and increasing daily physical activity, mean NOT procrastinating important things. A lot of these issues can be mentally motivated and you will need to work very consistently over time to stop these mental blocks in their wake.
Our mind controls our actions, and if we constantly have a mental outlook that is prone to self-sabotage or inaction; we have made a choice to stay in this mental loop that is also impacting our physical.
We must not neglect our mental health, but utilize it to break the cycle. You must be fully conscious and take personal responsibility for yourself and your situation. Don’t break the promises you make to yourself and get comfortable being uncomfortable or stepping out of your comfort zone.
Step #3: Consuming Quality
It should be a primary goal to eat a diet consisting of less processed to unprocessed foods and drinks. For a lot of these, you can know what to do by doing the inverse.
For example, to avoid low-quality/processed animal foods, the key would be to eat a grass-fed steak instead of hot dogs or chicken nuggets, or even a regular hamburger. The more simple the meal, the better results. Stress reduction and taking action to alleviate the causes of stress. This
Foods, drinks, consumables, leached chemicals, plastics & packaging, common hygiene product additives, fire retardant chemicals, and heavy metals, all of these are things we may encounter throughout life. When it comes to avoiding specific foods like soy or processed sugars, we know that we should avoid processed foods altogether. Drinks like alcohol, avoiding fluoridated water sources, getting a water softener/filter, avoiding plastics by drinking from a stainless steel bottle, buying glass tupperware, being cognizant of the endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in our shampoos, conditioners, soaps, perfumes, deodorants, lotions, sunscreens, etc.
These are ubiquitous and when you go to the store, you must avoid them.
There is a lot we know of as you can tell from the list, but what’s worse is perhaps the ones we don’t yet know of. This is truly a matter of hormonal ‘death by a thousand cuts.’
Step #4: Choose Holistic Solutions and Avoiding Harmful Drugs
There will always be different conditions, choices we make, or medications that bring us to also decrease our testosterone levels. Some of these conditions may be genetic, or developed, or dealt with temporarily, some may be forever. These should be discussed with your doctor, and you may have more pressing issues than adequate testosterone in the grand scheme of your health. However, there are also often alternative solutions to treatments you may be able to leverage in order to still live a fulfilling life.
Sleep quality is extremely important and too many people these days have inconsistent sleep schedules, this also spans into the chronic stress fields, but sleep deprivation should not be underestimated. Even graveyard shifts or night-work can cause long-term issues for not living along a regular circadian rhythm. There may be no real way around it, because our bodies are natural, we can’t expect to counteract our natural sleep/wake cycles without consequences down the line.
Many medications, drugs, and compounds from things like SARMS, to amphetamines, steroid hormones, or hormone blockers, should obviously be known to be disruptive to your entire hormone system. Often many people get prescribed a myriad of drugs that never fix the root causes. This leads to more drugs, more trade-offs and is likely the reason you’re reading this article now.
Step #5: Supplements, Herbs, and Nutrient Deficiencies
When it comes to things that can be integrated right away, supplements, vitamins, and herbs top that list. To quickly summarize key common nutrient deficiencies that contribute to low testosterone, it would be: Magnesium, Vitamin D, Zinc, and Boron.
I hadn’t been a believer in herbal supplements until I did my own self experimentation and evaluation and became privy to other’s data. Once nutrient deficiencies are covered, I would recommend Aphro-D. The ingredients in Aphro-D can boost testosterone directly and indirectly, and I’ve seen this in my own personal blood work along with hundreds of other men.
For my FULL take on what works in terms of Testosterone boosters, read my article here.
Conclusion
With anything sustainable, it must be taken and integrated in small chunks. List out your priorities based on what you should avoid, what body states should be the first order of business, or things you can fix right away. Don’t overwhelm yourself or go too extreme.
Realize that optimization is a process and takes time to continually do better. Review this listing and blog so you can stay aware of other potential issues.
Testing and dealing with empirical data like your own blood tests for Total & Free Testosterone levels, your body weight, body fat percentage, your strength progress in the gym, all of these markers should be taken into account. But highlighting blood tests as the key indicators, because otherwise we don’t fully know. We only indirectly know things may be getting better.
I highly recommend getting a blood test as you are NOW, to measure your progress and realize that you can regain control of your health and hormones, as you see progress in the coming months, and years, tethered with real action and lifestyle changes.
Remember that you have the power, and it is your responsibility to make yourself better.
Good men are the protectors of what is just, and despite the efforts and victim mindsets dealt through society, we take on the burden and are better because of it. That is what masculinity is all about.
The Androgen Diet
If the information in this blog post has helped you, I urge you to go deeper into understanding and implementing this knowledge. My book the ‘Androgen Diet’ has helped thousands of men thus far, and covers the larger picture of Testosterone boosting in a natural way. With my personal story, peers of all ages and walks of life who have followed and boosted their testosterone naturally.
The Androgen Diet covers 15 key hormones including testosterone which paint a full picture on what to do and what not to do so that your entire system can benefit right away.
