fbpx

7 Simple Lifestyle Changes To Boost The Testosterone Levels

Testosterone is one of the most abundant hormones produced in the body. Even though, it is commonly referred as a male sex hormone, females too are found to produce some amount of it.

It is an androgenic steroid hormone, which in males is produced in the testes, whereas in females it is produced in the ovaries. Some quantities of testosterone are also released by the adrenal glands in both males and females. (1)

Being a male sex hormone, testosterone is responsible for various changes in the males during puberty. This include physical changes like muscle growth, deepening of voice and growth of hair, etc.

Healthy levels of testosterone offer several benefits such as, ensure overall health, maintain body composition, get stronger bones, increase libido and prevents major health risks as well.(2) (3)

Thus it becomes very essential to maintain the levels of testosterone in the body, both during your adulthood and as you grow old. (4)

Increasing the testosterone level helps to enhance the muscle building process and gain strength.  Additionally, testosterone is also found to assist females in maintaining overall health and ensure sexual wellbeing. (5)

Above mentioned are the reasons, why it becomes very essential to keep a check on the testosterone levels, even as you age.

One might consider going for testosterone replacement therapy to increase their levels of testosterone. But, the testosterone secretion can also be increased by making these simple lifestyle changes.

Here are 7 simple lifestyle changes that can help you to boost your testosterone levels.

1. Start Exercising Daily

Exercise is likely the best solution to get rid of a lot of problems in your body. It helps you to deal with the health problems caused due to your current sedentary lifestyle.It also plays a major role in increasing the testosterone levels. (6)

People that lead a sedentary lifestyle are not physically active; this reduces the testosterone production in their body.

Resistance training is found to increase the testosterone levels in the body. It is recommended to focus on lifting weights and doing strength training exercise to get the benefits from it. (7)

As we exercise, the testosterone secretion boosts during the workout session and stays elevated during the day. Research shows that the testosterones levels show similar elevation when strength training exercises are done in the evening. Hence, doing evening workouts are also recommended. (8)

It becomes important you take some time-off from your busy schedule and start exercising daily.

2. Avoid Eating Junk Food Regularly

Unwanted weight gain is considered as one of the prominent reasons behind low levels of testosterone. Junk food or Fast food, as we know contain a lot of unhealthy fats, which increase bodyweight, but do not provide the needed nutrition.

Weight gain and testosterone have a two directional relationship. Research shows, low levels of testosterone leads to weight gain, similarly gaining excess weight reduces the testosterone secretion in the body. (9)

Health experts recommend losing weight either through dieting or doing exercises. As you burn the excess amount of fats, the testosterone levels start to increase.

Keep a check on what you eat. If you like eating junk food be picky about things, such as avoid too much butter in your burger; add more veggies or red meat, etc.

Make sure your diet consists of proteins, carbs and brief amount of good fats to boost your testosterone levels.

3. Maintain A Proper Sleep Schedule

Getting proper sleep becomes important to maintain overall health. One among the several health benefits of a good sleep is, increasing levels of testosterone.

We make it a habit of sleeping late at night and getting up early for work. This gets our sleep schedule all messed up. Keep in mind, 7-8 hours per night is the recommended sleep duration to maintain good health.

Studies suggest, if the sleep duration is reduced to 5 hours per night, it decreases the testosterone secretion by 15%. Moreover, according to another research, secretion of hormone such as testosterone is at its peak when a person is in deep sleep. Thus, maintaining the recommended sleep schedule ensures proper secretion of testosterone.  (10) (11)

Avoid using mobiles or laptops, an hour before going to bed. Blue light omitted from these gadgets, reduce the secretion of melatonin, which affects the sleep schedule. (12) (13)

4. Avoid Taking Too Much Stress

Stress is harmful for our health, as it increases the levels of cortisol in the body. (14)(15)The increasing cortisol levels further, decrease the secretion of testosterone in the body. (16)

Additionally, when people get stressed they start eating more food, this results in weight gain or increase fats in the body. These changes in the body also have a negative impact on the testosterone levels.

Make an effort to be stress-free and start avoiding things that lead you to mental or physical stress. Laughing exercises can be a good way to deal with it. Setting up your priorities is a key aspect on getting relieved from unwanted stress.

Getting rid of stress is not only important to boost the testosterone levels but also to maintain overall health.

5. Become More Physically Active

Our body reacts to what we do and the physiological processes in our body occur when we create a demand for it. Likewise, the testosterone secretion also adapts to what our body needs.

For example, if we keep lying on the bed without doing any physical activity, the brain signals the body that there is no demand for muscle growth or increase bone strength. But when you are physically active, there is a constant need for hormone secretion. This is when our brain reacts to the demands our body creates and thus more hormones are produced. This helps to boost the levels of testosterone in the body.

Though, heavy weight or resistance training is recommended to boost the testosterone levels. You can keep your body physically active by walking for few minutes daily.

We will advise you take the stairs instead of lifts; it shall keep you physically active throughout the day. Prefer walking to the grocery stores instead of riding to complete the daily exercise routine.

6. Avoid Drinking Too Much Alcohol

Regular consumption of alcohol has several negative impacts in our body. It is found that acute alcohol consumption reduces the secretion of testosterone in the body. (16)

Alcoholism is a condition that is related to lower levels of testosterone in men. Constituents of alcohol start impacting the endocrine system and drinking alcohol regularly increases estrogen secretion. The testosterone in men gets converted to estrogen, which is a female sex hormone.

Additionally, alcohol is also found to damage certain tissues in the body that decreases the secretion of testosterone hormone in the testes. Chronic alcohol consumption leads to increasing stress (increasing the cortisol levels) and prevents quality sleep, which indirectly reduce the testosterone levels in the body.

Understand the difference between moderate and chronic alcohol consumption. Drinking too much alcohol is not only harmful for testosterone production in the body but also for overall health.

7. Increasing Sexual Activity

Testosterone levels play an important role to maintain the libido (sexual desires). Lower levels of testosterone reduce the sexual desires, but this also works the other way around. (17)

It is found that individuals that indulged more often in sexual activity had higher levels of testosterone.

If you find low testosterone levels have had a negative impact in your sexual life, you can change the sexual activity to morning. It is a fact that testosterone levels are higher in the morning.

You can plan for a vacation with your partner and try out a new stress free environment to make things work out. Having a healthy sex life is very important to maintain good levels of testosterone. (18)

People often look for testosterone supplements and testosterone replacement therapy to increase their testosterone levels. But, you can keep a check on your testosterone levels by bringing certain lifestyle changes. The above mentioned tips shall work for both the young and adults.

POST REPLY