If you have low level of testosterone, you may experience low energy, decreased sexual urge or low libido, difficulty in concentration and decreased muscle mass and many more. Low testosterone level is also bad for your heart and bone. It can cause various heart problems and osteoporosis. So, it is very important to keep the testosterone level normal. Let's see how you can boost and maintain a healthy testosterone level.
1. Exercise
Exercise is one of the most effective ways to prevent many lifestyle-related diseases. Not only that, it can also boost your testosterone levels. One study involving men with obesity found that increased physical activity was more beneficial than calorie restriction for increasing testosterone levels.
Now, what type of exercise is beneficial to boost testosterone level? Study shows all forms of exercise may increase your testosterone levels. However, weight lifting and high-intensity interval training is more beneficial in this regards.
Weight lifting you all know, but let me explain the high-intensity interval training. It is a broad term for workouts that involve short period of intense exercise alternated with recovery periods. For example, a heat workout using a stationary bike could consist of 30 seconds of cycling as fast as possible with high resistance, followed by several minutes of slow, easy cycling with low resistance. This would be considered one round or repetition and you would typically complete 4 to 6 repetitions in one workout.
10 to 13 minutes workout is enough to boost your testosterone level. High-intensity interval training not only increase testosterone level but it can burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. It also increase oxygen consumption, reduce blood pressure and blood sugar. So, exercise is the key for a healthy life.
2. Diet
Now, the next important thing is diet. What you eat can affect the levels of as well as other hormones. Remember, both overeating and constant dieting can disrupt your testosterone levels. Now, before knowing what to eat, one important point you should know that the precursor of testosterone is cholesterol. That means testosterone is made up of cholesterol.
Cholesterol comes from fatty food, so restricting fatty food can lead to low testosterone level. So, it is important to include adequate amount of good fat in your diet.
But remember, amount of fat consumption can be different in different individual. If you are overweight or have heart diseases then consult a doctor before changing your regular diet. One more point I would like to add that statin, the commonly used cholesterol lowering drug may also lower testosterone and other androgens. But that doesn't mean that you should stop taking this. Consult your doctor if there is any alternate for you.
Eating enough protein can also help you to maintain healthy testosterone level. Here are a list of few foods that you can try like fatty fish, dark leafy green vegetables, egg, shellfish, berries, cherries, pomegranates and avocados. You can try Korean red ginseng which not only increases testosterone level but gives you extra stamina and calmness. But remember, it is not FDA approved.
3. L Arginine Supplements
Next important dietary supplement is L-Arginine. A deficiency in L-Arginine causes derangement of sperm metabolism leading to decrease in motility and loss of spermatogenesis. Studies show that administration of L-Arginine to oligospermic and asthenospermic patients results in an improvement in both the sperm count and sperm motility without any side effects.
It is also helpful to treat erectile dysfunction. Here are some foods you can consider to boost L-Arginine level like turkey, chicken, pumpkin seeds, soy beans, peanuts, pirulina, chickpeas and lentils.
4. Good Sleep
Getting good sleep is just as important for your health as diet and exercise. Sleep quality may also have major effects on your testosterone level. In fact, one study involving 2295 teenage boys and men found that impaired sleep could be linked to low testosterone levels.
So what is the ideal amount of sleep? The ideal amount of sleep varies from person to person. But a small study found that sleeping only 5 hours per night was linked to a 10 to 15% reduction in testosterone levels. Interestingly, one study involving older men found that increased sleep duration up to 9.9 hours was associated with increased testosterone levels. Conversely, sleeping more than 9.9 hours was actually tied to a lower testosterone levels. Most researches recommend at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night is beneficial for our health.
Next important thing is timing and quality of sleep. The timing of sleep may be more important than sleep length itself in determining testosterone levels. Maintain a fixed timing of sleep may improve the testosterone level as it is related to our circadian rhythm. Frequent waking up from sleep is also related to low testosterone level. So good amount of high quality sleep is necessary to boost your testosterone level.
5. Avoid estrogen like chemicals.
There are several other factors that may affect your hormone levels like estrogen like chemicals. Testosterone levels may be affected by high level of estrogen like chemicals like bisphenol A or BPA, parabens and other chemicals found in some types of plastic.
So what is BPA? You have probably seen that most plastics you purchase these days are labeled as BPA free. BPA is an industrial chemical used in plastic manufacturing and added to many commercial products including food containers, baby bottles, plastic water bottles and hygiene products. It not only affects your testosterone level but it is also linked to obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
So try to avoid BPA like chemicals, limit packaged foods that aren't labeled BPA free. Drink from glass bottles instead of plastic bottles. Since eating BPA containing plastics may cause more BPA leaching, don't microwave plastics.
6. Vitamin D Supplements
Next important thing is vitamin D supplement. Some studies have found that low levels of vitamin D could be associated with decreased testosterone level. Vitamin D plays a crucial role to live a healthy life. It is estimated that up to 1 billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient. A 2017 study involving 102 men with a vitamin D deficiency found that taking a vitamin D supplement increased testosterone level and improved erectile dysfunction. So check your vitamin D level and act accordingly. However, more studies are needed to understand the correlation better.
7. Avoid alcohol intake
Testosterone levels may drop as quickly as 30 minutes after you drink alcohol. Heavy alcohol use can lead to reduced testicular function and testicular atrophy. Alcohol and testosterone have a complex relationship.
It's better to moderate your alcohol intake since excessive consumption can have a significant negative effect on your testosterone level and testicular health.
8. Minimize stress and cortisol levels
Chronic stress have negative impact on health and testosterone levels. Long-term stress can elevate cortisol level. Sudden elevation in cortisol can quickly reduce testosterone level. It is also responsible for weight gain and increased body fat. So try to manage your stress to avoid many health problems. That's all for today. Hope you find this post helpful.