Testosterone is considered to be a vital male sex hormone responsible for various things. Besides regulating sex drive, it also helps maintain healthy sperm count, muscle mass and bone strength. Low testosterone results in mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Again, high levels may result in side effects. You may be interested to know how to increase testosterone the natural way. Testosterone booster is possible by changing your existing wrong lifestyle choices, habits, supplements and food.
Its functioning
Testosterone is rather an androgen or male sex hormone, responsible to produce male sex features. It is crucial to develop physically male features like the genitals and secondary sex characteristics. It is this feature outlines your voice, body type, hairline, etc. Both women and men produce testosterone. However, women produce in lower amounts unlike men. Your testicles is said to produce the largest amount. The entire process can be termed to be a complex one, since your pituitary glands, brain, etc. plays a vital part. But with age, your testosterone level starts to decline rapidly. You experience symptoms like decline in bone strength, muscle mass and increase in fat percentage.
Scientific techniques to increase Testosterone levels
In non-obese, healthy men, normal range is around 264 to 916 ng/dL. Small changes should be introduced to your daily life and habits to derive significant impacts. Given below are the best testosterone booster methods to follow.
- Exercise more: Regular exercises enhance your physical fitness while preventing certain diseases. Physically active men tend to experience high testosterone levels, LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) when compared to men with sedentary lifestyle. Resistant training with machines or free weights can effective enough to boost testosterone. Strength training can help induce testosterone release in men, but with greater effect among young people. Exercise also helps control weight crucial for hormonal health as well as strengthening muscles and bones, reducing certain diseases and improving mood.
- Reduce stress: Taking stress is found to cause negative effects on mental and physical health. It also affects your immune system, disturbs sleep patterns, sexual wellbeing to cardiovascular health. Most factors are associated with testosterone production. Hence, you need to control stress levels to enable your body to experience better testosterone production. Elevated cortisol levels, the hormone responsible to mediate the body’s response towards stress is likely to cause decline in production. Remember, stress can be a serious testosterone destroyer and restrict your well-being. You should implement some changes to your existing lifestyle and habits. This will offer significant long-term effects. For this, do the following:
- Indulge in physical activities to reduce stress and maintain optimal testosterone levels.
- Meditate regularly.
- Reduce or avoid things that could trigger stress. Maintain healthy self-esteem.
- Maintain good sleep patterns.
- Lose weight: Obese or overweight men are likely to have lower testosterone amounts. Insulin resistance is termed to be the potential culprit in obese men for reduced testosterone levels. Lower levels are also associated with weight gain, thereby developing self-perpetuating cycle. Young obese men were reported to have 40-50 percent lower levels when compared to those with normal BMI range. Notable link can be found between sexual performance issues and obesity in men including ED (erectile dysfunction). Making small change to existing lifestyle and habits can help lose weight and achieve lean body.
- Get good sleep: While sleeping, your body tends to produce as well as release maximum testosterone. Hence, optimal sleep is crucial to maintain healthy levels. Millions of adults across the globe are found to suffer from sleeping disorders. Getting sufficient sleep very night is crucial to maintain optimal production. Health specialists recommend getting daily sleep for at least 8 hours.
- Have Testosterone-boosting diet: You should aim to have testosterone booster food every day. Certain foods when taken can help the body to generate testosterone, some of which are given below:
- Oysters: They are filled with zinc known to boost various hormones in the body including testosterone production.
- Leafy green vegetables: They are a must-have. It includes kale and spinach known to be rich in magnesium. Reduced testosterone levels are due to magnesium deficiency.
- Have certain foods with high magnesium levels like seeds, whole grains, nuts and lentils. Use magnesium supplement to avoid magnesium deficiency.
- Fatty fish: They are a rich source of healthy fats and hence, excellent for heart health and testosterone production. Wild salmon and Tuna have good amount of Vitamin D and protein.
- Beef: Beef liver is said to be rich in minerals like zinc and Vitamin D. They also boost testosterone production.
- Legumes: Chickpeas, beans and lentils are rich in zinc, an essential hormone to produce testosterone. It also has good amounts of fibre and hence, should be part of the daily diet.
- Use supplements & Vitamins: Doing some research on the web can help you to come across various types of supplements that their manufacturers claim to be the best testosterone booster. But some are just hype than substance. However, there are some supplements and vitamins that can help boost testosterone production.
- Ashwagandha: Referred to as withania somnifera, this herb is used by traditional Indian medicine to increase testosterone. It also is reported to increase muscle strength, mass and testosterone levels among men of age 18-50.
- Vitamin D: It is associated with higher testosterone levels in men. Vitamin D supplement when consumed for a year can help with significant increase in free, bioactive and total testosterone levels when compared to placebo group men.
- Magnesium: Its supplements can help increase total and free testosterone in both active and sedentary men. Men exercising regularly also demonstrated significant increase.
- Zinc: This essential mineral is associated with optimal metabolic function and immune health. It helps with testosterone production. Men experiencing deficiency in zinc demonstrated higher testosterone levels after having zinc supplements.
- DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone): This hormone is naturally produced by the body. This precursor hormone tends to generate female and male sex hormones. It is also found to increase testosterone levels in men.
Conclusion
Following the above tips and steps can help you to increase testosterone level, thereby improving your overall health, well-being and sexual life.
