Men's Hormone Health Guidance

90% of people do not need to take any supplements or drugs at all. As long as they fill in a few core pitfalls in their lifestyle, they can stay in a healthy range. The remaining 10% who really need intervention must do so under the guidance of a regular doctor. Taking supplements indiscriminately will disrupt endocrine system.

I met a 32-year-old Internet operator friend a while ago. He worked 996 every day. I always felt that I was weak and unmotivated. I watched a short video and saw a blogger recommending a "testicle-boosting artifact." I spent three thousand dollars to buy a bunch of imported supplements and took them for two months. Instead, my testosterone did not increase. Instead, I had acne all over my face and hair loss. I went to the hospital for a check. It was found that the estradiol was high. It was because the supplements messed up the hormone balance. In fact, his problem is not low testosterone at all, it is just that he only slept 5 hours a day for three consecutive months, and his body was in a long-term state of stress.

Speaking of this, I have to mention a point that is still controversial: There have always been rumors in the fitness circle that "training legs can promote testicles" and "eating zinc and magnesium tablets can promote testicles." Many people squat to death while doing leg exercises and eat supplements by the handful. Indeed, there are studies in the field of sports nutrition that prove that heavy resistance training will increase testosterone by 15%-20% in the short term, and insufficient zinc and magnesium intake will also Affects testosterone synthesis, but most endocrinology doctors will pour cold water on you: For people whose testosterone levels are originally within the normal range, the long-term increase in resting testosterone by these operations will not exceed 10%, which is basically negligible. On the contrary, overtraining and excessive supplement intake will lead to soaring cortisol and metabolic disorders, which will suppress testosterone. I have a friend who is a bodybuilder. When he was preparing for the competition last year, his daily caloric deficit was reduced to 500 kcal. He did leg training six times a week until he couldn't stand up after squatting. His hormones were checked before the competition and his testosterone dropped directly to the lower limit of the normal range. Finally, he adjusted for three months before finishing the competition. He ensured that his caloric deficit did not exceed 300 kcal every day and only did leg training once a week before he slowly recovered.

Many people tend to directly equate "tiredness", "lack of energy" and "lower sexual desire" with low testosterone, but this is not the case. I used to have a design client who was working on projects for half a year. He always felt that he was not in the right state. Based on the symptoms on the Internet, he judged that it was "low testosterone". As a result, he checked six items of sex hormones. The average value measured on an empty stomach at 8 am for three consecutive days was 14nmol. /L, completely within the normal range for an adult male. The problem is that he drinks more than 3 glasses of iced Americano every day and goes to bed at 2 am. Even if he starts at 12 noon the next day and sleeps for 10 hours, he misses the peak period of testosterone synthesis from 1 to 3 am. There is also a conclusion that the academic community has not yet unified: some studies believe that as long as the biological clock is fixed, going to bed late and getting up late will not have a big impact on testosterone. However, according to clinical cases, the testosterone level of people with long-term day and night reversal is generally 10%-15% lower than that of people with a regular schedule. If you really can't change the habit of staying up late, at least don't sleep for 4 hours today and 12 hours the next. Disruption of the biological clock will have the greatest impact on hormones.

When it comes to eating, the first thing many people think of are various testicle-stimulating foods, such as oysters, leeks, and animal offal. In order to test the effect, I ate 10 oysters every day for a week. As a result, my testosterone showed no change at all, but my uric acid increased a lot. Most of the so-called dietary supplements have a placebo effect. As long as your daily diet does not consist of junk food and ensures normal intake of protein and trace elements, there is no need to take additional folk remedies. Oh, by the way, the inhibitory effect of alcohol on testosterone is real. I had sex with some friends last time and drank three bottles of beer. I slept quickly that day. The resting testosterone was 8% lower than usual the next day. Of course, there are also studies saying that drinking a small amount of red wine has little effect. If you are really greedy, don’t exceed 1 tael of white wine or 300ml of beer. Drinking too much will really hurt you.

There is another controversial point that everyone often discusses: Can abstinence promote testicles? Some studies say that abstinence from sex for 7 days can increase testosterone by 40%, while others say that abstinence from sex for more than 3 days will start to decrease testosterone. I have tried abstinence for a week, and I feel nothing special except for a little irritability. The consensus of many doctor friends around me is that regular sex (2-3 times a week) can make hormone levels more stable. Deliberate abstinence can make anxiety worse. When cortisol goes up, testosterone will go down.

In fact, as you write this, you can also find that there is nothing mysterious about hormonal health. It is nothing more than eating well, sleeping well, and having a good attitude. Don’t mess around. If you really feel that something is not right with you, go to a regular hospital for six sex hormone tests, and take the average of 2-3 consecutive tests. It is normal for adult male testosterone levels to be between 9.9-27.8nmol/L. If it is lower than 12nmol/L, consider adjusting it. If it is within the normal range, don’t blindly rely on the symptoms online. Oh, by the way, if you find that your testosterone level is indeed low, don’t panic. Formal intervention methods are now very mature. Just follow your doctor’s advice and make adjustments. Don’t buy the so-called “purely natural testosterone-boosting miracle drugs” online. Many of them contain illegal ingredients, which can harm your body more than the gain.