Testosterone levels naturally decline in middle-aged men. However, lifestyle, diet, and weight can also impact your hormone levels, leaving you with lower testosterone than you would have otherwise.
How much testosterone you have in your body affects everything from sexual performance to energy levels. People with low testosterone feel weaker, often have difficulty sleeping, and feel the effects of aging in more pronounced ways.
If you feel symptoms like lethargy, lack of motivation, difficulty losing weight, and erectile dysfunction, you may have abnormally-low testosterone. Even in older men, maintaining appropriate hormone levels can improve quality of life and help with things like injury recovery and sports performance.
Here are five ways to improve your testosterone levels to prevent the effects of aging and feel better as you get older.
Talk to an Endocrinologist
One of the first things you should probably do is schedule an appointment with an endocrinologist to get your blood tested and see exactly what your testosterone levels are. There’s no real sense in trying a ton of different methods to boost your levels if they’re okay.
However, many of the small tips to boost your testosterone incrementally won’t have a significant impact if your hormone levels are abnormally low for your age.
An experienced physician will consider your life and health goals and work with you on a regimen to get your testosterone levels where you want them to be.
Lose Excess Weight
If you’re walking around obese or overweight, it will suppress your body’s natural testosterone levels. Instead, try to improve your diet to lose extra weight, and your hormone levels should naturally increase.
There are also several other health benefits to changing your diet away from sugars and carbs to something higher in protein. For example, you’ll have more energy, won’t experience as many cravings, and you’ll be more physically fit.
Start Lifting Weights
High-impact exercise, like lifting weights, is shown to increase testosterone levels. In addition, lifting weights is one of the best ways to fight off many natural effects of aging.
Starting out in a gym is often intimidating, especially for people who don’t have experience with free weights. If you’re worried about what to do, you can always hire a personal trainer for a session or two to walk you through basic gym etiquette and how to use the weights.
Lifting weights increases lean muscle mass, improves cardiovascular fitness, and boosts testosterone levels. However, lifting weights doesn’t mean you need to lift more than you feel comfortable doing. Instead, you should push yourself in increments and stay safe.
Eventually, you’ll start seeing differences in how you look and feel. For example, your bones will be stronger, you’ll become more dedicated to physical fitness, and you should see improvements in your hormone levels.
Avoid Stress
When people experience stress, their cortisol levels typically spike, which can interrupt other normal hormonal and bodily processes. As a result, chronic stress can lead to heart problems, hair loss, headaches, and low testosterone.
At some point, people need to ask whether their job or family situation is working for them. In addition, dealing with debilitating stress that costs your health will have long-term negative impacts.
Examine whether anything in your life is causing undue stress that may be suppressing your natural testosterone levels. See what you can do to limit exposure to stressors, whether that’s avoiding people who trigger you or finding ways to cope with a controlling boss.
In addition, some habits like smoking and drinking excessively may be driven by stress and add to your hormone problems. Overall, limiting exposure to stress will keep you healthier and happier.
Peptides & Testosterone
Peptides are short chains of amino acids that prompt the body to respond or act in certain ways. Researchers are discovering how using peptides can deliver impressive health and performance benefits.
For example, Kisspeptin-10 is a naturally occurring protein in humans. It’s known to play a vital role in how the body handles hormone signaling. It also alters mood, kidney function, and angiogenesis.
Regarding testosterone, research in animal models showed its ability to influence gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which stimulates the production of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone. These hormones act on the testes and initiate and maintain reproductive functions.
Kisspeptin helps stimulate the secretion of endogenous gonadotropin-releasing hormone and has been shown in tests in animal models to improve reproductive performance and eliminate disorders according to this page.
