Testosterone is a hormone essential for men’s health.
You need it to maintain muscle mass, build lean mass, help improve bone density, and keep sex drive alive.
Production of testosterone is highest while men are young adults and teenagers.
As men get older, production drops slightly each year. Here are a few helpful and simple on how to increase testosterone naturally.
1. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep is the first line of defense against dropping your testosterone. According to Eve Van Cauter of the Univerisy of Chicago, “low testosterone levels are associate with reduced well being and vigor” and that “as research progresses, low sleep duration and poor sleep quality are increasingly recognized as endocrine disruptors.”
In Van Cauter’s study, ten men from the University of Chicago were tested to determine how sleep influences testosterone levels[1]. Getting only five hours of sleep reduced testosterone by 10 to 15 percent.
2. Lose Weight
A recent study of 891 middle-aged men determined that low testosterone levels are most common among overweight men and decreasing weight can improve testosterone levels[2]. The study set up a “lifestyle modification group” that exercised and changed their diet to lose weight.
After one year, the group lost 17 pounds on average and had increased testosterone. The rate of low testosterone in the group decreased from 20% to 11% over the course of the year.