Testosterone is the male sex hormone and plays the role of attributing all your manly characteristics. Most men are aware of the overview of what testosterone plays in their life but after the introduction of high level of hormonal production in your early teens through young adulthood in your body, how have you been compensating or facilitating your body with the natural decline of testosterone as you age (Harvard Health 2022)?
This article will firstly serve as an overview to some of the expectations you can have with the declining testosterone production. Your testes produce less testosterone each year as you continue to age, the decline rate is gradual at (1-2)% each year (Harvard Health 2022). The physiological response of your bodies’ natural signalling to produce testosterone is reduced so the science suggest that this is normal but there are many ways you can self-check right now to determine if your rate of decline in your 40’s is noticeably rapid prior to seeking clinical intervention. Low testosterone is characterized by decreased stimulation from the brain to testosterone making target sites this range can be measured in terms of nanograms per decilitre. The normal range for men is considered (300- 1100)ng/Dl (Rivera 2022). One can expect symptoms of body and facial hair loss, male breast tissue increases, minimal to no sex drive, impotency and erectile dysfunction. Diving in deeper into our main testosterone deficiency, there has been a correlation between low testosterone and depression. There are ayurvedic remedies that can be tweaked in your diet routine to help combat this directly and this content can be profoundly discussed in subsequent articles to help mitigate these symptoms naturally.
Let’s discuss the rate of low testosterone and depression in men. Depression is now one of the most common mental health illnesses reported by men and men tend to be the least responsive to seek help. It seems strange that your hormones as a man can have such a crippling effect on your state of being. Clinical studies have confirmed that low testosterone can be linked to depression and while this is not isolated to men in their 40’s you must remember as you age you are at a natural disadvantage. Statistically, the lifestyle of young men in their 20’s has shown to reflect large percentages of low testosterone which can be a main cause towards depressive symptoms (Low T Centre 2022).
The research also shown that men who suffered from low testosterone (low T) often tended to be overweight and their level of activity was sedentary. A 2004 study proved that men in their 40’s over a 4- year study were projected to be victims of clinical depression based on their T-levels in comparison to that of healthy individuals in their 40’s. It suggests a direct relationship between depression and low-T along with poor regulation of their serotonin hormone. Serotonin is neuro-transmitting hormone which is responsible for regulating bodily functions as simple as sleep and libido but these are relevant to our topic of conversation. Lack of serotonin has also been linked to depression and anxiety (Serotonin: What Is It, Function & Levels, 2022).
While this information is of concern, it is an outlet to raise your awareness and allow for understanding that many men face these issues as they grow in age and today men even in their 20’s are not shielded from the effects of low-T (Lifeboost 2022). So, the second section of this article now that you are more open to the commonality of this plight will be combating the effects of declining testosterone. Supplementation can be induced naturally and there are several supplements on the market that have proven to support and maintain healthy testosterone levels. Some of these hacks are not all complicated and can be implemented today to directly improve testosterone. Sunlight has been proven to be a natural means of improving testosterone production and this is due to its stimulation of vitamin D production in your body (Slavssen 2022). Vitamin D being a by-product of this action induces a higher level of testosterone due to sunlight exposure. While you can acquire vitamin D through your nutrition of fatty fish and eggs sunlight is in abundance and best to allow 10–30-minute period of sunlight exposure prior to 10am and after 3 pm when the sun is stronger ultraviolet indices. Vitamin D can be consumed via tablet supplementation for those days where the weather may not be conducive for adequate sunlight. You should try and consume however, in the D3 form for better absorptivity by your body at 400-800 UI per day (Slavssen 2022).
Another recommendation to improve testosterone production is ginger consumption. Ginger is a spice used in cooking and traditional medicine has properties which illicit testosterone boosting responses when consumed, its filled with antioxidants and has proven useful in increasing serum testosterone at ingested dosage at 50mg/kg daily. Apart from a plethora of cancer fighting properties and free radical damage protection from environmental and lifestyle choices, consumption of ginger in clinical studies also shown to have a positive feedback effect on other hormones relevant to sexual fittest whereby overall testosterone increased by 17.7% (Gaspari 2022). Supplementing ginger based on a 6-week study utilizing 10 mg/kg/day also shown a decrease in cortisol hormone (stress hormone) while increasing testosterone during a 2016 study evaluating the effects of ginger supplementation and endurance training (Reza, Barari, Shirali 2016).
In conclusion the sex hormone testosterone plays a vital role in our health as men. Both, physical and mental health and as explored in this article the effects of low testosterone can cause a depressive response to men’s mental health but although the natural decline of testosterone production is inevitable there are simple natural means to aid in mitigating testosterone loss and supporting healthy testosterone levels even as you age through your 40’s and beyond. This article serves to bring awareness to men testosterone support and more tips can be discussed further in future article men’s wellness spotlights.