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Naturopathic Treatment for Low Testosterone
Low testosterone levels in men are becoming increasingly common. While the natural decline of testosterone is normal in old age, many men these days are experiencing a rapid decline even in their late twenties. Middle aged and older men males see their testosterone levels decrease by 0.4%-1.6%, many of whom had lower than average levels in their 30’s.
Furthermore, total testosterone peaks at 18, goes down by about 1–2% per year on average, starting sometime in your 30s, and bioavailable testosterone decreases by about 2–3% a year. Those numbers can be pretty misleading though. This is because men approaching middle age tend have worse diet and lifestyles, which effect testosterone levels. So nobody really knows what a “natural” decline in testosterone looks like on a population-wide basis.
What is heartbreaking is that many men don’t seek medical attention for their health issues relating to their hormone disruption or they leave it too late, due to embarrassment and fear. As men, we are socialized to be strong, show no weakness and derive our worthiness from being what society defines as “manly.”
A lot of the symptoms relating to low testosterone levels can make men feel less manly because they affect things like strength, muscle mass, energy levels and sexual performance, which are all things we are told to associate with “manliness.” Therefore, men become reluctant to speak about these issues and seek help, which ultimately requires vulnerability. We are socialized to think vulnerability is weakness, but really, it is true strength. This is because being vulnerable means that you still decide to do something, despite fear, risk, uncertainty and emotional exposure.
The common treatment for low testosterone is hormone replacement. While a quick fix of hormone replacement therapy may seem like a good idea in the short term, these treatments can carry harsh side effects due to the fact that synthetic hormones are not always bioidentical to naturally produced hormones. Specificity is very important in the body. Also, because the body is receiving synthetic testosterone, it causes the testes to stop producing testosterone all together as the body sees this as “wasted energy” due to the fact that it is getting testosterone from a cream or pill.
When the medication is discontinued, symptoms are likely to be worse because the body will take time to start producing testosterone naturally again and the underlying causes that were causing low testosterone production in the first place would still be manifesting. These treatments don’t address the underlying causes of why the body is not producing enough testosterone, which is key.
The good news is that most of the time, as mentioned above, low levels are intrinsically linked to poor diet and lifestyle habits that lead to nutrient deficiencies (e.g. magnesium, vitamin D, zinc. healthy fats), thyroid dysfunction, high cortisol levels, high blood glucose levels, weight gain, decreased sleep, smoking, drugs, excess alcohol intake, increased stress, anxiety, over-working, environmental toxin exposure (e.g. xenoestrogens from canned food and platics) and decreased exercise (or sometimes overtraining with poor nutrition). The reason why this is good news is that all of these things are within our control, therefore we can change them and boost testosterone levels.
These factors all effect one another, so it is important to work on improving them together (e.g. decreased sleep effects our energy to exercise , stress levels and leads to poor impulse control over our diet). Also, improving these habits will make anyone feel healthier, even if their poor health is not due to low testosterone.
If you suffer from:
- Low testosterone
- Reduced sex drive
- Anxiety
- Hot flushes
- Premature ejaculation
- Erectile dysfunction
- Loss of body hair
- Less beard growth
- Loss of lean muscle mass
- Muscle weakness, decreased strength and decreased ability to build muscle
- Muscle loss
- Fatigue
- Joint pain and stiffness
- Weight gain and decreased metabolic health (e.g. high blood glucose, high cholesterol)
- Symptoms of depression
- Infertility
Call Oak Health today or book an appointment online to find out how using evidence-based, practical and sustainable diet and lifestyle changes, as well as herbal and nutritional supplementation as adjunctive treatment habit change, it is possible to naturally boost testosterone levels and address the underlying causes of why your hormones are low. This will increase your overall quality of life and vitality.
Don’t fall for fads and supplements marketed to men for boosting testosterone levels. Testosterone boosting supplements is a billion dollar industry, enticing men with quick fixes and instant results. Most don’t work and have little evidence behind them. This is because they don’t address the real underlying causes of low testosterone levels, which are a lot harder to change, compared to taking a pill. But nobody wants to hear that.
NOTE: Testosterone is measured as total and free testosterone. Getting measured isn’t the end of the story, though, since the range can vary a ton. So you’ll have to do your homework to figure out if you need to take action.
The reference range for measuring testosterone can vary a lot from lab to lab. A recent study showed that the bottom of the range can be 5.55–10.4 nanomoles per liter, or nmol/L (160–300 nanograms per deciliter, or ng/dL), and the top of the range can be 25.17–39.18 nmol/L (726–1,130 ng/dL). So if your levels are measured at 9.71 nmol/L (280 ng/dL), you may or may not be considered as having “low testosterone,” however you may or may not have symptoms. Also, two different men, with the exact same normal to low testosterone levels can feel completely different. One may have symptoms and feel lousy, while the other may feel great. This is because there are likely other factors at play other than testosterone as it is known that while 40% of men over 45 have low levels, only 10% experience symptoms as a result of their low levels. This could also be a reason as to why boosting testosterone levels in some men that have low levels, makes no difference and other feel great.
Lastly, if you had high levels and they plummeted, your situation is different from that of someone who’s always had moderately low levels. There is no one best level.
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