Natural Ways to Boost Testosterone

Testosterone is a steroid hormone belonging to the androgen group and is found in a wide variety of vertebrates, especially mammals. In humans, testosterone is the primary male hormone and is responsible for the development of male sexual organs as well as secondary sexual characteristics like increase in muscle mass, bone mass and the growth of body-hair. However even in females too, testosterone is essential for overall health and especially in prevention of osteoporosis. Because of the importance of testosterone for general well-being among humans and for sexual vigor in particular, adequate amounts of testosterone is important for both men and women, though in different levels. However if your body is not producing enough of this hormone, here are some natural ways to boost testosterone.

Ensure your diet includes enough zinc

One of the best ways to boost the level of testosterone in your body is to ensure an adequate amount of zinc in your diet. This is because zinc prevents the testosterone produced naturally in your body from being converted to estrogen. Zinc does this by blocking the action of the enzyme aromatase; besides this Zinc itself turns estrogen into testosterone and thus helps to increase the levels of the latter in the body. If you are keen to use natural ways of boosting testosterone, you can include foods rich in zinc instead of taking zinc supplements. Seafood, poultry, liver, nuts and seeds are some foods which contain high amounts of zinc; oyster in particular is a rich source of zinc and probably for this reason has long been considered an aphrodisiac in many cultures. While red meat, fowl and seafood are the usual sources of zinc, vegetarians can go for beans and dairy products to stock up on the mineral.

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Load up on veggies

If you thought that real men don’t eat vegetables, think again. This is because cruciferous vegetables like cabbage contain a chemical called diindolylmethane (or DIM) that helps your body get rid of excess estrogen and boost your levels of testosterone. Also cabbage contains roughly six times the zinc content per calories consumed compared to a shank of beef. However if you have enough of coleslaw, you can explore other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, bok choi, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, radishes, kohlrabi and rutabagas. These veggies are best eaten raw as in salads or lightly cooked so as to reserve their nutrients.

And even if onions and garlic can appear to act as a turn-off by causing strong breath, they are loaded with a chemical known as Allicin, which also contributes to increased testosterone. It is generally believed that Allicin does not convert well in supplements and thus another reason for you to stick to real food instead of artificial supplements.

Control your intake of fats

One of the best ways to boost testosterone levels in your body is to get rid of excess weight. This is because being overweight means having a higher percentage of body fat percentage which automatically translates into higher estrogen levels. This happens because body fat contains an enzyme called aromatase that converts the body’s testosterone into estrogen, making your testosterone levels dip further. Thus in order to ensure that your testosterone levels remain high, lose excess weight by avoiding oily, fatty foods or drinks high in calories. One of the easiest ways to do this is by cutting down on junk food since they contain excessive amount of calories which are not needed by the body and thus stored as fats.

However don’t go for an extreme form of low-calorie diet or else your body will go into starvation-survival mode and drastically reduce making testosterone on its own. Rather opt for a well-balanced diet with adequate amounts of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat and dairy products. This will ensure that your body continues to get all essential nutrients without loading up on unhealthy fats. Another thing to remember is to include some amount of ‘good’ fats as well since research shows that these can give a natural boost to the body’s testosterone levels. Thus include foods which are rich in healthy fats like monosaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids. You can do this by eating more nuts and seeds, fatty fish like salmon & tuna, avocados, olives, vegetable oils, and natural peanut butter.

Get up and get going

Studies show that intense workouts go a long way in stimulating the body to produce more testosterone. What seems to optimally affect testosterone levels is to use the greatest volume of existing muscles to your maximum level of intensity within each exercise. For this compound exercises like Power Cleans, Squats, Bench presses, Deadlifts, Chin-ups, Dips, and Military presses are best since they train several large muscle groups, especially the leg and back muscle. Also it is a better idea to use heavy weights with compound exercises since strength training has been found to obtain some of the best results while trying to increase testosterone levels. However take care not to overtrain since exhaustion and fatigue can lead to higher cortisol levels which are a natural inhibitor of testosterone.

Try to keep xenoestrogens at bay

Xenoestrogens are man-made estrogens that are found in things like pesticides, artificial growth hormones and steroids, air fresheners and plastic containers. When these compounds are absorbed by the human body, they lead to an increase in the level of estrogen and consequently a fall in the level of testosterone. The most effective way to avoid xenoestrogens is to consume fresh and organic produce as far as possible. Reduce your dependence on processed, refined and canned foods; also try to buy meat and dairy from farms which do not inject their animals with artificial growth hormones and steroids. Don't use any perfumes, colognes, or air fresheners that have parabens listed as one of the ingredients since Parabens are a kind of xenoestrogens. Even though it may not be possible to completely eliminate xenoestrogens from your daily life, try to keep exposure to the substance as low as possible.

Wear loose clothing

In men testosterone is produced in the testes; however for this, the temperature in the area needs to be 94-to-96 degrees or about 2 degrees cooler than your body temperature. On the other hand if you expose your testicles to higher temperatures constantly, your testosterone production will be inhibited. Thus avoid wearing tight underwear, tight pants, taking long HOT baths or do anything thing else to overheat the testicles. It's best to wear looser clothes like boxers to maintain an optimum temperature for production of testosterone.

Finally avoid stress and get enough sleep at night. This is because when you are tense and anxious, your body produces another hormone known as cortisol which overpowers the cells in the testes that are responsible for producing testosterone. The more relaxed and positive you feel, the easier it will be for your body to produce testosterone on its own.