Testosterone is a hormone which is important for sexual and reproductive development. These hormones are referred as androgens, also known as anabolic steroids which is present in both men and women and it helps to maintain bone strength and lean muscle mass in women as well as contributing to overall well being and energy levels.
Testosterone is required for so many bodily functions and it is considered to be a general promoter of overall health and well being. Their production starts to decrease around the age of 30 for most men, which can result in everything from tiredness to erectile dysfunction.
Many people strive to increase the levels of testosterone and work hard to keep their testosterone levels high, by doing exercise, balancing their diet and much more. But there are few things you might be doing unintentionally to decrease the level of testosterone.
Here are five things you must avoid which may lead to lower your testosterone levels.
1. Excessive Alcohol Consumption
Well, alcohol is used as a depressant that slow down the blood flow to penis. High consumption of alcohol may lead to low testosterone levels and impotence. Alcohol consumption causes oxidative damage in the testicular leydig cells and other bodily tissues, which leads to reduction of testosterone.
2. Running for Long Distances
Cardio program may help you stay fit and strong but it may also leads in lowering the testosterone levels in your body. If you regularly run or perform any other form of aerobic activity, then it could result in lowering of testosterone levels without knowing it.
According to the study in university of British, Colombia male runners who ran 40 miles in a week notably have low Testosterone levels compared to who take training in short distance running.
3. Lack of Sleep
You may or may not know that quality sleep is actually a cycle of phase. Lack of sleep may lead to drastically decrease of your testosterone levels in body. Because your body needs adequate sleep for maintaining testosterone levels, insufficient or poor sleep may result in 20 to 30% less testosterone floating around your blood stream.
Inadequate testosterone levels will not allow the body to attain deep sleep and prevents syncing the brain to reach its level for sleeping. Lack of sleep may also results in other symptoms like fatigue and fogginess.
4. Low Fat Diets
Low fat diets do not lower testosterone levels because they do not contain high protein. Higher levels of protein may lead to lowering your testosterones and recent studies have shown that men who greatly reduce their fat levels and fibre intake in their diet had 12% drops in their testosterone levels.
Just make sure your diet consists of healthy fats and proteins rather than saturated fats.
5. Replace Meat with Soy
If you replace meat with soy in your diet, it will end up in lowering your testosterone levels over time. Soy contains isoflavones, which are the compounds that effects the estrogens in body. These are often called as photo estrogens due to their potential in reducing the symptoms of menopause.