Hey there, viewers! Summertime is in full swing and people are looking to keep their
body in shape. The problem is we often don’t think about the role our hormones play in shaping our
physique. For men, they need to think about testosterone. This is the male hormone that
is crucial for their development, including building muscle strength. While there are a
few things that determine your testosterone levels, diet is one of the most important.
Let’s talk today about Foods That Are Lowering Your Testosterone. Are nuts one? What about
processed foods? Hang on a second, I gotta quit alcohol? We’re talking all that AND more…
Yup, stay away from alcohol!
As hard as it is to hear, alcohol and fitness don’t mix.
I mean sure, you can get away with a beer once in a while, but you don’t want
to fall into the habit of boozing night after night. Your muscles won’t benefit.
While more evidence is needed, it seems like drinking on the regular causes male testosterone
levels to plummet. A study from 2004 looked at the testosterone levels of 19 healthy adults.
When it was over, they found that having 2-3 drinks a day lowered their testosterone
by about 7% over 3 weeks.What’s even crazier is that research
also finds that getting drunk can actually increase testosterone in women.
The issue is that this evidence hasn’t been confirmed. To be honest more research is
needed. But it seems like if you’re up all night partying and not caring for your body,
you’re going to have trouble getting in shape. And it’s not just booze I’m talking about…
You also have to watch your fast food intake.
Sure, a trip to your favorite burger joint might be fun for a cheat day.
But, eating fast food on a regular basis is one of the worst things you could do to your body.
I mean, good luck building muscle.
You see, fast food leads to slower testosterone production. Men who eat fast foods several times
a week see a 25% fall in testosterone within just one hour after eating.
Most Americans eat fast food 1 to 3 times a week. About a third of them eat some form
of fast food every day! This is one of the leading causes of obesity and heart disease.
Since your testosterone levels are down, you certainly won’t be able to build muscle.
Now I obviously can’t tell you to stay away from fast food completely.
Sometimes, the occasion just calls for it. But if fitness is your main priority,
I would try cutting my drive-thru visits to just a couple times a month. It will be worth the wait.
It’s not just fast food, it’s processed food as a whole.
Even if you decide to eat in for the night, you need to make sure your food is unprocessed.
Processed food is any type of food that has been altered during its production.
This can be anything from canned, to pasteurized, to dried. They’re also jam-packed with gross
preservatives. Newsflash, this can do a lot to lower your testosterone levels.
Research from 2014 showed that men who ate a high amount of processed food saw that
testosterone go down by 15%. So what makes it decrease this dramatically?
The answer… Trans fat. In fact, we need to talk about that.
To put it lightly, trans fat is the worst type of fat for your body.
It’s responsible for health problems like heart disease, diabetes and inflammation.
And what foods have trans fat you ask? Well, I don’t mean to judge,
a lot of the foods in your fridge right now are probably loaded with them.
Processed foods from the grocery store can be loaded with trans fat. I’m talking about things
like frozen pizza, popcorn and french fries. You may think that this is alright for you,
since it didn’t come from your local fast food place. But trust me, it’s just as bad.
On top of that, you have to worry about processed meats, cheese and bread. Even breakfast cereals
won’t do much to help your testosterone levels. Basically, if you’re trying to gain muscle,
you want to pay attention to the labels on your food the next time you’re at the supermarket.
Things like veggies, fruits, spices, eggs and milk have little to no processing involved.
Even nuts lower testosterone.
It sounds crazy doesn’t it? Most people associate nuts with protein and other nutrients. With all
that good stuff, shouldn’t nuts be perfect for getting in shape? Well, it’s complicated.
Some experts claim that nuts can actually lower testosterone.
Let’s talk for a second about sex hormone-binding globulin, or SHBG for short. SHBG is a type of
protein that attaches itself to testosterone. This leads to your testosterone levels dropping.
Now make no mistake, lower testosterone does have its benefits. If you’re having health problems,
it’s important that your testosterone is balanced. A study from back in 2011 focused on a group of
women with polycystic ovary syndrome. This is a condition where the ovaries produce too many
male hormones. When the women ate walnuts, their SHBG levels shot up by up to 16%.
On top of SHBG, nuts are also filled with polyunsaturated fatty acids,
which have also been linked to a decrease in testosterone.
If you’re thinking of eating nuts after a workout, there are a few you should stay away from.
It’s not just walnuts, it’s also peanuts, almonds, and pistachios.
I know those are the most popular kinds, but they’re most likely to affect your testosterone.
Flaxseeds aren’t great either for this.
If you’re not into nuts, flaxseeds aren’t the best alternative for raising your testosterone.
Lowering it on the other hand is fine.
Much like the SHBG we mentioned a minute ago, flaxseed contains its own compound called lignans.
These also bind to testosterone, forcing your body to flush it out.
Omega-3 fatty acids can also lower your testosterone.
Now fitness is one thing. If you’re a guy living with health problems,
lower testosterone can benefit you. A study found that men with prostate cancer who ate
flaxseed and decreased their overall fat intake had a much lower level of testosterone. There is
also evidence that it lowered testosterone in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome.
If you’re trying to get in shape, don’t use vegetable oil.
When building muscle, your cooking habits count for a lot. It’s not just the food you’re cooking,
it’s what you’re cooking it with. While vegetable oil is recommended for cooking,
a lot of them have polyunsaturated fatty acids. These include soybean, canola and corn.
A study from about 20 years ago looked at 69 grown men, and found that the more polyunsaturated fat
they had, the less testosterone they had. Over the years, other studies have come to this conclusion.
If you’re into cookin and you want to use oil,
the best for your testosterone levels are olive and coconut oil. Olive oil specifically raises
the activity of enzymes that help produce the hormone in your body. As for coconut,
they hold saturated fats and will help increase your testosterone to a healthy level.
Weirdly enough, mints are also a no-go.
I know it seems like we’ve ruined all your favorite foods, but this
is unfortunately the reality when you’re trying to transform your
body.You need to cut out most of the things you enjoyed eating. Mint is no exception.
In order to have your testosterone at a healthy enough level for muscle growth,
things like peppermint and spearmint need to go. Some 2010 research found
that putting spearmint in herbal tea caused your testosterone to drop significantly.
Some animal studies also support this. Research done on rats from a while back saw that drinking
peppermint tea made their hormone levels go down, including their testosterone.
Soy in another big one!
I know some of you probably aren’t into soy, but for those of you who are,
you might want to prepare for your testosterone to drop big time. While research is mixed,
there’s a possibility that male hormones are strongly impacted by soy products.
An experiment from 2005 was done to see what would happen when a group of men ate
soy protein for a period of time. After 54 days, their testosterone levels plummeted.
So why does this happen? Well, there are things in soy called phytoestrogens.
These are plant-based substances that copy the effects of estrogen by changing the
amount of hormones you have in your body. As a result, your testosterone level decreases.
But like I said, research is pretty mixed. While people on one side will say it does
lower testosterone, people on the other side say it has no affect on your hormones whatsoever.
A collection of 15 studies concluded that soy foods had no impact on the testosterone
levels of men. So it’s pretty clear that a little research is needed to make a proper conclusion.
Testosterone is so important to your physical fitness, but there are so many other things you
need to focus on as well. Care to learn more? Let’s keep the conversation going
with a couple more fitness-related videos, shall we? Here’s what you need to know…
Check out 11 Simple Exercises That Show Results After Just One Workout.Or
how about 6 Exercises For Women That Will Transform Your Body In Just 4 Weeks?
Go ahead, click one. Or better yet, watch both,
and learn more about how to get in shape. Are you considering dropping any of these
foods after watching this video? Let us know in the comments below…