I recently did a popular video about oats, entitled, “Health Warnings About Eating
Oats/Oatmeal, Especially For Breakfast!”.
I’ll give you a link to that video at the end of this one.
What’s interesting is within 48 hours, I had 3 separate guys contacting me - in the
comments section or facebook or email - asking me
“Why do I see a decrease in sex drive when i consume oats regularly?”
Another person asked “I think eating oatmeal in the morning is killing my libido, can this
be true?”
Last person asked, “I swear to you, my testosterone feels lower when I have lots of oats.
Any studies showing this Dr. Sam?”
And that’s what I’ll discuss today:
if oats are a problem What I discovered in hormone tests
A specific oat that’s clinically proven to increase your testosterone and libido
Are Oats A Problem?
I stated how this was interesting because years ago when I used to consult and coach
a lot of professional athletes, including bodybuilders, I had a few guys tell me similar
things.
If it was a regular person, I wouldn’t give it as much thought because there are too many
variables that regular people don’t take into account.
But these guys were professionals and thus, they lived a stricter life-style and were
very detailed and calculated in everything they did - ate, slept, exercised, supplements,
drugs and so forth.
So, I had to take it seriously because something was negatively affecting their mood and performance.
And thus, I did hormone tests on these guys whenever it was possible.
Both blood and saliva.
Interestly, they almost all had elevated cortisol and lower testosterone levels.
There was an imbalance and the ratio was far from optimal.
Just so that you know, as your stress hormone cortisol goes up, your testosterone levels
will come down.
And this imbalance could easily be the cause of the lowered sex drive, libido, performance
and so forth.
So What’s The Cause?
Was this due to eating oats?...
I have no idea because I don’t have enough data or people.
Could this have been the case with my other athletes who did NOT eat oats?...
Again, I have no idea because I wasn’t doing some randomized clinical study, doing hormone
tests on dozens of people.
Was it because they had an allergic reaction to the oats, which will cause inflammation
and a rise in cortisol?...
Yes, possibly.
The bottom line is that I don’t know for sure.
I can’t say anything with certainty because I don’t have hundreds of people saying the
same thing, to make any conclusive decisions - whether it’s empirical or clinical.
There are just too many factors.
Listen To Your Body
However, IF you feel like eating oats or any foods, causes a decrease in your libido and
sex drive or some other negative physical, emotional or mental issue...Then my suggestion
is you STOP doing it for a couple of weeks and see how you feel.
If you feel better, then good.
We discovered something important.
Then reintroduce it back into your diet and see how you feel.
If things go bad again, then I think we know for sure that you must eliminate this specific
food from your diet.
This can be oats or any macro or micro nutrient.
For whatever reason - your genetics, age, hormones, etc. - your body doesn’t like
it.
Which is fine.
What’s important is you LISTEN to your body - it’ll tell you what you need to do.
Of course, paying attention and listening is the hard part.
What About Clinical Studies?
Before I end today’s topic, I also did a quick search on pubmed about clinical studies
linking oats to testosterone or cortisol levels, libido and so forth.
Nothing good came up.
And even if it did, any study can be refuted with an opposite study.
However, there is ONE important fact that came up in my research numerous times.
About a specific type of oat that RAISES total and free testosterone levels.
Think of of your total testosterone as your GROSS income.
And your “free testosterone” as your NET income.
What you keep after taxes and expenses.
Thus, they both matter, but your FREE testosterone levels matter more - that’s the active,
usable testosterone.
Anyway, this specific form of oat is called Oat Straw Extract, also known as Avena Sativa
Extract.
You can’t get this from food, I’ve tried - it doesn’t work.
It needs to come in a specific supplement form, extract with 100:1 ratio.
Below in the description area, I’ve put a link to a product that contains this exact
form of Oat Straw/Avena Sativa Extract.
It’s actually something I’ve been using myself for over 20 years.
It also contains about a dozen other clinical research natural ingredients that help balance
and optimize your hormones by
Increasing total and free testosterone levels Decrease negative hormones (estrogen, cortisol,
etc.)
Anyway, if you’re interested in more details about all of this and how to improve your
libido and so forth - just click the link below this video, in the description area.
I’ve also posted the link to the original video about “Health Warnings About Eating
Oats/Oatmeal, Especially For Breakfast!”...
Remember, always listen to YOUR body.
Just because someone else can eat one food or follow a specific diet and look or feel
better, doesn’t mean YOUR genetics are the same.