Testosterone is the master hormone for man. I’ve said it before in a previous post, and I’ll say it again! All your daily actions, energy, and mindset revolve around testosterone. It’s what separates the boys from the men.
I used to battle with low testosterone when I was younger. I’ll go into why that was happening with the daily habits I was involved in, but basically I felt like a little bitch. This isn’t a normal feeling for men. We’re destined to be confident, muscular, and I’d like to say happy but that isn’t the right word. Fulfilled is a better word.
This post will be about what’s keeping your testosterone down, and what you can do about it to bring it back up again. Think of this post as an adaption from my previous post on 5 Ways You Can Naturally Boost Your Testosterone.
Low Testosterone Reason #1: Beer
As much as I love beer, whether it’s Flying Monkeys, Belgian Moon, or even Faxe 10%, beer is shit. It’s shit for a few reasons.
Beer is filled with carbs. Not that there’s anything wrong with carbs, but beer has the bad kind of carbs: Simple carbs. It doesn’t come from whole foods and you’re just drinking your carbs all night that will eventually lead into a caloric surplus. Your body will store those extra carbs as fat and lower your testosterone.
Beer is filled with estrogen. Not only do you drink yourself into a caloric surplus, you’re also raising your estrogen; thus, your body fat as well. All men have some levels of estrogen, but too much can be a problem.
Adding on to the point above, men who drink a lot of beer not only develop a beer belly, but also man boobs as well. High estrogen levels and low testosterone is one of the key reasons why men suffer with the skinny fat physique and low testosterone.
You’ll feel bloated after drinking a lot of beer. The next day you might feel a little lean, but that’s just your body dehydrated from water. Give it a couple days and that leanness will be gone and you’ll have a puffy feeling.
Having a drink once and while isn’t so bad. If I were to quantify once and a while, once a month or so is fine. I feel it’s more of a psychological benefit to release yourself and have a good time.
Now if you don’t want to go out and drink, I highly recommend sticking to a drink that has no carbs, and no added pop or sugar. Strictly on the rocks or neat. I’m a Jameson guy myself, so I can easily enjoy a night out with a double of Jameson on the rocks. Let the ice dilute a little bit and we’re ready to rock for a good time. If you’re a fan of Irish Whiskey, I highly recommend the same.
Low Testosterone Reason #2: Weed
Throughout University, I was a big pot head. In my first couple of months of living on my own, I purchased a bong, grinder, and spent about 500$ on weed. It came to a point where I could barely think, sleep, or even wake up properly. I was turning into a burnout.
I know I have an addictive personality, but I’ve always been able to pull myself out of the addictions. After those first couple of months, I sold the bong and all the weed I had left and never let myself get to that point again.
I focused on lifting weights, eating clean, and helping others achieve a higher level of confidence and a greater physique. It’s a much more fulfilling life than ever before.
Weed hits everybody differently and some people might have positive effects from it, but I had adverse effects and provided no real benefit in my life. So here are a few reasons why it lowers your testosterone:
It messes with your sleep. I get it, people use it to go to sleep, but do you actually get quality sleep? My experience says otherwise. Not once have I ever woken up feeling refreshed or invigorated. I always felt groggy. This lack of sleep from the weed lowered my testosterone.
Weed lowers your sperm count: “THC, the primary psychoactive constituent in cannabis, blocks the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which leads to lower LH causing the Leydig cells to produce less testosterone”. Less testosterone = less sperm cells
Weed gives you the munchies. One of the tenets of high testosterone is having lower levels of body fat. If you’re snacking all the time, how are you supposed to be jacked and lean with high testosterone?
I get that some people smoke weed for chronic pain, but I’m talking about recreational users. The ones who have no real reason to smoke it other than it being “fun”. Don’t get me wrong, it is fun but if it lowers your testosterone levels long term, then it’s not worth it in my books.
Don’t do drugs.
Low Testosterone Reason #3: Diet
Diet is where you’ll see 80% of your results. Whether it’s the good kind or the bad kind is determined by what you eat. If you eat clean and train, you’ll live like a king. But if you eat like shit, then you’ll feel like shit. It’s that simple.
A bad diet will always lower your testosterone and cause you to gain more body fat. The most common traits for these are diets high in carbs and fats with very little protein. It’s easy to overeat on this diet because the food tastes good with the high levels of fat, and the carbs give you a quick energy boost, but don’t last long. This kind of diet will largely be your processed foods filled with refined sugars, wheats, and trans fatty acids.
Move away from this diet by eating whole foods and high amounts of protein. No matter what the media says about protein, you need it to live a long and prosperous life along with keeping your testosterone high. It’ll help you lower body fat, give you more energy, and you’ll be able to take your shirt off with confidence.
Low Testosterone Reason #4: No Sunlight
When I was playing video games all the time, my dad would call me a basement dweller. I’d be inside in the darkness looking at a screen for 8 hours a day. I should have gotten paid for all the time I was putting into it!
But now that I look back, that was one of the reasons why I had low testosterone and felt like a little bitch. I wasn’t getting any Vitamin D! Vitamin D is more than just a vitamin. It’s also a hormone that boosts your testosterone.
Here’s a few reasons why to get more Vitamin D:
It fights viruses and diseases. If you’re worried about Covid, then go outside in the sun and let the sunlight heal you by burning away the bacteria.
It reduces your depression, bad mood, the blues, etc. Getting out of the darkness of the basement and into the sun is the easiest way to elevate your mood and life. Have you ever seen a depressed person at the beach?
Vitamin D helps you lose fat faster. Train outside in the sun and you’ll boost your testosterone but also burn your body fat faster than you would if you were to stay inside. The higher your testosterone levels, the easier it is to lose your body fat overall.
Sunlight is essential to boosting your low testosterone, so aim to get outside at least 60 minutes a day and expose your skin to as much sun as possible!
Low Testosterone Reason #5: Stress
We all need stress. It gives us a little adrenaline and something to work towards. But what happens if we get too much stress? We begin to burn out, and our testosterone drops.
Managing stress is one of the many world wonders in the 21st Century. We’re constantly being bombarded with dopamine hit after dopamine hit to distract us from our responsibilities. We then get pulled away from our responsibilities and wonder where the time went, then we fall behind in our work and the stress naturally builds up.
Here is some actionable advice you can start implementing tonight: Mind Dump exercise.
What is a Mind Dump exactly? You’re taking all your thoughts, fears, and anxieties in your head and making them real on a piece of paper. Set an alarm for 5-10 minutes and write everything down that comes to your head. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense. Just write it down.
Once it’s written, now you can begin to organize and prioritize. Go over your list and begin to prioritize what you need to do today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc. Once you’ve got that down, now it’s time to go out and actually do it. Set yourself a timer and start taking action. Watch your stress and anxiety disappear.
Conclusion
Testosterone is so important for men, and when we don’t have it we feel like little bitches with low energy complaining about the world around us. Let’s go over the 5 reasons why your testosterone is low.
You’re drinking too much beer
You’re smoking weed
Your diet is shit
You don’t get any sunlight
You’re stressed.
All five of these are things that you can actively change your life and naturally boost your testosterone.
Which ones will you be doing?
Let me know in the comments below!
