Testosterone - THE Male Hormone
For any man who doesn't really understand what testosterone is the answer is simple - testosterone is the hormone produced in the male body that produces the characteristics which separate the male physique from the female physique. In essence, testosterone is the central factor in what makes a man a man.
Given that, what every interested male should be asking himself is - how much do I need to know about testosterone? How does my body make testosterone? Is there anything I can do to raise my testosterone levels? What are the benefits of raising my testosterone levels? What am I losing by not having high levels of testosterone? That's a lot of questions but fortunately for you we wrote this article to answer those very questions. So, read on, you red blooded males.
How Testosterone Is Produced In The Body
According to the dictionary definition of testosterone is "a steroid hormone that stimulates development of the male secondary sexual characteristics, produced mainly in the testes and adrenal cortex." When this definition refers to secondary sexual characteristics it means aspects such as larger muscles, increased physical height, higher levels of upper body strength, and greater quantities of body hair relative to females. In addition, the very existence of testosterone in the prenatal period is the very reason you were born with male sex organs in the first place.
Although many men have some knowledge about testosterone one common misconception is that it is produced entirely by the testes. The fact is that there are multiple areas of the male body that contribute to testosterone production. These include the adrenal cortex, which is the outer region of the male adrenal glands. Located just above the kidneys, the glands produce other hormones such as cortisol. One key factor in the production of testosterone is stress levels which can have a significant effect on the production of testosterone in the adrenal glands. And, even small reductions in testosterone levels can have significant and notable negative effects on the male body.
Negative Effects Of Low Testosterone
Though not often talked about, a serious issue for many men is low testosterone levels - often referred to as "Low-T." Given that every man's level of testosterone will decline as they age the big question becomes - how can you slow or even stop the loss? Well, the simple fact is that there is no known method to completely stop the decline but there are ways to slow it. And, even though older men are the main group who suffer from this condition it is also true that younger men who may fail to follow a regimen of healthy lifestyle choices, both in dietary choices and physical exercise. Factors that can affect testosterone levels for men of any age include:
- Insufficient levels of physical exercise including weight training
- Estrogen producing dietary choices including high levels of processed foods
- Decreased levels of human growth hormones
- High levels of stress
- Negative mental states including depression
- Insufficient or total lack of sexual activity
Frankly, the consequences of having low testosterone can have serious and unwanted effects on a man's quality of life. Some of these effects include erectile dysfunction which may be the biggest red flag that your body is suffering from low levels of testosterone. These low levels can contribute greatly to a loss of sex drive which can prevent even fully functional sex organs from performing as intended. Diminished orgasms can occur if your symptoms include lowered volumes of semen, as well. Put these together and you have a prescription for low fertility, as well. Other symptoms include rapid loss of muscle mass and even hair loss. In addition, a likely scenario is that you will experience an increase in fatty deposits in various body areas leading to physically appealing build ups around the chest and abdomen. Can you say "Man Boobs" and "Beer Gut?" Finally, men suffering from low testosterone are also susceptible to a very serious condition called osteoporosis. Nobody wants to deal with brittle bones and the increase potential for injury that comes with them.
Ways To Increase Testosterone Levels
Exercise
Studies and common sense suggest that increased levels of proper exercise will lead to an increase of testosterone levels. Let's face it, healthy people and effective physical activity are basically synonymous and evolution dictates that the strong survive. After all, for thousands of years, it has been the physical strength of men have allowed our species to become hunters, carnivores - strong enough to use crude weapons and even our bare hands to kill our prey and feed our women and our children when wild animal flesh was the difference between life and death. With that in mind, it's important to understand that nature and evolution endowed men with muscles so that they could not only survive but thrive in an often inhospitable world. In the modern world the development of sufficient muscle mass can be harder to come by as opposed to the ancient world where the mere act of living was a great physical challenge. Because of that, we had some savvy thinkers develop a system of creating challenging physical tasks we now know as weight lifting. So guys, you've been told. It's time to hit the gym.
Whole Foods
Earlier in this article we talked about how eating processed foods can drastically diminish testosterone levels. The obvious flip side of this issue is that a diet rich in whole foods can go a long way to increase the desired levels of testosterone. For instance, food choices rich in minerals such as zinc, which include red meat, pork, chicken and oysters are great sources for naturally providing your body with the key elements necessary for building testosterone.
Avoid Estrogens
Some food items can work against this goal because they promote an increase in estrogen which counteracts the positive effects of testosterone. Examples of these foods include soy based foods such as tofu and almost anything packaged in cans since cans are generally coated with soy oil to protect the and preserve the contents.
Other products that can cause you to produce estrogen are certain types of plastic containers including soda, juice and water bottles, low end tupperware and the plastic trays that frozen or refrigerated items are packaged in can add to your estrogen levels because, when heated to a high degree in microwave cooking, they tend to leech estrogen into the foods which you then consume. You can avoid this problem by removing these items from use. Instead, simply avoid the items and find and use containers that do not contain these counter productive chemicals such as glass, ceramic and metallic containers.
Testosterone Boosting Supplements
Finally, even if you adhere to the advice we have given here, you may find that you cannot notice any appreciable rise in testosterone levels in a reasonable amount of time then you may want to consider exploring the use of a male enhancement supplement. A great example among the hundreds of such products designed to naturally raise your testosterone levels is Xytomax. Known for its special formula which contains high levels of zinc and many other herbs and extracts that are designed to help the male body produce the desired levels of testosterone. Ultimately, with a the right lifestyle choices and a male enhancement supplement like Xytomax will help you reach the goals of building larger muscle mass, achieve higher levels of energy and libido, and notably, better erections.
One important side note, for greater overall sexual experiences we recommend that you get started on utilizing all of the advice offered here as soon as possible and don't forget to make a great male enhancement supplement like Xytomax a part of that program. Learn more.
