Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and is responsible for the development of masculine features at the onset of puberty, including increases in body hair and muscle mass. As we reach a sexually reproductive age, driven by testosterone levels, this also ‘peaks’ our activity and drives man's innate desire to have sex. Although seen as a male hormone, women also produce small amounts of testosterone and it has similar, but less pronounced effects, but it is still an important regulator of libido.
As we enter our late teens and early twenties, our testosterone levels are at their highest, hence why males sex drive and capacity to grow muscle tissue is often naturally at its peak at these ages. As we get into our thirties, testosterone levels start to reduce and this declines even further into middle and old age at a rate of around 1-2% per year. Aside from age related declines in testosterone, our lifestyles can also have an impact on testosterone levels which can have implications for our sex drive.
Anything which can cause prolonged periods of physical stress can impact massively on testosterone. For example, a lack of sleep, long periods of calorie restriction when dieting and periods of high training volume causes the releases of our stress hormone cortisol, and this impacts on our body’s testosterone levels in a negative manner. Stress brought on from other lifestyle factors including work related stress and emotional stress may also impact on testosterone levels, so for anyone looking to improve their libido, managing stress, getting enough quality sleep, and ensuring adequate recovery from exercise is important for those who exercise intensely on a regular basis.
Aside from generally low calorie intake, low testosterone can also be caused by a lack of the right nutrients in the diet. For example, low dietary fat intake might have an impact on testosterone because testosterone is derived from fat itself in the form of cholesterol, which is produced in the body from fatty acids that we get from food or body fat. Therefore low body fat levels can also be associated with low testosterone, especially if combined with a low-fat diet.
On the other end of the spectrum, being overweight can cause low testosterone and reduce sex drive because adipose tissue converts testosterone to oestrogen. This conversion, called aromatisation, is responsible for the development of ‘man boobs’ in overweight males, so maintaining a healthy weight is an essential part of encouraging normal testosterone levels.
Other nutrients that are important for the creation of testosterone are zinc and vitamin D. Zinc intake can be increased through the use of ‘ZMA’ or other zinc supplements, however a balanced diet should be able to provide you with all the zinc you need. Foods rich in zinc include beef, poultry, seafood, dairy, spinach and fortified breakfast cereals.
Vitamin D is something that many people could benefit from supplementing with as dietary sources of vitamin D generally don’t contain enough to meet our needs, which is why we are reliant on our bodies to synthesise vitamin D from sunlight. Unfortunately, depending on where you live, it is a very real possibility that sunlight alone will not provide you with enough vitamin D to optimise its levels and get all the many benefits that vitamin D can offer, including maintaining normal testosterone levels.
For those who live in Europe and anywhere else in the world above the 37th parallel of latitude (you’ll have to break out the globe for that one!), during the autumn and winter months, vitamin D supplementation is recommended in the form of vitamin D3, but it can also be used safely year-round, which might be beneficial – especially for those who work night shifts, or are in a work environment that doesn’t get much direct sunlight. To ensure you are giving your body the best chance to boost testosterone levels, 3000IU of Vitamin D3 per day is recommended.
Although we can’t significantly boost testosterone levels beyond a normal healthy range through supplementation, our best hope in this regard is therefore to prevent and recover from low testosterone levels. However, several other natural extracts have shown promise in boosting libido including Maca, Tribulus Terrestris, Long Jack and Fenugreek, which are commonly found in test-boosting supplements, so for those looking to boost their sex drive these have the potential to have some benefit.
In summary, it is natural in both sexes for testosterone levels to decline with age and this can have an impact on both our sex drive and general health and well-being. To give your body the best possible chance at maintaining its testosterone levels, we need to ensure we have a balanced diet, avoiding excessive weight or being in long periods of caloric restriction. Most people will benefit from vitamin D3 supplementation for its wide-ranging benefits, which reach far beyond encouraging healthy testosterone levels, including a boost in immune function, improvement in bone health, cognitive function, and may help prevent cancers, diabetes and other diseases.
