Raising Testosterone without TRT - Behavioral and Psychosocial NO-GO’s.

Raising Testosterone without TRT - Behavioral and Psychosocial NO-GO’s.

It seems like everyone and his endocrinologist has advice for raising Testosterone (T) levels these days. And there has been a great deal of teeth-gnashing about plummeting levels of T in the male population.

Seth Capehart did a video suggesting several nonpharmacological ways to increase T. It’s a good video. You can view that video here (note-Skip the Blowtorch) :

1. Decrease belly fat. Belly fat aromatizes testosterone into estrogen. That’s a big problem. He suggests reasonable steps there.

   1. Eat real food

   2. Focus on Protein

   3. Eliminate processed sugar

   4. Do aerobic and strength training

2. Sleep better. Most T is produced when you sleep so

   1. Wake up at the same time daily to set your circadian clock

   2. Sleep in a cold dark and quiet place

   3. No screen on hour before bed. (This probably has more to do with mental arousal than blue light exposure)

3. Eat right. You need cholesterol in your diet.

   1. Capehart makes pretty reasonable suggestions here for eggs, salmon, beef and olive oil

4. Do Man Things

   1. Challenge

   2. Competition

   3. Hard lifts

   4. Cold Showers

5. Spend time outdoors

   1. Sunlight exposure

   2. The outdoors is good for your mental health

So, eating small amounts of salmon that you cook over heavy rocks that won in competition and then carried to your campsite right before you sleep … you’re covered.

1. Don’t consume alcohol heavily, especially chronically. A review by Smith, Lopresti and Fairchild (2023) in the Expert Review of Endocrinological Metabolism found that

   1. Low to moderate alcohol levels boosted T. The bad news. The body suspended the breakdown of T because it was busy trying to stop you from dying because you consumed a toxin (alcohol).

   2. High volume alcohol led to decreases in Serum T levels. After you drink a lot, your HPA axis gets out of kilter and that along with oxidative stress and inflammation significantly reduce T levels.

Smith concludes “When alcohol is consumed in excess, particularly chronically, it negatively affects testosterone production in men”

2. Don’t be submissive. This is not an invitation to start watching Andrew Tate videos and be a jagoff.

   Maner, Miller, Schmidt and Eckel (2008) in Psychological Science write that

   1. Socially Anxious men demonstrated decreases in T levels (saliva) after rigged competitions.
      

Terburg, Syal, Rosenberger, Heany, Stein and VanHonk (2016) in Psychoneuroendocrinology (37 Scrabble Points for that word) write that administration of sublingual testosterone eradicated behavioral signs of submission in social anxiety. Subjects did not look away from subliminal images of angry faces.

Because both studies looked at

• Testosterone is important for health and well being.

• Trying to optimize testosterone is probably counterproductive. Optimization-Anxiety ironically is a chronic stress that will reduce T levels, and especially so if you are unsuccessful at optimizing it.

• But do reasonable things

  • Eat right

  • Lose excess weight and especially belly fat

  • Sleep better

  • Exercise

  • Expose yourself to challenges

  • Spend more time outdoors

  • If you use alcohol at all, use it sparingly and 1-2 times a week. Maybe 1.

  • In general be mindful of submissiveness, hopelessness, defeatism. When you can reality check this and feel better, do so.

  • But if you can benefit from mental health support to deal with anxiety or particularly social anxiety ( as well as alcohol addictions), seek that support.

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Maner, J. K., Miller, S. L., Schmidt, N. B., & Eckel, L. A. (2008). Submitting to defeat: Social anxiety, dominance threat, and decrements in testosterone. Psychological Science, 19(8), 764–768. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02154.x

Smith, S. J., Lopresti, A. L., & Fairchild, T. J. (2023). The effects of alcohol consumption on testosterone in men: A systematic review. Expert Review of Endocrinology & Metabolism, 18(2), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/17446651.2023.2183842

Terburg, D., Syal, S., Rosenberger, L. A., Heany, S., Stein, D. J., & van Honk, J. (2016). Acute effects of sublingual testosterone on social anxiety and submissive behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 65, 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.12.008

Capehart, S. (2023). How to naturally increase testosterone without TRT [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.ly/l3L3M9sQMrc