How to Maintain Your Testosterone Levels As You Age

Written by Jano Tantongco on April 19, 2023. Posted in Current News

Many men accept as fact the idea that testosterone will inevitably decrease as they get older

However, new science is showing that diseases of lifestyle, rather than just age, are often the real culprits behind the decline.

Testosterone levels have shown a stunning downward trend in the past several decades.

The standard American diet is a nutritional wasteland. Environmental pollution and microplastics are wreaking havoc on our hormone levels with their endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Obesity, many drugs, and our sedentary lifestyle also undermine testosterone production. When so many aspects of our way of life can potentially sabotage testosterone levels—and by extension, good health—it becomes fundamental to a man’s well-being to understand how to preserve and boost levels of this vital hormone.

In a study published in March 2023 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers examined 625 men with an average age of 65 years, aiming to determine how aging affects testosterone. They discovered that when they controlled for comorbidities, age alone wasn’t “significantly associated with testosterone decline.”

Comorbidities, including anemia, diabetes, heart failure, obesity, peripheral artery disease, and stroke, were found to be far more important in predicting whether testosterone would drop over time.

How Testosterone Works

Testosterone is the primary sex hormone that governs men’s health. It has direct effects on muscle growth, the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow, reproductive function, and behavior.

Dr. Tro Kalayjian, medical director of his own nationwide practice focusing on weight loss, explained that testosterone is made in our mitochondria, specifically in what’s known as Leydig cells in the testes. He further elaborated that cholesterol—much maligned by mainstream nutritional science—is actually the fundamental building block of sex hormones.

What exactly constitutes a healthy testosterone level is up for debate. According to guidelines issued in 2018 by the American Urological Association, 300 nanograms per deciliter is a “reasonable cut-off” to diagnose low testosterone. The 300 level is a commonly used standard, as we see in health publications intended for a general audience.

However, Kalayjian explained that he considers a healthy range to be between 500 and 700.

“A 30-something-year-old male could have a 300 testosterone level, and that would be considered normal by our [modern] lab values. That’s definitely not normal,” he told The Epoch Times. “The range is based on a statistical plot of our population, but we’ve had a sick population for 70 years.”

Decline of Testosterone

In a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism in 2007, researchers followed a group of 1,532 American men aged 45 to 79 over nearly two decades to determine if there was an age-independent decline in testosterone in the male population.

In other words, they wanted to compare if a 65-year-old man in 1987 had the same level of testosterone as similar men of the same age in 2004. They collected baseline data from 1987 to 1989 and conducted two follow-up periods in 1995–97 and 2002–04.

They found an average decline of about 1 percent per year. For a hypothetical 65-year-old man in 1987 contrasted with a similar 65-year-old in 2004, that amounts to an approximately 17 percent decline.

A later study published in 2020 in European Urology Focus performed a similar analysis on survey data of 4,045 males aged 15 to 40 from 1999 to 2016 in the United States. They found an approximately 25 percent drop in average testosterone levels from 1999–00 to 2015–16.

Both studies attempted to control for factors such as comorbidities, diet, and lifestyle. Overall, the science is still unclear as to what accounts for this stark decrease over time, but there’s some speculation. The 2007 study explored the idea of environmental toxicity potentially contributing to the decline. The 2020 study showed an association between higher body mass index (BMI) and lower testosterone levels, noting that BMI increased in the men over time as well.

And environmental factors are emerging as a potential source of population-level testosterone decline. In a study published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety in 2023, plastic nanoparticles were found to induce oxidative stress in mouse cells and decreased testosterone secretion.

And a study in the Saudi Medical Journal from 2010 shows that long-term exposure to cell phone radiation of 60 minutes per day decreased testosterone levels in rats.

These findings stand in stark contrast to findings from a unique population of men. In examining the role of circadian rhythm and seasonal changes in rural Bolivian men, researchers discovered an “absence of an age-related [testosterone] decline,” in a study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Human Biology. They theorize that the male reproductive system may adapt differently in such a rural setting, which includes harsh winters and strenuous physical labor.

On an individual level, symptoms of testosterone deficiency can include low sex drive, loss of energy, brain fog, osteoporosis, the inability to gain muscle mass, and depression. To ultimately diagnose low testosterone, Kalayjian advocates for considering both measured testosterone levels and clinical symptoms.

“Testosterone is a huge quality-of-life metric for men. If you really wanted to see if a man is suffering, check [his] testosterone level,” he said.

Turning Back the Clock

Despite the population-wide trend, men can opt out of being a statistical point in the modern downward trajectory.

In his medical practice, which is staffed by three health coaches, two personal trainers, and one mental health counselor, Kalayjian said he’s seen testosterone levels—and overall well-being—jump up in men who make key lifestyle changes in diet, exercise levels, and sleep.

“They’re going back to normal, and they feel like a fountain of youth. Their sex life is back. They’re able to put on muscle. It’s a big deal,” he said.

Kalayjian highlighted that he’s even seen patients aged 60-plus sometimes double, if not triple, their testosterone levels.

In diagnosing the problem, Kalayjian takes a two-pronged approach. First, he takes aim at conditions such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and obesity, which all wreak havoc on testosterone. For instance, a study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine from 2010 shows that those with metabolic syndrome had significantly lower levels of testosterone.

Next, he determines if there’s a deficiency of cholesterol—the building block of testosterone—or saturated fats, which support optimal hormone production.

“Cholesterol [intake] has also come down decade-over-decade, which is the precursor to testosterone production,” he said.

And, despite earlier mainstream recommendations against saturated fat, recent science is painting a different picture.

One study published in 2021 in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology found that low-fat diets “appear to decrease” testosterone levels in men. In a 2010 meta-analysis published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examining 21 studies, researchers found “no significant evidence” for concluding that saturated fat was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary heart disease.

With this in mind, Kalayjian advocated for minimizing carbohydrates in one’s diet, especially of the processed variety, while increasing fat and protein consumption. He specifically recommended whole foods such as red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt, green leafy vegetables, and avocados.

“Those foods are so filling, they typically lead people to start losing weight,” he said. “Just reversing metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, [or] diabetes in my clinic will typically … double testosterone from the 200 to 300 range to the 400 to 600 range.”

He said it typically takes three to six months to start seeing testosterone levels increase. At that point, he said, one can make use of his newly elevated testosterone by channeling it into exercise. However, he noted that overtraining can also impair testosterone, so he advocated for slow and steady progress.

In addition todiet and exercise, healthy sleep is also fundamental for testosterone production. A 2011 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that sleeping less than five hours a night can lower testosterone levels by as much as 15 percent.

“As research progresses, low sleep duration and poor sleep quality are increasingly recognized as endocrine disruptors,” lead researcher Eve Van Cauter told the University of Chicago Medicine.

And, of course, managing stress is also paramount to maintaining hormonal health. While some low-level stress can actually have a positive effect on testosterone, chronic stress is another story. A 2022 study in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine shows that chronic stress damages mitochondria in rats, leading to lowered testosterone levels and reduced body weight.

When Lifestyle Changes Fall Short

Kalayjian noted that there are a few cases where even profound lifestyle changes won’t move the needle for proper testosterone function.

He outlined that it could simply be that for certain men, mitochondria function naturally diminishes over time. Some older men who contract viral infections such as measles or mumps can also have permanently diminished testosterone production, he noted.

And there are a plethora of widely prescribed medications such as statins, metformin, finasteride, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that can undermine testosterone production.

For these men, Kalayjian suggests that testosterone supplementation may help, “if you’ve done diet and you’ve done sleep and you’ve done exercise, and you want that extra 10 percent, and you want to feel vigor that you didn’t have.”

This approach does come with side effects, including an increased risk of prostate cancer.

Overall, Kalayjian said one should always consult with their physician to see what will work best for them.

His takeaway mantra on optimizing testosterone is this: “Diet, lifestyle, check your levels.”

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