Low Testosterone and What to Do About It

When we consider low testosterone, typically, we think of infertility, low libido, or ED in men. And when two men are in a fistfight, we might say, "There's too much testosterone in the room!" It can actually be the opposite. It typically indicates a hormone imbalance, which could be too high OR too low. When you watch the old westerns where the cool cowboy calmly walks onto the scene, and you see other cowboys fighting. The calm cowboy has balanced testosterone. Those cowboys fighting could possibly have LOW testosterone. It's a calming hormone. When you have enough, you're calm. Irritability can also happen when testosterone is too high or if you are supplementing too much too quickly.

This is the case for both men and women. Women need testosterone as well. The idea of having hormones in balance, regardless of gender, is kind of like trying to cook French toast for a family of 5 with only one egg. You might have enough bread but not enough of the other ingredients to make the recipe work. (And no, I do not advocate eating bread.

I recommend plenty of grass-fed beef, animal fat, and egg yolks in order to be able to make hormones. If your Cholesterol is too low, you won't have enough to make the steroid hormones. Testosterone is a steroid hormone. Total Cholesterol needs to be at least 170 (minimum) in order to produce adequate hormones. (See the cholesterol blog for more info about cholesterol myths and why we should be eating beef and eggs.)

As you can see in the first diagram below, Cholesterol is at the start of the hormone pathways. Cholesterol is literally the foundation, and we've been told to eat low-fat and go easy on eggs and red meat. In the 2nd diagram, notice how testosterone is needed to make estrogen. If too much testosterone is converted to estrogen, then you'll be low in testosterone.

We take in so many xenoestrogens from our environment (plastics, clothing, bedding, water bottles, plastic food containers) and processed foods. Soy contains a plant form of estrogen that gums up the estrogen receptors. The body doesn't utilize it very well.

Being overweight, large breasts on men or women (unless body building), low libido for men and women, weight around the middle, weight gain, inability to lose weight, infertility in both men and women, ED, irregular periods, density in breasts, headaches, depression, anxiety - these can all be symptoms of high estrogen levels in the body.

We focus on bringing down the estrogen (if needed), and we increase the testosterone at the same time. I look at minerals, vitamins, what you're eating, leaky gut, stress…these all play a role in hormone production.

Regarding supplementation, it partly depends upon your diet and what your body tests for. If you are eating plants and animals, I typically use a combination of orchic extract with other minerals and vitamins to address your nutritional deficiencies, along with Methylfolate Plus and possibly DHEA. As we know, plant toxins and fiber reduce and block the absorption of nutrients from those plants. Fiber and plant toxins will also block the absorption of nutrients from other foods you are eating at the time. If you're doing Carnivore, I would probably have you order the MOFO from Ancestral Supplements or the Whole Package from Heart & Soil. MOFO contains prostate support along with orchic and a couple of other organs, versus the Whole Package, which does not contain the prostate, but has the orchic, etc. Even if you're eating plants, either of these two supplements is powerful and packed with nutrition – it's still an option and can work very well.

To bring down estrogens, there are supplements that block the conversion of testosterone to estrogen, as well as others that bind to excess estrogen and detox it. Go slow on the detox if you choose this route – itchy skin at the sites of detox can be unbearable if you take too much. I make sure your channels of elimination are open: bowel, liver, kidney, lymph. If part of the funnel is clogged, you'll overflow the top and have detox symptoms.

Diagrams from: https://forum.propeciahelp.com/t/steroidogenesis-diagrams-of-hormone-pathways/488

We can work on this together! Let's get your testosterone up!
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