The hottest romance on the planet is over. No, we’re not talking Brangelina. Mr Musk has left the building. It is faintly rumoured that the US Congress is mulling impeaching President Trump about his dealings with Mr Musk. Apparently, this will be known as ElonGate.
Another place where you will find “romance” and “elongate” in the same paragraph, is likely in a discussion on men’s health. June is almost over, but did you know that June also marks Men’s Health Month?
Men actually don’t like talking about men’s health. If you need to talk about it, you’re kind of admitting that things are not all that healthy in your nether regions. Denial seems the safer option for most men, resulting in many curable conditions progressing to much more advanced diseases. This is why we need something called Men’s Health Month, so men can talk about it without feeling sheepish – and maybe, just maybe, seek help.
It doesn’t help matters that Testo sterone has been receiving such bad press of late (we’ll simply refer to it as “T” for the rest of this letter, to side-step the nanny filters). The term “toxic masculinity” is often used to refer to violent anger outbursts by men. The assumption is that too much T leads to violent behaviour. If only men had lower T levels, we’d all be living in Paradise, right?
Wrong.
It turns out that T levels are not uniformly linked to any kind of good or bad behaviour at all. To quote Facebook: “It’s complicated.”
Really high levels of T are linked to aggressive and antisocial behaviour, yes. Yet many really decent men walk around with equally hig levels of T in their blood. Social conditioning plays a much bigger role than mere hormone levels when it comes to aggressive behaviour.
On the other hand, low T levels don’t turn men into angels, either. They tend to become irritable and often suffer from low mood and violent mood swings. Low T makes a man feel inferior. He may thus resort to violence to assert his dominance.
Age is against you.
For each year over age 30, the level of T in men starts to slowly dip at a rate of around 1 % per year.
There is also the myth doing the rounds that high T levels increase the risk for prostate cancer. How come, then, that men only get prostate cancer once their T levels drop due to age? Lab studies that “proved” that high T is linked to an increased prostate cancer risk all used synthetic forms of T. Ironically, these synthetic analogues likely suppressed natural T production, thus triggering prostate cancer development. Even more confusingly, T can increase the level of PSA (a blood marker for prostate cancer), without actually increasing the risk of prostate cancer. We now know that prostate cancers that develop under low T conditions are much more aggressive, compared to the better differentiated prostate tumours that develop under high T conditions. In fact, some oncologists use very high doses of (natural) T to stop advanced prostate cancer in its tracks. (Link)
What about high T and heart disease risk?
It turns out that low T roughly doubles risk of early death, compared to normal T levels. Every study that ever showed a link between high T and an increased heart disease risk used synthetic T replacement. That should ring alarm bells. Synthetic T drops your body’s production of “rea” T.
And you thought men were simple?
Let’s look what symptoms and conditions are linked to low T levels in men:
* Apathy, loss of motivation
* Chronic fatigue
* Depression, irritability, anxiety
* Sleeplessness
* Low li-bido
* Ding dong dysfunction
* Low bone density (osteoporosis)
* Muscle weakness
* Obesity / abdominal weight gain
* Heart failure
* Type 2 diabetes
* Lipid disorders (high triglycerides)
None of these sound desirable, right? Low T is not heaven.
The male body was made for T, and T was made for the male body.
How do I know my T levels are low?
A man who spends a lot of time in front of the television, struggles with blood pressure, sugar and lipid control is exhibiting many signs of low T.
If you’re a man and your hips are wider than your shoulders, you have low T levels until proven otherwise. This is one of the clearest danger signs.
Blood tests can confirm the diagnosis, but body shape does not lie. Why still spend money on tests? Only if you want a more precise number against which to measure progress is a blood test of any value.
The Big Question is: How can a man raise his T levels?
Here are some proven ways to raise T.
DIET
A diet high in sugar and starch leads to elevated levels of insulin. Insulin acts like a kind of fake T in the body. Through a negative feedback loop, the production of T is suppressed by insulin. To reverse this damage, a ketogenic, Atkins or carnivore type diet is advised. This drops insulin levels, allowing for T production to get back on track again.
FASTING
Here’s another weird T paradox. Fasting for any length of time significantly lowers T levels in the blood and yet fasting seems to be one of the most effective ways to increase the beneficial effects of T. How come? On the one hand, it may be due to T receptors becoming more responsive during the drop. When the T rebounds after refeeding, a little goes a longer way. On the other hand, the rebound is likely much higher than the average T level would have been in the absence of fasting.
The story of Keith Harmon is particularly inspiring when we talk about fasting and overall quality of life (Link).
Furthermore, by eating only one meal a day on any THREE days of the week, insulin levels drop way down. Less insulin = more T production. There is some truth in the phrase “lean and mean” after all. Fasting regularly is not only free, it actually saves you money – and it is possibly the single best way to raise T benefits.
Note: If you’re on chronic medication, consult your prescribing doctor before embarking on a fast longer than 18 hours.
EXERCISE
T loves muscles. Muscles love T. This is why body builders abuse T. Sadly (for them), they use synthetic T to boost muscle growth, with lots of bad side effects. Instead of injecting synthetic T, rather get your body to produce its own T via exercise. As with fasting, there is a complex interaction between exercise and T levels. Over-training leads to chronically low T levels. Moderate, regular exercise seems to give the best effects when it comes to T levels.
STRESS
Stress raises cortisol levels. Cortisol raises glucose and glucose raises insulin. And so stress can lead to lower T levels over time. Also, cortisol and T are made from the same raw material in the body. If more of this raw material is used to make cortisol, there is less left to make T. Use vagus nerve exercises or breathing techniques to relax a couple of times in a day.
SLEEP
T helps with deep sleep, but sleep also helps with T production. If your sleep is disrupted or you do not sleep enough, your T levels will suffer. Aim for 7 hours of solid sleep a night. If you struggle, take a spray of our Green Immune to help you get some sleep.
TOXINS
We practically live in a toxic soup nowadays. Many plastics are known to drop T levels. Pesticides and herbicides damage the body’s ability to produce T. Alcohol lowers T if consumed chronically. Ditto smoking and pollution. While you cannot mitigate against all factors, eliminate those you can.
MEDICATIONS
Many medications are known to lower T production. Here are some:
– Opioids (a type of pain killer)
– Cortisone and other steroids (often used topically for eczema)
– Antidepressants (most of them)
– Heart medication (especially beta blockers)
– Statins (anti-cholesterol medication)
– Chemotherapy
Note 1: Cholesterol is the basic building block of T. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that taking a cholesterol-lowering product will drop T production.
Note 2: Do not stop any medication without first discussing with your prescribing doctor.
SUPPLEMENTS
– Vitamin D: Chemically, Vitamin D and T are closely related. If Vitamin D levels are low, T is often low as well. By taking enough Vitamin D daily, some of that D can be used to make more T.
– Zinc: The prostate gland has the highest levels of zinc in the body. Taking at least 25 mg of elemental zinc daily will help in the production of T.
– Sutherlandia / Cancer Bush: This plant seems to raise T production in the male body. No published research is available on this, though, but Doc Frank has noted this effect in many of his patients.
– Amygdalin: Also known as Vitamin B17, this extract from the kernel of apricots increases nitric oxide production in the body. Taken at night, it can restore ding dong function, since you need nitric oxide to keep it up and, well, elongated.
PRESCRIPTIONS
– Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN): This has been shown to significantly increase T levels. Typical dose is 1 spray below tongue in the morning.
– T Cream: Last but not least, using a properly formulated T cream (with natural T) can also raise T levels in the body without triggering a negative feedback loop.
So, if your mojo has left the building, get it back! It’s in your power.
To your (virile) health!
The Team at Integrow Health
