Diet and Testosterone
Testosterone can go up or down depending on the diet you are taking. For example, if you carry a diet that is very restrictive for a long time, that is, a hypocaloric diet in which you consume fewer calories than you are spending, whether to define, to lose weight, to compete, or whatever, So this can be linked to low testosterone levels in the long term testosterone boosters.
Something very similar happens with very low fat diets, since in the end the fats, especially the saturated fats, are directly linked, through cholesterol, with the optimum levels of testosterone. These are very important factors to consider.
Low levels: What should I do?
Something important and basic if you think you have low testosterone levels or low levels of sexual desire is that you go to a specialist, in this case the endocrinologist. If we do this and perform a clinical analysis, the value that will matter most is the free testosterone, basically because it is the most reliable and it shows only blood levels. Let’s say that the total testosterone value is a value that does not matter so much to you.
Testosterone and Sexual Desire
It is true that high levels of testosterone are directly linked to high levels of sexual desire or libido. Also on the contrary, low testosterone levels are linked to low levels of sexual desire or libido. However, we can not confuse sexual desire with the effect that the increase in testosterone has, because that’s when we get messed up and problems come. I say this because a lot of people and many trainers think that certain foods or supplements are having an effect on the increase of testosterone, and this is not the case. What happens is that there is simply an increase in sexual desire, but serum testosterone levels are not increasing, which is what we have to look for if we want to gain muscle mass.
What is not working? (But it is usually believed that yes)
Normally in these issues there is often a lot of misinformation and what I have done is a small ranking with the most used supplements to naturally increase testosterone, but we nevertheless know that they are not effective enough to be able to achieve it.
1- Tribulus Terrestris
2- Maca
3- ZMA
4- Creatine
Of course, for other things or objectives they can serve, for example, creatine seems to me one of the most useful supplements that anyone can take, but you have to be realistic with what you do and what you do not do, and we know that for increase testosterone is not effective.
Testosterone and Ginger
Just as there are foods and supplements that are not effective enough, there are others that are very interesting and very effective, although usually people do not know them. One of these foods is ginger. It has been shown to increase testosterone in humans, although the ways in which this occurs is unknown. However, some studies have seen increases of up to 17% in testosterone values, which is quite interesting. Obviously ginger can be consumed both in food and supplement, and to have an idea of optimal doses, it is advisable to consume around 10 and 20 grams in food or just 1 gram if we consume the supplement of ginger extract.
Testosterone and Vitamin D
Testosterone increases have been shown in men after being supplemented with vitamin D, but above all, these increases in testosterone are directly linked to the deficit of this vitamin. And what is the problem? Basically, the entire population is deficient in vitamin D, so it can be a very interesting supplement to naturally increase testosterone levels in men.
Testosterone and Zinc
There are a lot of people who, as a rule, tend to link zinc consumption incorrectly with the increase in serum testosterone levels.
What people can take advantage of zinc consumption? Basically those that have zinc deficit. In most cases it has been seen that low levels of zinc are linked to low levels of testosterone, so if you have low levels of zinc, you can increase your testosterone by consuming more zinc, but if your levels are normal you will not take advantage of it to that greater extra consumption.
Conclusion
There are certain things that are not interesting even though people think so: creatine, maca, tribulus, ZMA. However, there are others that are not as well known but they can be very interesting and we can get a good profit: vitamin D, zinc, ginger. The idea is to investigate well each option and not get carried away by what everyone does or consumes.