4 Foods That May Lower Your Testosterone

Maintaining a clean diet is essential to optimal health and avoiding certain foods can be just as important as eating healthy ones. When it comes to testosterone, there are some foods that may diminish the ability of this much needed hormone. 

When your testosterone levels drop you could be at risk for developing:

• Infertility 
• Low libido
• Weak bones 
• Reduced stamina 
• Erectile dysfunction
• Loss of muscle mass

These are 4 testosterone compromising foods and why they may not be a good choice no matter if you are a male or female as testosterone is needed for both sexes. Take some simple steps to avoid giving away your power when you need it most and consider a dietary change that could be advantageous over time.

Clogging Dairy

Consuming high amounts of dairy may taste good but your body could be reacting adversely. Not only might it be difficult to digest cheese, milk, and other dairy choices but these could be diminishing your ability to maintain essential testosterone levels, especially if you are fifty years old and up. 

As reported by First Post, 

“Fat-soluble  0-70 percent of the estrogens consumed. This has a ‘feminizing’ effect on men. Studies have shown that men who consume more milk and dairy products have higher levels of estradiol, a ‘female’ hormone. This can lower the body’s production of testosterone—the primary male sex hormone—with the effect of raising voice pitches, increasing male breasts and erectile dysfunction.”

Do your body a favor and limit your dairy intake. If you must eat dairy, select organic choices to reduce excessive synthetic hormones that can throw your system off balance. 

Mighty Mint

Oddly enough, spearmint, peppermint, and other mint products have shown to influence testosterone levels. Rodent studies of how to reverse polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in rats showed how spearmint was a significant player. 

The study was published in the Advanced Pharmaceutical Bulletin stating that,

“Spearmint oil reduced body weight, testosterone level, ovarian cysts and atretic [the degeneration and resorption of one or more ovarian follicles before maturity] follicles and increased Graafian follicles [follicular stage after the first meiotic division before ovulation] in PCOS rats…Spearmint has treatment potential on PCOS through inhibition of testosterone and restoration of follicular development in ovarian tissue.”

If you are male and heading to the bedroom, you may want to avoid any mint before intimacy. Even toothpaste or mouthwash can be a factor. If a body product is used or a dessert is ordered, stick to a citrus or other non-mint oral, topical or ingestible choice. 

Skip the Diet Fizzy

There are enough healthy beverages out there that there is no longer a need to get your taste fix from synthetic, artificial, processed diet sodas. Most contain aspartame which has been linked to all sorts of health compromises including a decrease in testosterone. 

“The findings of this study suggest that aspartame due to increased production of free radicals, induction of oxidative stresses and weakening the antioxidant defense system, could induce some disorders related to histomorphometric [measurement of the shape or form of a tissue] and serum parameters, increasing oxidative and nitrosative stress [damaged cells] and down-regulating chaperone Hsp70-2 [heat shock protein] expression/biosynthesis, sperm quality [testosterone] and histochemical [systemic chemical distribution] changes in medium and high dose groups of mice.”

Stick to water, green tea, chamomile or lemon herbal tea to avoid compromising your testosterone, particularly if you are trying to conceive. 

Imbibe Responsibly 

Alcohol is often associated with romance. A glass of wine, champagne or other liquor choice may relax you but it can compromise your testosterone production. 

According to Healthline, 

“There are three glands needed for the production of testosterone in men: the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, and the testes.

• Your hypothalamus releases a hormone called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which acts on your anterior pituitary gland.
• Your anterior pituitary gland then releases luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
• In response to LH and FSH, your testes then synthesize testosterone.

Alcohol can disrupt testosterone production by interfering with all three glands.”

If you think your testosterone production may be on the downslide, try to avoid these foods 4 foods that may lower your testosterone while increasing foods that may help boost it like:

• Oysters
• Fenugreek
• High protein
• Almonds
• Spinach
• Bananas
• Garlic
• Lemon

As you age you want to maintain as much testosterone as you can for optimal systemic functioning. Whether you are male or female we all need testosterone and making sure you get enough can be a major factor in maintaining a high quality of life or unnecessarily struggling with various health compromises.

Sources:

https://www.firstpost.com/living/consumption-of-dairy-products-can-lower-testosterone-in-men-have-feminising-effect-4314699.html

6 Foods That Kill Testosterone

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788221/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7382684/

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-alcohol-affects-testosterone#effect-on-testosterone