How do you make a hormone? - Part 2: Testosterone
See Part 1 for the hilarious punchline and discussions on the role of leptin in your body and the importance of controlling it.
The bio-synthesis of testosterone and the upstream and downstream modes of action and signalling are horrendously complicated, so I will be assuming you don't want to be overwhelmed by heavy science, just as much as I don't want to pretend to understand all of it. So let's move ahead with the practical side; more testosterone means a more muscular, leaner, happier you. Unfortunately, our generation is suffering from a drop in T levels; turns out your Granddad wasn't just more of a man than you because he fought in the war, T levels were actually higher on average back then, with one study showing there has been an average age corrected drop in T levels of 17% over the past 20 years. A portion of this is due to environmental factors that are largely beyond our control (or would cost you a shit load to attempt to rectify) such as air and water contaminants. There are a few things we can do to do bump our T levels back up though; before anyone thinks I'm about to reveal secrets which will unleash your inner hulk and make you irresistible to the opposite sex, bear in mind that natural T increases are always fairly modest, unless your levels are currently in the toilet. The less of the following you currently do, the more positive changes you will notice from implementing them, but being a realist, I feel the need to tell you that feeling like you've just been injected with super soldier serum and are about to become the most annoyingly patriotic of all superheroes is highly unlikely.
Without further adieu, here is a list of things you can and should do to make sure you body's natural testosterone production is optimised and as such, be as lean, jacked and tanned as you can be. (Note: testosterone doesn't make you tanned, but you should be anyway, because who doesn't want to be tanned?)
Lift some heavy-ass weights
I say this so often I'm starting to annoy myself, it's pretty much the unifying theme throughout everything I write, so if you are not lifting (or considering lifting) heavy-ass weights, please leave. Lifting should be focussed on complex lifts which use a large portion of your body's muscles to get the most T bang for you buck and volume should be fairly high to give your body a stimulus to which to adapt. Lifting things in pretty much any fashion has been shown to increase T, but research does indicate that keeping rest intervals fairly short (90-120 seconds) may lead to the largest rise in T levels.
Have more sex (alternatively get friendly with yourself more often)
and make it good! We all sort of know testosterone and sex are linked in some way, but people tend to not realise that whoever designed us did us a big favour on this one. Sex, or more specifically orgasms, increase testosterone inboth sexes, so you can get the benefits whether playing solo or partnering up. Ignore the stories about boxers not having sex before fights to raise their T levels, if any do in fact do this, they are either misguided or doing it just so they get angry as fuck; the research actually says the opposite, forgoing orgasm leads to a fall in testosterone. I'm not sure students really need more incentive to get to copulating like dirty little rabbits, but there it is. Get laid, get gains.
Get tanned (no, really)
I mentioned this in my supplement article; Vitamin D is super important. It positively correlates with testosterone levels in men and women, so either supplement with it or get some sun to make it yourself.
If you're looking for ways to boost your testosterone level, you might start by looking at your lifestyle. Some changes that are good for the rest of you could also benefit your testosterone level, if it's low.
If you're having problems getting good sleep on a regular basis, talk to your doctor.
In many of the past installments we have been talking about funky things such as mTOR, myostatin, IGF splice variants and even more exotic stuff. Testosterone, the "big T", the allegedly most important contributor to skeletal muscle hypertrophy has hitherto been "overlooked" - was it the principle of saving the best for last which drove my decision not to address the influence of testosterone on muscle building in the first installment? Was it ignorance? Plain stupidity? Or did I want to start the new Year off with a big Tang... ah pardon "bang"? The answer is, I was scared. Not because the word "testosterone" has gotten such a bad rep in our metrosexual/feminist society that I was put on the index of "too masculinizing" websites, but rather because I feel very uncomfortable, whenever I have to talk about things I don't fully understand... and if we are honest to ourselves, few other aspects of the physiological underpinnings of skeletal muscle hypertrophy are still so obscure as the role the "big T" plays in-between all those signaling cascades, phosphorylated proteins and newly discovered growth factors.
Testosterone, the big bad T!?
One reason for the our lack of knowledge about how (some researchers may even say "if") testosterone builds muscle certainly is a practical one. Unless you can do your research under the pretext of trying to
Testosterone, the Jerry Bruckheimer of skeletal muscle hypertrophy?
Even if you got enough funds for your research, were not afraid to put your reputation at stake and got the approval of all the ethical committees, you would still be faced with the problem that testosterone,contrary to muscle protein synthesis, mTOR activity in tissue samples, and even the muscle specific splice variants of IGF-1, is a systemic hormone. It is (at least this is what scientists currently believe) not expressed at the tissue level (autocrine), but produced (predominantly) in your testes, from which it then carried through your bloodstream to "dock" (even that is a total inadequate oversimplification) to its receptor and... but I don't want to waste our time by going into the details of a process, of which I would assume that you have read about roughly 143x on other websites. Instead, I want to provide you with another metaphor (you know I love those), of which I hope that it will help you to understand both the complexity of the issue, as well as the current dilemma we are in.
Imagine "Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy" was the title of the newest blockbuster from tinseltown. It would be pretty easy for you to name the main protagonists, like Mr. L. Leucine, Mrs. A. Mpk, Mr. M. Tor and all the others. You could assign their names to the respective characters and would have at least a preliminary understanding of what their function in the plot of the movie may be. If you take a closer look at the film poster, you recognized another familiar name "a Big T production"... "Yo, cool! Big T that is the guy who has produced all those blockbusters. Man, this guy, must really know what he is doing...", you may be thinking, but tell me: Do you have any clue what guys like Jerry Bruckheimer actually do? No? Well, me neither. We know that without the producer there would not even be a movie, we know that he is of utmost importance and we know... or I guess, we automatically assume that guys like Jerry Bruckheimer (cf. image 2) have a fundamentally important role in the whole production process - I mean, wtf., they are called "producers" ;-)
In essence the situation for scientists (and science geeks like us) looking at the "the big T" is not much different from your's in front of the film poster:
"Does testosterone build muscle?"
Imagine you were a brainy, not brawny scientist, someone like Professor Hubert from Futurama (cf. image 3). What would be the most obvious way to answer this vexing question? Well, that's easy: You sit down on your chair in the lab, inject some testosterone and just continue your overly intellectual day work. Before each of your weekly testosterone enanthate injections, you briefly hop into the DEXA scanner in the neighbouring medical department, measure your tighs and quads and take a blood sample to the lab. If after about half a year you still did not see any changes in body composition (DEXA), muscle size (tighs and quads), although your blood analysis reveal that your testosterone levels have been persistently elevated into super-physiological ranges, the answer to the question is... NO! If, however, you start noticing more and more muscle on your scrawny body, your little gut has disappeared, and you have to pay attention not to slam the lab-doors too hard, you know: Testosterone builds muscle!
Probably in view of the aforementioned "obstacles", there is only a single well-designed, and above all, extensively documented study in which researchers put our thought-experiment into practice. Obviously, the latter was no N=1 study, but involved a a group of 61 absolutely healthy eugonodal (= totally normal testosterone levels) young men (age 18-35y). Over a time-course of 20 weeks, the subjects received a weekly injection of an GnRH antagonist (to shut down endogenous testosterone production) and 25, 50, 125, 300, or 600 mg of testosterone enanthate (Bhasin. 2001). They did not exercise (in fact they were specifically advised to refrain from "strength training or moderate-to-heavy endurance exercise during the study"), did not increase their protein intake, did not co-administer any other performance enhancing drugs, yet still, they grew - well, to be precise that was the case for 3/5 of the subjects (cf. figure 1):
As you can see in figure 1, only the subjects in the groups which received 125mg, 300mg, and 600mg testosterone enanthate per week were able to increase their lean muscle mass and decrease their body fat levels by literally lying on the couch (+5%, +15% and +37% increase in the free-to-fat mass ratio). The changes in the body composition of the 25mg and 50mg groups, on the other hand, were less favorable, to say the least (+37% and +16% body fat, as measured by DEXA in the 25mg and 50mg groups) - but how come, I mean testosterone does build muscle, right?
If we take a look at the actual changes in the testosterone levels of the participants, the answer is quite obvious. With the exogenous suppression of the their own natural testosterone production by the Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist, only 25mg or 50mg of testosterone enanthate per week, and corresponding reductions of both total and free testosterone by -57% and -46%, respectively, the poor sobs were essentially hypogonodal.
The complexities emerge: The testosterone-IGF1 connection
If you are the intelligent reader, I suppose you are, you will already suspect that I did included the relatively minor changes of the serum IGF-1 levels for a purpose - a purpose, those of you who have followed the last last installments of this series will probably already anticipate. After all, we do now know that testosterone does build muscle, but in the previous installments we have learned that a myriad of other factors, IGF-1 included, appear to do the same.
In view of the fact that I am still bone weary from New Year's Eve and do not want to compromise the quality of this series (and don't tell me it had no quality ;-), I will take a break here and catch up on this thought... tomorrow - I mean I know that it would be unfair to put you on the racks for a whole week ;-)
In many of the past installments we have been talking about funky things such as mTOR, myostatin, IGF splice variants and even more exotic stuff. Testosterone, the "big T", the allegedly most important contributor to skeletal muscle hypertrophy has hitherto been "overlooked" - was it the principle of saving the best for last which drove my decision not to address the influence of testosterone on muscle building in the first installment? Was it ignorance? Plain stupidity? Or did I want to start the new Year off with a big Tang... ah pardon "bang"? The answer is, I was scared. Not because the word "testosterone" has gotten such a bad rep in our metrosexual/feminist society that I was put on the index of "too masculinizing" websites, but rather because I feel very uncomfortable, whenever I have to talk about things I don't fully understand... and if we are honest to ourselves, few other aspects of the physiological underpinnings of skeletal muscle hypertrophy are still so obscure as the role the "big T" plays in-between all those signaling cascades, phosphorylated proteins and newly discovered growth factors.
Testosterone, the big bad T!?
One reason for the our lack of knowledge about how (some researchers may even say "if") testosterone builds muscle certainly is a practical one. Unless you can do your research under the pretext of trying to
Testosterone, the Jerry Bruckheimer of skeletal muscle hypertrophy?
Even if you got enough funds for your research, were not afraid to put your reputation at stake and got the approval of all the ethical committees, you would still be faced with the problem that testosterone,contrary to muscle protein synthesis, mTOR activity in tissue samples, and even the muscle specific splice variants of IGF-1, is a systemic hormone. It is (at least this is what scientists currently believe) not expressed at the tissue level (autocrine), but produced (predominantly) in your testes, from which it then carried through your bloodstream to "dock" (even that is a total inadequate oversimplification) to its receptor and... but I don't want to waste our time by going into the details of a process, of which I would assume that you have read about roughly 143x on other websites. Instead, I want to provide you with another metaphor (you know I love those), of which I hope that it will help you to understand both the complexity of the issue, as well as the current dilemma we are in.
Imagine "Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy" was the title of the newest blockbuster from tinseltown. It would be pretty easy for you to name the main protagonists, like Mr. L. Leucine, Mrs. A. Mpk, Mr. M. Tor and all the others. You could assign their names to the respective characters and would have at least a preliminary understanding of what their function in the plot of the movie may be. If you take a closer look at the film poster, you recognized another familiar name "a Big T production"... "Yo, cool! Big T that is the guy who has produced all those blockbusters. Man, this guy, must really know what he is doing...", you may be thinking, but tell me: Do you have any clue what guys like Jerry Bruckheimer actually do? No? Well, me neither. We know that without the producer there would not even be a movie, we know that he is of utmost importance and we know... or I guess, we automatically assume that guys like Jerry Bruckheimer (cf. image 2) have a fundamentally important role in the whole production process - I mean, wtf., they are called "producers" ;-)
In essence the situation for scientists (and science geeks like us) looking at the "the big T" is not much different from your's in front of the film poster:
"Does testosterone build muscle?"
Imagine you were a brainy, not brawny scientist, someone like Professor Hubert from Futurama (cf. image 3). What would be the most obvious way to answer this vexing question? Well, that's easy: You sit down on your chair in the lab, inject some testosterone and just continue your overly intellectual day work. Before each of your weekly testosterone enanthate injections, you briefly hop into the DEXA scanner in the neighbouring medical department, measure your tighs and quads and take a blood sample to the lab. If after about half a year you still did not see any changes in body composition (DEXA), muscle size (tighs and quads), although your blood analysis reveal that your testosterone levels have been persistently elevated into super-physiological ranges, the answer to the question is... NO! If, however, you start noticing more and more muscle on your scrawny body, your little gut has disappeared, and you have to pay attention not to slam the lab-doors too hard, you know: Testosterone builds muscle!
Probably in view of the aforementioned "obstacles", there is only a single well-designed, and above all, extensively documented study in which researchers put our thought-experiment into practice. Obviously, the latter was no N=1 study, but involved a a group of 61 absolutely healthy eugonodal (= totally normal testosterone levels) young men (age 18-35y). Over a time-course of 20 weeks, the subjects received a weekly injection of an GnRH antagonist (to shut down endogenous testosterone production) and 25, 50, 125, 300, or 600 mg of testosterone enanthate (Bhasin. 2001). They did not exercise (in fact they were specifically advised to refrain from "strength training or moderate-to-heavy endurance exercise during the study"), did not increase their protein intake, did not co-administer any other performance enhancing drugs, yet still, they grew - well, to be precise that was the case for 3/5 of the subjects (cf. figure 1):
As you can see in figure 1, only the subjects in the groups which received 125mg, 300mg, and 600mg testosterone enanthate per week were able to increase their lean muscle mass and decrease their body fat levels by literally lying on the couch (+5%, +15% and +37% increase in the free-to-fat mass ratio). The changes in the body composition of the 25mg and 50mg groups, on the other hand, were less favorable, to say the least (+37% and +16% body fat, as measured by DEXA in the 25mg and 50mg groups) - but how come, I mean testosterone does build muscle, right?
If we take a look at the actual changes in the testosterone levels of the participants, the answer is quite obvious. With the exogenous suppression of the their own natural testosterone production by the Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist, only 25mg or 50mg of testosterone enanthate per week, and corresponding reductions of both total and free testosterone by -57% and -46%, respectively, the poor sobs were essentially hypogonodal.
The complexities emerge: The testosterone-IGF1 connection
If you are the intelligent reader, I suppose you are, you will already suspect that I did included the relatively minor changes of the serum IGF-1 levels for a purpose - a purpose, those of you who have followed the last last installments of this series will probably already anticipate. After all, we do now know that testosterone does build muscle, but in the previous installments we have learned that a myriad of other factors, IGF-1 included, appear to do the same.
In view of the fact that I am still bone weary from New Year's Eve and do not want to compromise the quality of this series (and don't tell me it had no quality ;-), I will take a break here and catch up on this thought... tomorrow - I mean I know that it would be unfair to put you on the racks for a whole week ;-)
I am starting to think that I may have totally underestimated Roiboos tea... I mean, tea without my beloved caffeine? That cannot be good for anything, can it? Well, it looks like it can!
After a couple of database searches, I did eventually have to realize that the most recent study by Schloms et al. is only the tip of an ice-, or rather "paper-berg" discussing various beneficial health effects of Aspalathus linearis infusions (aka Rooibos [/ˈrɔɪbɒs/], "the red bush" tea) that range from anti-viral to anti-cancer and pro-liver to pro-lung effects.
From South Africa to the Netherlands
In view of the fact that even I, as a German am more or less lucky to know what Rooibos is and you (mostly US and UK citizens) are only slowly catching up with my countrymen and our Western neighbors, the Dutch, as far as Rooibos imports and consumption is concerned, I just want to clarify that we are talking about a "popular tisane or herbal tea made from the stems and leaves of the fynbos plant, Aspalathus linearis, which is unique to the Western Cape region of South Africa" (Schloms. 2013).
The good thing: Unfermented Rooibos tea increases the testosterone to cortisol ratio
For the study at hand, Schloms et al. used unfermented Rooibos from the South African
Rooibos Council. We can thus exclude any processing specific effects and simply assume that the results the scientists from the Stellenbosch University in South-Africa observed, when they administered the chloroform-methanol extract from the fresh tea leaves (1g of Rooibos leaves yielded 0.158 g extract) to their "subjects" - male Wistar rats.
The dosage the rodents received by oral gavage, was chosen to contain the rodent equivalent of the amount of soluble solids from one infusion with 15 g Rooibos leaves (six cups of fermented Rooibos per day). This means: If we discard inter-species differences, every serious Rooibos drinker should see changes in his (cortico-)steroid levels which resemble those you see in Figure 1:
Nice!? I'd agree, but I would also ask the one important question: How does this work? The answer is not exactly easy, but basically the arrows in Figure 1 give away parts of the answer, already. To understand what's going on, here we do yet still have to take a closer look at the actual production of cortisol in the andrenal gland and its subsequent metabolism:
Rooibos tea is a 11 HSD1 inhibitor
In plain English you would probably say: Some of the active ingredients in Rooibos tea have the marvelous ability to block the enzyme that's responsible for the conversion of in-active to active corticosteroids.
The bad thing: This doesn't really work in human beings! For all the 7-keto lovers out there, this may sound awesome. It would after all mean that you could stop buying the overpriced DHEA-metabolite and start drinking some cheap Rooibos tea, unfortunately, Schloms et al. hid the results of a human study they conducted so cleverly in the abstract of their latest paper, that you one will easily overread that the 6-week intervention in which 24 women and 16 men between the ages of 30 and 60 years, with at least two or more risk factors for coronary heart disease (e.g. hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, or an increased BMI) consumed six cups of fermented Rooibos per day (15 g Rooibos leaves/subject) sucked, i.e. did not produce the desired results.
While there were significant decreases in the cortisone : cortisol (active : inactive corticosteroid) levels in both, men and women, there were no significant changes in cortisol, alone, testosterone, or the testosterone : cortisol ratio. With to the large inter-subject variations for testosterone, there is yet a chance that it worked for some, but not all male study participants.
I guess after the revelations about the importance of estrogen in the process of skeletal muscle hypertrophy in the last installmentof the Intermittent Thoughts you will probably be eager to hear what its male counterpart dihydrotestosterone (DHT), is able to do... I mean, with DHT being the male hormone par excellence it is only reasonable to assume that its effects on skeletal muscle mass and strength, two characteristic features of the male persuasion, must be significant, right? Before we are going to address this vitally important questions, let's briefly take a look at what the dihydrotestosterone actually is.
DHT the hormone to which testosterone is just another prohormone
Similar to estrogen, DHT (exact name 17β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-3-one) is a testosterone metabolite. The process by which your body (male and female, btw.) generates this powerful androgen, the receptor-affinity of which is about 3x-10x higher than that of testosterone (depending on which source you cite and which assay the researchers used; for more detailed data on receptor binding, check out my previous blogpost "Beyond Vida's Book") is called 5-alpha reductase (5-ar). In the course of the "reduction" process one of hitherto three identified mammalian isoforms of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme (3-oxo-steroid-4-ene dehydrogenase). Of these three isoforms, which catalyze the reduction process, type III (predominantly) and type I (to a lesser extend) are expressed in human skeletal muscle (cf. Yarrow. 2011)...
I do not want to lose myself in too many details at this point, but a rough grasp of the local reduction of testosterone and the subsequent intracrine (meaning right where the hormone is created, cf. illustration 1) effects of DHT is of paramount importance to understand some of the initially counter-intuitive effects of DHT, you are going to read about in the following paragraphs.
"DHT makes you strong bro!" - correct!
At least for those of you who have been on some of the bulletin boards, where people discuss the effects of various androgenic compounds, the first statements that pop into your mind, when you hear the three letters D, H and T, could be "brutal strength gains", "hit new personal records on each lift" or "doubled my bench within 2 weeks". And although I suppose that statements such as the latter lack any empirical basis, the broscientitific evidence that DHT and DHT-like designer steroids exert profound effects on muscle strength cannot be denied.
In this context, the results of a 2010 study from the Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Research Institute at the School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, is of particular significance (Hamdi. 2010). Using isolated extensor digitorum longus(EDL, a mainly fast twitch muscle in adult mice) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL, a mainly fast twitch muscle in adult mice) muscles from male and female mice, M.M. Hamdi and G. Mutungi established that the strength promoting effects of DHT are mediated mainly via the ERK, i.e. the extracellular signal-regulating kinase (also known as MAPK), pathway and thusly in a non-androgen receptor mediated way.
As the data in figure 1 goes to show, incubation of isolated rat myofibers with 630pg/ml androstanolone (17β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-3-one, DHT) increased the isometric force (P0 = 100%) of the fast twitch muscle fibers in the EDL from both male and female mice by ~30%. If we take a look at the SuppVersity's Motto "Where Bro- and Pro-Science Meet in the Spirit of True Wisdom", this is thusly one of the (as of late rare) occasions, where bro- and pro-science actually "meet", not "clash", in the "Spirit of True Wisdom".
DHT works via the MAPK pathway and not via the androgen receptor
Without the "pro"-aspect of science we would yet not know that it this is neither a androgen receptor mediated action (as the use of a DHT-inhibitor did not block the effects) nor a downstream effect of IGF-1 (the inhibition of which by co-incubation with an IGR-R inhibitor left the effects similarly unchanged), but a direct effect of the DHT induced increase in ERK-1/2 phosphorylation and the subsequent accumulation of myosin light chain in the DHT treated rodent muscle:
The experiments also revealed that, despite the increase in p-ERK-1/2 in the slow-twitch muscle fibers,testosterone treatment did not induce similar changes in myosin light chain content like DHT. In view of the fact that the scientists have used female DGL and soleus muscle fibers for this experiment to minimize the local reduction of DHT to testosterone and isolate the effects of DHT, it should also be stated that the last-mentioned effects on slow-twitch fiber ERK-1/2 phosphorylation may well be a downstream effect of the aromatization of testosterone to estrogen (cf. "Estrogen: Friend or Foe of Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy").
Against that background it is actually quite astonishing that a series of rodent studies which were conducted by scientists from Japan (Aizawa. 2010; 2011) found statistically significant increases in intra-muscular DHT in response to an endurance type of exercise. If you add to that the results of a 2008 human study by Hawkins et al. (Hawkins. 2008), which found a similar increase in systemic DHT (and SHBG) levels in 102 sedentary men (ages 40-75 yr) who were randomly assigned to a 12-month aerobic exercise intervention, while DHT levels did not budge in a 2008 study by Vingren et al. (Vingren. 2008), which used a resistance training protocol, this raises the question whether our current understanding of the strength promoting intracrine effects of DHT is not only part of a larger picture, which would be characterized by distinct intra-, auto-, para- and endocrine effects of DHT on skeletal muscle and other exercise related physiological functions.
The litmus test: Does DHT "build muscle"?
The absence of increased levels of DHT in response to strength training as well as the fact that the increase in myosin light chain is at best "facilitative" to building bigger already suggest that, with respect to its "muscle-building effect", your most potent androgen is somewhat of a non-starter... let me give you a three of the rare examples, where scientists even dared to administer DHT to their study participants, to substantiate (not prove) this hypothesis:
High serum DHT = lower chance of alopecia! High local 5-ar = hair loss, though.
Now muscle is obviously not the only thing you want... and when it comes to DHT, hair, respectively the loss of the latter, obviously is the first thing that comes to mind. Notwithstanding that it is an established fact that bathing your hair follicles in excess amounts of dihydrotestosterone will eventually kill them, you may be surprised to hear that a 1992 paper by Knussmann et al. (Knussmann. 1992) showed thatcontrary to common believe the correlation between allopecia and serum DHT levels in the 110 healthy young men in their study is a negative one (r = -.25, p < 0.01). Yet although the same is true for total testosterone (r = -.25, p < 0.01), the correlation between the ratio of free / total testosterone (T_free/T_total) is positive and statistical significant (r = .02; p < 0.05)!
Now, how can that be? Is it testosterone that is "shaving your head from within?" - well, in a way it is, but most probably due to its local conversion to DHT (I hope by now you understand, why I stressed this factor in the introduction). Contrary to bound testosterone, which cannot be reduced by the 5-ar reductase enzymes in your scalp, the free testosterone can and will thusly - as a prohormone - do its bit to the thinning of your hairline:
If testosterone helps you to lean out, will DHT make you fat?
To answer that I want to go back to the study, I presented in Friday's SuppVersity post on how eccentric training is able to recruit mesenchymal stem cells for muscular repair / hypertrophy. From either this post or the discussion of the underlying mechanisms by which testosterone works its muscle building, fat burning magic (cf. "Understanding the Big T"), you should remember that those pluripotent stem cells are unfortunately capable of becoming fat cells, as well. Luckily,dihydrotestosterone, the "big brother" of the "big T" shares testosterones anti-differential effect on pre-adipocytes (Singh. 2003).
Unfortunately, though, DHT does not prevent their proliferation (i.e. the generation of new pre-adipocytes; cf. Gupta. 2008). Instead, gene assays suggest that it stimulates all aspects of adipocyte metabolism, i.e. the beneficial ones like glycolosis (helps blood sugar management) and lipolysis (helps getting the fat out of the adipose tissue) and not (generally) beneficial ones as the production of fatty acids and triacylglyceroles, cell proliferation and differentiation (Bolduc. 2004).
Whether there is an overall negative effect of "normal" DHT levels on visceral fat, as it is sometimes suggested (esp. in the "lay press" = Internet ;-) appears however questionable. After all, Vandenput et al. (Vandenput. 2007) have shown that not DHT, but rather androstane-3 α,17-β-diol-17-glucuronide(17G), one of its metabolites correlates with visceral adiposity in healthy young men (r = 0.16; p < 0.05).
Serum DHT levels, on the other hand, showed the strongest negative correlation with total body fat, total body fat (% total mass), arm fat, leg fat and trunk fat of all three measured androgens (cf. figure 3) and was a close second to total testosterone as far as its negative, i.e. diminishing, effects on central fat distribution is concerned (r = -0.07; p <0.05).
Lean, mean, strong... are these "all things male"?
If we discard the important role of DHT in the brain, which would explain the "mean" (not necessarily defined as mean in aggressive, but rather as "alpha-male mean") in "lean, mean, strong" and expand "strong" to the established bone-building effects of DHT, which apparently surpass those of testosterone (eg. Capur. 1989), being as muscular as Mr. Olympia obviously is not one of the "things male". As, contrary to some of its synthetic cousins, the current research suggests that the original father of all androgens may be an indispensable bystander, when its precursor testosterone is blowing up your muscles, its immediate effects do yet appear to be restricted to strength and body composition.
Collectively, this as well as the previous installments on testosterone (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) andestrogen should have made it quite clear that even the ostensibly straight forward role of the sex steroids in the concert of skeletal muscle hypertophy is way more complex than the commonly accepted notion that "you just inject your weekly test and become Mr. O" would suggest. It is in fact so complex that I will devote the next installment of the Thoughts to revamp the main ideas and to tryto connect the dots between mTOR, myostatin, IGF, inflammation, testosterone, estrogen, DHT and co...
Propylene Glycol and Polyethylene Glycol – Common “organic” alcohols also used in everything from antifreeze to oven cleaners. They stabilise the fragrance of shampoos but do nothing for your hair and tend to break down the structure of your cells to allow rapid absorption of the other xenoestrogens in your shampoo.
This part will tackle the manliest of manly man hormones, Testosterone. As much as we think of testosterone as ball power, it is important for the fairer sex as well, so don't stop reading here if you think this article isn't important for you due to your lack of sack.
Testosterone is probably the most well known androgenic steroid hormone and one that mediates a host of processes to do with boners, being horny and other such fun business, but it is responsible for far more than that. How about this for a list of the effects of increasing testosterone: Promotion of muscle size and strength, fat loss, increased bone density, better insulin sensitivity, more energy, elevations of mood and some minor cognitive increases. These are surely attractive effects regardless of gender, furthermore, ladies can rest assured, achieving T levels anything near those that lead to you having a voice like a sub-woofer, a jaw like Brad Pitt and hair appearing in new places is literally impossible naturally.
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| Don't worry, this isn't going to happen without boat loads of roids. Now where is my eye bleach? |
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| Go fix your country's government, you smug prick |
Without further adieu, here is a list of things you can and should do to make sure you body's natural testosterone production is optimised and as such, be as lean, jacked and tanned as you can be. (Note: testosterone doesn't make you tanned, but you should be anyway, because who doesn't want to be tanned?)
I say this so often I'm starting to annoy myself, it's pretty much the unifying theme throughout everything I write, so if you are not lifting (or considering lifting) heavy-ass weights, please leave. Lifting should be focussed on complex lifts which use a large portion of your body's muscles to get the most T bang for you buck and volume should be fairly high to give your body a stimulus to which to adapt. Lifting things in pretty much any fashion has been shown to increase T, but research does indicate that keeping rest intervals fairly short (90-120 seconds) may lead to the largest rise in T levels.
 |
| LIGHT WEIGHT!! |
Sleep
Sleep is vital to normal hormonal secretions, if you are lacking sleep, your cortisol (a stress response hormone) levels will be high, which has knock on effects, lowering T. Get some good quality sleep for at least 7 hours a night, get huge. Speaking of getting good quality sleep, the next point may help...
Sleep is vital to normal hormonal secretions, if you are lacking sleep, your cortisol (a stress response hormone) levels will be high, which has knock on effects, lowering T. Get some good quality sleep for at least 7 hours a night, get huge. Speaking of getting good quality sleep, the next point may help...
Have more sex (alternatively get friendly with yourself more often)
and make it good! We all sort of know testosterone and sex are linked in some way, but people tend to not realise that whoever designed us did us a big favour on this one. Sex, or more specifically orgasms, increase testosterone inboth sexes, so you can get the benefits whether playing solo or partnering up. Ignore the stories about boxers not having sex before fights to raise their T levels, if any do in fact do this, they are either misguided or doing it just so they get angry as fuck; the research actually says the opposite, forgoing orgasm leads to a fall in testosterone. I'm not sure students really need more incentive to get to copulating like dirty little rabbits, but there it is. Get laid, get gains.
 |
| A helpful visual demonstration |
Get tanned (no, really)
I mentioned this in my supplement article; Vitamin D is super important. It positively correlates with testosterone levels in men and women, so either supplement with it or get some sun to make it yourself.
 |
| She wants the D. Vitamin D. |
Make sure you've got the minerals
Specifically Zinc, Magnesium and Selenium (in decreasing order of importance); all are needed for the bio-synthesis of T and are regularly lacking in our diets. You can cover your bases with pills or for more fun can eat loads of red meat (for zinc), seafood (for zinc and selenium), nuts (Brazils are best, for magnesium and selenium) and spinach (for magnesium, zinc and turning you into Popeye).
Specifically Zinc, Magnesium and Selenium (in decreasing order of importance); all are needed for the bio-synthesis of T and are regularly lacking in our diets. You can cover your bases with pills or for more fun can eat loads of red meat (for zinc), seafood (for zinc and selenium), nuts (Brazils are best, for magnesium and selenium) and spinach (for magnesium, zinc and turning you into Popeye).
The candy man can't
Large intakes of simple carbs serve to spike blood sugar (this was covered in part 1), researchers found that the blood sugar spike from 75g of glucose dropped healthy men's T levels by up to 25%. If you're eating cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner, your system is being hit with a lot of simple carbs, so your blood sugar is on a rollercoaster ride. In addition to this ruining your insulin and leptin sensitivity, therefore raising your diabetes risk and probably making you fat, it is keeping your T levels suppressed. Not good.
Large intakes of simple carbs serve to spike blood sugar (this was covered in part 1), researchers found that the blood sugar spike from 75g of glucose dropped healthy men's T levels by up to 25%. If you're eating cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner, your system is being hit with a lot of simple carbs, so your blood sugar is on a rollercoaster ride. In addition to this ruining your insulin and leptin sensitivity, therefore raising your diabetes risk and probably making you fat, it is keeping your T levels suppressed. Not good.
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| If she offers you some sugar, don't say no |
Soy not good
Soy products aren't cool. They contain things called phytoestrogens, which mimic the actions of oestrogen (the female hormone) in your body, which is generally undesirable. Whilst meta-studies are inconclusive on whether soy products truly impact hormonal profile in a meaningful way, there are plenty of studies out there suggesting that they are no good for your T levels, so avoiding them is a good shout. Also most soy products taste damn nasty.
Soy products aren't cool. They contain things called phytoestrogens, which mimic the actions of oestrogen (the female hormone) in your body, which is generally undesirable. Whilst meta-studies are inconclusive on whether soy products truly impact hormonal profile in a meaningful way, there are plenty of studies out there suggesting that they are no good for your T levels, so avoiding them is a good shout. Also most soy products taste damn nasty.
 |
| Just eat meat you hippies. |
Eat Fat
Even saturates. Yep. Now before you argue, shut up and listen. Low fat, high fibre diets, as recommended by many health professionals that don't actually know a fucking thing, have been shown to drive your T levels into the ground. Whilst intake of saturated fat (think meat), monounsaturated fat (think nuts) and cholesterol (think meat and egg yolks) have all been found to positively correlate with testosterone production. Now don't get this twisted, I'm not telling you to go and drink butter in search of some barely perceptible T boost, I'm just saying low-fat is not a smart way to eat. In general, consume lots of dead animals and you're doing it right.
Even saturates. Yep. Now before you argue, shut up and listen. Low fat, high fibre diets, as recommended by many health professionals that don't actually know a fucking thing, have been shown to drive your T levels into the ground. Whilst intake of saturated fat (think meat), monounsaturated fat (think nuts) and cholesterol (think meat and egg yolks) have all been found to positively correlate with testosterone production. Now don't get this twisted, I'm not telling you to go and drink butter in search of some barely perceptible T boost, I'm just saying low-fat is not a smart way to eat. In general, consume lots of dead animals and you're doing it right.
Don't be fat
Fatties have low T. Don't be fat. Eat right, move, lift, be sexy.
Fatties have low T. Don't be fat. Eat right, move, lift, be sexy.
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| I love you Big, but you're setting a terrible example |
Win.
This is good life advice in general, and hopefully not something you need to be told. What you might not know is that T levels will rise when we win a competition or dominance challenge and fall when we lose. Interestingly, this also happens vicariously, so if you're a passionate sports fan and your team keeps losing, your T might also be taking a beating. Man Utd fans might want to change loyalties at this point.
This is good life advice in general, and hopefully not something you need to be told. What you might not know is that T levels will rise when we win a competition or dominance challenge and fall when we lose. Interestingly, this also happens vicariously, so if you're a passionate sports fan and your team keeps losing, your T might also be taking a beating. Man Utd fans might want to change loyalties at this point.
 |
| Winning isn't always clean. |
How to Boost Our Testosterone Naturally to help get us that Summer Body!
Hey guys,
Sorry for the long delay in between posts, work as well as getting ready for school has kept me busy!
This blog comes in relation to a question I get all the time.."If you aren't on steroids, what are you on?" This blog will be focused around getting to the summer body goal we want by giving our bodies the testosterone it needs naturally. These are just a few supplements and types of natural test boosters I have tried and tested over the years. Remember I am merely recommending the best supplements and diet tricks I have found, so feel free to try any one after talking to your doctor about them!
NOTE: Anyone who is under 18 shouldn't need any of the first 3 supplements. You have plenty of testosterone already and playing with those levels can affect your growth into adulthood.
.JPG)
DAA- Before we start, your body loves testosterone for building our bodies, but it is also a human hormone. When your body increases it's test levels, it will also increase it's estrogen levels to keep a balance. This estrogen can cause a problem long term, and I generally recommend anyone who does take the compound DAA to take an estrogen blocker if you want to be safer with it. Any testosterone supplements should also be cycled (for example 4 weeks on 2 weeks off) to ensure your hormonal levels stay safe and recover properly. Testosterone will help you gain muscle, but we need to remember it has to be monitored so that it stays safe. Now, DAA is one I have mentioned before and is in my mind one of the best natural testosterone boosters on the market. It is a naturally occurring free fatty acid ( a fuel source and building block our body's use) but it rarely occurs in high concentrations. DAA should be the only compound that should need an estrogen blocker. My favorite blocker on the market being a product called A-HD.
CLA- CLA is a great compound that helps us decrease some fat while adding lean muscle. CLA is an essential free fatty acid, and helps boost your immune system, your metabolic rate (metabolism) and helps keep your cholesterol in check. It is closely related to omega 6's and is the healthiest fat burner I have come across
Maca Root and Tribulus- I group these two together because I believe you really only need one of them. Feel free to take both, but we have plenty already to help boost our test levels when we combine them with others. Both are naturally accuring plants in nature, and both aid in the general libido (friskiness) of men and will raise test levels naturally. Maca root can be purchased almost anywhere in pill form however I do recommend for the tribulus the Allmax brand as it gave me more significant results. If you are looking for quick size results add with one of these a monocreatine powder.
Fish/Oils and Omega 3s and 6s- Healthy fats are ESSENTIAL for testosterone production. These work especially at night, and I find make me feel all around better if also taken in the morning. Fish oils not only help our joints feel great but they are great sources of healthy fat. This healthy fat when taken at night with vitamin D, will be turned into testosterone while you sleep. The reason I recommend at night is because most of your testosterone production will be done at night. Note: healthy cholesterol, vitamin D and testosterone can all be created in the body. If you give your body lots of vitamin D and healthy cholesterols/fats, it will spend most of it's time creating testosterone. NOTE: There are some brands that combine vitamin D and fish oils, I highly recommend these!
Vitamin D- Vitamin D is great to help your body function properly when it comes to creating testosterone. It also has so many other positive traits, but for now we are focusing on it's affects on testosterone.
Brazil Nuts- Now these can be purchased in many bulk food stores, and are awesome snacks before bed. Having just 6 brazil nuts before bed can have a dramatic affect on the amount of testosterone you produce over night. It is a healthy dose of omega 3s and 6s and can replace in some situations the fish oils at night. I would still however recommend at least having fish oils in the morning.
Glutamine- Glutamine is a BCAA (branched chain amino acid) and is essential for muscle recovery. Muscle recovery needs to take place, to help testosterone aid in the building of more muscles. If we recover faster, we can trainer more, and glutamine gives us that chance. Regardless of person, I always recommend glutamine, it is the bricks for your brick house muscles. Even your grandma should have them!
Milk Thistle- Milk thistle is cheap, and it helps keep your liver running in tip top shape. Supplements and vitamins can be a lot for your liver to break down everyday, why not give it the tools it needs to recover as well. After all, it isn't just about looking good, it is about also being healthy!
Lastly, eat meat! Eating meat will always help boost testosterone, and avoid soy. Soy has been shown to increase estrogen levels!
Hope that helps us BOOST OUR TEST NATURALLY and get into that summer shape we always aim for!
Ryan Trueman
It should also be noted that you do also need a healthy diet and proper workouts, simply boosting test levels alone will not just "make you jacked"
Sorry for the long delay in between posts, work as well as getting ready for school has kept me busy!
This blog comes in relation to a question I get all the time.."If you aren't on steroids, what are you on?" This blog will be focused around getting to the summer body goal we want by giving our bodies the testosterone it needs naturally. These are just a few supplements and types of natural test boosters I have tried and tested over the years. Remember I am merely recommending the best supplements and diet tricks I have found, so feel free to try any one after talking to your doctor about them!
NOTE: Anyone who is under 18 shouldn't need any of the first 3 supplements. You have plenty of testosterone already and playing with those levels can affect your growth into adulthood.
The complete stack list:
DAA (free fatty acid)
CLA (free fatty acid) - women friendly
Maca Root or Tribulus - women friendly
Fish oils /Omegas - women friendly
Vitamin D - women friendly
Brazil nuts - women friendly
Glutamine - women friendly
Milk Thistle - women friendly
*Estrogen blocker (A-HD)
Now let's talk more about what each one.
DAA- Before we start, your body loves testosterone for building our bodies, but it is also a human hormone. When your body increases it's test levels, it will also increase it's estrogen levels to keep a balance. This estrogen can cause a problem long term, and I generally recommend anyone who does take the compound DAA to take an estrogen blocker if you want to be safer with it. Any testosterone supplements should also be cycled (for example 4 weeks on 2 weeks off) to ensure your hormonal levels stay safe and recover properly. Testosterone will help you gain muscle, but we need to remember it has to be monitored so that it stays safe. Now, DAA is one I have mentioned before and is in my mind one of the best natural testosterone boosters on the market. It is a naturally occurring free fatty acid ( a fuel source and building block our body's use) but it rarely occurs in high concentrations. DAA should be the only compound that should need an estrogen blocker. My favorite blocker on the market being a product called A-HD.
CLA- CLA is a great compound that helps us decrease some fat while adding lean muscle. CLA is an essential free fatty acid, and helps boost your immune system, your metabolic rate (metabolism) and helps keep your cholesterol in check. It is closely related to omega 6's and is the healthiest fat burner I have come across
Maca Root and Tribulus- I group these two together because I believe you really only need one of them. Feel free to take both, but we have plenty already to help boost our test levels when we combine them with others. Both are naturally accuring plants in nature, and both aid in the general libido (friskiness) of men and will raise test levels naturally. Maca root can be purchased almost anywhere in pill form however I do recommend for the tribulus the Allmax brand as it gave me more significant results. If you are looking for quick size results add with one of these a monocreatine powder.
Fish/Oils and Omega 3s and 6s- Healthy fats are ESSENTIAL for testosterone production. These work especially at night, and I find make me feel all around better if also taken in the morning. Fish oils not only help our joints feel great but they are great sources of healthy fat. This healthy fat when taken at night with vitamin D, will be turned into testosterone while you sleep. The reason I recommend at night is because most of your testosterone production will be done at night. Note: healthy cholesterol, vitamin D and testosterone can all be created in the body. If you give your body lots of vitamin D and healthy cholesterols/fats, it will spend most of it's time creating testosterone. NOTE: There are some brands that combine vitamin D and fish oils, I highly recommend these!
Vitamin D- Vitamin D is great to help your body function properly when it comes to creating testosterone. It also has so many other positive traits, but for now we are focusing on it's affects on testosterone.
Brazil Nuts- Now these can be purchased in many bulk food stores, and are awesome snacks before bed. Having just 6 brazil nuts before bed can have a dramatic affect on the amount of testosterone you produce over night. It is a healthy dose of omega 3s and 6s and can replace in some situations the fish oils at night. I would still however recommend at least having fish oils in the morning.
Glutamine- Glutamine is a BCAA (branched chain amino acid) and is essential for muscle recovery. Muscle recovery needs to take place, to help testosterone aid in the building of more muscles. If we recover faster, we can trainer more, and glutamine gives us that chance. Regardless of person, I always recommend glutamine, it is the bricks for your brick house muscles. Even your grandma should have them!
Milk Thistle- Milk thistle is cheap, and it helps keep your liver running in tip top shape. Supplements and vitamins can be a lot for your liver to break down everyday, why not give it the tools it needs to recover as well. After all, it isn't just about looking good, it is about also being healthy!
Lastly, eat meat! Eating meat will always help boost testosterone, and avoid soy. Soy has been shown to increase estrogen levels!
Hope that helps us BOOST OUR TEST NATURALLY and get into that summer shape we always aim for!
Ryan Trueman
It should also be noted that you do also need a healthy diet and proper workouts, simply boosting test levels alone will not just "make you jacked"
Can You Boost Low Testosterone Naturally?
WWW.HEALTHYBARN.COM
If you're looking for ways to boost your testosterone level, you might start by looking at your lifestyle. Some changes that are good for the rest of you could also benefit your testosterone level, if it's low.
"I never prescribe testosterone alone without talking to men about their lifestyle," says Martin Miner, MD, co-director of the Men's Health Center at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I.
Here are six things that can affect your testosterone level:
1. Get Enough Sleep.
Poor sleep can have consequences for your testosterone level.
George Yu, MD, a urology professor at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., says poor sleep is the most important factor that contributes to low testosterone in many men. A lack of sleep affects a variety of hormones and chemicals in your bloodstream. This, in turn, can have a harmful impact on your testosterone.
Make sleep a priority, aiming for seven to eight hours per night, even if it means rearranging your schedule or dropping your habit of late-night TV. Prize your sleep, just like you'd prize a healthy diet and active lifestyle. It's that important.
If you're having problems getting good sleep on a regular basis, talk to your doctor.2. Keep a Healthy Weight.
Men who are overweight or obese often have low testosterone levels, says Alvin M. Matsumoto, MD, of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
For those men, losing the extra weight can help bring testosterone back up, he says. Likewise, for men who are underweight, getting your weight up to a healthy level can also have a positive effect on the hormone.
3. Stay Active.
Testosterone adapts to your body's needs, Yu says. If you spend most of your time lying on the couch, your brain gets the message that you don't need as much to bolster your muscles and bones.
But when you are physically active, your brain sends out the signal for more of the hormone, he says.
If you're getting little exercise now, Miner suggests starting by:
- Walking briskly at least 10 to 20 minutes a day.
- Building strength with several sessions of weights or elastic bands each week. Work with a trainer to learn proper form so you don't injure yourself.
Don't go overboard. Extreme amounts of endurance exercise, at the level of elite athletes, can actually lower your testosterone.
4. Take Control of Your Stress.
If you're under constant stress, your body will be churning out a steady stream of the stress hormone cortisol. It will be less able to create testosterone. As a result, controlling your stress is important for keeping up your testosterone, he says.
Miner's advice to the over-stressed men he sees in his office is to:
- Cut back on long work hours. If you're logging lots of overtime, try to whittle your workday down to 10 hours or less.
- Spend two hours a day on activities that you enjoy that aren't work- or exercise-related, such as reading or playing music.
5. Review Your Medications.
Some medicines can cause a drop in your testosterone level, Matsumoto says. These include:- Opioid drugs such as fentanyl, MS Contin, and OxyContin
- Glucocorticoid drugs such as prednisone
- Anabolic steroids used for building muscles and improving athletic performance
You shouldn’t stop taking any of your medication. If you're concerned about your testosterone level, you and your doctor can go over your medications to make sure that's not the problem and make adjustments to your treatment.6. Forget the Supplements.
Finally, although you're likely to encounter online ads for testosterone-boostingsupplements, you aren't likely to find any that will do much good.Your body naturally makes a hormone called DHEA that it can convert to testosterone. DHEA is also available in supplement form. But neither Miner nor Matsumoto advise using DHEA supplements, since they will do little to actually raise your testosterone, they say.Men who take up exercise to shed their middle aged spread could find they gain a few inches just where they want it instead, according to a medical study.For the effect of losing spare tyres and beer bellies among men in their fifties is a boost to their sex drive, a higher sperm count and stronger erections, it found.Losing weight reduces the chances of low testosterone levels by up to 50 per cent in more mature males.Levels of testosterone went up in direct proportion to the number of pounds lostThe results come from a study by Dublin doctors of 900 men with an average age of 54 taking part in a US diabetes prevention programme.Weight loss can delay or avoid the onset of diabetes among those men who are most susceptible to the disease.But scientists said the boost to their sex lives could be the added incentive men need to exercise and diet.The 900 midlife volunteers were split into three groups to receive a year of treatments designed to help ward off diabetes.A third were told to modify their lifestyles by dieting and 150 minutes a week of exercise, a third were given the diabetes drug metformin and the rest a placebo.The number of men with low testosterone levels remained almost identical among those taking metformin or the placebo.But in the group making lifestyle changes, the proportion with low testosterone fell from 20 per cent at the beginning of the study to just 11 per cent a year later.Researcher Dr Frances Hayes of St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin said low testosterone levels were common among overweight men before they got diabetes.She said: 'Doctors should first encourage overweight men with low testosterone levels to try to lose weight through diet and exercise before resorting to testosterone therapy to raise their hormone levels.'The study found levels of testosterone went up in direct proportion to the number of pounds lost and the decrease in waist size.Dr Hayes said: 'Losing weight not only reduces the risk of prediabetic men progressing to diabetes but also appears to increase their body’s production of testosterone.'The research appears to contradict a recent study from Manchester University published in the journal Human Reproduction, which found being overweight, as measured by body mass index, did not affect sperm quality.
Intermittent Thoughts on Building Muscle: Zoning in on "The Big T" - Does Testosterone (Alone) Build Muscle?
 |
| Image 1: As a "serious" researcher you better don't use the words "testosterone" and "muscle" without"anti-doping", "hypogonadism" or "sarcopania" in one of your papers, if you don't want to risk your career. |
Testosterone, the big bad T!?
One reason for the our lack of knowledge about how (some researchers may even say "if") testosterone builds muscle certainly is a practical one. Unless you can do your research under the pretext of trying to
- treat muscle wasting disorders (associated with age, cancer, AIDS, etc.),
- invent new methods that could be useful in the WADA's antic battle against doping, or
- help infertile or hypogonodal men to a better life
Testosterone, the Jerry Bruckheimer of skeletal muscle hypertrophy?
Even if you got enough funds for your research, were not afraid to put your reputation at stake and got the approval of all the ethical committees, you would still be faced with the problem that testosterone,contrary to muscle protein synthesis, mTOR activity in tissue samples, and even the muscle specific splice variants of IGF-1, is a systemic hormone. It is (at least this is what scientists currently believe) not expressed at the tissue level (autocrine), but produced (predominantly) in your testes, from which it then carried through your bloodstream to "dock" (even that is a total inadequate oversimplification) to its receptor and... but I don't want to waste our time by going into the details of a process, of which I would assume that you have read about roughly 143x on other websites. Instead, I want to provide you with another metaphor (you know I love those), of which I hope that it will help you to understand both the complexity of the issue, as well as the current dilemma we are in.
 |
| Image 2: The producer of a movie (here Jerry Bruckheimer at the set of PoC4, img screenrant.com) is obviously an important guy, but do you know what he does? He is important, right, but how? |
In essence the situation for scientists (and science geeks like us) looking at the "the big T" is not much different from your's in front of the film poster:
- We know that the loss of lean body and interestingly also bone mass is one of the fundamental characteristics of hypogonadism (below "normal" testosterone levels).
- We know that restoring testosterone levels to normal via hormone replacement therapy (HRT) alone will oftentimes suffice to reverse / repair the muscle loss.
- We know, or I should rather say, we like to believe that the granite hard muscle of 99% of theIFBB pro bodybuilders are built on supraphysiological levels of testosterone.
"Does testosterone build muscle?"
 |
| Image 3: Granted, Prof. Hubert from Futurama would probably need some exogenous test, anyways. Luckily Bhasin et al. recruited young eugonadal men for their study ;-) |
Probably in view of the aforementioned "obstacles", there is only a single well-designed, and above all, extensively documented study in which researchers put our thought-experiment into practice. Obviously, the latter was no N=1 study, but involved a a group of 61 absolutely healthy eugonodal (= totally normal testosterone levels) young men (age 18-35y). Over a time-course of 20 weeks, the subjects received a weekly injection of an GnRH antagonist (to shut down endogenous testosterone production) and 25, 50, 125, 300, or 600 mg of testosterone enanthate (Bhasin. 2001). They did not exercise (in fact they were specifically advised to refrain from "strength training or moderate-to-heavy endurance exercise during the study"), did not increase their protein intake, did not co-administer any other performance enhancing drugs, yet still, they grew - well, to be precise that was the case for 3/5 of the subjects (cf. figure 1):
 |
| Figure 1: Changes in body composition measured by under water weighing (UWW) and DEXA after 20 weeks on the given amounts of testosterone enanthate; due to a -5% decrease in the fat-free mass to water ratio in the 125mg group (allother groups draw, not lost water) the highlighted UWW value is unrealiable (data calculated based on Bhasin. 2001) |
 |
| Figure 2: Changes in total testosterone (ng/dl) and IGF-1 (ng/ml) levels (left) and testosterone to IGF-1 ratio (right) of young eugonodal men after 20 weeks of GnHR antagonist + different doses of testosterone enanthate (data calculated based on Bhasin. 2001). |
The complexities emerge: The testosterone-IGF1 connection
If you are the intelligent reader, I suppose you are, you will already suspect that I did included the relatively minor changes of the serum IGF-1 levels for a purpose - a purpose, those of you who have followed the last last installments of this series will probably already anticipate. After all, we do now know that testosterone does build muscle, but in the previous installments we have learned that a myriad of other factors, IGF-1 included, appear to do the same.
In view of the fact that I am still bone weary from New Year's Eve and do not want to compromise the quality of this series (and don't tell me it had no quality ;-), I will take a break here and catch up on this thought... tomorrow - I mean I know that it would be unfair to put you on the racks for a whole week ;-)
Intermittent Thoughts on Building Muscle: Zoning in on "The Big T" - Does Testosterone (Alone) Build Muscle?
|
| Image 1: As a "serious" researcher you better don't use the words "testosterone" and "muscle" without"anti-doping", "hypogonadism" or "sarcopania" in one of your papers, if you don't want to risk your career. |
Testosterone, the big bad T!?
One reason for the our lack of knowledge about how (some researchers may even say "if") testosterone builds muscle certainly is a practical one. Unless you can do your research under the pretext of trying to
- treat muscle wasting disorders (associated with age, cancer, AIDS, etc.),
- invent new methods that could be useful in the WADA's antic battle against doping, or
- help infertile or hypogonodal men to a better life
Testosterone, the Jerry Bruckheimer of skeletal muscle hypertrophy?
Even if you got enough funds for your research, were not afraid to put your reputation at stake and got the approval of all the ethical committees, you would still be faced with the problem that testosterone,contrary to muscle protein synthesis, mTOR activity in tissue samples, and even the muscle specific splice variants of IGF-1, is a systemic hormone. It is (at least this is what scientists currently believe) not expressed at the tissue level (autocrine), but produced (predominantly) in your testes, from which it then carried through your bloodstream to "dock" (even that is a total inadequate oversimplification) to its receptor and... but I don't want to waste our time by going into the details of a process, of which I would assume that you have read about roughly 143x on other websites. Instead, I want to provide you with another metaphor (you know I love those), of which I hope that it will help you to understand both the complexity of the issue, as well as the current dilemma we are in.
|
| Image 2: The producer of a movie (here Jerry Bruckheimer at the set of PoC4, img screenrant.com) is obviously an important guy, but do you know what he does? He is important, right, but how? |
In essence the situation for scientists (and science geeks like us) looking at the "the big T" is not much different from your's in front of the film poster:
- We know that the loss of lean body and interestingly also bone mass is one of the fundamental characteristics of hypogonadism (below "normal" testosterone levels).
- We know that restoring testosterone levels to normal via hormone replacement therapy (HRT) alone will oftentimes suffice to reverse / repair the muscle loss.
- We know, or I should rather say, we like to believe that the granite hard muscle of 99% of theIFBB pro bodybuilders are built on supraphysiological levels of testosterone.
"Does testosterone build muscle?"
|
| Image 3: Granted, Prof. Hubert from Futurama would probably need some exogenous test, anyways. Luckily Bhasin et al. recruited young eugonadal men for their study ;-) |
Probably in view of the aforementioned "obstacles", there is only a single well-designed, and above all, extensively documented study in which researchers put our thought-experiment into practice. Obviously, the latter was no N=1 study, but involved a a group of 61 absolutely healthy eugonodal (= totally normal testosterone levels) young men (age 18-35y). Over a time-course of 20 weeks, the subjects received a weekly injection of an GnRH antagonist (to shut down endogenous testosterone production) and 25, 50, 125, 300, or 600 mg of testosterone enanthate (Bhasin. 2001). They did not exercise (in fact they were specifically advised to refrain from "strength training or moderate-to-heavy endurance exercise during the study"), did not increase their protein intake, did not co-administer any other performance enhancing drugs, yet still, they grew - well, to be precise that was the case for 3/5 of the subjects (cf. figure 1):
|
| Figure 1: Changes in body composition measured by under water weighing (UWW) and DEXA after 20 weeks on the given amounts of testosterone enanthate; due to a -5% decrease in the fat-free mass to water ratio in the 125mg group (allother groups draw, not lost water) the highlighted UWW value is unrealiable (data calculated based on Bhasin. 2001) |
|
| Figure 2: Changes in total testosterone (ng/dl) and IGF-1 (ng/ml) levels (left) and testosterone to IGF-1 ratio (right) of young eugonodal men after 20 weeks of GnHR antagonist + different doses of testosterone enanthate (data calculated based on Bhasin. 2001). |
The complexities emerge: The testosterone-IGF1 connection
If you are the intelligent reader, I suppose you are, you will already suspect that I did included the relatively minor changes of the serum IGF-1 levels for a purpose - a purpose, those of you who have followed the last last installments of this series will probably already anticipate. After all, we do now know that testosterone does build muscle, but in the previous installments we have learned that a myriad of other factors, IGF-1 included, appear to do the same.
In view of the fact that I am still bone weary from New Year's Eve and do not want to compromise the quality of this series (and don't tell me it had no quality ;-), I will take a break here and catch up on this thought... tomorrow - I mean I know that it would be unfair to put you on the racks for a whole week ;-)
A Relaxing, Cortisol Reducing, Testosterone Manipulating Cup of Roiboos Tea, Anyone? Plus: From Herpes, Over Liver-Toxicity to Cancer - Things Rooibos Can Do For You!
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| "Decallerate" your life - drink tea!? |
After a couple of database searches, I did eventually have to realize that the most recent study by Schloms et al. is only the tip of an ice-, or rather "paper-berg" discussing various beneficial health effects of Aspalathus linearis infusions (aka Rooibos [/ˈrɔɪbɒs/], "the red bush" tea) that range from anti-viral to anti-cancer and pro-liver to pro-lung effects.
From South Africa to the Netherlands
In view of the fact that even I, as a German am more or less lucky to know what Rooibos is and you (mostly US and UK citizens) are only slowly catching up with my countrymen and our Western neighbors, the Dutch, as far as Rooibos imports and consumption is concerned, I just want to clarify that we are talking about a "popular tisane or herbal tea made from the stems and leaves of the fynbos plant, Aspalathus linearis, which is unique to the Western Cape region of South Africa" (Schloms. 2013).
What else can Rooibos do for you? Decreased incidence of herpex simplex + beneficial effects on other skin diseases (1.5l tea, orally; Shindo. 1991); liver protectant (Bosek. 2003); no inhibition of iron absorption (Hesseling. 1979; Breet. 2005; no ADHD?). Anti-cancer effects (Marnewick. 2005 ⇋ fermented = more effective; Sissing. 2008); antidiarrhoeal activity (Gilani. 2006); bronchodilator and antispasmodic (Khan. 2006); increased CYP3A activity (metabolizes caffeine, for example; Matsuda. 2007); anti-estrogenic effects in breast cancer ➙ reduced growth (Verhoog. 2007b; note: low estrogenic activity of its ow ➙ SERM)... there is more (mostly on anti-oxidant activities), but I think this should suffice.
Rooibos is sold as fermented and unfermented tea. While the latter has a higher anti-oxidant capacity, the former containing unique byproducts of the oxidation process. Contrary to the common perception these molecules are neither metabolic waste nor dangerous toxins, but can have a distinct set of beneficial metabolic effects of their own (Joubert. 2008).The good thing: Unfermented Rooibos tea increases the testosterone to cortisol ratio
For the study at hand, Schloms et al. used unfermented Rooibos from the South African
Rooibos Council. We can thus exclude any processing specific effects and simply assume that the results the scientists from the Stellenbosch University in South-Africa observed, when they administered the chloroform-methanol extract from the fresh tea leaves (1g of Rooibos leaves yielded 0.158 g extract) to their "subjects" - male Wistar rats.
The dosage the rodents received by oral gavage, was chosen to contain the rodent equivalent of the amount of soluble solids from one infusion with 15 g Rooibos leaves (six cups of fermented Rooibos per day). This means: If we discard inter-species differences, every serious Rooibos drinker should see changes in his (cortico-)steroid levels which resemble those you see in Figure 1:
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| Figure 1: Deoxycortisol (precursor), corticosterone (active), 11-dehydrocorticosterone (inactive corticosteroid) and testosterone levels after 10 days on rodent equivalent of six cups of Rooibos tea that was prepared with 15g of unfermented leaves; all values expressed relative to inter-group averages (Schloms. 2013) |
"In the adrenal, the biosynthesis of glucocorticoids, min eralocorticoids, and adrenal androgens from the com mon precursor, cholesterol, is catalyzed by the cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes and 3 -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (3 HSD), with cytochrome P450 11 -hydroxylase (CYP11B1) catalyzing the production of corticosterone (CORT) and cortisol from their respective precursors, deoxycorticosterone (DOC) and deoxycortisol." (Schloms. 2013)Ok, of the hormones mentioned in this explanation you have both, cortisol and deoxycorticosterone inFigure 1. As you can see,...
the consumption of the Rooibos tea lead to a significant reduction of DOC;
Illustration 1: Interconversion of cortisol and cortisone as well as CORT and 11-DHC by 11 HSD-type-1 and type-2 - the inactive CORT metabolite 11- dehydrocorticosterone (11-DHC), on the other hand did not change much;
- the latter would yet have been the case if the reduction in cortiosterone was a result of an increased metabolism of this rodent-specific corticosteroid
Rooibos tea is a 11 HSD1 inhibitor
In plain English you would probably say: Some of the active ingredients in Rooibos tea have the marvelous ability to block the enzyme that's responsible for the conversion of in-active to active corticosteroids.
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| Figure 2: In the corresponding 6-week (6 cups of tea per day) human study, none of the measured sex- nor corticosteroids changed significantly (Schloms. 2013) |
While there were significant decreases in the cortisone : cortisol (active : inactive corticosteroid) levels in both, men and women, there were no significant changes in cortisol, alone, testosterone, or the testosterone : cortisol ratio. With to the large inter-subject variations for testosterone, there is yet a chance that it worked for some, but not all male study participants.
Intermittent Thoughts: Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - Bigger, Stronger, Faster or just Balder, Fatter and Unhealthier?
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| Image 1: The ancient Greek ideal ofthe male body has probably more to do with DHT than the freaky physiques of today's IFBB Pro bodybuilders. |
DHT the hormone to which testosterone is just another prohormone
Similar to estrogen, DHT (exact name 17β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-3-one) is a testosterone metabolite. The process by which your body (male and female, btw.) generates this powerful androgen, the receptor-affinity of which is about 3x-10x higher than that of testosterone (depending on which source you cite and which assay the researchers used; for more detailed data on receptor binding, check out my previous blogpost "Beyond Vida's Book") is called 5-alpha reductase (5-ar). In the course of the "reduction" process one of hitherto three identified mammalian isoforms of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme (3-oxo-steroid-4-ene dehydrogenase). Of these three isoforms, which catalyze the reduction process, type III (predominantly) and type I (to a lesser extend) are expressed in human skeletal muscle (cf. Yarrow. 2011)...
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| Illustration 1: (1) Testosterone (either preformed or locally formed from DHEA) arrives at the target tissue, (2) is reduced to DHT by one out of three locally expressed reductase enzymes and (3) either acts intracrine, i.e. right inside the cell, where it was formed or is released into circulation. |
"DHT makes you strong bro!" - correct!
At least for those of you who have been on some of the bulletin boards, where people discuss the effects of various androgenic compounds, the first statements that pop into your mind, when you hear the three letters D, H and T, could be "brutal strength gains", "hit new personal records on each lift" or "doubled my bench within 2 weeks". And although I suppose that statements such as the latter lack any empirical basis, the broscientitific evidence that DHT and DHT-like designer steroids exert profound effects on muscle strength cannot be denied.
In this context, the results of a 2010 study from the Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Research Institute at the School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, is of particular significance (Hamdi. 2010). Using isolated extensor digitorum longus(EDL, a mainly fast twitch muscle in adult mice) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL, a mainly fast twitch muscle in adult mice) muscles from male and female mice, M.M. Hamdi and G. Mutungi established that the strength promoting effects of DHT are mediated mainly via the ERK, i.e. the extracellular signal-regulating kinase (also known as MAPK), pathway and thusly in a non-androgen receptor mediated way.
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| Figure 1: Maximal isometric force production in slow an fast twitch fibers after incubation with 630pg/ml DHT; data expressed relative to initial isometric force production P0 (data calculated based on Hamdi. 2010) |
DHT works via the MAPK pathway and not via the androgen receptor
Without the "pro"-aspect of science we would yet not know that it this is neither a androgen receptor mediated action (as the use of a DHT-inhibitor did not block the effects) nor a downstream effect of IGF-1 (the inhibition of which by co-incubation with an IGR-R inhibitor left the effects similarly unchanged), but a direct effect of the DHT induced increase in ERK-1/2 phosphorylation and the subsequent accumulation of myosin light chain in the DHT treated rodent muscle:
Our hypothesis is that DHT activates the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), either directly or indirectly, and this leads to an increase in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. The activated ERK1/2 then phosphorylates MLCK which in turn phosphorylates the 20 kDa RMLCs and this increases force production in fast twitch fibres but decreases it in slow twitch fibres. (Hamdi. 2010)In that, it is not really important that you understand all the intermediate steps which eventually lead to the increase in force production. What is important though is the hypothesis that the changes, you are seeing in figure 2 are not mediated via the androgen receptor, which were equally distributed in both the slow- and fast-twitch fibers in the study at hand - this is particularly noteworthy, because after all DHT is the androgen per se.
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| Figure 2: Changes (a.u.) in phosphorylated ERK-1/2 and myosin light chain content of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fiber treated with either DHT or testosterone propionate; * p < 0.05 (data calculated based on Hamdi. 2010) |
Against that background it is actually quite astonishing that a series of rodent studies which were conducted by scientists from Japan (Aizawa. 2010; 2011) found statistically significant increases in intra-muscular DHT in response to an endurance type of exercise. If you add to that the results of a 2008 human study by Hawkins et al. (Hawkins. 2008), which found a similar increase in systemic DHT (and SHBG) levels in 102 sedentary men (ages 40-75 yr) who were randomly assigned to a 12-month aerobic exercise intervention, while DHT levels did not budge in a 2008 study by Vingren et al. (Vingren. 2008), which used a resistance training protocol, this raises the question whether our current understanding of the strength promoting intracrine effects of DHT is not only part of a larger picture, which would be characterized by distinct intra-, auto-, para- and endocrine effects of DHT on skeletal muscle and other exercise related physiological functions.
The litmus test: Does DHT "build muscle"?
The absence of increased levels of DHT in response to strength training as well as the fact that the increase in myosin light chain is at best "facilitative" to building bigger already suggest that, with respect to its "muscle-building effect", your most potent androgen is somewhat of a non-starter... let me give you a three of the rare examples, where scientists even dared to administer DHT to their study participants, to substantiate (not prove) this hypothesis:
- in 1992, Marin et al. found that 3 months of transdermal DHT administration to middle-aged obese men increased muscle strength and diameter of type II muscle fibers, albeit to a lesser extent than
testosterone administration (Marin. 1992);
- in a 3 month trial using transdermal DHT Ly et al found a reduction in body fat mass and improved isokinetic knee flexion strength of the dominant leg, but no improvements in lean body mass, knee extension strength, or shoulder flexion/extension strength in hypogonadal elderly men (Ly. 2001);
- in 2010, Idan et al. conducted a trial on the effects of DHT administration on prostate growth in 114 healthy men over 50 and found neither beneficial nor negative effects on prostate growth (please understand that I will not address the prostate issue in detail, as it is not directly related to the topic at hand and would require a whole installment of its own) and a very modest increase in lean mass (2.4%) in response to 70mg DHT gel for 2 years (!)
Note: Contrary to finasteride, which is highly selective for the type II isoform of the 5-ar enzyme, dustasteride, which has been found to reduce circulating DHT levels by >90% is a pan-5-ar inhibitor. It is thusly no wonder that 0.5mg/day of dustasteride prevented the increase in lean mass in female-to-male transsexuals who were treated with 1,000mg testosterone-undeconate for 54 weeks (Meriggiola. 2008).
Although testosterone and not DHT appears to be the major hormonal driving force of actual increases in muscular size (not strength!), the results of the Meriggiola study, where the total (>90%) blockade of all three of the 5-ar isoforms by dustasteride (see red box, above) inhibited the muscle-building effects of 1,000mg testosterone-undeconate clearly suggest that the reduction of at least small amounts of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone is a necessary prerequisite for the testosterone-induced increases in lean muscle mass. Whether a critical threshold as for circulating DHT levels exists, or whether it was the dustasteride induced blockade of the local reduction of testosterone to DHT by 5-ar type III right in the skeletal muscle that was responsible for this effect will yet have to be established in future studies.High serum DHT = lower chance of alopecia! High local 5-ar = hair loss, though.
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| Image 2: Is your hair line receding? Could be DHT, but local not systemic! In youngmen high DHT levels correlate with full hair, in older men the local increase in 5-ar or the and the reduction in SHBG can elevate DHT beyond a healthy threshold. |
Now, how can that be? Is it testosterone that is "shaving your head from within?" - well, in a way it is, but most probably due to its local conversion to DHT (I hope by now you understand, why I stressed this factor in the introduction). Contrary to bound testosterone, which cannot be reduced by the 5-ar reductase enzymes in your scalp, the free testosterone can and will thusly - as a prohormone - do its bit to the thinning of your hairline:
[...] DHT in the hair follicle is thought to lead to hypoplasia of the scalp follicle, and a higher formation of testosterone metabolites was observed in the scalp of bald men as compared to hair obtained from nonbalding men. Yet we found a relationship, not between the disposition to balding and the ratio DHT/T, but between the diposition to balding and T_free/T_total. An elevated rate of dissociation from the binding globulin fits in well with the findings of Cipriani et al. (1983) that men with androgenic alopecia exhibit a significant reduction in sex hormone binding globulin (the same is true for bald-headed women). (Knussmann. 1992)The overall increase in both aromatization and 5-a reduction with age, as well as the tissue specific expression of those enzymes thusly explains why your men begin losing their hair, as they get olderalthough their total androgen levels begin to decline. A similar pattern, i.e. decreased SHBG levels and consequently increases in local 5-a reduction are implicated in female androgenic alopecia, as well (De Villez. 1986).
Note: If you want to judge your serum DHT levels by your body hair, the most prudent way to do so would be look at your legs. While the correlation (r = .16) Knussmann et al. found for DHT, alone, was not statistically significant, it was still the best indicator for "high" DHT levels.
Now, if we assume you have full hair and your legs have some resemblance to those of a bear (an unrealiable indicative of "high" DHT levels), does that predispose you to an increase in visceral body fat, as some sources on the Internet would have it? I mean, designer steroids that are structurally related to DHT are not particularly known for their obesogenic effect. They rather seem help their (ab-)users to lean out pretty rapidly, so the last question I will address in this installment of the Intermittent Thoughtswill be ...If testosterone helps you to lean out, will DHT make you fat?
To answer that I want to go back to the study, I presented in Friday's SuppVersity post on how eccentric training is able to recruit mesenchymal stem cells for muscular repair / hypertrophy. From either this post or the discussion of the underlying mechanisms by which testosterone works its muscle building, fat burning magic (cf. "Understanding the Big T"), you should remember that those pluripotent stem cells are unfortunately capable of becoming fat cells, as well. Luckily,dihydrotestosterone, the "big brother" of the "big T" shares testosterones anti-differential effect on pre-adipocytes (Singh. 2003).
Unfortunately, though, DHT does not prevent their proliferation (i.e. the generation of new pre-adipocytes; cf. Gupta. 2008). Instead, gene assays suggest that it stimulates all aspects of adipocyte metabolism, i.e. the beneficial ones like glycolosis (helps blood sugar management) and lipolysis (helps getting the fat out of the adipose tissue) and not (generally) beneficial ones as the production of fatty acids and triacylglyceroles, cell proliferation and differentiation (Bolduc. 2004).
Whether there is an overall negative effect of "normal" DHT levels on visceral fat, as it is sometimes suggested (esp. in the "lay press" = Internet ;-) appears however questionable. After all, Vandenput et al. (Vandenput. 2007) have shown that not DHT, but rather androstane-3 α,17-β-diol-17-glucuronide(17G), one of its metabolites correlates with visceral adiposity in healthy young men (r = 0.16; p < 0.05).
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| Figure 3: Correlation of the bioactive androgens (total and free testosterone and DHT) with DXA-measurements of body fat in different compartments; data obtained from n = 1068 young men (data adapted from Vandenput. 2007) |
Serum DHT levels, on the other hand, showed the strongest negative correlation with total body fat, total body fat (% total mass), arm fat, leg fat and trunk fat of all three measured androgens (cf. figure 3) and was a close second to total testosterone as far as its negative, i.e. diminishing, effects on central fat distribution is concerned (r = -0.07; p <0.05).
Note: In view of the fact that, as of late, leptin has become a focus of attention even for the average person trying to lose weight, it might be of interest that there were statistically significant negative correlations (r = -0.23 and r = -0.25; young vs. elderly) in both study groups.
Interestingly, things look somewhat different for the 1001 elderly study participants. The pattern that emerges here should remind you of the previously discussed allopecia issue. While there are still negative correlations for the total and relative amount of body fat in all compartments for serum DHT, there is a statistically yet not significant positive correlation between free testosterone and the central fat distribution in the elderly (mean age 75y) subjects that was not present in their young (mean age 19) counterparts. Moreover, the overall correlation between 17G and central obesity and the 17G/DHT ratio and central obesity raises from 0.08 and 0.20 (p < 0.05) in young men to 0.14 and 0.34 (p < 0.05) in elderly men.Lean, mean, strong... are these "all things male"?
If we discard the important role of DHT in the brain, which would explain the "mean" (not necessarily defined as mean in aggressive, but rather as "alpha-male mean") in "lean, mean, strong" and expand "strong" to the established bone-building effects of DHT, which apparently surpass those of testosterone (eg. Capur. 1989), being as muscular as Mr. Olympia obviously is not one of the "things male". As, contrary to some of its synthetic cousins, the current research suggests that the original father of all androgens may be an indispensable bystander, when its precursor testosterone is blowing up your muscles, its immediate effects do yet appear to be restricted to strength and body composition.
Collectively, this as well as the previous installments on testosterone (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) andestrogen should have made it quite clear that even the ostensibly straight forward role of the sex steroids in the concert of skeletal muscle hypertophy is way more complex than the commonly accepted notion that "you just inject your weekly test and become Mr. O" would suggest. It is in fact so complex that I will devote the next installment of the Thoughts to revamp the main ideas and to tryto connect the dots between mTOR, myostatin, IGF, inflammation, testosterone, estrogen, DHT and co...
Beating Low Testosterone
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| Structure of Testosterone |
Testosterone, is an important hormone for men. It determines whether a foetus becomes a boy or a girl, makes risk taking more likely (one possible cause of the recession was the finance industry hiring young men with high testosterone and not controlling them adequately) and is needed for general health and well being.
Testosterone levels rise with exercise and fall with fatherhood, which many men are embracing, possibly partly as a result of a dramatic long term fall in male testosterone levels in the West, leading to talk of the feminization of the Western Male, a potentially sensitive topic given that Caucasians have long been antagonistic to darker skinned peoples, who are perceived as capabel of superior sexual performance.
In short all men should know a lot about testosterone. Women need a less detailed view with special knowledge of the adverse affects it has on them. Fortunately the biochemical details can largely be left to the experts. The rest should not.
What Testosterone does
Testosterone makes men male. The process starts in pregnancy. Testosterone levels rise to a peak then start declining after the andropause.
Higher levels of Testosterone also lead to increased bone mass and muscle. Testosterone is essential for health and well being and is needed to prevent osteoporosis (given the fall in testosterone levels in recent generations the incidence of osteoporosis in men should be increasing but there does not seem to have been any public panic about this).
Testosterone is needed for normal sperm development and mental and physical energy. Increasing the level of testosterone in elderly males has been shown to improve many factors believed to reduce risk of heart problems, such as increased lean body mass, decreased visceral fat mass, decreased total cholesterol, and glycemic control.
On the negative side high levels of testosterone make men more selfish and more likely to punish others who are selfish towards them and research, cited in Wikipedia [1], suggests that Testosterone levels play a role in risk taking during financial decisions. This is not unexpected since I recall reading that high testosterone is associated with risk taking in general. However since psychopaths are likely to be over represented in the financial field [4] and are fearless (not always a bad thing), employing young men in financial trading and not controlling adequately for risk is a recipe for disaster as the world found out in 2008.
High Testosterone levels can also cause symptoms such as acne, aggression, impotence, liver dysfunction, testicular atrophy and sperm reduction, breast enlargement and baldness [9] .
Testosterone seems to affect human attention, memory, and spatial ability. Low testosterone levels may be a risk factor for cognitive decline and possibly for Alzheimer’s like syndromes. Outside a certain range low testosterone may result in mood disorders and aggressive behaviour. Among men with low testosterone levels 70% reported Erectile dysfunction and 63% reported low sex drive.
Testosterone levels, like diabetic blood sugar levels, need to be maintained within certain limits to avoid the negative effects of very high and very low levels.
Is your testosterone low and should it be treated?
Testosterone should be kept above 8 nanomolars to avoid erectile dysfunction and above 10 to prevent bone loss,. Levels above 15 will help protect against increased accumulation of body fat and a flagging libido [9].
The only reliable way to decide if you have low testosterone is a blood test, however there are a few indicators suggesting you need to contact a doctor and get that blood test. The short questionnaire in [8] will indicate whether you need to see a doctor.
Low testosterone in men can result in painful and/or enlarged breasts, weight gain, loss of body hair, needing to shave less often, shrinking testicles or inability to get or keep an erection. Another common symptom in men with very low testosterone is hot flushes. Low testosterone may also cause anaemia, depression and problems concentrating. I said problems concentrating. Add
frail bones and osteoporisis and low testosterone is definitely not good.
Low testosterone may cause loss of facial and body hair, but has nothing to do with baldness. While some drugs for baldness can boost testosterone some medicines for other conditions can lower testosterone. These include corticosteroids such as prednisolone, used for inflammatory conditions, and long-acting narcotics, like oxycodone and morphine. Medicines used to treat advanced prostate cancer can also lower testosterone levels.
Many men with low testosterone have no symptoms, so diagnosis should be based not only on symptoms but also two or more morning blood tests taken on different occasions. People with type 2 diabetes often have low testosterone and should get tested as should men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, osteoporosis or broken bones.
Testosterone treatment may not help with erectile dysfunction (ED), for there may be physical or psychological causes so medical advice should be sought for ED.
Testosterone boosting may make some conditions worse: severe sleep apnoea, severe Benign Prostate Hypertrophy, lower urinary tract infections, prostate cancer, male breast cancer and poorly managed congestive heart failure for example.
The bottom line is that your self assessment of your testosterone levels may be wrong and you should talk with a doctor you trust.
Effect on Relationships
Men with low testosterone are more likely to be in a relationship, including marriage, and men with high testosterone levels are more likely to indulge in extramarital sex, presumably especially after marriage at the time the woman is beginning to avoid sex.
Ladies: this could mean that your faithful husband is no longer a “real man”.
For men Testosterone levels do not depend on the physical presence of a partner: men in long distance relationships have the same testosterone levels as men in same-city relationships. This does not hold for women.
Some research findings suggest that partnered men (presumably monogamous) have the lowest testosterone levels of all men and men in polyamorous relationships have higher levels than single men. Testosterone levels are not, however, related to sexual assertiveness in either men or women.
Testosterone and Ageing
Hormonal changes in men over 40 inhibit physical, sexual and cognitive function. A light hearted definition of middle age is when the narrow waist and broad mind start to exchange places. The waist bulges, and muscle shrinks, a sign of hormonal imbalance. Often the victim suffers depression.
Bluntly you start to be unable to do the things that make life worth living and start not caring about it.
Even today doctors will respond to a man with these symptoms by saying “What do you expect at your age?” ( a good reason to change doctors ) but there is evidence that these problems, including depression, middle age spread, prostate and heart disease can be corrected with drugs and dietary changes, in fact [6] many problems could be eliminated by restoring hormone levels to those of a fit 21 year old.
The body produces both testosterone and oestrogen. In young men the oestrogen turns off the cell stimulating effects of testosterone. Past 40 testosterone production decreases but oestrogen levels stay the same which has been known in China for millennia, where the observation is that as women age they become more Yang and as men age they become more Yin, and may result in cell stimulation being locked as “off” with resulting loss of libido and sexual arousal. On top of this more of the testosterone they do produce is converted to oestrogen and a 60 year old man may have oestrogen levels higher than those of a 60 year old woman.
An obvious answer is to replace the testosterone from outside. This does not work since the testosterone may be converted into oestrogen, thus worsening the problem. Too much oestrogen increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and possibly prostate enlargement.
Testosterone is needed to maintain youthful functionality of body and brain. Restoring testosterone levels to those of his youth may enable older men to restore strength, stamina, cognition, heart function and sexuality, with a corresponding reduction in depression.
A word of caution. In some men the testes become unable to produce testosterone. If self help therapies fail see a doctor.
Things that reduce your testosterone
Cell phones
Electromagnetic radiation in the range in which cell phones broadcast (900 MHZ) reduced testosterone in rats exposed to it 5 days a week for four weeks. Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Body noted that most studies done in Europe concluded that cell phone radiation impairs sperm function and that he tripled his sperm count when he stopped carrying his phone in his trouser pockets.
It seems highly plausible that keeping a source of concentrated electromagnetic radiation near your body constitutes A Bad Idea and studies have shown that people who chatted on a mobile phone for 30 minutes a day for ten years saw their risk of a brain tumour rise by 40%.
So keep the phone away from the body as much as possible. Once you start you will forget it occasionally but with practice your memory will improve.
Stress
Rise, breakfast, will the train be late? Will there be a traffic jam? The post has arrived. More bills. Mental image of how much you have in the bank..... and so on throughout the day. Emotional stress, information overload, guilt, a feeling of time deficit.....
Stress is a root cause of many diseases: heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, and it negatively impacts digestive function, immune system and lowers your testosterone levels. When you are stressed you focus on survival, and sex, and almost everything else, takes a back seat, next to the cell phone in your back pocket. That back seat gets very full.
Stress lowers your testosterone but increases your level of cortisol, the death hormone. Small amounts of stress MAY be good for you, but large amounts, especially chronic stress, is not.
Quick self help here is to get enough sleep, since Testosterone rises as you sleep, especially as you dream. Also five to ten minutes of quiet contemplation will help. I would have said Meditation, but that might have turned off some Christians, and Contemplation is the Christian term for spiritually directed meditative practices.
Oestrogen loaded plastics and other toxins
Oestrogen is typically a female hormone: high levels in males lead to excess fat and lower testosterone levels.. In fact, some experts think too many oestrogens without the right level of testosterone to oppose them will most certainly result in cancer, prostate cancer in particular. It is only recently that surgical techniques have improved enough to reduce the risk of impotence caused by surgery to remove a cancerous prostate so to a large extent cancer leaves you between the devil and the deep blue sea.
People who drink from plastic bottles a lot tend to suffer from high levels of plastics in their body and low testosterone levels. Oestrogen like chemicals (xenoestrogens) in plastic disrupt hormonal balance in almost all living beings.
Specifically Bisphenol A (BPA) has a bad effect on the hormones of men and women and appears in canned food linings, water bottles, and even plastic bags.
Incidentally it seems that plastic bottles are blown from plastic tubes at a very high temperature and filled with liquid while the plastic is still hot and unstable.
Plastics are everywhere and cannot be avoided, so damage limitation is needed. Since heat makes plastics unstable microwaving food in plastic containers is not a clever idea. Nor is leaving plastic bottles of water in the sun or on top of a radiator. Recently some supermarkets have started selling wine in plastic bottles. Not good.
Buy drinks in glass bottles. You will be doing the environment a favour as they can be recycled. If you cannot avoid plastic bottles look for a statement that the packaging is bisphenol free or turn the bottle upside down. In the USA at least a recycling symbol with a 3, 6 or 7 on it means you should avoid that product.
Shampoo
Yes, Shampoo. Here are the main culprits
Parabens – are in most personal care products and increase the shelf life of shampoo and conditioners. Studies show a direct link between paraben exposure, low-testosterone (and even breast cancer). Any shampoo ingredient that ends in “–paraben” (such as methylparaben, butylparaben, and so on) means avoid this shampoo.
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Sodium Laureth Sulphate They’re also used in car engine degreasers and car-wash soap foams. They have been linked to everything from excessive oestrogen load to malformation of the eyes in children. On your head, they shoot into your bloodstream. Propylene Glycol and Polyethylene Glycol – Common “organic” alcohols also used in everything from antifreeze to oven cleaners. They stabilise the fragrance of shampoos but do nothing for your hair and tend to break down the structure of your cells to allow rapid absorption of the other xenoestrogens in your shampoo.
Diet and Nutrition
Ancient diet: meat, green shoots and leaves, roots and maybe some fruit
Modern diet: Cereals, Sugar, Low quality Bread, Chips (fries) fried in the wrong sort of fat.....
At one time meat with too little fat was regarded as poor quality. People eating more fats have higher testosterone levels than those eating more carbohydrates. Fats, especially healthy fats like avocados, nuts or saturated animal fats are filled with nutrients and metabolised well by our bodies. At least 60% of our brain is fat and all of our hormones are synthesised from fats.
Maybe the Atkins diet is going too far though.
Fast food should be avoided. Not only is it likely to contain unhealthy fat but there is a link between Fast Food, Alzheimers, Obesity and diabetes [14]. It also seems likely that fast food can reduce testosterone evels
Ways to increase Testosterone
Lose weight:
By eating healthy fats and less sugar you will start to lose weight and gain more testosterone. The increased testosterone will help you burn fat faster. Consider making nuts your midnight snack and avocados your mid-day snack. Apparently 10cm (four inch) increase in waist size can mean a 75% decrease in Testosterone levels.
Exercise:
Train hard and fast in a sport you like. If you insist on going to a gym stick to compound exercises like squats, bench presses, dead lifts, chin-ups, etc.. Stick to 5 sets of 5 repetitions for maximum boost. Stop groaning and get moving. I know your boss would rather see you at your desk than exercising and doesn't care about your health, since you are a disposable commodity, but see what you can to .
Rest
Get 8 hours of sleep and allow recovery time between workouts or training sessions. The exercise will make you smarter and increase bone mass thus reducing risk of Osteoporosis.
If you over do it you will actually reduce your testosterone levels.
Drink sensibly: Alcohol eats into your testosterone levels. Getting into a fight while drunk and being kicked in the groin does not help either. Since wine is being sold in plastic bottles which, like beer cans may be lined with Testosterone killers more care in sourcing alcohol is needed
Have sex:
At least once a week if possible! Just having an erection increases your testosterone... Mornings are best because your testosterone levels are usually highest when you wake up.
Flirt:
Talking to an attractive women apparently raises a straight man's testosterone levels by some ten to 15%. This seems to bear out my experience so trust me on this.
Eat less soy and grapefruit:
soy protein, used as a filler in, for example, burgers, increases your oestrogen, decreases your testosterone and lowers your sperm count. Not also the other problems fast food can cause [14]. I do not know about soy sauce though. The Japanese seem to have few problems with it. Grapefruit makes it hard for the liver to breakdown oestrogen.
Eat cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, radishes, turnips, cabbage and Brussels sprouts:
This will increase the amount of free circulating testosterone in the body: They can also stop the buildup of bad oestrogen. Thank the gods for Korean cuisine (kimchi) and Borsch made with cabbage, and a splash of sour cream, for generally these vegetables look smell and taste diabolical.
Try Celery: Chewing on organic celery is good. The smell also stimulates the body to produce more Testosterone.
Vitamins and Herbs
The right vitamins and herbs will give a quick and possibly long term boost to your testosterone while your body adjusts to your new diet and exercise (Stop groaning) routine
Vitamin C and Zinc each lower cortisol levels and reduces the enzyme that converts your testosterone into oestrogen.
As to herbs , [2] recommends these
Tongkat Ali, also known as Longjack can make 3 to 4 times more testosterone available to your body. It is a protected plant in Malaysia (and the Malaysian variety has a very high lead content) so be sure to use the Indonesian variety.
Ginseng helps but a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner may declare it inappropriate for you. It is worth checking first and remembering not to take Ginseng for more than about three months at a time: prolonged use can stress the liver.
Tribulus Terrestris increases libido and ( like Viagra) boosts nitric oxide making it easier to get erections, increases your free testosterone levels and boosts your immune system.
Muira Puama ( "potency wood") is an amazon vine. It works especially well when combined with Saw Palmetto and has been shown to increase natural testosterone levels. It can successfully fight impotence in men, fatigue, loss of strength and reduce the amount of oestrogen in a man's body. It can give better results than Yohimbe without the side effects.
Astragalus is very similar to ginseng. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is used to increase the Qi, or the vital energy for life associated to blood energy
Cayenne Pepper increases metabolism and provides great benefits for the circulatory system... In fact, cayenne speeds up absorption of the other ingredients in our formula and makes them more active in the blood. I was also told that Chillies are aphrodisiac
Secondary herbs are
Saw Palmetto: prevents conversion of testosterone into di-hydro- testosterone (DHT) which causes prostate cancer.
Nettle root as a highly concentrated extract is effective at letting more free testosterone to circulate in your system. It has also been used to treat prostate enlargement.
Zhi Shou Wu: An anti-aging herb which is probably worth trying.
The Wrap
Testosterone is a vital hormone for men. There has been a long term fall in testosterone levels in the West, fuelled at least partly by economic factors: female hormones make cattle grow larger, the decline in male libido suits (sexually frustrated ) religious fanatics of all persuasions, politicians (who regard the public as problems to be controlled), as it makes men somewhat more tractable and women who have reached the point in their marriage where they try to avoid sex with their partners. There is no need to postulate a conspiracy by some shadow group: though this does not prove no such conspiracy exists, just makes it less likely.
Oestrogen and lookalike chemicals are everywhere and probably contribute to the feminisation of men and possibly also to the shorter life expectation of men.
There are nevertheless positive things can be done to promote higher testosterone levels and combat the effect of universal oestrogen. These boil down to diet, exercise, avoiding plastics as much as possible, keeping your cell phone and genitals distant strangers, avoiding stress and getting a lot of quality sleep.
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