9 Ways to Naturally Increase Testosterone Levels
Dr. Mercola

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• Beginning around age 30, a man’s testosterone levels begin to decline, and continue to do so as he ages, leading to symptoms such as decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction, depressed mood, and difficulties with concentration and memory
• Dietary and exercise changes, particularly limiting sugar/fructose, eating healthy saturated fats and engaging in high-intensity exercises and strength training, can be very effective at boosting testosterone levels naturally
• Other strategies to boost testosterone include optimizing your vitamin D levels and reducing stress

9 Body Hacks to Naturally Increase Testosterone

1.  Lose Weight - If you're overweight, shedding the excess pounds may increase your testosterone levels, according to research presented at the Endocrine Society's 2012 meeting. Overweight men are more likely to have low testosterone levels to begin with, so this is an important trick to increase your body's testosterone production when you need it most.

2.  High-Intensity Exercise like Peak Fitness (Especially combined with Intermittent Fasting) - Short intense exercise has a proven positive effect on increasing testosterone levels and preventing its decline. That's unlike aerobics or prolonged moderate exercise, which have shown to have negative or no effect on testosterone levels. Intermittent fasting boosts testosterone by increasing the expression of satiety hormones including insulin, leptin, adiponectin, and more.

3.  Consume Plenty of Zinc - The mineral zinc is important for testosterone production, and supplementing your diet for as little as six weeks has been shown to cause a marked improvement in testosterone among men with low levels. Likewise, research has shown that restricting dietary sources of zinc leads to a significant decrease in testosterone, while zinc supplementation increases it -- and even protects men from exercised-induced reductions in testosterone levels.

4.  Strength Training - Strength training is also known to boost testosterone levels, provided you are doing so intensely enough. When strength training to boost testosterone, you'll want to increase the weight and lower your number of reps. You can "turbo-charge" your weight training by going slower. By slowing down your movement, you're actually turning it into a high-intensity exercise.

5.  Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels - Vitamin D, a steroid hormone, is essential for the healthy development of the nucleus of the sperm cell, and helps maintain semen quality and sperm count. Vitamin D also increases levels of testosterone, which may boost libido.

6.  Reduce Stress - When you're under a lot of stress, your body releases high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This hormone actually blocks the effects of testosterone, presumably because, from a biological standpoint, testosterone-associated behaviors (mating, competing, aggression) may have lowered your chances of survival in an emergency (hence, the "fight or flight" response is dominant, courtesy of cortisol).

7.  Limit or Eliminate Sugar from Your Diet - Testosterone levels decrease after you eat sugar, which is likely because the sugar leads to a high insulin level, another factor leading to low testosterone. Based on USDA estimates, the average American consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day, which equates to about TWO TONS of sugar during a lifetime.

8.  Eat Healthy Fats - By healthy, this means not only mono- and polyunsaturated fats, like that found in avocadoes and nuts, but also saturated, as these are essential for building testosterone. Research shows that a diet with less than 40 percent of energy as fat (and that mainly from animal sources, i.e. saturated) lead to a decrease in testosterone levels.

9.  Boost Your Intake of Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) from Foods Like Whey Protein - Research suggests that BCAAs result in higher testosterone levels, particularly when taken in conjunction with resistance training. While BCAAs are available in supplement form, you'll find the highest concentrations of BCAAs like leucine in dairy products — especially quality cheeses and whey protein.

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9 Ways to Naturally Increase Testosterone Levels