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How testosterone affects your appearance
You’ve already learned how the hormone testosterone affects everything from mood, concentration and energy to bone formation, libido and water retention. It should then be no surprise that the way we look also has a major impact.
But just what is testosterone – from where, what’s it going to come and most importantly, how much do we have?
The most surprise levels of testosterone in adolescents and adults with an average this hormone level of about 800 ng/dL for the 18-year-old age group are (nanograms per decilitre).
This 800 range should continue roughly in the next 10 years in healthy males – up to the age of 30 when the concentration levels start to decline by 1%-3% per year. When we hit our 40s, generally this amount is somewhere in the 500s and can be so low for many as at the middle of the 200s.
By 50, the bulk of my husbands have chronically low levels.
There are differences of opinion between various medical practitioners regarding hormone levels, with ranges from 300 to 1.200 to normal. It’s too low on the lower end. We like our customers in any laboratory that tests testosterone total in the upper quadrant (25%).
Low testosterone is a problem that affects many more men, with a recent study showing a global decrease in this hormoneconcentrations of nearly 20 percent over a 20-year period. Our changing habits (for the worse) have been paying the bill. Indeed, average levels of both testosterone and sperm decrease each decade. This may also be associated with our ever more “toxic culture.
Although low testosterone levels can have a significant impact on our global health and mood, the impacts on our physical appearance can be discussed in this article. Take a dive now and look at what is happening – and what should we do about it.
Muscle mass and this hormone
Anyone interested in building their physicality knows the connection between this hormone and muscle mass. But how clear a connection is what many don’t know. Muscle production happens when small muscle traumas, caused by exercise, are repaired with new protein strands – thus increasing muscle size and strength.
Testosterone, known as protein synthesis, is a crucial part of the process because its association with the muscle cells and the development of new protein strands are amplified, thus promoting the release of human growth hormone (HGH) through the body. The increase in muscular mass also increases the amount of mitochondria (the furnace of the cell’s energy) that increase the sensitivity of insulin and reduce visceral fat.
As a result of the rise in HGH, the pace and degree of the growth of our muscles in response to workouts – or to put it straight forward the quicker (and larger) your muscles develop, the more testosterone you have.
Likewise, the lower your this hormone, the tougher your training routine makes it impossible to see impressive gains. Many men with low testosterone levels complain that building muscle mass is frustratingly challenging – some actually experience muscle loss in arms, legs and chest. Like testosterone binds to muscle cells to expand, the process reverses when its levels are low. This ensures that the muscle cannot stay and shrink over time if less this hormone is to tie it together.
Weight gain and testosterone
Low levels of testosterone are not only reduce the pecs. In reality, we often see that the dreaded man boobs start to grow if these levels are too small! Testosterone is an important metabolism factor with Harvard Medical College research showing a higher proportion of body fat in men with low levels of this hormone than in those with healthy levels.
Training does not result in weight loss, but it increases muscle sizes synergistically – as stated – as long as the levels of testosterone are high. If the amount of testosterone is high and you exercise frequently, the sensitivity to mitochondria is improved, which results in fat loss and inches where it counts. Although there might be little change in weight in general, your shape (tail size) will change significantly for the better.
Hair loss and testosterone
Some people might consider this a surprise part of our list – after all, have we all heard that bald heads are a sign that we haven’t? The fact is that while this hormone plays a role in male baldness, it’s not an imbalance that triggers your baldness.
Indeed, genetics is the key cause of MPB. Those with hair loss typically have inherited hair follicles that are particularly susceptible to dihydrotestosterone and DHT hormones. When this hormone is transformed into DHT, it causes hair follicles to shorten, which causes finer and shorter hair before finally it stops developing. Testosterone is this position that some people believe a shiny bowel is a sign of high hormone in the balding process.
Enhance the testosterone
Diet in general plays an important role in naturally raising testosterone levels; a perfect way to start a body’s hormone regeneration is through such foods such as tuna (high in vitamin D) and spinach ( high in zinc). Similarly, certain foods like white devil (aka sugar) should be avoided, since too many of these lead to lower chronic spikes of insulin.
We also advocate the use of bioidentical hormone treatment to rapidly achieve low and imbalanced hormone levels. This can take many forms, including injections, gels and patches, and typically has a simple and beneficial effect on both psychological and physical health.
