Supplements To Increase Testosterone And Balance Hormones

When it comes to taking supplements to boost testosterone, I’m a big believer in the all natural approach and getting the majority of what we need from making smart meal choices – namely, eating as nature intended, avoiding refined carbs, reducing considerably high glycemic carbs unless you’ve just done a work out (when insulin is needed to feed your muscle cells), consuming plenty of healthy fats, consuming tons of vegetables, greens, preferably raw, and steering clear of grains (this is a challenging one for many, as grains have become such a staple food, but they are high glycemic, meaning they cause insulin spikes, which cause testosterone to drop and of course, fat gain, and they also cause inflammation for many people). Clean eating and going back to basics is ultimately what it’s all about! This means avoiding about 80% of what you find on supermarket shelves – avoiding toxins such as sugar, artificial flavourings, preservatives, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides as these all cause endocrine (hormonal) disruption. Eat as nature intended.

This means going organic. It’s more expensive, sure, but what is your health worth to you? Did you know that if you eat non-organic beef in the US, you’re exposing yourself to hormones that are used to fatten the cows up to produce more milk? This filters through to the beef that you eat and the milk that you drink. Going natural also means avoiding GMOs as they have been proven to increase oestrogen levels. Most processed foods contain some kind of GMO now – steer clear of soy like the plague, corn (unless it’s organic), and cottonseed – these are the top 3 GMOs in the US.

When you eat as nature intended, not only do you feel amazing with consistently high energy levels, but you get lean effortlessly. That’s a great side effect if you are carrying around excess fat. When you get lean, your testosterone levels naturally rise, particularly when strength training at the same time, and when you burn belly fat which converts testosterone to oestrogen. When you work out regularly, and engage in strength training and resistance training, you increase testosterone – and your metabolism. And you gain and/or tone muscle of course, and which guy (or girl) doesn’t want that?

Back to the questions of supplements. There are a few that I do take daily, as it’s challenging to get these minerals and vitamins from diet alone. These are the supplements I take and recommend:

Zinc

This is an essential mineral for your immune system and also assists with building proteins, triggering enzymes and increasing testosterone. There are natural foods high in zinc, like oysters, lean beef and lamb. How often do we eat oysters though? Since I don’t eat lots of red meat or oysters, I supplement with zinc. Check out this link for food sources high in Zinc.

Magnesium 

Magnesium is really important in inducing your body to produce more testosterone and build muscle. It improves the body’s antioxidant capacity, decreases inflammation this allows for a decent release of Testosterone (and Insulin Growth Factor, IGF-1). It plays a part in the production of enzymes that allow Vitamin D with calcium absorption and bone building, relaxes the nervous system and plays a primary role in cardiovascular health. It supports energy and blood sugar regulation. Low magnesium has actually been directly linked with diabetes risk. Magnesium also promotes sleep.

BCAAs – Branched Chain Amino Acids

BCAAs assist with muscle protein synthesis and therefore speed up the muscle recovery and repair phase (great when you’re working out regularly and wanting to raise T), prevent muscle loss during times of little or no activity, protect the immune system while working out (as you put your body under a lot of stress during the work out) and protect against amino acid deficiencies which may result out of a deficit of protein (this can easily occur if you’re a vegetarian/vegan or restricting protein-rich foods for any reason).

Omega-3 Fish Oil

This is great for the brain as well as the promotion of more testosterone in the testes. It helps to lower SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin) which attaches itself to free testosterone, meaning less is available. To produce more free testosterone, we need to lower SHBG.

Post Workout Protein Shake/Bar

We need to consume protein and carbohydrates after a workout to provide our muscles with the fuel they need to recover and repair. Dangers lie in the types of protein shakes and bars available. Avoid anything with soy in like the Plague (seriously, it’s horrific for you – soy is not only a phytoestrogen but if you’re in the US, 92% of it is genetically modified – which increases oestrogen levels). Whey protein is mostly of an inferior quality in the US as cows have all been given rBGH, a growth hormone.  I prefer to stick to high quality, plant-based protein sources. One of my favourite bars is the Organic Food Bar Company. I’d say about 95% of the  bars you find on supermarket shelves and in gyms are really bad for you. They’re full of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, soy and poor quality whey protein. Be very mindful about what you put in your body!!
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