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01.01.2016

Lifestyle improvements boost testosterone level in over fifties

If overweight men in their fifties start to live more healthily, the concentration of testosterone in their blood rises. Health scientists at the University of Tsukuba in Japan discovered this when they did an experiment on 44 fat, inactive men. Lifestyle changes such as jogging and dietary improvements proved to be an alternative to hormone therapy.

Testosterone & health
As men age, their testosterone level declines. Fifteen years ago scientists ascribed this reduction to the aging process, but epidemiological studies have shown that there is more involved.

As men age they tend to become less healthy: they put on weight, their insulin sensitivity declines, they develop cardiovascular diseases and struggle with stress. Epidemiological studies have shown that it is not just aging but the decline in health that also leads to a reduction in testosterone levels. [J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Feb;92(2):549-55.] [Urology. 2003 Mar;61(3):629-33.]

So is it possible to reverse the negative effects of an unhealthy lifestyle on testosterone levels? Will men's testosterone levels rise if they pay more attention to their diet, exercise more and reduce their fat reserves? That's the question the researchers wanted to answer.

Study
The researchers got their subjects - men in their fifties with an average BMI of 29 - to do one hour of exercise under supervision of a trainer, three times a week for twelve weeks. The exercise consisted of brisk walking and jogging. As time passed the men gradually increased the intensity of their exercise.

The men went on a diet as well. The aim was a caloric intake of 1680 kilocalories per day, with a quarter of the energy being derived from protein, a quarter from fat and half from carbohydrates.

Results
The men lost almost 12 kg. Their concentration of 'bad cholesterol' LDL in the blood went down, as did the concentration of triglycerides and insulin. The men became fitter and their blood pressure also went down.

Systolic blood pressure - blood pressure during the heartbeat - declined in particular, as is shown on the left above. On the right above you can see the effect of the lifestyle changes on testosterone level, which rose from 12.3 to 13.2 nanomol per litre.

The Japanese discovered that there was a relationship between the decrease in blood pressure and the rise in testosterone level. The greater the decrease in systolic blood pressure, the bigger the rise in the testosterone level.

Conclusion
The Japanese speculate that the rise in testosterone level to some extent caused the blood pressure to go down. We, the ignorant compilers of this free webzine, suspect that the relationship is actually the other way round. We think that the drop in blood pressure caused the testosterone level to rise.

You can read where we got this wisdom from here: [Am J Hypertens. 2002 Mar;15(3):217-21.].

Source:
Endocrine Journal 2015, 62 (5), 423-430.

More:
Overweight halves teenagers' testosterone levels 30.10.2012
Weight loss makes fat men more masculine 12.10.2011
Fat belly neutralises DHT 29.12.2010

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Boosting Testosterone

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