christopher swain
Aug 8, 2017 · 5 min read

Once I hit my thirties I started to notice A decline in just about everything, I was tired, didn’t have the energy I used to and didn’t seem to recover as fast as I use to. I think for a long time I denied the fact that I was getting older and just kept trying to live life like I did as a young buck. The fact was I had to figure out what was going on in my body, and fix it. The hormone everyone usually thinks of that effects men is testosterone, and those affects are quite noticeable, but that is not the only hormone we have to worry about. These hormones can affect any where from our mood and mental state to our body weight and muscle mass. So lets not waste anymore time here we go brah.

  1. testosterone

Testosterone is a sex hormone that plays an important role in our body and it is responsible for our male characteristics. Some of those roles are.

  • muscle mass
  • bone mass
  • fat distribution
  • sex drive
  • energy levels
  • sperm production
  • red blood cells

When it comes to trying to improve our testosterone we have to work on total testosterone and free testosterone. What is the difference? testosterone is your total testosterone level as measured in the blood free testosterone is the testosterone in your blood that is not bound to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Basically free testosterone is free to be used by the body. Some studies show that fee testosterone is the key to treating low testosterone. The good news is There are natural ways to increase both total testosterone and free testosterone. Some basic things we can do to combat low testosterone is maintain a good diet, Intermittent fasting, exercise, lift weights, get enough sleep, lose fat, reduce stress and watch the alcohol consumption. There are many ways to boost your testosterone levels, here are a few.

2.Growth Hormone

Growth hormone or (HGH) is produced by the pituitary gland. HGH peaks during puberty and from middle age on it decline, by the time your in your fourties your producing half as much as you were in your twenties. AS growth hormone levels decrease, muscle mass declines and body fat increase so you can see the affects growth hormones can have on your body. Growth hormone is said to be the “anti aging hormone”. I have personally found natural ways to increase to increase my growth hormone levels, like by intermittent fasting, and can say that the anti aging rumor is somewhat true. Intermittent fasting has bee found to raise your growth hormone levels by up to 2000 %. Exercise, sleep, lean body mass all affect our growth hormone levels. Some of the ways that growth hormones affect us men are listed here. like I said one way to combat low HGH is by intermittent fasting, some other ways are exercise, don’t eat before bed time, get good sleep maintain a healthy diet.

  • recovery from bone fractures
  • lean muscle mass
  • muscle strength
  • fat distribution
  • cardiovascular disease risk
  • mood
  • energy levels
  • increase LDL (bad cholesterol)
  • sexual dysfunction

3. Estrogen

Estrogen might be a hormone you don’t think about much in men but the fact is at a young age men have high levels of testosterone an low levels of estrogen, as we get older the testosterone drops and the estrogen increases. High levels of estrogen in men can actually cause low levels of testosterone. Testosterone will start to convert to estrogen in men as they age. Some of the things we can do to combat estrogen is maintain a proper diet, excersise, keep your body fat low and some herbs and supplaments can help. Some other factors that can raise your estrogen levels are alchohol and even plastic bottles. Here are some symptoms of low estrogen in men

  • sexual dysfunction
  • enlarged breast
  • increased abdominal fat
  • felling tired or low energy
  • loss of muscle mass
  • mood, emotional or depression

4. cortisol

Cortisol is a steroid hormone, it is produced in the adrenal gland. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone because it is released in a response to stress, and low blood glucose concentration. When cortisol is released your fight or flight response goes off, but if there is not a physical release of the fight or flight response the cortisol will just build up in your body and cause chaos on your mind and body. Some ways to combat cortisol are with meditation, exercise, watch your caffeine intake, and get good sleep. There are some studies that say jus spending time in a “ masculine posture” can increase your testosterone and decrease your cortisol. There is a long list of the ways cortisol can affect our lives. Here are some of the negative affects of cortisol.

  • increase weight gain
  • blood pressure
  • cholesterol
  • heart disease
  • anxiety
  • learning and memory
  • lower immune function.

5. Dihydrotestosterone

Dihydrotestosterone or DHT is a hormone that stimulates the development of male characteristics. Dihydrotestosterone is actually even more potent than testosterone, many times more potent. Some experts say it is up to ten times stronger. DHT is a hormone that isn’t really talked about much but the affects of balancing this hormone can be very rewarding as you can see. Some of the benefits of DHT are improved sexual function, promotes heart health, increase in strength and improved central nervous system function. so now you know the benefits of DHT so how do you naturally increase it? get lean, testosterone converts into DHT so raise your testosterone and raise your DHT, black coffee has been shown to raise DHT, sprinting, lift heavy weights, those are just a few to mention.

summary

So there are five hormones that can affect our manhood. Of course all of these hormones can have negative affects if they are unnaturally raise too high. The key here is balance, most of these hormones actually rely on each other to stay perfectly balanced. The imbalance of just one of these hormones can cause havoc to our mind and body. The good news is that we can naturally control each of these hormones with some simple lifestyle changes like by eating a balanced meal, shedding some body fat, lifting weight, getting enough sleep. When everything is balance you will be living life with confidence clarity and vigor.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade