Hormone Imbalance in Men:

How to Restore Healthy Testosterone Levels

Hormone imbalance in men is one of the most common health problems faced by
men today, yet it is often not diagnosed or is simply an undiagnosed side effect of
some other health condition.

This article is a short pillar post that will introduce you to the basics of what it
takes to stay healthy as a man in modern times and how to maintain hormonal
balance. For more detailed information on different concepts and therapies,
checkout our other articles using the main navigation bar at the top of this page.

While most men unfortunately end up on our website after they have already
contracted some issues with their health such as hormonal imbalances and low
testosterone, a lot of the guidelines in this article also serve as preventatives.

Follow the guide and keep track of your body and you are guaranteed to
improve your health and hormones, it’s that simple.

We will touch lightly on many concepts in this post, but more in-depth
information on them you can find in the rest of our article database.

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Contents
The 5 Pillars of Health ............................................................................................ 4
What About Exercise?! .......................................................................................... 5
Adequate Nutrition ................................................................................................ 7
Veganism & Vegetarian ......................................................................................... 9
Low Carb Diets ..................................................................................................... 12
The Ketogenic Diet ............................................................................................... 12
Sugar & High Carb Diets ....................................................................................... 13
High Protein Diets ................................................................................................ 14
High Fat Diets....................................................................................................... 15
Salt ....................................................................................................................... 16
Tracking Progress and Avoiding Excess ................................................................ 17
The Simple Recipe for Nutritional Success ........................................................... 19
Adequate Sleep .................................................................................................... 20
Adequate Sun / Light Exposure ............................................................................ 22
A Balanced Circadian Rhythm .............................................................................. 25
Minimizing Excess Mental, Physical & Environmental Stress ............................... 28
Balancing Hormones ............................................................................................ 32
What Hormones Should You Test for? ................................................................. 34
General Guidelines for Solving Hormonal Imbalances in Men ............................. 36
Summary ............................................................................................................. 38
Recommended Tools ........................................................................................... 38

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The 5 Pillars of Health
So, how do we define being
healthy? As you might already
be aware, here at Anabolic
Health we specialize in fixing
hormonal imbalances. There
are many ways guys can end
up with these types of health
problems but there is also a
very easy roadmap to how you
can AVOID these problems as
well. We call them The 5
Pillars of Health:

▪ Adequate Nutrition
▪ Adequate Sleep
▪ Adequate Sun / Light
Exposure
▪ A Balanced Circadian
Rhythm
▪ Minimizing Excess Mental,
Physical & Environmental
Stress

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What About Exercise?!
You might be surprised to not find exercise on our list and that’s because if you
live a normal active lifestyle, you should naturally be getting the minimum
amount you need to remain in good health. It is a complete overexaggeration
that you would NEED exercise to stay healthy, this is not the case.

There are plenty of populations around the world that do not exercise at all for
the sake of exercising and still remain healthy with great longevity. Yes, it is true,
that this won’t build you that amazing muscular physique and you won’t reap
those extra benefits that can be had from resistance training, but it sure as hell
won’t kill you either!

Live an active lifestyle, move around, do stuff and use your body, but you don’t
need to spend your time on a treadmill wasting breath unless you really want to.
Do any other creatures on this planet exercise? No, an active lifestyle is enough.

Now on the other hand, if you spend 9 hours a day sedentary, indoors, in
front of a computer screen, then yes your list would be different from the
above and DEFINITELY include that extra exercise.

What is even more damaging than a complete lack of physical activity is EXCESS
physical activity, and we categorize this as Excess Stress which is one of the
Pillars.

Some stress is good to keep the body strong, but excess stress without adequate
means for recovery (such as sleep and nutrition) will deteriorate the body
overtime and cause rapid aging.

Aging is basically the chronic stressors of life subjected over time, adding up and
deteriorating your body more and more. Whatever we can do to limit these
stressors is the basis for promoting good health and longevity.

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This is why chronic overtraining is so important to avoid. In fact, resistance
training for only 10-20 minutes once a week is enough to get an hormonal
effect, build muscle & strength and this has been scientifically verified in many
studies. We usually recommend the Body by Science protocol for most guys, it’s
enough.

Remember that a great physique or high performance as found in elite athletes

are not necessarily markers of good health.

It is a well established fact that especially prolonged endurance type training

causes chronic stress in the body, and many lifelong endurance athletes die from
heart complications from this type of overtraining.

But honestly guys, do you see any other animal on this planet trying to run ultra
marathons just for the sake of running? Let’s carry on...

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Adequate Nutrition
While we have already written a pretty epic article on nutrition for men, let’s
touch on some main points to think about in terms of diets, and for more specific
information (such as foods etc) check out that article instead.

Nutrition is really not that complicated:

Make sure you get all the building blocks you need (i.e vitamin, minerals and
other micronutrients) along with enough energy (calories) according to what
your body needs and you're all covered.

There is however, a lot of talk about dietary macros in the world of nutrition. High
Carb? Low Carb? High Fat? Low Fat? Too much protein?

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My personal experiments here at Anabolic Health as involved everything from
veganism to the ketogenic diet, zero carb / meat only diets and high sugar diets.

My conclusions from these experiments?

Macros matter, but for different people, and they can also be hacked according
to different needs.

One interesting thing is that during most of my different macro's experiments

testosterone levels did not change much. It seems to me that testosterone levels
are more correlated to what specific things you are eating and not eating, rather
than different macro ratios.

My testosterone levels remained the same on a balanced diet, the ketogenic diet
as well as a meat only diet for example. What often changed though was the
levels of other hormones such as estradiol as well as the obvious, cholesterol
levels.

The exception to this was a low fat vegan diet consisting of minimum sugar,
plenty of vegetables, legumes and whole grains. This diet totally destroyed
hormonal balance and lowered testosterone for me.

While some people might still do well on this type of diet (women do better than
men), I am skeptical to it and hear from plenty of guys that most eventually get
reproductive problems when going low fat vegan.

To sum it all up, here's our take on diets:

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Veganism & Vegetarian
While vegetarian diets can work as long as they include dairy and/or eggs,
veganism is a way too unnatural and nutritionally incomplete way of eating (try
logging an easy nutritionary complete vegan diet in Cronometer I dare you).

Historically, there are no vegan populations on earth (for good reason) up until
modern times. So there are no long term studies done on them and the health
effects of a vegan diet.

There is however plenty of traditional populations who has lived only from
animal foods (meat, dairy etc) without problems.

Also, the problem concerning Vitamin B12 is a major one since the nutrient is not
easily accessible in a vegan diet without supplementation. Vitamin B12 is an
essential nutrient for humans and this should be enough alone to suggest that
veganism is not an optimal diet for humans. Here’s directly from the study
mentioned:

"The main finding of this review is that vegetarians develop B12 depletion
or deficiency regardless of demographic characteristics, place of
residency, age, or type of vegetarian diet. Vegetarians should thus take
preventive measures to ensure adequate intake of this vitamin, including
regular consumption of supplements containing B12."

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Not to mention that without modern agriculture (grains etc), vegan diets would
be impossible without living in a tropical climate where fruit is available year
around.

For example in northern Europe or Canada, only animal foods would be available
half the year during winter time.

Thinking rationally about it this way makes it pretty easy to understand why
veganism is not a natural diet for humans. Grains are also not recommended to
be consumed as they come with many nutritional problems of their own.

The same applies for many types of vegetables that can be problematic for some
people, tomatoes being a possible allergen since it belongs to the nightshade
family of plants. Another example is cruciferous vegetables that can possibly
inhibit thyroid function too much if you're already hypothyroid.

Then there is also the case with lectins in almost all plant foods that can be

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inflammatory for some people. Sticking to foods such as dairy and fruit is easier
since both of them has been created with the intention of being eaten in the
first place.

All in all, we NEVER recommend a vegan or vegetarian diet and be careful about
what vegetables you choose to eat. Concerning plant foods the best is always to
start small and reintroduce them one by one sicne you're then more accurately
able to judge how they make you feel.

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Low Carb Diets
Low carb diets can be effective for some people to lose weight because they tend
to lower cravings and help balance blood sugar ups and downs. The inherit
problem with them though is that they tend to decrease metabolism in the long
run as well as possibly impair thyroid function. All in all, optimal carbohydrate
intake is very individual.

The Ketogenic Diet

The Ketogenic Diet (aka keto) is similar to low carb diets but just more restrictive
in carbohydrate intake (below 50g per day in order to produce ketones).

The diet can help boost performance because the nature of ketones as a fuel, the
problem is they are extremely restrictive and difficult to adhere to in the long run.

Going keto is possibly good for fixing some medical issues especially related to
sugar metabolism and has been shown to increase testosterone and improve
body composition.

However, keep in mind that going in and out of ketosis is a stressful process for
the body which will skyrocket levels of adrenaline and the stress hormone
cortisol for period of time.

Not to mention that balancing fluid and mineral levels such as

sodium/potassium/magnesium is very difficult during keto. All in all, we only
recommend Ketogenic diets as a short term therapy for specific problems, not
the end all be all as some people like to make it.

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Sugar & High Carb Diets
The most loved and hated nutrient of all, sugar, is currently being falsely
demonized, probably more than it deserves.

Carbohydrates are a very good source of energy for performance and here at
Anabolic Health we are very much pro sugar, especially fructose found in fruit
and honey.

What sugar has that other macronutrients lack is an ability to

counteract the stress response, lower cortisol and act as an highly
effective fuel that boosts metabolism.

Both fruit and honey also contain a ton of micronutrients that are necessary for
our health so they are both good main sources of carbohydrate.

Starch however, can be very fattening though it’s the optimal carb source for
building muscle because it's stronger effect on insulin. A stronger insulin
response helps shuttle more nutrients into muscle, but keep in mind it also helps
shuttle more into fat storage as well.

We suggest limiting starch to only post workouts (when glycogen stores are
already low to minimize fat storage) and only in the form of white rice and
potatoes since most cereal grains come with anti-nutrients you do not want to
consume regularly.

All in all, if you’re obese it might be easy to overeat on carbohydrates, but there is
nothing interstitially evil about them as the low carb community would suggest.

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High Protein Diets
While protein in excess won't hurt you, some people might struggle with digesting
it when consumed in the form of large amounts of muscle meat.

There is also the case that only consuming muscle meat will give you a very
unbalanced amino acid profile that can possibly be inflammatory (lack of
glycine).

The solution?

Consume a varied assortment of animal foods that includes gelatin, dairy, eggs
and fish in addition to muscle meat. Ideally also consume the whole animal as
done traditionally (organs such as liver is an amazing superfood for men).

At least 100g protein per day is a good number for most people to shoot for and
1g per pound of body weight is probably around the upper limit where more
protein does not really increase muscle growth or improve body composition any
further (but it does not hurt it either).

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High Fat Diets
Maybe the second most demonized nutrient after sugar; fat and cholesterol is
getting a lot of hate in media in the last decades.

However, times are changing and it has now been proven that there is nothing
unhealthy or wrong about consuming lots of fat in your diet, it’s actually the
building block of most of our hormones after all, and crucial for testosterone
production.

What you want to stay away from however, is polyunsaturated fats such as
derived from vegetable oils which easily go rancid and are inflammatory in the
body.

After all, it makes sense that these are not intended to be eaten by humans, how
would you possibly go about it without mass industry?

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Salt
Many people have heard that too much salt is harmful, but did you know too
little is even more harmful?

In fact there is little to point towards that excess salt consumption would be
damaging in any way. Salt is important for stress reduction by reducing
adrenaline and maintaining a strong stress response. The effect can easily be
seen in a state of dehydration where salt levels run low and adrenaline run high.

Salt loading in such huge amounts as up to 30g per day is common among elite
endurance athlete running marathons and that's for a good reason, it maintains
healthy cardiac function during chronic stress. However, this is far more than
what is needed by normal people on a daily basis.

While going into all the details and research concerning salt would require an
article of its own, we highly recommend you research yourself on the
misconceptions about salt consumption and make up your own mind.

Our take is that salt is therapeutic and if you find yourself craving
salt then its likely for good reason and should be consumed until
satisfied.

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Tracking Progress and Avoiding Excess
Remember adequate nutrition does not mean excess nutrition. If you are fat or
obese, then you’re either eating the wrong things, or too much of everything.

While we are not proponents of cutting calories too much for weight loss
(because it essentially lowers metabolism and thyroid function which is the
opposite of what you want), you might want to run a smaller deficit and focus on
better food choices to lose that excess weight over a period of time.

If you’re lazy but still want to see results, we highly recommend Avatar Nutrition
which is basically a personal nutrition coaching app. It uses AI and the data you
enter to figure out your metabolic rate and how much or how little you need to
eat to easily gain muscle and lose weight with the least amount of work possible.
This is what is also known as Flexible dieting.

Together with Avatar, we recommend using Cronometer and logging everything

you eat for a week or two to figure out exactly how much calories you’re getting

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and what nutrients you’re lacking. This can really be a learning experience that
can change the way you look at your diet for the rest of your life.

It is possible to be obese but malnourished, such as for example if you would

consume 75% of your daily calories from white rice (madness by the way).

Always aim for consuming the most nutritious foods that you also enjoy.
Micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals are very important and it’s critical
you get everything your body needs from the foods you consume or problems will
eventually manifest.

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The Simple Recipe for Nutritional Success
So what can we conclude from previously discussed?

▪ Aim for at least 100g protein from various animal sources per day
▪ Consume plenty of healthy saturated fats in your diet (animal foods, coconut
etc)
▪ Consume sugar & carbohydrates according to your energy needs (especially in
the form of fruit and honey)
▪ Be careful about what plant foods you choose to eat (lectins, allergens, anti-
nutrients etc)
▪ Make sure you get all the micronutrients you need (for example vitamin D,
zinc, selenium, magnesium and more)
Consume salt according to taste

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Adequate Sleep
That sleep is important is common sense, but still it tends to come in pretty far
down on peoples priority lists.

Mostly because in this day and age for example, people are always so busy with
work and pursuing careers that little time is left for enjoyment and relaxation, let
alone sleep.

The endocrine system is particularly active during the nighttime sleep cycles since
this is the time when for example much of a man’s testosterone is produced
(another reason why morning erections and sex drive are particularly strong in
the morning hours compared to the rest of the day).

Just getting 8 hours of sleep in comparison to 4 hours can make a huge 60%
difference in testosterone levels, so every extra hour of rest is important and
should be prioritized.

Another reason for the lack of sleep in the modern age is that there are now so
many possible disruptors of sleep that we are all victims of them to some degree.

What I am mainly talking about here is blue light emitted from electronics such
as TVs and computer/cellphone screens. Ironically these devices tend to be a
favorite evening pastime for the majority of people even though they are
particularly ill-suited at such a time.

Blue light is actually stressful for the body and inhibits the circadian rhythm,
basically dysregulating your body instead of properly preparing it for rest.

You can use electronics before bedtime but only if you invest in a pair of blue light
blocking glasses which essentially filters out much of the blue light. We highly
recommend them since they are much easier to adhere to than the zero
electronics before bedtime rule.

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This also applies to stuff such office fluorescence lighting which is basically all blue
light. Spending 9 hours a day in such an environment is a recipe for disaster, but
more on that later.

Overall, here are some general pointers for a good nights sleep:

▪ Make sure you limit blue light in the evenings (use blue light blockers or no
electronics 2 hours before bedtime is very effective for improving sleep)
▪ Make sure your bedroom is dark and well ventilated (a cooler room
temperature in your bedroom helps improve sleep quality, think hibernation)
▪ Limit caffeine or other stimulants at least 6 hours before bedtime
▪ A sugary snack before bed can also help lower stress hormones, induce
relaxation and prevents hypoglycemia during sleep by replenishing liver
glycogen (we recommend 1-2 tbsp of honey)

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Adequate Sun / Light Exposure
Guess what the most undiagnosed health condition of the 21st century is?

LIGHT DEFICIENCY. Yes, that’s right, but sunlight is free and available everywhere
right so should be easy to fix? Still for the majority of people its not.

Real broad spectrum light as emitted from the sun is essential for
health, especially for your stress response and metabolism.

When we talk about metabolism together with stress the workings are simple, in
order for the body to withstand the stressful situations that it is subjected to, a
high degree of energy production (metabolism) is crucial.

The thyroid is the primary driver of energy production, as well as also the stress
hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline that can temporary deliver emergency
energy (a stress response) with the trade-off of causing damage if
prolonged/chronic.

Obviously, the ideal is to have high thyroid energy production (high metabolism)
and limit the stress response.

During chronic stress, metabolism and body temperature output is reduced,

signaling an emergency energy conserving state which most often involves just
powering on further with the help of stress hormones.

Hence, anything that increases metabolism and thyroid function can be seen as
beneficial and anything that decreases metabolism can be seen as similar to a
chronic stress response (since it makes you less adaptable).

Light deprivation causes a progesterone deficiency, which goes on to influence

overall hormonal balance and eventually will lead you towards a state of estrogen

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dominance (the worst possible state for a man).

This involves high levels of stress hormones as well as high levels of estrogen and
prolactin, a sure recipe for everything from sexual dysfunction to chronic fatigue
and persistent weight gain.

This issue is mainly caused by dysregulated melatonin production. Melatonin is

commonly know as the sleep hormone.

Contrary to popular opinion, melatonin is not a beneficial hormone outside it’s

context of a normal sleep cycle. It inhibits progesterone and thyroid function,
which essentially lowers metabolism as well as body temperature, the same as a
chronic stressor would also do.

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All in all, you want to make sure you get at least 1 hour of direct sunlight per
day (as long as it doesn't burn you).

If this is a problem then make sure you invest in a bright light device which can
serve as a decent replacement occasionally when sun light is not available (such
as during the winter if you’re not in a tropical climate).

Also whatever you do, do not supplement with melatonin unless its just
temporary to fix a jet lag, it might cause more harm to your metabolism than it is
improving your sleep!

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A Balanced Circadian Rhythm
Like we just mentioned, a balance between light and dark, stress and rest, is
essential for health and hormonal balance.

Hormones work in a pulsating fashion in the body, increasing and decreasing

during different times of the day as well as according to needs.

Working late evenings, long into the night can for example keep levels of cortisol
running high at times when the rest of the endocrine system would except time
for recovery. It will offset and mess up the entire 24 hour balance.

It’s easy to understand these things from a rational perspective too. Humans are
creatures evolved from the delicate ecosystem that is planet earth. It is only in
the last couple of centuries that technology has come to rise and be able to
disrupt much of the natural balance.

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Our bodies have not evolved to require any less light or dark than we did 10 000
years ago, yet we get much less then we used to.

If let’s say electricity was never invented, then people’s circadian rhythms would
be much different than they are today as the darkness of night is self limiting.

Nobody would stay up when it’s pitch black outside and the limited mobility of
fire just makes it a major pain in the ass (imagine clubbing indoors with a giant
barn fire in the middle just to keep the party going…)

Some people like to say that they are night owls, while others are more
effective in the morning hours. But if you feel like a night owl we got
new’s for you, your circadian rhythm is essentially fucked...

Levels of cortisol should be the highest in the early morning (to get you out of
bed) and level off the further you get into the day. Towards bedtime cortisol
levels should be at their lowest levels. This is the natural pattern of a healthy
circadian rhythm.

What happens in the case of night owl’s is that the pattern is disregulated since
the body is experiencing great difficulty separating night from day (often from
excess blue light and not enough sun light for example).

This most often has the effect of making you excessive lazy and tired in the early
mornings only to have most of your energy and productivity return to you
towards the late afternoon and evening.

At it’s worst the night owl phenomenon will cause you problems with insomnia
and testosterone secretion. It’s also easy to tell how well adjusted your rhythm is
by the quality of your morning wood.

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While there are supplements such as cortisol lowering herbs that can be
beneficial in helping to nudge the body's hormonal secretion pattern in the right
direction, it is just a band-aid and does not fix the root cause of the problem.

You basically need to address this issue at the core by sticking to a better
sleeping schedule and limit disruptive elements.

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Minimizing Excess Mental, Physical &
Environmental Stress
It is estimated that 60-80% of all doctors visits are stress related which goes to
show what a massive component this is in terms of it’s effects on our health.

Nobody are untouched by stress, it is a natural part of life. But what amount is
really normal?

Most people need some element of stress to keep them going, there are both
good stressors as well as bad ones.

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Many would agree that the more though challenges you put yourself through, the
stronger you become. This applies both mentally as well as physically.

For example, the heavier the weights you lift the stronger you will eventually
grow. The more public speaking you do the less nervous about it you become.
These can all be seen as good stressors since they are often not chronic and fuel
your personal development.

On a biological level, physical stress and mental stress has similar effects even
though through our eyes they can appear very different.

They both affect the fight or flight stress response (nervous system;
parasympathetic and sympathetic) in similar ways, increasing levels of stress
hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.

We already mentioned that chronic overtraining is damaging and defeats the

purpose of exercise in the first place. But the situation is the same with mental
stressors that can trigger chronic stress, such as a breakup, divorce, death of a
loved one, or getting fired.

Being repeatedly injured on a daily basis or stuck in a life situation that you hate is
also a chronic stressor that will eventually induce a state of learned helplessness.
It is also at this stage when depression usually starts to set in.

It is not by accident that caffeine and nicotine are some of the most
consumed drugs on this planet. Not only are they stimulants but they
are also agents that can help reverse learned helplessness and promote
stress adaption. Yes, stimulants that also help stress, crazy right? Let me
explain...

Many people have experienced something similar to a stress response or

overstimulation from caffeine or nicotine use. It's usually only experienced when

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your body is not conditioned to their effects (tolerance). Both caffeine and
nicotine can increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body.

Since the body is an amazingly effective system that's always striving for balance,
it adapts to the effects from caffeine and nicotine and over time causes down
regulation and faster recovery from them.

Basically, they make you more adaptable and resistant to the stress response, as
well as cause you to recover faster and essentially reverses learned helplessness.

This is the reason why many find smoking helps for stress reduction and clearly it
goes much deeper than just feeding an addiction. Of course as most are aware,
both caffeine and nicotine when consumed in excess can still turn into problems
of their own.

So, what can be done about stress?

It is common to hear about elite athletes who drive themselves to the brink of
destruction in the name of some sport, just to die of an heart attack.

It is not news either about the guy who worked himself to death doing crazy
hours of overtime for years on end. All stress builds up overtime and there is no
other way to get away from it then by changing your lifestyle and environment.

We already mentioned caffeine and nicotine as maybe somewhat controversial

(but still effective) agents for stress adaptation.

There are also a ton of other stuff that can be done such as consume adaptogens
(examples: ginseng, rhodiola, maral root), meditate, tai chi, reading etc to help
reduce stress.

Also, do not forget to limit physical environmental stressors, they can come in
many shapes and forms such as toxic chemicals in our drinking water,
phytoestrogens (testosterone reducing) foods such as soy, blue light and more.
These are often easier to control than mental stressors though.

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Our core principle for effective stress reduction that lasts is LIVE AN ENJOYABLE
LIFE.

If you currently aren’t getting what you want from life then man up and do
something about it. Life owes you nothing and will give you nothing unless you
get off that lazy ass and go after what you want.

Does your girlfriend make your life miserable? Dump her.

Hate your job? Quit.

Financial issues? Stop wasting money and figure out how you can earn and save
more instead.

While everything might not be possible to address straight away,

you should strive to live a proactive life working towards the goals
you have set for yourself. Eventually you will reach those goals and
likely surpass your own expectations of them.

Always aim to be the best you can be and don’t settle for anything
less. After all, is this not what is to be a man?

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Balancing Hormones
While our 5 Pillars of Health in this post teaches you the basics for how to live a
healthy lifestyle, balancing hormones when you already have a problem is an
entirely different ballgame.

If you follow the basics it is likely that with time, you will reverse and balance
your hormones naturally just by correcting your general lifestyle.

But sometimes it can be good to give the body an extra helping hand, especially if
you’re already experiencing hormonal issues such as low testosterone.

Also, if you want to increase performance beyond baseline, then monitoring and
tweaking hormones is crucial. This is what we focus on here at Anabolic Health.

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Remember that we always strive for hormonal balance and not hormonal
excess. "The more testosterone the better” is not a working paradigm!

Testosterone for example, aromatize into estrogen and too much testosterone
(such as from anabolic steroid use) will cause excess estrogen levels and this is
how problems such as gyno (man boobs) develop.

We want as high normal levels of testosterone as possible without upsetting the

overall balance, this is key.

Next up are some short pointers on what to test for when getting hormone labs
done:

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What Hormones Should You Test for?
Test for the following according to needs:

▪ Total Testosterone
▪ SHBG (Sex hormone-binding globulin, will be used together with total
testosterone to calculate bioactive free testosterone)
▪ Estrogen (most often E2 (estradiol) is what is tested but there is reason to
rather test for estrone (E1) if possible, since it seems to be an overall more
accurate marker of systemic levels of estrogen. Ideally test for both.)
▪ Prolactin (key for gyno and sexual problems, prolactin also helps paint a
picture of how much of a estrogenic state your body is in)
▪ Progesterone (a much forgotten hormone for men which is crucial for
balancing estrogen and the stress response, probably one of the most
important hormones in the body)
Pregnenolone (the master building block of all hormones and preferably the
one men want to supplement with, not commonly tested for but if possible it
is good to test this one)
DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone, the building block of testosterone and
estrogen, if deficient then a DHEA supplement can help bring up levels of
testosterone. Don’t consume in excess (ideally 5mg per dose only) because of
potential estrogen aromatization)
▪ DHT (Dihydrotestosterone, the most potent male androgen responsible for
sexual function and mood, if you have ED issues or low libido this one is
especially important)
▪ FSH (Follicle-stimulating hormone, important for fertility)
▪ LH (Luteinizing hormone, stimulates the production of testosterone in the
testicles, good marker for testicular function)
▪ Cortisol (stress hormone, if excess stress is a problem then testing this as a
saliva test morning, midday and evening can be helpful, good marker for
circadian rhythm)
▪ IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor 1, a growth hormone, something you want
enough of but not too much. Important for injury recovery and muscle growth
but excess is bad for longevity)

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In addition to the above, it is also important to get a thyroid hormone panel
since the thyroid is responsible for metabolism and affects all other hormones
as well. In fact increasing thyroid function often increases testosterone.

Test for the following:

▪ TSH (Thyroid-stimulating hormone)

▪ Free T3 (Triiodothyronine)
▪ Free T4 (Thyroxine)

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General Guidelines for Solving Hormonal
Imbalances in Men
The following are our general guidelines if you are suffering from low
testosterone, sexual dysfunction, chronic fatigue and overall feel less manly than
you should:

1. Test free testosterone (calculate with Total T & SHBG) and DHT, they are
the most important markers, aim to get these into normal ranges.
2. Testicular function can be assessed by testing LH and FSH, especially
together with a HCG injection before running labs. Unless these come back
very low to non existent after HCG, then you only have secondary
hypogonadism and are not a suitable candidate for TRT (look into natural
means, there's still hope for your balls!).
3. Aim for high metabolism and thyroid function, this can be best assessed by
checking morning temperature and pulse, the ideal is close to 98.6f, 75-
85bpm. Anything below is sluggish metabolism which will affect your overall
hormonal balance.
4. Check for estrogen dominance, too much estrogen and/or prolactin (if
present, correcting this can often solve low testosterone problems)
5. Low progesterone can often be a problem as well if you’re estrogen
dominant or under chronic stress (consider supplementing with
pregnenolone or progesterone)
6. Low levels of SHBG can often indicate some other health condition such as
diabetes, consider investigating further if this is the case.
7. If DHEA is low, supplement in small amounts (5mg per dose) until within
normal range for your age and/or symptoms resolve. Low dosage will make
sure it converts mostly into DHT and not estrogen. Can also be combined
with a small dose of progesterone/pregnenolone to further prevent estrogen
conversion.
8. If you suffer from hair loss, gyno or prostate problems, it is likely excess
estrogen related and not DHT contrary to what the mainstream might say
(i.e. anti-DHT propaganda).

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9. For frequent insomnia sufferers and other sleep problems, make sure to
test cortisol to get an accurate view of your circadian rhythm. You want a
curve that goes up in the morning and gets lower and lower towards
bedtime.
10. Periodically checking IGF-1 levels can be good for anti-aging purposes.

While the above pointers serve as general principles to follow, the subject of
hormones are often more complicated than that.

These guidelines should be used to help suggest a direction of treatment for you,
but make sure you research your issues more in detail as well as also consult with
your doctor.

We have many more articles on these subjects here on our blog, use the
navigation bar at the top of the page to explore all our different topics.

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Summary
▪ Aim to get at least 100g protein from various food sources per day
▪ Consume plenty of healthy saturated fats in your diet (animal foods, coconut
etc)
▪ Consume sugar and carbohydrates according to your energy needs (especially
in the form of fruit and honey)
▪ Be careful about what plant foods you choose to eat (lectins, allergens, anti-
nutrients etc can all contribute to inflammation)
▪ Make sure you get all the daily micro-nutrients you need (for example
vitamin D, zinc, selenium, magnesium and more)
▪ Consume salt according to taste
▪ Try to get 8 hours of sleep per night (limit blue light and stimulants in
evenings, pre-bed snack can help)
▪ Get 1 hour of direct sunlight per day (or use a bright light device)
▪ Minimize excess mental, physical and environmental stress (supplements,
avoid environmental toxins, meditation, sex, enjoy life!)
▪

Recommended Tools
▪ Bright Light Device (when adequate sun light is not possible)
▪ Blue Light Blocking Glasses (helps regulate sleep cycles)
▪ Body by Science (minimalist routine for building muscle)
▪ Avatar Nutrition (personal diet coaching app for improving body composition)
▪ Cronometer (food logging app to track micro-nutrients)
▪ Recommended Lab Testing Service (for monitoring hormone levels if issues
arise)

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