Oestrogen and testosterone
With the male weight trainer it’s all about testosterone. Testosterone increases lean muscle tissue through many pathways, the more we have the more likely we are to pack on slabs of muscle. This is why so many guys get big quick, a combination of raging hormones levels and good fast twitch fibre genetics enable some rapid growth, especially at a young age. This is one of the reasons getting in the gym in your pubescent years can be so effective, the stage is set in the perfect way for rapid growth.
But with all the hype looking at testosterone we are ignoring the role of oestrogen. Testosterone is only part of the equation, what if your oestrogen is high, will taking testosterone boosting supplements likely resolve the problem? Unlikely seeing as your levels of oestrogens will remain high, so when testosterone dips down slightly we are still left with the same problem. Boosting testosterone will not reduce oestrogen, just temporarily improve the ratio. So instead of grabbing the next and best testosterone boosting supplement why not think about reducing your oestrogen load and as a result improve the ratio of testosterone to oestrogen. This will indirectly make testosterone higher, producing a longer term benefit rather than a shorter term one.
Most of the body’s hormones work in tandem. Oestrogen and cortisol both work in tandem with testosterone, reduce the levels of free flowing oestrogen and cortisol and you will inadvertently increase your levels of free flowing testosterone. Win win situation.
So how do we reduce our oestrogen levels? Well there are some clever supplement s that we can look to take, but we must first make sure there is minimal oestrogen coming in to the body through the diet, otherwise there is no point in taking the supplement in the first place. Firstly you need to reduce or eliminate your consumption of fluids and foods that are stored and heated up in plastics. Plastics leech xeno-estrogens in to the foods and fluids and thus create free flowing oestrogen in the body. Be sure of where your meat is coming from, choose free range meat where possible. Reduce your application and overall usage of manmade beauty products that have a high level of chemical content, choose the most natural products available.
Only now can we look to supplement and clear out excess oestrogen in the diet. For this purpose I would recommend using this cheap and cost effective product “Estrodex” by SAN Nutrition. It has some great and proven ingredients to help clear unwanted oestrogen by products out of the body:
So combine your oestrogen lowering lifestyle habits with an oestrogen clearing supplement and you are on the fast track to increasing your testosterone levels. Only then can you look to supplement with testosterone enhancing supplements if you need to.