Does Intermittent Fasting Raise Testosterone Levels and Boost Sex Drive?
Checkout this scientifically based research blog to know the Intermittent Fasting results…
Testosterone or the male hormone is a direct controller or many human activities. It not only affects your daily performance but also controls your sexual fantasies.
Yes! You heard that right, testosterone has direct control over your sexual desire!
Thus, one of the major reasons why men wish to elevate their testosterone levels if for boosting their sexual desire and libido.
There are many different ways with which one can boost his testosterone levels. But if you are not a fan of therapies and chemical supplements, then the following blog is just what you need.
In the following sections, we will be discussing a popular method of boosting testosterone – Intermittent Fasting.
But before we do that, let us grab the attention of our readers who feel that they don’t need to boost their testosterone levels!
Well! Hello people! You must be thinking that your sex drive is doing fine and thus you don’t need this T-boosting technique.
But, testosterone is not limited to only this aspect!
Let us help you understand the importance of maintaining testosterone levels before we tell you about Intermittent Fasting.
Importance of Boosting Testosterone
Testosterone is a key hormone for your sexual as well as athletic performance.
All that youthful energy you have is because of your high testosterone levels.
But with age, the testosterone levels start declining, and this results in a drastic effect on your activities.
To understand its importance, you first need to understand, what testosterone is.
What is Testosterone?
Testosterone is an androgen that has a primary effect on male sexual characters as well as masculinity.
The hormone is mainly produced in testes and has the following roles:
- Development of testes
- Growing muscle size
- Strengthens bones
- Maintains a sex drive
- Promotes sperm production
- Enhances mood
Now, what if your testosterone levels start falling?
Let us find out!
Effects of Declining Testosterone
Declining testosterone has many effects on your body. But these can be reversed by using different methods.
In case you don’t take steps to prevent this declining testosterone, your body might face:
- Low sex drive
- Less semen volume
- Hair loss
- Fatigue
- Lower blood counts
Since now you have an idea about how bad it could be to let your testosterone levels fall.
Let us show you one of the best ways to get hold of it.
Intermittent Fasting For Boosting Testosterone and Sex Drive
Intermittent fasting has been gaining huge popularity these days.
This method where you are required to restrict yourself from eating anything for a certain period is quite useful for losing excess weight.
It has also been found useful in the overall healthy development of your body.
But the recent trend of Intermittent fasting for boosting testosterone has been going crazy!
You must be wondering how can a change in eating habits control your sex drive?
Well, let us find out what is intermittent fasting all about, what can be its results and how does it affect your testosterone and sex drive.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
The regular habit of filling our stomachs three times a day, or sometimes more than that has been not getting us great benefits.
Research says that a body works better when not filled the whole day. So if you want your body to get some health benefits, its time to change your food habits!
Moreover, this change will also curb the problems of overeating.
Intermittent Fasting is a diet plan where people restrict themselves from eating anything for certain hours.
You will be astonished to know that at some places, intermittent fasting is a normal eating habit.
However, if you are new to an intermittent fasting plan, it is usually a diet plan where you are not supposed to eat for 12-48 hours!
In between these fasting cycles, you can have whatever you want to eat!
But wait for a second, will you indulge in some sweet savories after the fasting?
No right! Who would want the fasting to fail?
One of the most famous fasting cycles is the 16/8 cycle. In this cycle, you fast for 16 hours and the next 8 hours is a party time (kidding)
In the next 8 hours, you can have whatever food you wish to add to your plate.
But make sure you don’t indulge in any solid food or food with extra calories! You can try going ahead with tea or coffee!
Now, as you have a basic idea of intermittent fasting,
Let us move further with the intermittent fasting for testosterone and sex drive.
Is Intermittent Fasting Effective For Testosterone and Sex Drive?
Intermittent fasting and exercises go hand in hand to yield weight-loss results.
But is it effective in boosting testosterone?
Well, the answer can only be given after analyzing different researches that show that intermittent fasting has a role in boosting testosterone.
Many types of research were conducted and we took out some date to help you understand what is the relationship between intermittent fasting and testosterone. One such research was done on rats that proved that testosterone levels were rising while undergoing intermittent fasting.
But can we trust these for humans too?
Another research suggested that the elevation in testosterone levels is seen during intermittent fasting but that lasts only for a short period.
Thus, we can see that different researches are pointing towards different results.
We surely need some more studies to validate the usefulness of intermittent fasting in testosterone boosting.
But according to different reviews where people were constantly keeping a check on their T-levels. It does work!
So what could be the reason behind this? Let us find out.
How Can Intermittent Fasting Improve Testosterone Levels?
There can be many reasons by which intermittent fasting can enhance your testosterone levels along with your sex drive.
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Intermittent fasting can have an impact on Luteinizing Hormone
LH is a precursor to testosterone. If your body promotes more luteinizing hormone, your testosterone levels automatically shoot up.
A study that was done on short term results of intermittent fasting suggests that the Luteinizing hormone showed a significant increase during intermittent fasting.
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It affects insulin sensitivity
Early morning, our body tends to start burning fat for energy. For this process, our body reduces the insulin level while elevating the growth hormone and cortisol.
But, if you indulge in early morning breakfast, your insulin level shoots up resulting in chronic overeating.
Thus, intermittent fasting, where you can skip breakfast helps you prevent the rise of insulin resulting in a boost in energy levels.
This in turn will enhance your sexual ability.
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Boosts testosterone levels by eliminating excess fat
There is an inversely proportional relation between fat and testosterone. People having more fat layers in their bodies tend to have lower testosterone.
Thus, while intermittent fasting, you help the body burns excess fat resulting in higher testosterone levels.
The best way to do so will be skipping your breakfast!
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Enhances your growth hormone levels
There is a strong relationship between testosterone and the growth hormone. Both these hormones have a similar action on your body.
Both of them are androgens and have the following actions on your body:
- Produce muscle mass
- Enhances libido
- Boost male health or sexual health
When you follow intermittent fasting, the production of cortisol and growth hormone rises to give your body extra growth hormones.
This results in the production of more testosterone.
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Reduces the levels of leptin in your body
In case you don’t know what leptin is, let us help you with that. Leptin is a hormone that is produced by fat cells.
This hormone inhibits your hunger and regulates energy levels.
Well, you must be pondering about the goodness of this hormone. Afterall its asking you not to eat!
But hold on, the high levels of leptin can make you overweight! It acts as an alarm clock.
When you overeat, you snooze of this Leptin hormone and it stays quiet for a while, making you ignore the messages from the brain.
Thus, the reduction in levels of leptin will help you prevent yourself from overeating.
And as you already know about the inverse relationship between fat layers and testosterone, you already know how your testosterone levels will shoot up after a reduction in leptin.
So, this was all about the testosterone boosting abilities that the intermittent fasting has stored for us.
But is that all?
Certainly not!
You still need to go a long way to go!
The following sections have a lot more in store for you!
Don’t you want to know what other benefits can this intermittent fasting offers?
Other Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
There are many benefits which you will probably enjoy during intermittent fasting:
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Boost in Adiponectin
- Now, what’s that? Well, Adiponectin is a hormone that boosts your body’s insulin sensitivity.
- You can consider it to work the same way as skipping breakfast does!
- The hormones help you lose extra layers of fat and consequently boost testosterone
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Reduces your calorie intake
- Intermittent fasting can put a check on how many calories you intake.
- Well, the period you get for eating your heart out is meant for you to eat something healthy and not a McDonald’s overloaded burger.
- This means that you would probably be eating fewer calories, which would consequently help you lose weight.
- You will also experience low insulin levels and high adrenaline levels which you can use in rocking the bed!
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Enhances your heart health
- Intermittent fasting has a regulatory role in managing blood pressure, cholesterol, and fight inflammation.
- All things leading to a healthy heart.
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Repairs cells
- The cells in your body undergo a process called autophagy, which means your cells are throwing out toxins and wastes from your body.
- Boosting autophagy can lead to healthier cells and consequently healthy you!
- Autophagy occurs when you are not eating and thus, it works well during intermittent fasting.
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Reduces the risk of diabetes
- Diabetes type 2 occurs when your body becomes resistant to the insulin it produces.
- One of the best ways to prevent that from happening is by intermittent fasting as it boosts insulin sensitivity.
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Fights against inflammation and oxidation
- In simple words, intermittent fasting works as an antioxidant in your body.
Let us now look at some effective ways with which you can follow a right intermittent fasting diet plan.
Some Effective Methods of Intermittent Fasting
There are many ways with which you can start your intermittent fasting diet plan.
However, the ones which are getting the most popular are:
- 16/8 diet plan – It’s one of the easiest methods as you need to fast for 16 hours and then eat for the next 8 hours. It is quite popular among people
- 5/2 intermittent fasting – This can be a little difficult for beginners. In this method, you don’t eat anything for 2 days and follow a normal diet for the rest of 5 days of the week.
You can choose the pattern of your fasting as per your preference.
- Warrior Diet – It refers to sticking to a diet that people think is good for them. However, people follow it fasting for the whole day and eating a large meal in the evening.
According to us, you can opt for whichever intermittent fasting method you feel is comfortable for you.
But make sure that you indulge in healthy food in between the cycles.
Conclusion
Intermittent Fasting has been climbing high in popularity charts not only for people looking to shed pounces but also with people to boost testosterone.
Boosting testosterone is one of the most essential needs of the human body as it affects almost all your activities.
Ranging from your lack of sex drive to low performance on the field, testosterone is held responsible for everything.
Thus, finding the safest yet effective way to boost declining testosterone levels is an important task.
The above sections bring to you one of the easiest, safest, and most effective way to do so.
Hope you get the most of it!