Boosting testosterone could help men ward off type 2 diabetes

Even though type 2 diabetes is considered the most preventable disease of all, blood sugar problems are at epidemic proportions across our country. The question is, with those skyrocketing rates, how do you avoid becoming just another statistic? Well, according to a brand-new study, the key could lie in the most well-known male hormone…

Testing testosterone therapy

The research from the University of Adelaide involved a two-year double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of over 1,000 men between the ages of 50 and 74, who were either overweight or obese (and therefore at a higher risk of ending up with type 2 diabetes).

While each man was put on the same diet and lifestyle program — Weight Watchers — the scientists split the men into two groups:

• Group one received testosterone therapy
• Group two were given a placebo

After those two years were up the results showed that 21 percent (or 87 out of 413) of the men in the placebo group had developed type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, just 12 percent (or 55 out of 443) of the men in the testosterone therapy group had been diagnosed with the condition.

This was despite the fact that men in both groups had experienced significant weight loss, with an average loss of approximately seven to nine pounds.

In the end, Professor Gary Wittert, one of the authors of the study, said: “The results of the study show that, on top of modest weight loss achieved with healthy eating and increased activity, testosterone has some added benefit to prevent or reverse newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.”

OK, did you get that?

Testosterone may help reverse blood sugar problems!

And to top it off, the team says that testosterone delivers other benefits, including:

• Improved muscle mass
• Enhanced sexual function
• Lowered fasting blood sugar
• Reduced body fat

Not bad for a hormone that naturally circulates in your body anyway, right?

Is testosterone therapy right for you?

So, is it time to head off to your doctor’s office and get some of those testosterone pellets?

Well, not so fast…

The researchers also say that in addition to the benefits participants of the study saw with the therapy, 22 percent also experienced an adverse side effect — with their blood becoming “sludgy.”

Because of this, they don’t recommend testosterone therapy as the answer to type 2 diabetes. Instead, they stay sticking with weight loss, a healthy diet and exercise is the way to go.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t use natural means to boost your testosterone, rather than the pellets that cause the sludge.

Natural testosterone boosters include:

1. Resistance exercises — Studies have shown that exercise, especially activities that involve weights, can help raise your testosterone levels.
2. Healthy fats — Research also suggests that getting more healthy fats in your diet (like extra-virgin olive oil) is a good way to optimize testosterone production.
3. Stress reducers — Stress and lack of sleep negatively impact your testosterone. To keep your levels up, work on lowering your stress through diet, exercise and laughing more and getting a good night’s rest.
4. Sunshine vitamin — Vitamin D is also a natural way to increase your testosterone. Take a quality D supplement and get more sunshine in your life.
5. Estrogen–blocking foods — Estrogen dominance can suppress testosterone levels and this can happen as men age. Cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, have high levels of phytochemicals that naturally block estrogen production.

And one more vital point…

In order to keep your testosterone optimal, you also have to avoid the xenoestrogens (false estrogens) that up your estrogen, while bottoming out your T-levels.

Sadly, these estrogen inflators are everywhere in the world around you — from plastics and cleaning products, to tap water, canned foods, cosmetics, personal products, home furnishings and more.

So it’s important to carefully read labels and make the healthiest choice possible.

Remember, while testosterone therapy might not be the answer to defeating blood sugar problems, boosting your natural levels could be a big part of the puzzle.

Sources:

Type 2 Diabetes — CDC

Testosterone therapy may help preventing type 2 diabetes — TECHNOLOGY.ORG

Physically active men show better semen parameters and hormone values than sedentary men — NIH

Variations in urine excretion of steroid hormones after an acute session and after a 4-week programme of strength training — NIH

The effects of short-term resistance training on endocrine function in men and women — NIH

The effect of nutritional factors on sex hormone levels in male twins — NIH

Influence of diet on plasma steroids and sex hormone-binding globulin levels in adult men — NIH

Association between sleep and morning testosterone levels in older men — NIH

Neuroendocrine and stress hormone changes during mirthful laughter — NIH

Effects of physical exercise on depression, neuroendocrine stress hormones and physiological fitness in adolescent females with depressive symptoms — NIH

Oleuropein supplementation increases urinary noradrenaline and testicular testosterone levels and decreases plasma corticosterone level in rats fed high-protein diet — NIH

Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men — NIH

Top 8 testosterone-boosting foods — MedicalNewsToday