Are There Alternatives To Testosterone Replacement Therapy?
There Certainly Are Some Options To Consider As Alternatives & Complimentary To TRT
Read On To Find Out What They Are!
With average male testosterone levels decreasing, a number of men are looking at testosterone replacement therapy as a way to address this.
I’m in no way against testosterone replacement therapy, there are tons of user cases where it is the best & possibly the only option to increase T.
What Is Hypogonadism & The Different Types
Now to clarify, when your body doesn’t produce enough testosterone, this is known as hypogonadism.
I’m going to simplify this; but there are two main types of hypogonadism, known as primary & secondary.
Primary is where the testicles simply don’t produce enough testosterone. If this is what you are suffering from, you definitively need to go on TRT.
The alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy I’m suggesting aren’t going to help to any extent.
You will be able to use them to compliment TRT & make it more effective; but you won’t be able to restore your production naturally.
If you need a clinic recommendation or some help establishing if you have primary hypogonadism, this is something I can assist with.
You can drop me an email on Nate@testosteronetips.net
Secondary hypogonadism is slightly different, this is where there the testicles work correctly & the issue is with the pituitary or hypothalamus.
This can be caused by a number of different issues, such as nutritional deficiencies, inflammation, obesity, medications etc.
If you have hypogonadism or low testosterone due to the above, that is where these alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy can be very effective.
Again there may be some cases of secondary hypogonadism where you do need to consider TRT & use these methods as a way to supplement it.
Now I appreciate that not everyone is ready to take the plunge with TRT.
You may be looking to establish if you can improve levels without going the TRT route.
These alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy can help you establish if you can potentially optimize testosterone without it.
This article is for those people who want to look at the alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy first or want to supplement TRT.
What Are Some Alternatives To Testosterone Replacement Therapy
Just to clarify, these natural alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy probably won’t increase T to the same extent as replacement therapy.
By following these methods, you can potentially increase T levels a decent amount & back to healthy levels if you suffer from secondary hypogonadism as covered at the beginning of this article.
In some cases you can even achieve optimal testosterone levels.
If you are already on TRT, these methods will help you to get the most benefit from it & the best return from your investment.
So these are the best things you can do to naturally optimize testosterone.
- Get to 15% – 10% body fat
- 7 – 8 hours sleep per night
- Increase saturated & monounsaturated fats intake
- Lower sugar intake
- Resistance training
- Reduced stress
- Plenty of sunlight/ Vitamin D 3
- Less ultra-processed foods
- Fasting/ Smaller eating window
- Addressing vitamin & mineral deficiencies
- Reduced exposure to chemicals estrogen & endocrine disruptors
If you can do all of the above & you have secondary hypogonadism your testosterone levels naturally increase.
Doing the above in conjunction with TRT will help you ensure you see the best results & get the most return o your investment.
As you can see the main methods you need to utilize fit within two key categories of diet & lifestyle, some are pretty self-explanatory.
I will cover the ones that require further explanation, in a bit more detail below.
Lose Excess Body Fat
While losing excess body fat is pretty self-explanatory, I appreciate that everyone may not know why losing excess body is so important.
Regardless of whether you are on TRT or not, losing excess body fat needs to be your main priority.
Excess body fat is probably the biggest killer of testosterone production there is.
The reason being is body increases levels of aromatization & inflammation.
Aromatization is a natural process where testosterone is converted to estrogen.
When you have excess body fat, aromatisation happens excessively, hence leading to a severe decrease in T & increase in estrogen.
Where body fat is so inflammatory, it also partially inhibits testosterone production.
So the excess body fat needs to go, for most people, you want to aim between 15% & 10%.
Saturated & Monounsaturated Fats
So you need a lot of saturated fat in your diet, as you need cholesterol.
Cholesterol is the main building block of testosterone, so you need a decent amount in your diet for healthy T production.
Your body produces about 80% of cholesterol, so the remainder comes from your diet.
If you eat more cholesterol your body naturally adapts production.
One final thing to clarify is that dietary cholesterol does not impact blood cholesterol, high blood cholesterol is caused by inflammation.
In order to have healthy testosterone, you need to low inflammation anyway, so by following these tips you’ll be minimizing inflammation.
In regard to omega 3, this comes back to lowering inflammation. You need a healthy ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 of lower inflammation.
As most people consume too much omega 6, you need the omega 3 to reduce inflammation.
Sugar
Sugar is extremely inflammatory, when your body is inflamed it doesn’t perform properly, this includes testosterone production.
In studies it’s been shown that consuming 75 grams of sugar can inhibit testosterone production significantly for at least two hours.
Sugar is also high on calories & a diet high in sugar tends to leave to fat gain & as we’ve covered, excess body fat is one if not the biggest killer of T.
Ultra Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods present an issue when it comes to testosterone production for a few different reasons.
They are usually high in sugar, lacking nutrients, if grain-based can contain anti-nutrients (removes nutrients from the body) & can be a source of seed oils.
Seed oils need to be avoided just as much as sugar. Seed/ vegetable oils are extremely processed & mixed with multiple chemicals.
They are extremely high & as a result of the process gone through to produce, they are highly inflammatory.
So you need to keep intake minimal, this means minimal ultra-processed foods & not using them as a cooking oil.
7 – 8 hours sleep per night
This one is quite simple, a multitude of studies have shown that testosterone production is at its best after 7 – 8 hours.
Even worse, studies have shown that when you get 5 hours & under your T production can drop by as much as 20%!
Resistance Training
This one is quite simple, the more muscle mass you have, the more testosterone your body will produce.
The most effective type of resistance training is heavy compound lifts, this is because you are utilizing the most muscle mass.
The more muscle mass you use, the larger testosterone spikes are, hence compound lifts being so effective.
Resistance training also helps lower body fat & ultimately create more muscle mass, creating a positive feedback of increased T production.
Reduced Stress
When you are suffering from long term/chronic stress, the stress hormone cortisol becomes spiked.
Cortisol is extremely inflammatory so inhibits testosterone production.
Many things make us stressed, the most effective way to keep cortisol levels down is with a decent nights sleep.
After that, I would suggest at least 20 minutes per day spent on a stress-reducing & cortisol lowering activity, some of the most effective are:
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Tai Chi
- Mindfulness
- Walking in nature
Fasting/ Smaller Eating Window
This helps increase testosterone production in a few different indirect ways,
The two key ones are that fasting massively lowers inflammation and is a very effective tool for fat loss, both leading to greatly increased T.
Something else fasting does is increase your androgen receptors, these dictate how much testosterone can utilize.
So the more androgen receptors you have, the more testosterone you can utilize.
I personally recommend that you fast 18 hours & eat during six; but just reducing the window in which you eat by a couple of hours can make a big difference.
Addressing Vitamin & Mineral Deficiencies
A number of people have low testosterone in part due to deficiencies in vitamins & minerals.
When your body is healthy, your testosterone production is naturally a lot healthier.
There are specific vitamins & minerals that aid testosterone production more than others, so I’ll name the main ones you need to focus on.
- D3
- Zinc
- Magnesium
- K2
- B complex (especially B12)
- Iodine
- C
- A
- Selenium
Deficiency in D3, Zinc & magnesium tend to be most common. D3 mainly comes from sunlight so you may need to consider supplementation.
Zinc & magnesium you should be able to get enough or close to enough with your diet & you may want to consider supplementing to top up levels.
If you want an idea of the testosterone supplement I use, you can check out my review of Military muscle below.
Military Muscle Testosterone Booster Review
Chemical Estrogen & Endocrine Disruptors
These are chemicals that mimic estrogen and disrupt the balance of your hormones, this includes lowering testosterone production.
A lot of different things can expose you to them, I’ve done a few different articles covering this subject.
The main products that expose you to these chemicals are as follows:
- Plastics
- Shower gels
- Shampoos
- Toothpaste
- Mouthwash
- Dental floss
- Moisturiser
- Facial wash
- Oils
- Household cleaners
There are more products, you can check out the main things that expose you to chemicals estrogens below.
24 Places Where Chemicals That Lower Testosterone Can Be Found
Now don’t worry you don’t have to just stop using these things, There are safe alternatives that you can opt for.
Which you can find out more about in the articles below.
Products That Won’t Lower Testosterone
Below are a couple more articles you may also want to check out about your diet & testosterone production.
Foods That Lower Testosterone – The Big List
Foods That Boost Testosterone Production – The Big List
Final Thoughts
I hope you have found this article on alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy useful.
There is no denying that TRT is a highly effective way to boost testosterone production & in the case of primary hypogonadism is essential.
However using what I’ve outlined can be an effective alternative if you have secondary hypogonadism.
It also works as a great supplement to your TRT, to get the best results.
Obviously the more methods you use, the greater the natural testosterone booster you will see!
If you decide that TRT is the route you need to go down, you will need a reputable organisation.
I work with & can recommend clinics based on your location, just drop me an email nate@testosteronetips.net or reach out in the comments and we can discuss further.
If you are worried you suffer from low testosterone, or that you’re body is lacking in certain nutrients, I would suggest you get blood tests.
These will enable you to accurately track & monitor your levels, you can check out the testing companies I recommend below.
Recommended Blood Testing Services
Keep an eye out for my future articles where I will be covering each of the above in far greater detail.
If you have any questions in regards to alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy just drop me a comment and I’ll get back to you!
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You can also follow me on my social media for more tips on alternatives to testosterone replacement therapy & all thing testosterone related.
