In this post I make the assertion that a decline in testosterone in otherwise healthy men is the result of one major underlying cause and no pill, potion, herb, patch or injection will be of much benefit as long as this foundational issue is not addressed.
To fix the problem, fix the foundation.
If the number of receptors for a particular hormone found on cells throughout a man's body is an indication of the importance of that hormone, then testosterone is very important.
It plays a major role in making us strong, lean, fast, aggressive, brave, sharp and decisive. It also gives us the desire and ability to reproduce and further our species which is about as important as it gets.
Declining testosterone levels in aging men may not be normal after all.
It's well known that at some point in a man's life, usually before middle-age, his testosterone starts to decline causing muscle atrophy, weight gain, declined interest in sex and all the other conditions attributed to low "T."
I mean, that's the general consensus, right?
We all know that as guys age our "T" declines because we are genetically programmed this way.
But wait...
...some studies say this is not true at all.
It appears to be ONLY TRUE in Western culture because of lifestyle factors, not because we have a genetic predisposition toward it.
There are many societies around the world with elders in the populace that have robust levels of testosterone.
Here are a few studies that suggest this...
“A decline in testosterone levels as men grow older is likely the result -- not the cause -- of deteriorating general health, say Australian scientists, whose new study finds that age, in itself, has no effect on testosterone level in healthy older men.” - Study
and...
“In primitive rural areas old men have just as much testosterone as young men” - Source
So if declining testosterone is not natural, why are we going limp before our time?
I believe there is one primary reason for this.
A sick endocrine system
How can you have healthy testosterone if your body's hormone production and distribution system is sick?
In just the last 100 years over 80,000 synthetic chemicals have been introduced into our environment most of which, thanks to the powerful chemical lobby, are completely unregulated and about 20%, completely secret.
We are damaging our endocrine system with chemicals that are everywhere in our environment. Many of these chemicals are already inside us at birth (and here).
They enter our consumer society through loopholes in the law allowed by something I call the American Disease Machine.
Chemicals that are KNOWN endocrine disruptors.
Endocrine disruptors are called this because they disrupt and damage your hormone production system.
They are chemicals that constantly challenge the fragile and complex structure in our body that produces and distributes hormones.
Hormones are the couriers within the body's chemical messaging system that deliver instructions to cells telling them what to do and when to do it.
The messages hormones deliver to your cells have a great impact on your health which affects how you look, how you feel and the rate at which you age.
Numerous hormones travel the bloodstream slowly and consistently delivering all types of messages to organs and tissues throughout the body that regulate functions like:
When this messaging system is working properly and all the instructions are being delivered accurately and on time, your health is good and you feel good.
When testosterone is delivered to a cell receptor, it instructs the cell to act in a way that goes on to produce the characteristics normally associated with the hormone such as more lean mass, less body fat and so on.
The production of testosterone is complicated and the journey to the cell receptor, perilous.
Like a bike courier delivering a package in Manhattan, hormones like testosterone face a multitude of obstacles on the way to the delivery address.
Over time, due to poor lifestyle choices and toxic chemical contaminants, our messaging system becomes sick and tired and starts to malfunction. Production of messengers like testosterone slows and what does get produced is hijacked (see here and here) or becomes disoriented on the way to the cell receptor resulting in miscommunication or no communication at all.
Endocrine disruptors damage the production, delivery and effectiveness of testosterone and other hormones.
Xenoestrogens are endocrine disruptors.
The term estrogen actually comprises a large group of both natural and synthetic molecules (xenoestrogens) that when in the human body, have the ability to produce an estrogenic effect which is usually always feminizing in some way for a guy.
A xenoestrogen ("xeno" meaning foreign) is any one of a numerous number of chemicals that get inside your body and mimic the "female" hormone estrogen disrupting your endocrine system and wreaking havoc.
Xenoestrogens are very similar to estrogen which is very similar to testosterone.
As you can see estrogen and testosterone are pretty much twin hormones...
While almost identical, testosterone masculinizes you while estradiol (the most dominant estrogen in men) and the xenoestrogens that mimic it, feminize you.
Estrogen, testosterone's tough, twin sister, multiplies easily and has an army of foreign helpers that work day and night to feminize you.
Testosterone on the other hand requires numerous raw materials to produce, is fragile and can be converted to estrogen with one simple enzymatic step.
We are being overrun with estrogen both natural and synthetic which is a huge problem for guys that want to preserve their health and masculinity. To much estrogen also causes problems for women.
You reinforce your foundation for robust, healthy testosterone by protecting yourself from the things that can harm it. You do this by becoming aware of, learning to identify and then avoiding the numerous contaminants in your environment that can damage your endocrine system.
The number of endocrine disrupting xenoestrogens in our environment are numerous, here's a list of the ones I try to avoid.
1 - Phthalates - also known as plasticizers, phthalates are a group of chemicals used to soften plastics and make them more flexible.
When inhaled or absorbed through the skin, these sinister endocrine disruptors are even more harmful because they bypass the liver.
Phthalates can be found in…
- Plastic bags
- Garden hoses and rubber products
- Plastic food packaging
- Adhesives, paint and caulking
- Liquid soap, shampoo, lotions, deodorant, perfumes and cosmetics
- Shower curtains
- PVC plumbing
- Tap water
- Insect repellent
- Detergents
- Sex toys
2 - The “Cides” like pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides
This is the number one reason I only eat organic food.
Vinclozolin - a fungicide used on produce like kiwi, lettuce, snap beans and raspberries, it disrupts your hormone system in several ways one of which is by acting as an androgen antagonist attaching to androgen receptor sites on your cells and thus preventing androgen hormones like testosterone from attaching to the receptor site.
Atrazine - although banned in the European Union, Atrazine is still one of the most widely used herbicides in the world today and the one most likely to turn up in your drinking water. The toxicity of this herbicide is well documented even at low levels of exposure and has been linked to the feminization of several species including humans.
Endosulfan - is a nerotoxin, endocrine disruptor and possible carcinogen. Regarded as one of most toxic pesticides in the market today, this highly potent xenoestrogens is slowly being phased out of production worldwide with the exception of India and China. In the USA this is supposedly being phased out however it's not clear whether this has happened or not.
Glyphosate -I saved one of the worst offenders of human health for last. One of the primary ingredients in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, glyphosate has been linked to numerous detrimental health conditions such as decreased sperm count, lowered testosterone levels and male infertility. Genetically modified crops like corn and soy are designed to be resistant to this herbicide so they can be repeatedly sprayed with it without dying which is a giant reason why GMO's suck.
Overuse of glyphosate has caused a rise in “super weeds” that have also become resistant to the herbicide so more and more is needed to combat the problem. Chances are fairly good that you have this herbicide inside you right now especially if you consume non-organic produce.
3 - Bisphenol A (BPA) - probably the most widely known endocrine disruptor due to recent media attention about its presence in popular consumer products and containers like baby bottles, canned foods and water bottles.
While BPA is undoubtedly one of the most prevalent synthetic estrogens in our environment, it may be one of the easiest to avoid by simply choosing not to use products that contain it.
Canned foods - BPA leeches from the resin lining in metal cans and contaminates the food inside.
Water bottles - a way to determine whether the plastic bottle has BPA in it or not is to turn it upside down and look at the recycling label also known as the plastic identification code.
Cash register receipts - Scientists at the University of Missouri discovered that the amount of BPA on a cash register receipt could be as much as 250 to 1,000 times more than the amount usually found in a can of food. Swiss scientists found that human skin easily absorbs BPA although its ability to affect hormonal activity via this route is not clear. Safe to say it's probably too best to minimalize your handling of receipts you may receive at stores, gas stations, ATMs and so on.
4 - Sunscreens - Possibly one of the most misleading and dangerous consumer products on the market today, many sunscreens contain potential hormone disruptors and toxic ingredients that may contribute to skin cancer instead of prevent it.
4-Methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) - is an ingredient used in sunscreens that studies have shown to be a likely endocrine disruptor.
Oxybenzone - a toxic skin penetrating chemical used in sunscreens that is an allergen and hormone disruptor.
Sunscreens lower testosterone by blocking vitamin D production!
5 - Prescription drugs.
The list here could get quite long, consider researching any drugs you are taking to see if they are effecting your endocrine system like the statins do.
6 - Tap water.
There is no such thing as clean, pure tap water no matter what the official narrative claims. Depending on where you live, municipal water could have one or many endocrine disrupting chemicals in it like agricultural herbicides and pesticides, prescription drug residue and of course, fluoride (and here).
"EPA tests have shown that in the water we drink, over 2,100 organic and inorganic chemicals including pesticides, heavy metals, radon, radioactive particles and parasitic organisms including cryptosporidium, have been identified; 156 of them are pure carcinogens." - SOURCE
I personally use a Berkey gravity feed system that has the Black Berkey upper filters and the fluoride/heavy metal filters in the lower chamber.
7 - Milk and Meat of the cow.
Cows raised conventionally for meat and milk are full of synthetic endocrine disrupting xenoestrogens.
Milk of the cow - Commercial cow's milk is high in estrogen mainly because today cows are milked regularly even during pregnancy, a time of heightened hormone activity in the body.
In one study, after drinking milk, estrogen levels rose in men while at the same time testosterone levels declined.
It's been said that dairy consumption accounts for between 60% and 80% estrogen consumed.
Meat of the cow - Ranchers and feedlot operators discovered a long time ago that giving cattle synthetic sex hormones increases their weight and makes them more profitable.
The synthetic estrogen and hormone disruptor Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was given to cattle to fatten profits during the 60s and 70s until it was found to cause cancer in humans.
Since that time, new products like Synovex S ® and Zeranol have come to market designed to fatten cows as fast as possible to make them more profitable.
If you eat meat and/or consumer dairy, grass fed organic products are recommended.
This is just a sampling of some of the things in our environment that can wreak havoc on the endocrine system affecting not only testosterone production but normal functioning of all of your hormones.
If you take anything away from this post, please let it be this...
You don't suffer low testosterone because your body lacks Tongkat Ali, DAA or tribulus and it's most likely not caused by age but rather from the damage inflicted on your endocrine system from numerous endocrine disrupting chemicals that are present in our environment today.
This post is part of my American Disease Machine series.
I know this post is really long, but if you made it this far please consider upvoting and/or resteeming it.
All the images either come from Pixabay or my own stock.
Thanks for you time,
Michael
Nice post, dont forget to boost your testosterone with some bad ass drops :) Workout mix
Thanks @thunder.vlad and you are right about the music.
Mind plays a big role when it comes to testosterone, I'll be doing a post on this soon.
This is one of the most informative posts I have ever read on Steemit.
Thank you so much!
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STOPThanks!
Hi Michael, really informative post. You know many people (due to less testosterone) switch to test boosters, which is harmful after a particular age. That's why it is recommended to workout 30-45 min daily, be it cardio, strength training, swimming, MMA,etc. Since when you're working out your body releases testosterone as well as HGH(human growth hormone).
Looking forward for such articles :)
kindly check my blog @rahul516. I write fitness stuff. Follow if you like it.
upvoted and followed.
Done deal.
Thanks :o)
Great research and great post. keep them coming I enjoy your post too :)
Thank you :o)
I thought I was fairly well informed but this post opened my eyes to a whole new level. Really scary though :(
Yeah Rob it's more important than ever to be really aware of what you're exposing yourself to.
Cheers :o)
Yup, indeed Michael :)