The Dr. Lam Show

How to Improve Testosterone Naturally

November 21, 2021 Dr. Lam
The Dr. Lam Show
How to Improve Testosterone Naturally
Show Notes Transcript

How does one get to be low in testosterone? Are there ways to improve it naturally without needing testosterone replacement? It’s important to get to the root cause and fix it from the ground up naturally. Both males and females deal with low testosterone, so don't miss out on this episode.

1:20 - What is Testosterone and how is it related to stress?
4:00 - Low libido
4:34 - Signs of low testosterone
5:50 - Reduce stress to help testosterone levels
6:55 - Exercise to increase testosterone levels
8:25 - Foods to help naturally increase testosterone
9:40 - Hormone and thyroid replacement

Trying to find an integrative medicine or functional medicine doctor who understands what you're going through? Lam Clinic does Telemedicine all over the world and is only a phone call away.

1. Educate yourself by visiting our website: www.lamclinic.com

2. Call our office at 714-709-8000 to schedule an appointment.

FIND US ONLINE HERE:
» Website: https://www.lamclinic.com/
» Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lamclinic
» Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lam_clinic/
» Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lamclinic
» YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/LAMCLINIC

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:

How does one get to be low in testosterone? Are there ways to improve it naturally without needing testosterone replacement? It's really important to get to the root cause and fix it naturally. This is The Dr. Lam show and we're here to talk about integrative medicine, as well as empowering you to take control of your health. If you enjoyed the show and find it useful, please hit the like button and subscribe to The Dr. Lam show podcast as well as the YouTube channel. This is the best way to make the show more visible, so that other people who need that information can find it. I'm Dr. Jeremy Lam, I'm an internal medicine physician and I'm also board certified in anti aging and regenerative medicine. I spent my medical career working on chronic disease treatment and prevention, and I firmly believe in the power of integrative medicine.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:

I'm Dr. Carrie Lam family medicine physician and I've completed fellowships in functional and metabolic medicine. I'm also passionate about nutrition and lifestyle medicine. Today, we're going to be talking about how to improve testosterone naturally. To start off, let's talk about what testosterone is Dr Jeremy?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:

Testosterone is the male hormone and it's opposite to estrogen. So both females and males make testosterone and it helps with maintaining energy, fertility, muscle bone mass and overall well being. Females, nowadays are also given testosterone because they also need an optimal level of testosterone, not just the males. So let's discuss why testosterone becomes low, both in males and females.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:

The adrenal cells are one part of the organs that make testosterone. Your gonads in males also make testosterone and in females its mostly the adrenals making testosterone. As you grow older, the gonads start to fail, males get male pause and women undergo menopause. The adrenal are the only glands that can make testosterone. It starts off with cholesterol, and then make progesterone and they can go down to like make DGEA testosterone, estradiol and cortisol. And so testosterone usually hits its peak around 30 years of age, and then has a gradual decline by natural progression. So it's natural to actually see testosterone lower over time. However, when your body is extra stressed, and causing your adrenals to become fatigued, you might have more difficult case making testosterone. As more of the hormones are shunted to make cortisol, which is to help reduce inflammation to deal with stress in that fight or flight response, and so those with adrenal fatigue tend to have less testosterone.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:

So what you're trying to say Dr. Carrie, that instead of making sex hormones, when your body is stressed, it tries to make more cortisol instead. Because the body doesn't perceive reproduction as a high priority, right? When it's under stress, it wants to be able to fight off the inflammation and stimulates your immune system and so it puts your reproductive system on backburner, when you're trying to survive. So automatically, your libido gets shut off, as well as your testosterone. Not only testosterone, but also other reproductive hormones as well. That's why women can mess their cycles when their bodies under stress. Even if, let's say you're running a long marathon, a woman's body, under stress, can have skipped periods. I just mentioned that low libido is a sign of low testosterone, what other signs might people look for when their testosterone is low. Dr. Carrie?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:

Loss of muscle mass is one of the signs of testosterone and loss of strength. If you were able to do some heavy lifting before whether it's dumbbells, and this can apply to both males and females because it's not gender specific when testosterone levels go down. Your anabolic processes also go down. Anabolic means muscle building and when you're unable to build muscles, you feel a little weaker. So not only does age affect your decrease in testosterone, but also being overweight. Extra fat to produces more estrogen because fat produces estrogen, which then lowers your testosterone levels too. What other factors like diet, can lower testosterone. Dr. Jeremy?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:

Well, you know, excess sugar leads to insulin resistance, and so when you are resistant to insulin, that can lower testosterone, because of the excess sugar. And so combining all of this, it's important, to figure out why your testosterone is low. And then decide what can we do naturally to help increase the testosterone. The first thing that you can do is to reduce stress. Oftentimes giving the body proper rest redirect the adrenal pathways. So the need to make cortisol reduces because there's less stress and there's less anti stress hormone required. Pregnenolone, a strong anabolic hormone will then make more testosterone. This is the automatic process that your body responds to, when you help with decreasing stress. So not only decreasing stress is important, but also trying to get more sleep as well. What's other way Dr. Carrie, to help increase testosterone?

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:

Perhaps the easiest way to increase testosterone and also growth hormone, is to do muscle exercises of the big muscle groups, like pull ups, or push ups. The large muscles are worked out, rather than the small ones, so push ups or pull ups or your thighs or trapezius muscles. This will activate the anabolic process. So your growth hormone also tends to rise and builds your muscle build, increasing cellular testosterone. Exercise is therefore important in helping to build testosterone, but be careful if you have adrenal fatigue and not overdo it. We know, athletes can have hormone imbalance if they over exercise. So always making sure that you listen to your body and not overwork. If you're tired after a workout, evaluate if you're pushing your adrenals too much because then you can reduce the testosterone output. So Dr. Jeremy tell us about certain foods that can also increased testosterone.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:

Foods that are high in magnesium, and zinc can naturally improve testosterone. So you want to make sure you find those foods that are high in magnesium and zinc. Other things that can increase your testosterone naturally, are tuna, low fat, milk, egg yolks, oysters, shellfish, beef, and beans, they naturally increase your testosterone.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:

As you can tell, improving testosterone naturally isn't as simple as taking hormones and going on with your life. Every circuit and organ in your body is connected. So a major change in one of them can have numerous and annex unexpected effects. And if you're struggling with these kinds of changes, definitely give our office a call 714-709-8000 we can give you specialized information on how to improve your testosterone naturally. Now we're going to go more deeply into these changes and look at the health problems and symptoms associated with hormone disruption.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:

When your body counters stress and you're dealing with adrenal fatigue, cortisol production goes down, as well as testosterone. Females have estrogen dysregulation and so their ovarian adrenal thyroid axis may get affected. So when the body is stressed, the thyroid is going to be affected as well. When an organ system is off, the other two gets affected just like it's a three legged stool, when one leg doesn't work, you can't sit on that stool properly. That's why a lot of people despite being on thyroid replacement, don't feel good. In fact, about 1/3, or more people that are on thyroid medication, still need some form of adjustment. And many cannot make it through the direct replacement for that reason, because they're either missing the underlying adrenal component or the underlying hormonal whether it's testosterone or estrogen component as well. So without attending to the adrenal side, trying to balance hormones can be quite challenging.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:

Right, we see a lot of people come to see us on already testosterone replacement, on thyroid medication, but they're still not feeling better. They still have low libido and they ask why despite on all these hormones, they don't feel better or have more energy. The reason is because they're not getting to that three legged stool, like you said, the adrenals, the thyroid and the hormones. So instead of just stimulating yourself with testosterone replacement or bioidentical hormone replacement, you have to make sure that your adrenals are also well taken care of. If you're still feeling like, there's something wrong, even though you're on hormone treatments, then you might be having hormone imbalance and you have to get to the root cause. And we hope that we can help you with this, as testosterone imbalance can be ignored by conventional medicine or you might be on the wrong medication if you're not fixing your adrenals or your thyroid. This can lead to long term debilitation and poor health. So remember, if you think something is wrong, don't stop searching until you get help and guidance that you need. And we are so happy that you're here on The Dr. Lam show today. We hope you can find this information helpful. If you did, please subscribe to this channel so that we can continue to bring you more great content. If you know anyone else who would like to listen to this make sure you share it with them. Remember, we're here to empower you to take control of your health.

Unknown:

This podcast has been produced and broadcast solely for informational and educational purposes by Lam Clinic statements and views expressed in this podcast are not medical advice and have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The products and supplements discussed in this podcast are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you believe you may have a medical condition please consult your own doctor. Opinions of guests are their own and Lam Clinic does not endorse or accept responsibility for any of the statements and views made by guests. The views and opinions of guests in the podcast are their own and do not reflect those of Lam Clinic. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guest qualifications or credibility. In some cases, individuals on the podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in the products or services referred to herein podcast listeners should always seek the advice of their physicians or other qualified health providers with any questions they may have regarding their own medical conditions. Podcast listeners must always continue to follow the advice of their personal physicians for all of their medical needs.