21 Apr How Stressful Times Can Impact Your Testosterone

There are more people than ever dealing with unprecedented amounts of stress. With the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are feeling high levels of stress in their everyday lives. However, while many people know that stress can impact your mood and ability to sleep—it may affect your testosterone levels as well.

Stress is a powerful thing, and it can significantly impact your hormones, particularly your stress hormones. According to studies, stress can cause men to produce lower testosterone levels when stress is potent and unresolved. Testosterone is an important hormone. Many men know of testosterone as being the “sex hormone,” but it is about more than just sex drive and sperm production.

This hormone can help with hair growth, bone density, weight management, muscle size, mood, and more.

The most worrisome thing about the correlation between stress and testosterone is that it can quickly turn into a vicious cycle. Lower testosterone levels can lead to more stress in the body and cause your testosterone levels to drop even lower. This is why overcoming stress-related hormone issues is so difficult. How does this happen?

Researchers are still learning more about the direct physiological connection between stress and low testosterone. And in addition to the physical response that your body will have, some of the side effects of stress like lack of motivation, poor sleep, and lower energy can also contribute to your low testosterone levels.

This can be frustrating, but experts suggest that managing your stress can actually help improve symptoms of low T. And getting your hormone levels in check can also help with your susceptibility to stress. If you are unable to come into our clinic to have your testosterone levels checked, one of the first things you can do to help your symptoms of low T is to work on stress management.

While it can be difficult during these uncertain times, here are a few things you can do to help naturally manage both your low T and your stress at the same time, and start seeing results with how you look and feel:

• Lose weight. Diet and exercise can help boost your mood, and weight loss has been shown to help increase testosterone levels.
• Getting more sleep. A lack of sleep can lead to low testosterone levels, while getting eight hours of sleep per night can cause testosterone levels to go up.
• Improve your diet. Experts show that high-protein, low-fat foods can help balance those testosterone levels.
• Exercise. Getting enough cardiovascular exercise can release endorphins, which can reduce stress and boost testosterone levels. Plus, when you exercise and build healthy muscle, it can naturally help you increase your T levels as well.

Here at LT Men’s Clinic, it is our goal to help you stay as healthy as possible, especially during these uncertain times. If you have questions about different ways, you can stay on top of your health, about stress, or about your current testosterone levels, please give us a call at 817-369-3605, we are always here for you.