Testosterone and Muscle Building

Testosterone and Muscle Building

Testosterone and Muscle Building

Testosterone is secreted by the testes of males and the ovaries of women and to a lesser extent by the adrenal glands of both sexes. The male body produces about 10 more testosterone than the female body. In males, it is responsible for the secondary male characteristics such as increased muscle, bone mass and hair growth as well as the deepening of the voice.

This hormone is the most important one for muscle building. The higher the levels, the easier it is to build muscle and the lower the levels, the easier to put on fat.

Many men and women take quite large doses of steroids which are synthetic testosterone and it is illegal. They do this in order to improve performance in sports or build muscle. The side effects can be very serious and include roughening of the skin and deepening of the voice in women, heart enlargement, cancer, kidney failure and even premature death in both sexes.

However naturally high levels of testosterone can be beneficial; lowering blood pressure, preventing breast cancer in women, and of course building muscle and reducing fat are a few of the benefits.

Many have found that a healthy regimen of diet and exercise can raise the testosterone levels to a normal healthy high.

One of the alternatives to synthetic testosterone is an aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase is an enzyme that the body produces in the testes and ovaries, brain, fat cells, breasts, skin and bone. It is present in men and women. When it comes into contact with testosterone it converts it to oestradiol. Then the testosterone/oestradiol binds with oestrogen receptors instead of testosterone receptors in the muscles. In other words, it starts behaving like a female hormone instead of a male one.

Aromatase inhibitors have been developed to help prevent breast cancer in women. It inhibits the extra production of oestrogen that in excessive amounts in women can cause this cancer. Many men are finding that this helps them too. There are many natural remedies that are being investigated. Among them are bioflavanoids which show promise of being effective. The current research is being directed towards persuading these substances to target the areas where they are needed instead of being thinly distributed all over.

Another undesirable enzyme called reductase changes testosterone into a substance called DHT. This is associated with hair loss and baldness, beer belly, enlarged prostate, aggression and cancer. It is linked to inadequate nutrition and poor eating habits.

In order to combat all this, probably the most important decisions to make are those concerning diet. Not only should we avoid the obviously unhealthy options, but we should make sure that there are no deficiencies that we are overlooking. Some examples are: Zinc, copper and selenium as well as lycopene in tomatoes [preferably cooked]. They are all promoters of natural inhibitors of the various processes that upset the healthy male testosterone balance. Taking supplements certainly help, but we shouldn't overlook healthy, well balanced food. All the time new discoveries are being made and new substances produced to promote health. Isolating certain supplements and eating them alone means that we miss out on who knows what?

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