This month we are honoring the men in our lives, so this blog is for men. If you have a man in your life, please feel free to pass this onto them.
Looking more fit and feeling younger may be a matter of getting certain hormones in balance. Although several hormones can affect your health, three of the most crucial ones for men are testosterone, growth hormone, and cortisol.
Testosterone and Manliness
Let’s start with testosterone, well known for its association with, well, manliness. The hormone is responsible for men’s confidence, drive, and desire for sex. Testosterone naturally drops after a man gets married and today’s ultrafast pace of life and unhealthy habits are also contributing to testosterone declines.
For example, lack of sleep can lower your testosterone level. Men who get less sleep for even just 2 weeks can see their testosterone level decrease by 15 percent. Diet can also affect your testosterone.
Eating too many carbohydrates can cause spikes in insulin, which then has a negative impact on both testosterone and growth hormone levels, At the same time, not eating enough of the right kind of fat or not getting enough healthy cholesterol will also keep your testosterone lower than it could be.
When you have low testosterone, there can be a domino effect on your health. Your sex drive may fade. You may have a harder time getting in shape, even if you are exercising. You may also feel less energetic.
There’s also an interesting reaction in women, and some may feel less attracted to their male partners with low testosterone levels. They may even have a harder time conceiving if their partner with low testosterone experiences a drop in sperm count.
Problems with low testosterone also affect men during exercise. Two guys who are eating the same thing and doing the same kind of exercise, and the guy with the naturally higher testosterone level will gain more muscle and lose more fat. Low testosterone has also been linked to more serious health consequences, such as a higher risk for obesity, heart trouble, osteoporosis, obstructive, sleep apnea, and other chronic diseases.
How Growth Hormone Affects Men's Health
As you may have guessed, growth hormone is responsible for physical growth -- the more you have of this hormone prior to completing puberty, the taller you’ll be. Like testosterone, growth hormone drops with age and can affect body composition in a number of ways. Athletes use growth hormone to help them recover from workouts and the rigors of practices and game day.
Growth hormone also acts as a supercharger for testosterone. Men who undergo treatment for low growth hormone levels will likely find that their testosterone increases. There are side effects associated with too much growth hormone, however, including increased blood pressure and spikes in blood sugar as well.
How Cortisol Affects Men's Health
Your growth hormone level is inversely related to your level of cortisol, often thought of as the stress hormone. If you’re working long hours, worrying about personal issues, and not following healthy habits, you might have high cortisone levels. The higher your cortisol is, the lower your growth hormone levels will be.
High cortisol levels can make you gain weight in the wrong places. When men are not living their lives in a healthy way, they can accumulate too much stress hormone, which results in a lot of belly fat. Belly fat is among the unhealthiest kinds of fat in the body because it is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.
In addition to other lifestyle habits, how much sleep you get can affect your cortisol and growth hormone levels as well as testosterone levels. The less sleep you get, the higher your cortisol will be; the more sleep you get, the lower your cortisol will be. Men need to be aggressive about getting enough sleep to keep hormones in balance and get quality REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep -- the kind of sleep when you dream). During REM sleep your body secretes more growth hormone.
If you are looking for ways to help with hormone balance, go to my facebook page, Freedom-n-Joy Essentials; this week I am sharing about “Hormones for Him”. We are discovering some Young Living supplements that can help keep your hormones in balance. Join us there!
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