Can sleep affect your weight? Doctors have uncovered several reasons why poor sleep can be adding inches to your waistline. Here are the reasons why and some tips for better sleep.
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Men’s Health Guide to Boost Your Metabolism
Struggling with your weight?
You’re not alone. Weight loss is one of my clients’ most common men’s health challenges. Heck, I’ve struggled with it myself—that’s a big part of what motivates me to help men feel their best.
One reason why losing weight can feel so hard is that it never used to be like this. When we were younger, we didn’t need to worry about what we ate or how often we exercised. We just always used to feel… good. Extra weight just wasn’t a problem.
But things change as you get older. The body takes longer to recover. And the weight stays on even when you exercise regularly.
One of the reasons that it’s difficult to slim down as we get older is that the metabolism starts to slow.
This happens to most people, but you don’t have to accept it as normal. There are some things you can do to rev it back up—even in middle age.
I’m talking specifically about your basal metabolic rate, or how quickly your body burns through the calories you consume. Most people don’t know this, but the majority of the calories we burn each day aren’t from exercise. They’re burned from your body’s normal functioning and maintenance.
Exercising is certainly an important part of any healthy lifestyle and weight loss plan. But if you can also turn up your body’s fire, it’ll make shedding the weight all that much easier. The more your body is burning at its base level, the easier it is to rid yourself of that stubborn body fat.
Lucky for us, there are things you can do to keep your metabolic rate running at a higher gear. So here are some of my top recommendations for boosting your metabolism to slim down.
Exercise
Hands down, the most powerful way to kickstart your metabolism is exercise. It’s effective both in the short term and in the long-term.
Physical activity like intense cardio or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases your body’s energy needs in the short term. To feed itself, your body burns calories faster. That exercise revs the metabolism into high gear, it stays elevated for hours after.
But with strength training, there’s actually a long-term effect as well. Weight training challenges your muscles and actually creates micro-tears in the muscle fibers. Your body then spends a bunch of energy to repair them. When it repairs the muscles, your body both increases the size of the existing muscle fibers and also builds new fibers. Together, these increase the size of the muscles.
And bigger muscles have a greater energy maintenance need. They eat through more energy, even when you’re not exercising. So the more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be.
I’m not saying you need to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to give an extra kick to your metabolism. But including strength training in your exercise routine is absolutely critical for every guy, and it will help boost your metabolism in the long term.
Eat a protein-rich diet
It turns out that eating can actually give you a short-term boost in metabolism. This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF). It happens because the body needs energy—a lot, as it turns out—for digesting the food you eat.
But different nutrients lead to different kinds of boosts.
Researchers have found that protein increases your metabolism at a much greater rate (15-30%) than either fat (0-3%) or carbs (5-10%). So higher protein foods can help you maximize that boost in metabolism from eating.
Keep in mind that I’m not saying you should only eat protein! Remember that you need to be sure to stick to the macronutrient ratio that’s best for your body. Too much protein can actually hurt your muscle-building efforts by lowering testosterone. Instead, aim for a healthy, balanced diet that includes proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. You need to avoid saturated fats, trans fats, and refined sugars.
Research also suggests that plant-based diets create a higher TEF. I’m not saying that you need to become a vegetarian to burn fat, but most of your dinner plate should be things that came from plants—whole grains, beans, legumes, roots vegetables, leafy greens, fruits, and so on.
Drinking cold water
Among all its other benefits, water has been found in several studies to increase metabolism and aid in losing weight, and cold water may be especially effective.
Cold water lowers your core body temperature. In response, your body fires up its metabolism to warm you back up. That warming increases the calories you burn.
As an added benefit, water appears to also help you lose weight and burn fat—especially when you drink water in place of sugary drinks. It also helps fill you up so that you don’t overeat or consume too many extra calories.
Water is, of course, essential to your health in a number of ways. Helping rev up your metabolism is just one way it helps.
(And if you get tired of water, green tea is your metabolism’s friend!)
Intermittent Fasting
You might think that fasting could slow your metabolism. You’re right, it can: restricting your caloric intake tells your body you’re not getting enough food, so your body starts doing less work. That slows down your metabolism.
But intermittent fasting—restricting eating to only certain time periods—can help fire up your metabolism. It does that by giving your digestive system a break and puts that energy into other functions like building muscle.
Intermittent fasting has been found to have several benefits, including:
- Balancing hormone levels
- Encouraging fat lipolysis—the breakdown of fat
- Increased growth hormone levels, which helps grow and preserve muscle mass
- Lowering blood glucose
- Turning off genes related to inflammation.
When we eat, our insulin levels are elevated. And that means we tend towards fat-storing rather than fat-burning. Fasting helps our insulin drop, allowing our body to tap into our fat stores.
How do you do intermittent fasting?
There are lots of ways of doing it. I provide some more detailed advice in my book, but some options include:
- Create eating windows. Here, you only eat within a given window of time. For example, you might restrict your eating to only between 10 am and 6 pm.
- Skipped meals. Here, you would skip one meal a day. I normally recommend skipping breakfast as a great way to get started with intermittent fasting.
- 24/48 fast. Here, you fast for a full day or two. You would only do this about once a month.
The easiest one to follow and requires the least amount of adjustment for most people is setting an eating window. If you’re new to intermittent fasting, I would recommend you start here.
From there, you can try out a few different variations and see what works best for you.
Several of my clients have had huge success with intermittent fasting. If you usually eat well and exercise but you can’t seem to shed those stubborn few pounds, give intermittent fasting a shot.
Remember, intermittent fasting doesn’t mean you have to eat fewer calories (although most people do end up eating a little less). It just means that you restrict when you eat.
Sleep
There are a number of systemic factors that have a significant influence on our health. One of the ones that many of us underestimate is sleep.
Getting a good night’s sleep isn’t really sexy, but it is powerful.
And getting enough sleep actually can help you both feel and even look sexier. For one thing, sleep is when our body builds back muscles after a workout. So if you’re trying to put on lean muscle mass, you don’t want to skimp on sleep.
Tons of research has also connected sleep to weight loss. Many people think that as we sleep our body becomes less active. But our body is actually very active when we sleep. And all that activity requires energy. So your metabolism keeps burning as you rest.
There’s also research that connects insomnia with weight gain and obesity. One reason for this relationship is that sleep helps modulate neuroendocrine function—how well your hormonal system works. A less effective endocrine system, in turn, alters glucose metabolism, which is how your blood sugar is turned into energy.
Lack of sleep also seems to decrease insulin sensitivity, decrease leptin (which is involved in how fat gets broken down), increase concentrations of cortisol (the stress hormone), and increase hunger. Together, those things make it harder to break down fat and easier to store it.
So if you’re trying to lose weight and you’re looking for one quick win, cleaning up your sleep hygiene might just be it.
The takeaway: create metabolism-boosting habits
The body is a large, complex system. As a physician, I know that better than anyone.
But sometimes we overcomplicate our health. Or, said differently, sometimes the best things we can do for our health are also the simplest.
Each of the factors above can contribute to a faster metabolism and help you lose weight. But also note that each of these also contributes to your health in a number of other ways, too. They will help you lower your risk for chronic illnesses, and help you just feel better.
I encourage everyone to build those habits—both for a faster metabolism and weight loss, but also just for greater overall health.
At the same time, we need to acknowledge our individual differences. We all have different genes and a different biochemical environment. Our epigenetics also means that we’re all wired to respond differently to food and have different metabolic rates.
Of course, everyone should exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep. But some people may need an additional game plan that’s tailored directly to their particular biology. Some people may need testosterone HRT or hormone therapy; others may benefit from peptide therapies; still others might need to focus on reducing stress.
So focus on the recommendations in this article to help you boost your metabolism and lose weight. But if you’re still struggling, consider finding an approach tailored to your body.
I offer precision medicine solutions that are aimed at creating an individualized plan for you based on your genes and body chemistry. Boiler-plate health advice can be useful, but it may not be enough to help you get through your individual challenges. Get in touch with me for VIP health coaching and an individualized plan.
Schedule a consultation to take control of your testosterone!
Schedule a Call
In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. Unfortunately, a man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. And a man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0!
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, world-renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition, and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com
Want more tips to optimize your health? Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE
References
Du, S., Rajjo, T., Santosa, S., & Jensen, M. D. (2014). The thermic effect of food is reduced in older adults. Hormone and metabolic research, 46(5), 365-369.
Pesta, D. H., & Samuel, V. T. (2014). A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats. Nutrition & Metabolism, 11(1), 1-8.
Shechter, A. (2017). Obstructive sleep apnea and energy balance regulation: a systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 34, 59-69.
Zurlo, F., Larson, K., Bogardus, C., & Ravussin, E. (1990). Skeletal muscle metabolism is a major determinant of resting energy expenditure. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 86(5), 1423-1427.
Inflammation Makes You Gain Weight. Peptide Therapy Can Help You Lose Weight.
Weight loss is one of the most common health concerns among my clients.
Men struggle with weight loss even though they do all the right things: they go to the gym regularly, they eat a clean diet, they take what they think are the right supplements… but something just isn’t right.
Losing weight seems like it should be easy if you’ve straightened out your diet and exercise… So, why is it so hard to lose that stubborn fat?
First off, the body is complex.There are a ton of factors beyond diet and exercise that matter for losing weight. Of course, sleep is really important, your hormones and testosterone matter, and stress plays a huge factor. Your microbiome and gut health almost certainly play a role, too.
And, of course, your genes matter. Not just your actual genetic makeup, but also epigenetics—which genes are turned on or off at a given time.
In order to understand weight loss, and men’s health in general, we have to think about the body as a sophisticated system. If you want to lose weight, get more energy, and feel younger, there’s a constellation of factors that matter.
And here’s a big one that people often miss: inflammation.
In this article, I want to explain the connection between your body’s inflammatory response and the difficulty you may have shedding those extra pounds. And then I’ll tell you how you can address your inflammation with targeted peptides to help you finally lose weight.
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is your body’s general immune response. There are two main types that we’re concerned with:
- Acute inflammation is a localized response. It’s what you get when you sprain your ankle and it swells up, gets red, and gets warm. Or when you get an infected cut. Acute inflammation is your body sending in the “good guys” to repair tissue or get rid of toxins.
- Chronic inflammation is a longer term, generalized response. It happens when your body’s own white blood cells stick around longer than they need to and start attacking your own body. It’s a deep-rooted, systemic problem.
Chronic inflammation can have serious health consequences, including increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, Alzheimer’s, prostate disorders, and more.
But in addition to all those severe health issues, inflammation can also just affect how we feel day to day. It could be what’s sapping your energy and making you feel lethargic.
And, most central to this article, chronic inflammation can make it hard for you to lose weight.
What are the signs and symptoms of chronic inflammation?
How do you know if you have chronic inflammation? It can be difficult to know, but some of the symptoms include:
- Being overweight or obese
- Heartburn, nausea, gas, and other gut problems
- Fatigue and chronic feelings of being tired
- Difficulty sleeping
- Prostate problems
- Stress
- Mental fog or emotional instability
- High cholesterol or blood pressure
- Pains or weakness in the muscles that don’t have a clear cause
Chronic inflammation often simply looks like a general feeling of being unwell without a clear cause.
What causes inflammation?
Chronic inflammation is caused by the regular suspects that are related to poor health: a poor diet that’s high in sugars, saturated fats, and trans fats; obesity; stress; and smoking. It can also be caused by periodontal disease, an imbalance of hormones, and inadequate sleep.
How does inflammation contribute to weight gain?
Inflammation and weight gain go together.
First, the research suggests that fatty tissue can trigger inflammation. One study found that adipose tissue actually stimulates your body to release inflammatory mediators like interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor α. Other research has suggested that overeating can lead to inflammation. So being overweight can contribute to inflammation.
But it works the other way, too: inflammation can cause you to gain weight—and keep it. One way inflammation does that is by changing how we absorb and use the food we eat. Inflammation can actually affect our gut health: it can influence the bacteria that make up our microbiome and even affect how nutrients and energy are extracted from the food we eat.
For another thing, inflammation may cause us to feel more hungry and to choose to eat foods that are worse for us. And to make matters worse, it also may be one cause of insulin resistance, which makes it more difficult to turn blood glucose into energy.
So being overweight can contribute to chronic inflammation. And inflammation contributes to weight gain. It can turn into a vicious cycle.
The good news is that you can reverse it: losing weight helps reduce inflammation… and reducing inflammation will help you lose weight.
How to reduce inflammation
Adopting a generally healthy lifestyle can help reduce inflammation. That means eating a balanced, nutrient-rich diet; avoiding processed foods, sugary, and fried foods; exercising enough; managing your stress; sleeping enough; and quitting smoking. Those are the basics.
But even after doing all those things, you may find that you need a bit of a boost to lower your inflammation.
That’s where the strategic use of peptide therapies comes in.
Peptides can help disrupt chronic inflammation and help you lose weight
The scientific and medical community is only really just becoming aware of how important peptides can be in helping people age well.
Peptides are small chains of amino acids—like proteins, but shorter.
What do peptides do? Well, there are now thousands of different peptides known to scientists, and there’s a huge variety in the effect that they have. But they often work as chemical signals, helping our body to regulate itself.
For instance, some boost your immune system; others, like BPC-157, help your body repair tissues; others, like tesamorelin, stimulate growth hormone and help you put on muscle; and yet others, like amlexanox, can reduce inflammation and help burn fat.
If peptides are made naturally, how does peptide therapy help?
Our body naturally makes peptides, but production of these essential chemical regulators tend to decrease with age. That’s one of the reasons that our body stops functioning properly as we get older.
Peptide therapies and supplements help restore key peptides back to the level you had in your early 20s. And they can bring back the benefits of a younger body: faster healing, faster metabolism, and improved weight loss, among others.
Amlexanox and weight loss
Amlexanox is one peptide that plays a role in reducing inflammation. That’s why it’s one of the best peptides for weight loss and fat loss.
Amlexanox has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. Traditionally, it’s actually been used to treat stomach ulcers because it reduces healing time and pain. It works in several ways, including by inhibiting the release of histamine and leukotrienes.
But it also has been found to promote weight loss.
Some research has found that Amlexanox inhibits the TBK1 enzyme, which may enhance the body’s ability to burn fat. It also seems to inhibit IKK-ε, which is an inflammatory mediator. By inhibiting it, Amlexanox improves the metabolism of glucose and improves energy.
Finally—and this brings us back to epigenetics—Amlexanox seems to “turn off” the expression of “fat genes”.
While the research on Amlexanox is still in its infancy, the existing literature does suggest that Amlexanox can have some powerful effects: fighting weight loss and reducing inflammation so you feel your best.
Amlexanox plus TTA give fat a one-two punch
When Amlexanox is used to combat weight gain, it’s usually combined with Tetradecylthioacetic Acid, or TTA.
TTA is a fatty acid that’s given as a nutritional supplement. When you hear “fatty acid”, you might think that’s a bad thing. But don’t worry—it doesn’t get used by the body for fuel. Instead, it actually helps regulate how the body stores fat.
TTA helps decrease hunger and upregulate metabolism of fat. That means it helps you burn through fat quicker.
Together, Amlexanox and TTA are an effective fat-fighting duo.
The men’s health takeaway: Target inflammation to lose weight
The body works together in one big system. That’s why it’s not enough for many people to use a simple equation like, “calories in, calories out”. If it were, weight-loss diets would work and it would be easier to slim down.
To really lose weight and feel healthy, you need a systems approach.
It turns out that a very significant contributor to gaining weight from fat is inflammation. That means that if you’re trying to lose weight, you want to do what you can to minimize inflammation. Some things you can do yourself, like eating well and getting enough sleep.
But you might also want to power-up your own efforts with a tailor-made plan from an expert in peptide therapies. A personalized medicine plan that includes the strategic use of peptides like Amlexanox may be exactly what you need to get your body working at its best.
Schedule a consultation to learn how peptides can help you lose weight.
Ready to take the next steps?
Download the Blueprint
Schedule a Call
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In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. Unfortunately, a man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. And a man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0!
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, world renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com
Want more tips to optimize your health? Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE
What to Ask Your Doctor Before Starting Testosterone
Men everywhere are suffering with plummeting testosterone levels. A recent study showed that testosterone levels have declined over 30% in the last 30 years.[1] It has become such a problem that research now indicates that 1 in 4 men over the age of 30 has low levels of testosterone.[2]
And declining testosterone levels are associated with significant health issues. Here are just a few symptoms men experience with low testosterone:
- Low sex drive
- Erectile dysfunction
- Weight gain, especially around the midsection
- Loss of muscle mass
- Fatigue and irritability
- Loss of mental focus
- Hair loss
- Loss of bone density
- Anxiety and depression
Does any of this sound familiar?
https://drtracygapin.com/blueprint
When my patients complain that they don’t quite feel like themselves, I find they often have low testosterone. One reason men fail to recognize the issue is because the symptoms of low testosterone will often develop slowly over time.
Men will often come to see their doctor when they struggle with erectile dysfunction, but low testosterone goes far beyond the bedroom. Having a good level of testosterone is vital for all aspects of a man’s health and well-being.
If you suffer from any of the aforementioned symptoms, it’s time to get your testosterone levels checked by a doctor. In preparation for this visit, here are some key questions you should consider.
How Do I Know if I’m Low in Testosterone?
Testosterone is a hormone produced primarily in the testes for men (and at lower levels, in the ovaries for women), but small amounts are also produced by the adrenal glands. Testosterone is part of the endocrine system and its release and regulation is controlled by the brain’s pituitary gland and hypothalamus.
To test your testosterone levels, your doctor will run some blood work, usually in the morning since that is when your hormone levels are at their highest. “Low testosterone”, or hypogonadism, occurs when a man’s level falls below optimal levels.
This brings up a critical question: “What is optimal?!”
Most labs define the lower limit of “normal” testosterone levels to be anywhere from 250 to 350 ng/dL, depending on the lab. The problem with this is there is a massive difference between what is considered clinically “normal” and what is optimal – i.e. what men need to actually experience the benefits of healthy testosterone levels. We’ll cover this huge topic in another blog post, but suffice it to say that men typically need much higher serum testosterone levels than what the clinically “normal” range suggests.
What Causes Low Testosterone?
A man’s testosterone peaks in early adulthood and naturally reduces as he ages. Once he enters his 30s, his levels begin to decline about 1 to 2 percent each year. Some men don’t start noticing the effects of this decrease until they hit the age of 50, but there are others who start to show symptoms even a decade or two earlier.
In addition to age, there are a number of potential causes for low testosterone. Injury or infection to the testes and malfunction of the pituitary gland can cause low testosterone, and diseases like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are all strongly linked to testosterone deficiency. Endocrine disruptors – chemicals and toxicants in our environment – are clearly a major culprit as well.
Low levels of vital nutrients like zinc or Vitamin D have also been found to correlate with low testosterone. Certain medications can lower testosterone, including asthma inhalers, antidepressants, and antihistamines, as well as chemotherapy.[3] And a number of lifestyle factors, such as smoking, drug abuse, poor sleep, poor diet, and obesity, can lead to low hormone levels.
How is Low Testosterone Treated?
There are a few important concepts to understand before diving into treatment options for men with testosterone deficiency. First it’s key to recognize that treatment requires a comprehensive approach. It’s never as simple as just getting testosterone therapy. It’s critical to be aware that there’s no magical one-size-fits-all solution that works for every man. Treatment varies depending on each man’s underlying health issues, genetics, symptoms, and goals.
A key aspect of addressing low testosterone is to address underlying health issues and develop healthy lifestyle habits. Losing weight has been shown to directly improve testosterone levels. Research shows that exercise, especially weight training or high-interval training, naturally boosts testosterone.[4] Proper nutrition and sleep are critical aspects of a comprehensive approach to overcoming low testosterone and its associated symptoms. Check out the MALE 2.0 Blueprint to learn how to start incorporating healthy habits into your daily life.
Another common approach is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Hormone replacement therapy involves artificially raising your testosterone levels via a gel, skin patch, injection or hormone pellet implants.
What Are the Benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy?
A number of studies back up the claim that testosterone replacement therapy can provide men with real benefits. Here are just a few examples, according to a recent academic review:[5]
- Muscle gain and improved strength: Several studies found testosterone replacement therapy improves men’s body composition, decreases fat, and increases lean body mass and muscle strength.
- Increased bone density: Testosterone therapy has been shown to increase bone density, especially among elderly men, which puts them at a reduced risk of injury.
- Improved sex drive: Testosterone replacement therapy increases men’s self-reported libido, as well as the frequency of sexual acts.
- Improved cognitive functioning: One study found older men’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease decreased by 26% for each 10-unit increase in free testosterone. Additional studies found testosterone improves men’s spatial, mathematical, and verbal reasoning, as well as their memory.
- Improved mood and quality of life: Men who receive testosterone therapy report an increase in mood and well-being and a decrease in fatigue and irritability.
What Are the Risks of Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Clearly testosterone replacement therapy has its benefits, but it is important to realize it is not a panacea. Such therapy is considered most beneficial when used short-term to help your body get back on track or to treat an underlying issue like hypogonadism. But know that like all treatments, this hormone therapy comes with a number of risks and side effects that must be considered.
Some side effects may include:
- Acne and oily skin
- Breast enlargement or tenderness (rare if treated properly)
- Shrinkage of the testicles
- Hair loss (rare)
Additional Questions To Ask Your Doctor Before Starting HRT
So you’ve decided to proceed with testosterone therapy. First, be aware that you should never attempt testosterone therapy alone – it should always be done under a doctor’s supervision. But before you start, here are some key questions you should ask your doctor before embarking on a testosterone treatment plan:
- What Are Your Doctor’s Qualifications?
- What expertise and experience does the doctor have in treating men’s health issues generally, and testosterone replacement therapy more specifically?
- How long have they been practicing this approach?
- Given that the science of HRT (hormone replacement therapy) is consistently evolving, how does the doctor stay up-to-date on the topic?
- Do they attend conferences, read scientific journal articles, take training courses?
- Am I a Good Candidate for HRT?
- What evidence is there that I need testosterone replacement therapy?
- If there is evidence, what potential causes does your doctor suspect?
- Do I have certain medical conditions (like sleep apnea or an enlarged prostate) that make me a bad candidate for HRT?
- Can I Boost My Testosterone Naturally?
- Are there things in my medical history or lifestyle that could be changed to improve my testosterone naturally?
- Are there certain foods the doctor recommends to boost testosterone?
- Are there certain supplements the doctor recommends?
- How does sleep quality affect testosterone?
- How does alcohol affect testosterone?
- What changes in my exercise routine can I make to boost my testosterone?
- What Type of Treatment Does the Doctor Prefer?
- What type of HRT does the doctor prefer (e.g., gel, injection, implant) and why?
- How will the doctor determine which hormone dose is right for me?
- How do they track results?
- What is the Expected Cost of HRT?
- Does insurance typically cover the cost of the treatment?
- What will my out of pocket expenses be?
- How long will treatment take?
- What Side Effects Are Expected?
- Will there be pain or inflammation at the injection or implant site?
- What adverse reactions should I look out for?
- What Improvements Can I Expect to See?
- What symptoms should I expect to see improvements on after starting treatment?
- How long will it take before I see results?
- How often will I follow up with my doctor?
- Will the doctor monitor my progress through routine blood tests or other means?
CONCLUSION
If you’re struggling with weight gain, low energy, fatigue, diminished sex-drive, or performance issues in the bedroom, know that it doesn’t have to be that way. You can overcome these issues and become unstoppable TODAY!
It’s time to get empowered to take control of your health. Unlock the code to peak performance with the Male Method™ to regain your energy, focus and confidence to feel like a man again.
We take a whole-body, epigenetic approach to health, focusing on all inputs and how they affect the human system. With the Male 2.0 Method, we utilize science-based precision medicine, personalizing your health based on your unique genetic blueprint. No more guessing!
We utilize cutting-edge age management protocols to reverse the aging process and expand longevity. And we track and leverage your biometric data using state-of-the-art wearable technology to truly optimize your health.
Ready to take the next steps?
Download the Blueprint
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In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. Unfortunately, a man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. And a man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0!
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, world renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com
Want more tips to optimize your health? Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE
Peptide Series: What are the Best Peptides for Weight Loss and Fat Loss?
There’s a whole new way to add the icing on the cake when it comes to maximizing your fitness and nutrition, and it’s pretty exciting. What are we talking about? Peptides. You might have even heard some buzz around Peptides for Weight loss.
If you’re looking to lose weight, burn fat, or upgrade your health to the next level, you’re probably starting to hear some discussion surrounding peptides, so let’s dive right in.
We’re now developing a whole new understanding of exactly what peptides can do and how they can be used for strength, longevity and whole list of other benefits. In fact, it’s so recent that we are still on the frontier – and it’s worth learning even more.
Let’s take a look at what all the hype is about.
What are peptides?
Peptides are naturally occurring biological molecules, found in all living organisms. They play an essential role in all types of biological activity. Simply put, they’re a smaller version of protein. Peptides have different jobs within the cellular tissue, therefore we are able to pinpoint targeted uses for each type of peptide.
There are 20 naturally-occurring amino acids which we can combine into an immense variety of different molecules – a lot like alphabet letters that then combine into various words. How many of these molecules create a particular chain determine whether it’s a peptide, a polypeptide, or a protein; all of which have their identifying properties.
Peptides are molecules composed of 2-50 amino acids. Polypeptides are made of 50-100 amino acids and proteins are made of more than 100 amino acids. Peptides are signaling agents or hormones, and have very precise, specific functions.
The way we apply those functions to supplement or amplify the body’s internal processes is what makes peptide therapy such an exciting new development throughout the course of optimizing health.
Of the 7000 naturally occurring peptides, over 500 of them have therapeutic benefit. Scientist are identifying and developing more every month. Peptides have a wide range of functions, including:
- Weight loss
- Muscle building
- Immune function
- Wound healing
- Cognitive function and memory
- Gut health
- Sexual performance and libido
- Skin rejuvenation
- Hair growth
- Bone and joint health
- Cancer
- Longevity
Today we’ll focus on peptides that have the greatest effect on weight loss.
Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormones
Here is a bit more needed information about Growth Hormone (GH). The pituitary gland secretes GH. The hypothalamus makes GH Releasing Hormone (GHRH) that controls release.
GH has a profound effect on fat breakdown, muscle building, blood sugar regulation, sleep, and immune function. It works directly, but also works through stimulating production of IGF-1.
What makes it even more complicated is that GHRH has an effect on weight loss directly as well. It works peripherally just like GH to improve lipolysis (fat breakdown) and muscle development.
People previously took GH itself to achieve these benefits, but this actually suppresses GHRH release, thereby reducing its effect. So the new generation of peptides overcome that to have a much better effect.
As we age, the hypothalamus produces a hormone called somatostatin, which blocks the pituitary from releasing GH. As somatostatin levels rise, GH levels decrease. Anything we can do to reduce somatostatin levels will help GH levels.
GH-releasing peptides (GHRPs for short); also called ghrelin mimetics, which stimulate weight loss by directly improving your body’s process for breaking down fat (lipolysis). They also increase GH release which helps build muscle and burn fat through 2 mechanisms – direct stimulation of GH release as well as inhibition of somatostatin, which again blocks GH release.
Are peptides similar to steroids?
Peptides have become the frontier of biohacking, with peptide supplements offered via injection, sprays, creams, and pills by medical professionals. Although 100% legal, authorities have banned the use of peptides in competitive athletic sports due to the possibility of unfair advantage.
To be clear, peptides are not steroids or testosterone.
If you are interested in the relationship between testosterone and weight, read my article “How To Lose Weight For Healthy T Levels”.
Compared to steroids and testosterone, touted for their fast benefits (and potential side effects), peptides won’t turn you into the Hulk overnight. Peptides are more of a “slow burn” supplement to enhance your existing healthy lifestyle but not meant to replace time at the gym. While peptides can help you burn fat while you eat, socialize and even sleep, you must combine them with other lifestyle factors over several months to see the best results. In other words, you still have to eat right and get proper exercise!
Which Peptides for Weight Loss are the Best?
In the world of health and fitness, peptides have become a popular supplement for burning fat, building muscle, increasing energy and improving athletic ability. The National Institute of Health is even recognizing peptides as a possible supplement therapy for obesity.
Some peptide supplements (the ones considered performance-enhancing drugs, for example) are often more experimental than others. Here are a few different peptide hormones that help with weight loss and enhance your performance. I’ve arranged them from most-studied to more experimental.
CJC-1295
CJC 1295 is a synthetic GHRH chain constructed with 30 amino acids. Through increased protein synthesis, science has shown this peptide chain to have benefits including increased fat loss, increased cellular repair, cellular regeneration, and increased muscle growth. Interestingly, researchers have also shown it to promote the type of deep, slow-wave sleep that facilitates muscle growth and memory retention.
As with any GHRH-based peptide, careful calculation of dosage and timing cycles – along with cycle breaks – stave off the body’s natural tendency to adapt or “get used to” the therapy, thus reducing its overall effect. One dose of CJC-1295 raises GH levels for 6 days, but in a nice pulsatile fashion, which is what you want.
Tesamorelin (GHRH peptide)
Tesamorelin is another GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone) peptide, that stimulates the pituitary gland to increase growth hormone secretion. Tesamorelin is much more potent than CJC-1295 and can raise IGF-1 levels by as much as 150 points.
This peptide is FDA-approved for lipodystrophy (when the body is unable to produce and maintain healthy fat tissue) and for men who have HIV who get lipodystrophy from some of the medicines that they take and that increases their abdominal fat. Tesamorelin is the most highly researched peptide for fat loss, however it is not normally prescribed as a weight loss medication.
Ipamorelin
Ipamorelin is a growth hormone releasing peptide (GHRP) that works a little bit differently than the GHRH peptides. Ipamorelin works by inhibiting somatostatin, thus taking the ‘breaks’ off GH production. Unlike other GHRPs, Ipamorelin will not increase your sense of hunger. Peptides such as GHRP-2 and GHRP-6 do increase hunger, so they need to be administered at night right before bed otherwise you’d be raiding the fridge and have the opposite effect if you’re trying to lose weight!
A lot of people have moved to Ipamorelin because it increases fat metabolism with less side effects and because it can be combined with other peptides as well. Also known for its anti-aging properties and improvements in energy, this can be used long term, up to a year. In the past, many peptides required in-office or self-administered injections. You can now take Ipamorelin as a sublingual tablet taken under the tongue, before bed to coincide with your body’s natural growth hormone spike.
The combination of CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin (“CJC/IPA”) delivers a more powerful response than either one alone because Ipamorelin is blocking somatostatin.
The key is nighttime dosing to boost overnight GH release, and avoid carbs or fat intake within 2 hours of dosing to ensure max effect.
Amlexanox/TTA
Amlexanox is an anti-inflammatory compound that has the benefit of appetite suppression. Combined with Tetradecylthioacetic Acid (a fatty acid, TTA for short) can help regulate how much fat the body stores by influencing the genes that control metabolism. TTA can help people feel full more quickly while the fatty acid decreases overall hunger and burns fat. In addition to regulating fat metabolism, this fatty acid has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunity-enhancing properties.
BPC-157
First, a warning. If you’re a competitive athlete, this compound is likely classed as a performance-enhancing drug, and you could get disqualified if you take it.
BPC stands for Body Protecting Compound, and it lives up to its name.
It’s a newer peptide with less human research, but the studies using this on rats are pretty amazing. Dubbed a ‘healing peptide’, the research has shown this peptide can heal Achilles tendons, torn knee ligaments and even repair leaky gut in our furry friends. There were no discernible side effects in any of these studies, and anecdotal reports suggest that BPC-157 could help you heal like a Marvel mutant.
Although its benefits are more focused on healing, when it comes to the life of an athlete, fast healing from injuries means shorter recovery times and less time for the weight to creep back on!
How Fast Can I See Results from Peptides?
Your results are dependent on many factors. First, you truly only want to take peptides under the supervision of a medical practitioner as a part of a larger weight management plan. The number one thing to do is to really manage your diet and cook your own food so you can control what you’re eating. It’s been said that great abs are made in the kitchen, and the same is true of our overall health: it all starts with what’s on your fork. As exciting and effective as peptide therapy can be, it’s no magic wand.
Balancing your other hormone levels is important, too. When you optimize your testosterone and thyroid levels, you will experience a lot of synergistic effects. If you have all that dialed in, you’re eating well and you’re sleeping eight hours per night, you could see results within a few weeks, especially with Tesamorelin. Ipamorelin is a more gentle peptide that may take 3-6 months to begin to show its effect.
Speak to your doctor about specific dosing and the right peptide for your goals.
We’ve discussed some of the benefits of peptides and some of them seem miraculous. Outside of weight loss and muscle gain, studies show faster healing, more energy, improved sleep and even increased libido. The growth hormone levels we produce decreases as we age (30% by age 50, and 50% by age 70), so peptides may even help with neurological function, possibly preventing Alzheimers.
Used incorrectly though, peptides have the potential to cause side effects of varying degrees.
Side Effects of Peptides
For healthy individuals, peptide supplements are unlikely to cause serious side effects because they are similar to the peptides present in everyday foods. That said, as with any treatment it’s always wise to exercise caution in tandem with your doctor.
No studies have shown peptides to have any carcinogenic effects, however if you have any pre-existing medical conditions you could be at risk of adverse effects or interactions with other medications.
How to Purchase Peptides
You may be wondering if you can just purchase peptides from a store or the internet.
You can, but it’s really important to remember that there can be some questionable manufacturers that make it tough to sort out which are good and which are not.
The purity of products is a critical aspect to peptide therapy – and that means that without knowing for sure, you could run the risk of sub-par or ineffective compounds.
Quality control can be an issue for the every day buyer, therefore you could potentially purchase contaminated or dangerous compounds manufacturers have created without regulation.
In the United States, only a few compound pharmacies actually create these peptide supplements due to state restrictions. The FDA does not currently regulate supplements in the same way as with traditional medications, so it’s important that you apply awareness to that and exercise caution by running it past your doctor in advance.
At the Gapin Institute we prescribe peptide therapy and can create a well-balanced treatment plan for you. Remember, peptides are not a fix-all. They don’t replace good nutrition, sleep, stress management, fitness, etc.. In a sense, peptides are the icing on the cake.
Want the Ultimate Peptide Guide? Click HERE.
Conclusion
Peptides and peptide therapy are cutting-edge tools. You can use them to optimize your health, slow the aging process, and reduce inflammation. Learning new ways to target and use peptides, polypeptides and proteins helps you move away from disease and towards better health.
If you’re interested in radically upgrading your health, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the power of peptides and consider adding these therapies to your regimen. After all, when it comes to living a better life for a longer span of time, we’re looking at brand new ways to do just that – and the sky’s the limit.
The best place to start if you want a hormonal optimization or peptide program is by seeing a physician first.
Gapin Institute is currently accepting new clients. If you are tired of being tired… or you have tried everything to lose that unwanted weight but nothing seems to be working, our Peptide therapy might be the piece to the puzzle that you are missing. Call us today to schedule your consultation. (941) 263-0212.
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In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. A man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. A man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0!
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, Men’s Health Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance.
How To Lose Weight For Healthy Testosterone Levels
Testosterone levels and body fat are intimately linked. High testosterone equals lower body fat. Low testosterone equals higher body fat.
But why does this relationship exist? Where does it come from?
And how can you overcome it to lose weight and boost testosterone?
The four-way relationship
Testosterone plays a role in everything from body and facial hair to a deeper voice. Testosterone is the hormone that makes you “manly.”
But that’s not all testosterone does. Testosterone is also a critical hormone in controlling weight and building muscle (for both males and females).
There are four ways that testosterone and weight gain are linked. Let’s delve into this intricate relationship below before getting into why they’re linked—and how you can lose weight for healthy T levels this month.
1. Low testosterone causes weight gain.
A common side effect of low testosterone is weight gain. In fact, if you have fast and unusual weight gain, your doctor will likely first test your testosterone levels. Even women who have low testosterone levels will start to gain weight at a faster rate.
Low testosterone especially causes weight gain around the midsection. If you’re getting a gut for the first time in your life, it could be low T!
2. Weight gain lowers testosterone.
Obesity impacts quality of life and shortens life expectancy overall. Weight influences every part of your body, from cardiovascular health to brain health to endocrine health.
Weight gain even affects how your hormones are produced. In fact, gaining weight can almost instantly lower your body’s production of testosterone.
So if you’ve started suffering from low testosterone symptoms, you need to look at the scale. A recent weight gain could be the stimulus of your low T levels.
3. Testosterone therapy boosts weight loss.
Studies show that testosterone therapy can improve body composition and quality of life. Most importantly, research has found that boosting testosterone can have an impact on obesity—with or without other lifestyle modifications.
This means that testosterone plays a critical role in metabolism and belly fat regardless of other typical lifestyle factors.
Boosting your testosterone can assist your weight loss efforts in tandem.
4. Weight loss encourages testosterone production.
When you gain weight, your testosterone lowers. But, if you lose weight, testosterone production increases.
In fact, weight is the first barrier to boosting testosterone levels. You could do everything else right, but if your weight stays the same, your testosterone levels will stay the same. The most effective way to boost your testosterone production is by losing belly fat.
Putting it together
What do these four statements mean?
That weight loss and testosterone are inextricably linked. Low testosterone causes weight gain, and weight gain lowers the production of testosterone. In reverse, boosting testosterone can assist with weight loss, and losing weight can improve T production.
This can either put you in a positive testosterone-weight cycle… or a negative one.
Let’s take a look at where this cyclical relationship comes from—so we can figure out how to get you in a positive T cycle this month!
What causes the testosterone and weight relationship?
The exact reason that testosterone impacts weight is still up in the air. Experts can definitively prove a relationship—but they’re not 100% sure where that relationship comes from.
Still, we have a few pretty good guesses about how the two are linked.
1. Hormone levels
Body fat is directly linked to estrogen. Fat tissue actually contains an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen. Moreover, aromatase has been linked to weight gain, aging, and disease.
Estrogen is the antithesis of testosterone. When the body has extra estrogen floating around, it slows the production of testosterone.
So, having more body fat increases aromatase. Aromatase transforms your free-floating testosterone into estrogen. And having more estrogen further slows your testosterone production. When the production of testosterone is slower, it causes you to accumulate even more belly fat.
That’s why it can be so challenging to raise testosterone levels if you’re carrying around extra weight. Even if you supplement with testosterone replacement therapy, your belly fat starts to metabolize all of the extra testosterone and convert it to estrogen. That estrogen encourages your body to hold on to even more fat.
2. Muscle synthesis
Testosterone plays an important role in building muscle. Studies show that testosterone increases the body’s ability to produce protein and muscle mass. Low testosterone can cause a reduction in lean muscle, while high testosterone can help you bulk up quickly.
Having more muscle actually helps you lose weight. Lean muscle actually burns more calories throughout the day than fat does. That’s because your body needs energy to fuel the movement of your muscles—and it gets that energy from your caloric intake. Your belly fat doesn’t move (except when it jiggles), so it doesn’t require any energy or calories.
Testosterone is the key hormone in protein synthesis (aka building muscle). If you have low testosterone, your body isn’t able to build muscle. In fact, research shows men with low T tend to have less muscle mass than men with normal T levels.
So, no matter how much you lift, low testosterone levels can prevent your body from creating the protein it needs to build muscle. In turn, you’re not seeing the fat burning benefits of having lean muscle on the body.
You’ll lose muscle and gain fat!
3. Metabolism
Testosterone actually plays a critical role in metabolism. Metabolism is the process of turning your food into energy and fuel. One study found that men undergoing T therapy had an increased metabolic rate and lower body mass.
How does this work? Testosterone actually interacts with insulin and “eats” extra glucose. It can actually remove the glucose that would otherwise be stored as fat cells in the body. This can help prevent weight gain by getting rid of extra sugar that turns into fat.
So you need high testosterone to keep your metabolism functioning. If you don’t have this, your metabolism slows down. A slow metabolism means that more of your calories are converted to fat rather than energy. This can cause you to gain weight—especially around the midsection.
Boosting your testosterone, though, can help improve your metabolism, which helps you use up more of your food as fuel—rather than as fat.
4. Cortisol
Cortisol is the “stress hormone,” and it actually increases weight gain. That’s because cortisol is released as a response to stress and low blood sugar. Cortisol is released to raise blood sugar in response to some stressor. The sugar in your bloodstream needs to go somewhere… and it ends up in your gut as fatty tissue.
Cortisol also causes gluconeogenesis, which is when your body turns its proteins (muscles) into glucose. Basically, cortisol causes your body to turn muscles into fat.
Testosterone and cortisol have an inverse relationship. Both cortisol and testosterone require pregnenolone for production. If cortisol levels are high, there isn’t enough pregnenolone to produce testosterone—and vice versa.
If your testosterone is low, cortisol can run rampant—which boosts blood sugar and gluconeogenesis. But high testosterone steals away from cortisol production to minimize this stress-related weight gain.
5. Motivation
Common side effects of low testosterone include lethargy, low energy, and poor mood. This can make you less motivated to get up and go to the gym. It may even make you less motivated to throw the ball around with your kids or go to the beach with your buddies.
Low T can you less interested in activities that you once cared about—and likely that’s making you more of a couch potato than an active banana. A stagnant lifestyle can cause you to gain weight, which further lowers your testosterone.
Even worse, the most common side effect of low testosterone is a lowered libido. This makes you less interested in sex—and sex is one of the best ways to burn calories and lose weight. If you’re having sex less frequently, you could actually be cutting out one of your body’s historical methods of burning calories and blasting fat.
6. Age
I’d like to address the topic of age and weight gain for a second.
We all start to pack on the pounds as we get older. We all think that gaining weight is a natural part of aging. And, in some ways, it is. But a lot of this actually comes down to our mindset about weight gain. We think that it’s okay to gain weight as we age because everyone does it.
But it’s not the number on your birthday cake that determines the number on the scale. It comes down to lifestyle. We sit behind our desks without ever moving. We workout less frequently. We stress more. We sleep less.
As we age, we start to fall into habits that encourage weight gain. We assume that it’s because we’re getting older—but it’s really because we’re stuck in the mindset that age equals weight gain.
But you can break this mindset. You have to break this mindset. You need to lose weight in order to boost your testosterone and vice versa.
And you can break it this week, so you can start to take control of your health once again—no matter your age.
How to lose weight for boosted T
There’s a vicious cycle that comes into play here. Low testosterone causes weight gain. And extra belly fat lowers testosterone. This creates a feedback cycle of low T levels and high weight gain that can be hard to break.
Because of this cycle, your typical diet and exercise don’t always work.
So if you’ve been feeling like your weight loss efforts are proving futile… you might be right.
No matter how much you diet or exercise, you could still get stuck in this cycle.
I’m going to give you ways to break through this cycle so you can start seeing results.
The solution is to boost testosterone while losing weight. Because if you boost testosterone but still have belly fat, the fat will metabolize all the extra testosterone. And if you lose some weight but still have low testosterone, the low T levels can cause you to gain that weight right back.
So we need to kill two birds with one stone.
How do you do this? You need to create a plan.
Losing weight and boosting your testosterone needs to be a goal that you set for yourself. You can’t just say, “I’m going to lose weight this year.” Because you could lose a pound and that’s losing weight—but nothing actually changes!
You need to create a specific goal…and then you need a plan for meeting that goal.
- How much weight do you need to lose?
- How much do you need to bump up your testosterone? How will you reach these numbers?
- I recommend working with a doctor to come up with this plan.
I’m a doctor with a proven, customizable plan that’s tailored specifically to you…
Do you want to jumpstart a plan that has proven results?
Do you want to start boosting your testosterone and taking control of your vitality this month?
CONCLUSION
It’s time to get empowered to take control of your health. Unlock the code to peak performance with the Male Method™ to regain your energy, focus and confidence and feel like a man again.
We take a whole-body, epigenetic approach to health, focusing on all inputs and how they affect the human system. With the Male 2.0 Method, we utilize science-based precision medicine, personalizing your health based on your unique genetic blueprint. No more guessing!
We utilize cutting-edge age management protocols to reverse the aging process and expand longevity. And we track and leverage your biometric data using state-of-the-art wearable technology to truly optimize your health.
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In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. Unfortunately, a man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. And a man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0! Available on Amazon.
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, world renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com
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Does Exercise Boost Testosterone?
Strap in, because I’m about to completely change your idea about what “healthy” workouts look like.
It’s true that working out can help raise your testosterone levels if you’re suffering from low testosterone. But not the workouts you might imagine.
You don’t need to workout every day to boost testosterone.
You don’t need to workout more than 30 minutes to boost testosterone.
You don’t need to run marathons to boost testosterone.
In fact, it’s not that you just don’t need to—you shouldn’t actually work out every day, workout too much, or run long distances.
Instead, you should be focusing on strong bursts of resistance training.
In this article, I’m going to give you the specifics about how to exercise to boost your testosterone levels and get back on track to ultimate sexual and overall health.
Does exercise boost T levels?
In short, the answer to this question is, yes. Exercise can boost testosterone levels—if you exercise correctly. Testosterone is the hormone that controls muscle synthesis and energy, and it also helps regulate weight. Since exercise is also important for muscle and weight, the two go hand-in-hand to lend towards overall health and wellness.
Research shows two major impacts of exercise on testosterone levels: short-term and long-term.
Firstly, testosterone spikes 30 minutes after a training workout. However, testosterone returns to resting levels after about an hour. This means that there’s only a short-term spike in testosterone during the day.
But that doesn’t mean that short-term spike isn’t helping long-term. In fact, research shows that the more frequently men experience this quick T spike, the greater their resting testosterone level.
This means that exercising boosts testosterone levels most significantly in the short-term but most profoundly in the long-term. If you consistently workout to raise T levels, your resting T levels will start to raise methodically and permanently.
Working out also has an indirect relationship with testosterone due to the impacts of exercise on body fat, stress, and sleep.
Body fat
Working out helps reduce body fat, especially around the midsection. Maintaining a healthy body weight is important to healthy levels of testosterone. Visceral fat can actually raise cortisol and estrogen, which in turn lowers testosterone.
If you want high levels of testosterone, you need a healthy weight.
If you want to lose weight, you need to be moving and exercising consistently.
Stress
Exercise is a proven stress reducer. It releases endorphins that make you happier while reducing anxiety and depression.
When you’re stressed, your body releases cortisol (the “stress hormone”). Cortisol and testosterone have an inverse relationship. High cortisol equals low testosterone and vice versa.
This is because cortisol and testosterone are both made from the same “base” hormone called pregnenolone. If the body has to use more pregnenolone to make cortisol, it won’t have enough left over to make testosterone. This is called “cortisol steal” because it steals away the building blocks of necessary T production.
Sleep
Getting enough sleep is an important part of testosterone production. Studies show that sleeping too few hours can drastically lower testosterone by boosting cortisol to exorbitant levels.
Working out can help you sleep better. It uses up extra energy and trains your muscles, so you’re more likely to get a higher quantity and quality of sleep. Exercise also lowers cortisol, so you can have a more restful night’s sleep. and Plus, since working out reduces your stress, you’ll be in a better mental state to help fall asleep.
Still don’t believe that exercise boosts testosterone?
Check out the scientific proof:
- Serum testosterone response to high-intensity resistance training in male veteran sprint runners
- The effect of short-term strength training on human skeletal muscle: the importance of physiologically elevated hormone levels
- Associations of exercise-induced hormone profiles and gains in strength and hypertrophy after weight training
- Neuromuscular and hormonal adaptations in athletes to strength training in two years
What kind of exercise boosts testosterone?
Not all exercise is created equal when it comes to raising testosterone levels.
Resistance training (lifting weights) is the best way to raise testosterone. Studies show that strength training can actually induce the release of growth hormone and testosterone regardless of age.
In reverse, research shows that long-distance running can actually lower testosterone levels. In fact, one study found that the long-distance runners had lower T levels than even the non-athletic group. This is because running for long distances over-stresses the body. This stress releases cortisol, aka the “stress hormone,” and leads to cortisol steal (as discussed above).
For the same reason, you want to avoid overtraining or over-exerting your body during workouts. Working out too hard can release cortisol that reduces the production of testosterone.
So yes, I’m telling you not to overdo it with your workouts if you want to see T-raising benefits!
When to workout
There are two schools of thought with regards to when you should work out to best boost testosterone.
The first is that you should work out in the late afternoons or early evenings.
Testosterone is naturally highest in the morning. Testosterone is actually one of the hormones that helps you wake up in the morning with energy and vigor. (That’s why men with low testosterone often feel fatigue, low energy, and low interest.)
T levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day, but they steadily decline as the day progresses. This is one of the reasons you might find that you start to lose some of your energy in the middle of the day.
The second school of thought is that you should work out in the mornings.
Studies show that working out on an empty stomach has the greatest fat burning benefits. Burning fat can help raise testosterone levels. Lifting weights on an empty stomach can also help increase metabolism and muscle synthesis, which can further boost testosterone.
My suggestion? Workout whenever it fits in your schedule! If you workout in the mornings, don’t eat beforehand and you’ll see greater fat burning benefits. If you workout in the evenings, drink a cup of coffee to improve your energy and performance.
How to workout
There are three things you need to focus on in your workout in order to boost testosterone levels:
- Compound exercises
- Fewer reps at higher weight
- Longer rest periods
Most experts refer to this kind of workout as “high intensity interval training (HIIT).” Basically, you’ll want to push more muscle groups, with heavier weights, for short intervals.
1. Compound exercises
Compound exercises work a number of muscle groups at one time. Research shows that testosterone levels are correlated with the amount of muscle tissue that’s stimulated during a workout. The more muscles you work, the greater the T boost. You want to avoid isolation exercises, which have no proven impact on testosterone.
The ideal workout would consist of three compound exercises. This includes one upper body pull, one upper body push, and one lower body exercise.
Examples of upper body pull include pull-ups, dumbbell rows, and chin-ups. Upper body push includes push-ups, chest presses, ring dips, and shoulder presses. Lower body compounds include body weight squats, weight squats, lunges, and reverse lunges.
Before you get into your compound movements, you want to warm up your muscles. I recommend 30 seconds of skipping rope and 30 seconds of jumping jacks. This gets your heart rate up while also moving the muscle groups you’ll need for your compound movements.
Do 30 seconds of rope skipping, 30 seconds of jumping jacks, and then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat three times, and you’ll be warm and ready!
2. Fewer reps, higher weight
Studies show that you’ll see the best results if you use a higher weight with fewer reps as opposed to more reps at a lower weight. This is because higher weights exert your body at a greater rate, which helps build muscle and set off testosterone production.
You want to get through 6 to 8 reps at a high weight. This ensures you don’t injure your muscles by overexerting, but you’re still pushing your body just enough.
Remember—you see the greatest results in the last rep that you “can’t do!” Power through it.
Repeat for six sets. By the end of the sixth set, you’ll be exhausted and ready for an extended rest period.
3. Longer rest periods
You want to rest at least one minute between sets and five minutes between exercises. This gives your body the chance to recuperate to take on the next set.
The five minutes between each exercise helps relieve your central nervous system so you don’t start to release cortisol (and end up with cortisol steal and lower testosterone levels).
You also want to rest 48 hours between each workout.
That’s right—you don’t want to workout like this every day! Doing so can actually overexert your body and damage your T levels.
You don’t want to be sitting on the couch and eating potato chips on your down days, though. You should still get up and get your body moving for at least 30 minutes each day. I recommend light cardio, like walking or swimming. This will help you burn calories and stay active without stressing your body.
When boosting your testosterone levels, recovery is especially important!
Pulling it together
Altogether, you want to train large muscle groups, lift heavy, and rest long.
You have three compound movements: 1 upper body pull, 1 upper body push, and 1 lower body compound. Do each movement with 6-8 reps for six sets. Rest one minute between sets and five minutes between each workout. This brings you to about a thirty-minute workout.
This kind of HIIT workout is what we call “explosive resistance training.”
I love this kind of training because it’s quick but mighty. You only need a half-hour to see amazing results in your testosterone levels, muscle growth, weight loss, energy levels, and overall health.
HIIT has even shown significant results in the bedroom. It can actually help boost your stamina and make you a better lover. Score!
Benefits of using exercise to boost testosterone
Working out:
Raises testosterone, which leads to higher libido, greater energy, and improved wellness.
Burns fat, which reduces the risk of disease and raises self-confidence.
Enhances stamina, which allows for improved workouts and sex sessions.
Reduces stress, which lowers the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) and other serious diseases.
Improves sleep, which helps produce more testosterone and other hormones.
Overall, exercise creates a cycle of sexually invigorating testosterone production!
Conclusion
Does exercise boost testosterone? Heck yes, it does! Working out one of the most natural and effective ways to overcome low testosterone and bring back optimal health. Resistance training is one of the best ways to get your T level back to where you want it to be.
The benefits of exercise are immense. But we all have our excuses. We don’t have time. We don’t have a gym nearby. We’re too busy.
It’s time to stop making excuses. There’s no better time to take control of your health than RIGHT NOW!
You can find thirty minutes every other day to improve your health, can’t you?
You just need to start. You need someone to help you.
That’s what I’m here for.
Do you want specific, in-depth exercise plans that can help you raise testosterone this month?
Are you looking for more ways to boost your testosterone?
Then it’s time to sign up for The Male 90X program!
This genetic-based report and analysis will give you everything you need to know about low testosterone levels and any sexual health concerns. You’ll also get a private consultation to address an individually-tailored plan that will put you on the track to success.
It’s time to invigorate your sexuality and enliven your vitality!
Schedule a Call
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What’s The Deal With Weight Gain And Low Testosterone?
If you’re struggling to see the results you want in your weight loss program, you may be dealing with a testosterone imbalance.
Have you been noticing that the number on the scale keeps increasing recently?
Is your midsection growing at a faster rate than the rest of your body?
Are you struggling to lose those pesky pounds?
Are you dieting and exercising but still not seeing the results you want?
Weight gain is a primary symptom of low testosterone.
If you have low testosterone, you’re more likely to have increased body fat.
And if you have increased body fat, you’re more likely to suffer from low testosterone.
This becomes a vicious cycle that can cause weight gain and prevent weight loss—no matter how hard you diet and exercise. This cycle can also impact other areas of your health, including stress, libido, fertility, energy, and risk for disease.
Let’s go through the basics of testosterone, how T is related to weight, and what you can do about breaking the cycle this week.
What is testosterone?
Testosterone is the “male sex hormone.” It’s the primary hormone that makes a male “manly.” Testosterone is necessary for the initial development of the testes and prostate as well as the ongoing production of sperm and semen.
Along with its sexual function, testosterone has other important purposes in the body as well. It plays a role in everything from libido to muscle development and brain health. Check out these 10 crazy and surprising effects of testosterone here.
A number of factors can cause low testosterone. This includes lifestyle, diet, and exercise. Age also plays a role, as testosterone levels naturally decline with age especially after age 50.
Because testosterone is so critical for sexual and overall health, low levels of testosterone can cause serious health concerns. Symptoms of low testosterone include:
- Weight gain
- Minimized libido (sex drive)
- Low fertility
- Loss of muscle mass
- Weak bones
- Lowered energy
- Brain fog
- Moodiness
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Less body hair
In this post, we’re going to focus on the first symptom: weight gain.
Testosterone has a direct impact on your weight. Higher testosterone means less fat and more muscle. Lower testosterone means more fat and less muscle.
That means that testosterone not only impacts the way we look and feel, but it’s also an important aspect of overall health. Testosterone affects our weight, and weight is a proven indicator of future wellness. Being overweight is directly linked to a number of health problems, including high cholesterol, high blood sugar, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and more.
So how does this work?
What is the relationship between weight gain and low testosterone?
A number of studies have proven that weight and testosterone are intimately linked.
Research has shown that low testosterone can cause weight gain. Thus, improving testosterone levels can help with weight loss. A 2013 study found that men taking testosterone supplements saw weight loss as a side effect. Over five years, they each lost an average of 36 pounds and 3.5 inches off the waist. Similar results were iterated in a 2016 study as well.The reverse is also true. Obesity or holding extra weight can actually reduce testosterone levels. One study found that 75% of men who qualified as obese also had hypogonadism, which is when the body produces lower amounts of testosterone.
Losing weight, then, actually shows an increase in testosterone levels—even without testosterone replacement therapy.
So where does this link between weight gain and testosterone come from?
Below are the five primary ways testosterone impacts your weight.
Testosterone plays a role in metabolism.
Testosterone plays a key role in your metabolism, which is the process that turns your carbs, fats, and proteins into energy and fuel.
This is likely because testosterone interacts with insulin and glucose. High levels of testosterone can “eat up” extra glucose. Otherwise, that glucose would be stored as fat cells in the body.
Higher levels of testosterone eat up more of your free-floating sugar to prevent weight gain.
In fact, one study found that men undergoing testosterone treatment showed a significant increase in basal metabolic rate, which is associated with a decrease in lean body mass.
In opposition, fat cells actually metabolize testosterone at a fast rate. The more fat you carry around, the faster you burn through your free testosterone.
So low testosterone causes weight gain… and then that extra fat actually minimizes your free testosterone even more.
Testosterone builds muscle.
Muscle is an important part of weight loss. Your body has to burn up its fat stores in order to build the muscle that you’re creating. Plus, muscle actually burns more calories throughout the day than fatty tissue does.
Having more muscle on your body puts you in a positive cycle of maintained weight.
And testosterone is a key hormone in the process of muscle construction and protein synthesis.
Studies show that testosterone levels increase muscle mass by boosting the body’s ability to produce protein.
This means that higher testosterone can help increase muscle, which minimizes fat storage.
Testosterone also boosts HGH, the human growth hormone. This hormone is used to build or “grow” your muscle.
Studies have shown that men with low testosterone are more likely to have less muscle mass than men with normal T levels. Similarly, men with less muscle mass are at a greater risk for low testosterone levels.
If you want healthy and attractive muscles, you need testosterone.
Testosterone regulates fat-storing estrogen.
Body fat contains an enzyme called aromatase. Aromatase converts testosterone to estradiol, which is a type of estrogen. Aromatase turns T into estrogen, which increases estrogen levels. This then signals the endocrine system to slow the production of testosterone.
Basically, fat tissue creates estrogen. Estrogen stops the production of testosterone.
Thus, reducing fat tissue helps minimize the extra estrogen caused by stored belly fat.
The reverse is also true. When testosterone is low, it increases the production of estrogen.
Estrogen then signals your body to store fat. That’s why women tend to have “softer” features and extra weight, especially around their midsection. The goal of this in females is to store fat so women have extra reserves in case they need to care for a fetus or baby.
Estrogen works the same way in a male. It tells your body to hold on to your fat “in case of emergency.” But in most cases, you’re not all that interested in holding on to extra fat tissue in case the apocalypse hits.
Body fat increases estrogen and lowers T.
And low T increases body fat storage.
Talk about a cycle of weight gain!
Thus, boosting testosterone levels can help minimize fat-storing estrogen. And losing weight can help reduce estradiol, allowing for more free-floating testosterone.
Find out more about the relationship between testosterone and estrogen, especially with regards to the estrogen in your food.
Testosterone reduces cortisol levels.
Cortisol, the “stress hormone,” is proven to increase weight gain. You’ve likely found that during stressful periods of your life, you hold on to a little more poundage than you typically would.
This is because cortisol is released in response to stress and low blood sugar. The goal of cortisol is to suppress inflammation and raise blood sugar levels. This increase in blood sugar actually promotes fat storage, especially around the abdomen.
Cortisol also causes gluconeogenesis, which is when your body transforms its protein reserves into glucose. This basically transforms the protein within your muscles into fatty tissue. You’ll start losing muscle mass and gaining fat—which links back to #2 on this list.
Testosterone and cortisol have an inverse relationship. High cortisol levels cause low levels of testosterone, and high testosterone levels cause low levels of cortisol. Low testosterone allows cortisol to run free, causing an increase in fat storage and gluconeogenesis.
Raising your testosterone levels reduces cortisol, which then minimizes the risk of extra fat storage.
You want high T and low cortisol for optimal health.
Testosterone impacts energy and stamina.
Low energy is a symptom of low testosterone. Fatigue and sluggishness are common indicators of a hormonal imbalance.
Energy is an important part of losing weight. Men with low testosterone often find they don’t have the energy or motivation to workout. When they do exercise, their stamina is so low that the workout isn’t as productive or effective as it could be.
Plus, low energy tends to lead to a more stagnant lifestyle. This means fewer calories burned throughout the day—often accompanied by an increase in the consumption of calories.
This creates a discouraging effect for men looking to lose weight. They can’t bring themselves to the gym no matter how much they want to lose the weight.
Stagnation causes a quick uptick in poundage.
How can you lose weight and increase testosterone?
Because the relationship between weight and testosterone goes both ways, it can be challenging to answer the chicken or the egg question:
Am I gaining weight because of low testosterone or do I have low testosterone because I’m gaining weight?
But the answer to this question ultimately doesn’t matter.
You don’t want weight gain or low testosterone.
So how can you break the cycle?
You have to start by boosting your testosterone.
Whether your weight gain was the cause or effect of low testosterone, losing weight starts by increasing testosterone.
Click here to discover the 13 ways to increase testosterone naturally. You’ll also want to learn about the 7 testosterone boosting myths, so you can make sure your training regimen is on the right track.
Testosterone replacement therapy might be a solution for some men, but it can also have a number of associated risks. There are other healthier ways to try increasing testosterone while losing fat.
Below are a few of the best ways to increase testosterone while losing weight—kill two birds with one stone!
- Lift weights. Resistance exercise builds muscle faster than cardio. As discussed, lean muscle burns fat faster and triggers testosterone production.
- Use high-intensity interval training. Studies show that interval training boosts testosterone better than steady endurance exercise. Interval workouts also tap into fat reserves to eat away at the pounds you’re struggling to lose.
- Stress less. The more you stress, the more cortisol you have in your body. More cortisol means less testosterone. Minimizing your stress is crucial to maintaining a healthy hormone balance. I recommend yoga, because it helps reduce stress while growing muscle mass.
- Maintain a consistent routine. You need to be exercising regularly in order to have a long-term impact on your testosterone levels. The most effective routines include both cardio and weightlifting to boost muscle mass and burn fat simultaneously.
- Don’t shy away from fats. Healthy fats are actually an important part of testosterone production. Study after study shows that low-fat, high-protein diets kill testosterone, minimize muscle mass, and increase fat storage. A balance of fats, carbs, and protein is critical for hormonal health and balance.
Learn more about the Carnivore Diet and Fat Loss here.
Learn other testosterone boosting methods here.
Conclusion
If you’re struggling to get rid of those pesky pounds, low testosterone may have something to do with it. The intimate relationship between testosterone and weight gain can create a vicious cycle that can be hard to break.
But if you boost your testosterone, you’ll increase muscle mass and strength, encourage weight loss, improve energy and stamina… and enrich your overall health and vitality!
I have the ultimate solution to breaking the cycle.
Because I’ve done it myself.
During a routine physical exam, I found out I was 25 pounds overweight. My cholesterol was 245. My doctor showed me my life expectancy chart based on my medical history and health… and it scared the crap out of me.
So I decided to make a change.
I decided to break the cycle.
And I’ve been helping men lose weight and boost testosterone ever since.
Now it’s your turn.
Ready to take the next steps?
Schedule a Call
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In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. Unfortunately, a man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. And a man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0!
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, world renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com
Want more tips to optimize your health? Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE
Epigenetics Series: What Should You Eat For Your Body Type?
Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” In other words, eat for your body type.
Do you have trouble losing weight?
Are your blood tests consistently coming back with high cholesterol, adrenal concerns, low testosterone, and other risk factors?
Do you have an increased risk of disease?
Are you currently suffering from an illness?
All of these concerns may be a result of an incorrect or poor diet or failing to eat for your body type.
What you eat has a direct impact on your genetic expression, which proportionally influences your health and wellness.
This intimate relationship between nutrition and epigenetics has a direct result on your body’s health, energy, and immunity.
Healthy, nutrient-rich foods strengthen your DNA expression to minimize illness, pains, and risk of disease. In reverse, the wrong foods can activate DNA markers that make you susceptible to obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other ailments.
Food is so much more than calories and energy. The vitamins and nutrients you put in your body have a direct impact on your health at a molecular and genetic level.
Let’s take a quick look at what epigenetics is and how it’s related to your diet. Then I’ll give you a list of the best foods you should eat for your body type to activate strong genes and deactivate harmful ones.
What is epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the means of “controlling” your genes. Your DNA pattern will always remain the same. The DNA you were born with will be the DNA structure you die with.
Though your genes don’t change, the expression of those genes can alter over time. For example, you could have blonde hair as a child and now you naturally have brown hair. Your gene didn’t change, but the expression of that hair color gene changed.
This change in genetic expression occurs through activation or deactivation of epigenetic factors. “Epigenetics” looks at those processes that “turn off” or “turn on” certain genes.
Read: What Is Epigenetics & Why Do You Care?
The two most common types of activators are DNA methylation and histone acetylation.
DNA methylation occurs when methyl molecules attach to the end of genetic sequences to tighten or loosen the DNA’s double helix. This process plays a significant role in aging, cancer, and other inflammatory diseases. Methylation has been especially linked to cancer production by silencing those genes that repair cells and fight against tumors.
Histone acetylation occurs when acetyl enzymes alter the body’s histone proteins. This has been shown to control the repression of certain chromatin domains in the DNA process.
Both DNA methylation and histone acetylation impact the way your genes are expressed. If an environmental or lifestyle trigger causes either process, your genes can be silenced or activated.
Just as easily as high-risk genes can be flipped “on,” they can be reversed into the “off” position as well.
The easiest way to reverse or prevent the process of negative genetic expression is with healthy lifestyle influencers—like nutrition and diet.
How are epigenetics and diet linked?
DNA methylation and histone acetylation occur as a result of certain lifestyle and environmental triggers. These triggers can include physical exercise, stress, sleep, addiction, pollution, and diet.
Every day, our body handles oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs naturally whenever we metabolize oxygen in our bodies. When we exercise, move, or even breathe, we metabolize oxygen to create more energy. This is a natural, low-impact oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress also occurs from our environment, like pollution, radiation, pesticides, and chemicals. It can also be a result of high stress or lack of sleep.
Although we deal with oxidative stress daily, high stress can create a serious health problem. This stress, also called “uncontrolled free-radical production,” alters your genetic expression. It minimizes the body’s immunity and damages your body’s natural self-healing properties.
This leads to disease and cancer because the body doesn’t have the immune strength to prevent or fight against illness. Oxidative stress also promotes inflammation, which progresses conditions like cancer, premature aging, and heart disease.
We can’t prevent our bodies from dealing with oxidative stress. However, we can minimize the impact of oxidative stress on our genes and health—through a healthy diet and by ensuring you eat for your body type.
Eating certain vitamins and nutrients actually helps defend against oxidative stress in the body. In fact, diet is the number one way to fight against cancer and disease caused by oxidative stress.
What are phytonutrients?
Certain nutrients and compounds, like phytonutrients, are proven defense mechanisms against free radicals. These nutrients promote the gene expression of protective immunity genes while silencing those genes that initiate high-risk disease.
Phytonutrients are plant-based compounds that impact our bodies at the genetic level. They’re antioxidants, meaning that they fight against (“anti”) oxidative stress (“oxidants”). They’re also anti-inflammatory, meaning they defend against inflammatory triggers. These phytonutrients have healing qualities that are proven to activate healthy genes while silencing adverse ones.
There are nearly 25,000 known phytonutrients. Each plant has its own makeup of phytonutrients, which are usually found in the pigment of the plant. For example, red plants like tomatoes and watermelon contain lycopene, while yellow plants like pineapple and lemon contain flavonoids. Both lycopene and flavonoids are phytonutrients, but they impact genetic expression in unique ways.
Thus, you want to have a “rainbow diet.” A variety of plant colors helps ensure you get an array of phytonutrients in your system. For optimal body function, you need a diversity of nutrients and vitamins.
What should I eat for healthy genes?
You want to incorporate more phytonutrients into your diet in order to eat for your body type and activate immune-boosting genes and deactivate disease-risk ones. This is a process that everyone should add to eat right for his/her body type.
But what specific phytonutrients should you eat for ultimate gene health?
Below I’ll go through some of the most impactful phytonutrients that will boost your overall health—and your sexual health.
Ultimately, though, you want to focus on choosing healthy, whole foods that come in a variety of colors. Whether on this list or not, most fruits and veggies contain nutrients that can assist your body’s healthy genetic expression.
Lycopene
Phytonutrient: lycopene
Foods: tomatoes, watermelon, red cabbage, grapefruit, papaya
Lycopene is a type of carotenoid that gives a reddish color to fruit. It’s a powerful antioxidant that may help decrease the risk of chronic diseases and cancers.
Some researchers have looked at a link between lycopene and prostate cancer prevention and treatment. The general consensus is that lycopene may have an impact on prostate cancer due to its strong antioxidant effect. Lycopene is found in high concentrations in prostate cells, so it may be the fastest acting antioxidant due to proximity. Lycopene has also been linked to slower tumor growth and reduced levels of an insulin growth factor.
The lycopene antioxidant is especially related to the deactivation of “aging” genes. Basically, lycopene may help minimize the natural effects of aging!
Beta-carotene
Phytonutrient: beta-carotene
Foods: carrots, mangos, oranges, sweet potato, winter squash, cantaloupe, spinach, lettuce
Beta-carotene (BC) is most often found in orange fruits and vegetables. It may be proangiogenic, meaning it promotes angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is the creation of new blood vessels from pre-existing blood vessels. One study found that BC decreased DNA methylation and promoted vascular endothelial growth.
Strong blood vessels are critical to a healthy body. Your blood vessels transport oxygen throughout your body, delivering energy to your muscles and organs. Without a strong process of angiogenesis, you’re at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. This vascular process also plays an important role in erectile dysfunction, which is often the result of weak blood vessels or other vascular disorders.
Flavonoids
Phytonutrient: flavonoids
Foods: lemons, citrus, pineapple, berries, apples, legumes, red wine
Flavonoids are linked to anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and anti-thrombogenic mechanisms. They seem to be able to module cell-signaling cascades.
Flavonoids are associated with a significantly reduced risk of stroke and cardiovascular events. This is likely because of their anti-inflammatory effects on markers of oxidative stress.
Learn more about flavonoids here.
Glucosinolate
Phytonutrient: glucosinolate
Foods: kale, arugula, watercress
Glucosinolate is a phytonutrient that suppresses cancer cell growth. These cruciferous vegetables tend to be bitter due to the high levels of glucosinolate. For years, this bitter taste was associated with plant “toxins.” In fact, the reverse has been proven true. That bitterness actually plays an important role in genetic biosynthetic pathways.
Cruciferous vegetables also contain isothiocyanates, which increase histone acetylation and activate immune-boosting genes.
Want to get the most out of your vegetables? Cut your cruciferous veggies and let them sit for five to ten minutes before cooking. This helps activate the glucosinolate enzyme to release the nutrients for digestion and absorption.
Anthocyanins
Phytonutrient: anthocyanins
Foods: pomegranates, blueberries, plums, raspberry, black rice, corn
Anthocyanins are one of the greatest phytonutrient powerhouses. In fact, the flavonoid anthocyanin plays a significant role in minimizing free radicals, decreasing inflammation, minimizing blood sugar concentrations, and preventing age-related neural declines. There are endless proven benefits of anthocyanins that your DNA expression loves.
This compound gives foods a reddish-purple pigment, so be on the lookout for dark-colored fruits like pomegranates and blueberries.
In fact, pomegranates are proven to be one of the best foods for your sexual and overall health!
Quercetin
Phytonutrient: quercetin
Foods: apples, peppers, blueberries, tomatoes, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, cocoa, red onion, black and green tea
Quercetin is a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound. It’s a type of polyphenolic antioxidant that reduces oxidative stress and free-radical genetic changes. Quercetin has been shown to fight inflammatory conditions like high cholesterol, heart disease, ulcers, diabetes, allergies, cognitive impairment, prostate inflammation (BPH), cancer, and skin disorders.
This anti-inflammatory effect helps activate a strong expression of your immune genes.
Apples are especially chock full of quercetin and other necessary phytonutrients. If you learn only one thing from this article, let it be this: An apple a day keeps the healthy genes at play!
Butyrate
Phytonutrient: butyrate
Foods: sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, pickled beets
Butyrate blocks inflammation in the body, especially in the digestive system. It plays an important role in the fermentation of dietary fibers in the gut. This gut-brain link is critical to overall health—as well as genetic health. If you have a strong gut, you are less likely to be susceptible to adverse DNA methylation.
Learn more about butyrate and probiotic microbiome health here.
Have you noticed that some of the strongest phytonutrients reduce both oxidative stress and inflammation?
Find out more about the concerns of chronic inflammation and its impact on genetic expression.
What should you avoid?
All of the above phytonutrients come from fruits and vegetables.
But does this mean to eat for your body type, you have to avoid all non-plant products?
Not necessarily. You can still eat animal products in moderation. Animal products themselves have not yet been linked to epigenetic methylation concerns. However, animal products and packaged, processed foods do have higher levels of chemicals and additives. These antibiotics and preservatives are proven environmental triggers for epigenetic changes.
Moreover, certain foods drastically impact your health at a genetic and cellular level. Take a look at our list of 7 foods that cause erectile dysfunction as an example.
You don’t need to drastically change your diet and lifestyle in order to be healthy.
But you need a diverse diet to maintain genetic health. Eating the same foods day after day make it challenging for your genes to function properly. You need a variety of nutrients and vitamins to maintain all processes in the body, including those that regulate gene expression.
Remember: when you eat for your body type by eating a salad, you won’t instantly change your genes. But healthy, strong choices on a consistent basis can impact your weight, energy, and genetic expression. With the right vitamins, you can reduce your risk of disease—while having the most energy you’ve ever had in your life!
Bottom Line
Your health is in your hands—and on your plate! It’s imperative for your wellness to eat for your body type. The food you eat has a direct impact on your genetic expression and risk for disease.
Do you know how to incorporate a variety of phytonutrients into your diet?
Do you know how to minimize oxidative stress and control your genetic expression?
No? Then you need an easy, step-by-step plan to get you on the path to ULTIMATE health.
Schedule a consultation to learn how to personalized health advice so you can live your life to the fullest.
Ready to take the next steps?
Schedule a Call
**************************
In Male 2.0™, Dr. Tracy Gapin has turned everything we once thought we knew about men’s health and performance upside down. The old model of how to be “a man” is broken. A man who works himself to death. Unfortunately, a man who tries to NOT get sick but isn’t really healthy either. And a man who takes a pill for every ill but is never really cured. That was Male 1.0. Now, imagine being THE MAN ─ owning your performance in the bedroom, the weight room, and the boardroom. Living a fully optimized life. Becoming limitless. This is Male 2.0!
Tracy Gapin, MD, FACS is a board-certified Urologist, world renowned Men’s Health & Performance Expert, Author, and Professional Speaker. Using state-of-the-art biometric monitoring, nutrition and lifestyle intervention, Dr. Gapin coaches Fortune 500 executives and evolutionary leaders of business, sports medicine, and high performance. He specializes in cutting-edge precision medicine with an emphasis on epigenetics, providing men with a personalized path to optimizing health & performance. www.GapinInstitute.com
Want more tips to optimize your health? Listen to the latest podcasts. Click HERE
10 Reasons Men Over 40 Should Take Probiotics
Hippocrates said, “all disease begins in the gut”—and he wasn’t wrong! Today I’m here to tell you how you can regulate your overall health by consuming tiny, living organisms: probiotics.
You’ve hit age 40, 50, or 60… and are noticing that your health isn’t what it used to be. Your belly is growing, you have new aches and pains, and you get sick easier than you used to. You take over-the-counter meds, prescription meds, supplements, this and that… and still nothing seems to be helping your health.
That’s because those medications simply mask your specific symptoms without getting to root of the problem.
For example, you may notice that after age 40 you’ve started getting sick more often. You take cold medication and amoxicillin when it strikes, and you might even take Airborne or vitamin C to help prevent it. But still, your immune system is down. Without a major system overload, you will continue to get sick time and time again because your immune system isn’t functioning properly.
So how do you know what the real problem is? And how do you fix it?
It may not be as complicated as we think. Recent research shows that overall well-being is linked to the gut. That means that oftentimes those inexplicable ailments in your body relate back to your intestinal system (stomach and colon).
In fact, many scientists and researchers even call the gut “the body’s second brain.” The gut sends signals and nutrients to the rest of your body, telling your brain, organs, and even blood how to work.
What does a healthy gut look like?
85% of good bacteria and 15% of bad bacteria make up a healthy gut. This good bacteria helps keep the rest of your body functioning by helping to absorb nutrients, support the immune system, balance hormones, and keep your organs clear of disease. The good bacteria also help fight off bad bacteria, like disease and infection. Research with Harvard Health discovered that good bacteria can actually prevent and treat common diseases.
Every day, we encounter environmental stressors that can deplete the good bacteria and allow bad bacteria to take over. Unhealthy or processed foods, pollution, antibiotics, pesticides, and even simple aging processes can create a disharmonious relationship between good and bad bacteria. Sickness seeps in as the ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria becomes unbalanced.
In fact, a study in Neurogastroenterology & Motility found that mice who had higher levels of bad gut bacteria were more likely to engage in high-risk behavior. They also found that their gut bacteria neurochemically altered brain gene activity and organ functioning.
Gut health directly relates to mental and physical health. So how do we keep the gut healthy and the good bacteria at an advantage?
Probiotics.
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are live organisms that add good bacteria to your gut. “Pro” means both “an advantage of something” and “before”; and “biotic” relates to living things and the relation to their ecosystem. Together, this gives us an understanding of probiotics:
Probiotics are living microbes that give our gut an advantage before bad bacteria strikes.
There are multiple strains of probiotics, but the most common are Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Probiotics are well known for their influence on digestion, IBS, lactose intolerance, and other intestinal-related issues. But recent research has found that probiotics may also have a lot of other benefits for overall health outside of the gut as well:
- Reduce inflammation
- Reduce bloating/gas
- Improve digestion and constipation
- Balance hormones
- Regulate blood sugar levels
- Promote nutrient absorption
- Boost immune system
- Fight off disease, infection, and the common cold
In fact, probiotics help stave off signs of aging in your body by promoting healthy, youthful organ processes. Many people may struggle with a lot of the factors listed above and below and it may prove to be damaging to their confidence as well as their health. That’s why Probiotics such as these probaclac probiotics can help with some of these issues and can help give you a better quality of life. Probiotics may also be beneficial in fighting off age-related concerns like:
- Weight gain
- Cholesterol and cardiovascular illnesses
- Mood disorders and stress
- Lowered immunity (more susceptible to illness)
- New or worsened allergies
- Sagging, wrinkled, uneven skin
- Diminished bone mass
- Harsher medication side effects
- Worsened colon diseases
- More stomach acid and ulcers
Let’s take a look at the research to back up these pro-probiotic claims:
1. Promotes weight loss
Everyone naturally gains weight as they age. After age 40, your metabolism drops and it feels like every fry goes right to the gut. In addition, your testosterone levels drop with age—and low T is linked to increased weight gain.
A slow metabolism, low testosterone levels, and low energy all contribute to that growing number on the scale. You may also feel as though no matter what you do, you can’t seem to shed those increasing pounds. Probiotics may be the solution to kick-start your weight loss program.
Probiotics have been shown to reduce body weight and BMI, according to a meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. They found that ingesting at least two types of probiotics for 8 weeks had the greatest weight loss results. The weight loss was not drastic, so probiotics are not the same as a “weight loss pill.”
Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that probiotics can be a useful addition to a healthy diet and exercise plan as a way to boost weight loss results and encourage a healthful lifestyle. Another study found that the probiotics rhamnosus and bifidobacterium lactis proved especially beneficial in preventing obesity and boosting weight loss.
Even a small reduction in weight due to probiotics can encourage you to pursue a weight loss plan that will lead to overall health and wellness.
One form of probiotics, lactobacillus gasseri, was found to result in a loss of 8.5% belly fat mass over a 3-month period on average. While these results from the British Journal of Nutrition were strong, there was also a strongly opposing caveat. The moment the participants stopped taking the supplement, they gained back all of that weight.
This shows that certain strains of probiotics may help you shed those pounds—but they are not a solution in it of themselves.
Additionally, probiotics have been proven time and time again to help regulate blood sugar. After you eat, your blood sugar spikes. When those spikes are strong enough, your body takes the extra sugar and turns it into fat. Probiotics regulate those spikes, so your body won’t have a lot of free-floating sugar to convert to fat cells.
This means that probiotics may also help individuals with type 2 diabetes.
2. Lowers cholesterol
Probiotics have been linked to cholesterol regulation and heart health. The 2010 Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research found three ways that probiotics lower cholesterol levels:
a.) Probiotics produce propionic acid.
This acid sends signals to the liver and tells it to produce less cholesterol.
b.) Probiotics break down liver bile acids.
Bile is a byproduct of the liver’s consumption of cholesterol. As probiotics break down bile acids, the liver is forced to produce more bile. This means that the liver needs to use up more cholesterol in order to make that additional bile. This helps naturally lower the cholesterol because your liver is using up cholesterol for its natural processes.
c.) Probiotics actually eat cholesterol and use it as nourishment. Nice!
A 2012 study in Experimental Diabetes Research furthered this theory with proof of certain probiotic strains’ effect on cholesterol. For example, L. reuteri lowered triglycerides, L. acidophilus ate cholesterol, and L. plantarum used cholesterol assimilation to rid of unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Basically, probiotics eat cholesterol, force your liver to produce less cholesterol, and cause your liver to consume its own cholesterol. A triple threat.
3. Improves mood disorders
One of the most surprising and exciting benefits of probiotics is the impact on the brain and nervous system, again reiterating the strong link between gut and overall wellbeing.
After age 40, life hits harder than in the past. External stresses and anxieties pop up, and our body loses energy and strength to deal with these stressors. Probiotics may help keep up our energy and fight off mood disorders, making probiotic users happier and healthier overall.
A Gastroenterology study of mice found that gut flora (aka the amount of good or bad bacteria in the tummy) directly influenced mice behavior and brain chemistry—aside from any external factors. The researchers believe that the bacteria produces some sort of chemical that can influence the brain…meaning that probiotics can help correct mood changes.
This may prove especially true for those who have gastrointestinal diseases or an unhealthy amount of bad gut flora already.
A small Brain, Behavior, and Immunity study found that “multispecies probiotic supplementation reduced cognitive reactivity to sad mood.” Those participants who took a probiotic supplement daily felt happier than those who were taking a placebo. They found the strongest effects with regards to reduced rumination (thinking about sad things) and reduced aggressiveness.
This suggests that probiotics can be a potential preventative strategy for depression, stress, and anxiety.
The Gut Microbes study discovered that two strains of probiotics, L. helveticus and B. longum, had especially strong psychological effects and were best able to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Additional research has found that bacteria can signal the brain to better deal with “stressors,” so stress doesn’t negatively influence the rest of the body.
But here’s my favorite study on the link between gut bacteria and psychological health:
Research published in Psychopharmacology found that participants taking prebiotics (similar to probiotics) paid less attention to negative stimuli and more attention to positive ones. Those individuals also had less anxiety with regards to negative or threatening stimuli.
But more importantly, those with prebiotics and high levels of good bacteria also had lower levels of cortisol when they woke in the morning (compared to participants taking a placebo). High levels of cortisol has a direct impact on depression.
High cortisol is also related to low testosterone. Cortisol suppresses testosterone production. This means that if you’re depressed or stressed, you get a spike in cortisol and a drop in testosterone. This can lead to low T levels and all the symptoms that come with it, like weight gain (see #1), loss of energy, and low sex drive.
This creates a vicious cycle of depression, anxiety, low testosterone, weight gain, and more. Probiotics may be able to help intervene and reduce cortisol, giving you better control over your moods, your testosterone, your weight, and your energy.
4. Boosts immune health
In the same way that the gut can influence the nervous system, it also influences the immune system. Immunity naturally decreases with age, and it can be hard to re-boost it unless you drown yourself in vitamin C.
A study in Nutrients found that athletes showed less incidence of upper respiratory infection when using probiotics. Another study by Yan and Polk found that probiotics may regulate the functions of immune cells, showing “therapeutic potential for diseases.” In essence, these studies suggest that probiotics are linked to the body’s overall immune-response system when faced with disease and infection.
Antibiotics go in to fight disease and bad bacteria after it’s hit. Probiotics fight off the bad bacteria before disease gets the chance to hit. Having a healthy level of good bacteria and probiotics in the gut can help ward off illness before it strikes. (Hence the prefix “pro”.)
If you keep your gut healthy, you’ll keep your entire body healthy.
5. Minimizes allergies
A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the probiotic B. lactis was able to boost the immune system and lower levels of pro-inflammatory markers. This helped those individuals suffering from seasonal allergies, concluding that B. lactis and other forms of probiotics may be useful for managing respiratory allergies.
If you are struggling with allergies and over-the-counter meds aren’t doing the trick, probiotics are a healthy potential alternative.
6. Improves skin conditions
Probiotics have anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body—including minimizing inflammation in your largest organ, your skin. Studies suggest that there is a link between probiotics and the treatment of psoriasis, eczema, rosacea, and even stubborn adult acne.
Additionally, long-term inflammation is a major cause of wrinkles. Minimize this inflammation with probiotics and restore your face with lots of water… and you’ll be able to fight off signs of aging. Some researchers believe that probiotics also help build collagen; collagen is what keeps your skin youthful and wickedly handsome.
These results aren’t totally proven yet, but we know probiotics won’t make you look older—so give it a shot!
7. Maintains bone density
Age brings with it a loss of bone mass and density. Bone breaks and cracks become easier and more frequent—and also more life-threatening. This is especially true for men with low testosterone levels, as high estrogen levels can take over and deteriorate bones.
According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 1 in 4 men over age 50 will break a bone because of bone density loss.
You can protect your bone density with probiotics! Studies have confirmed that “probiotics can increase bone mass density and bone mineral content and help reduce osteoporosis.”
P.S. Did you know that milk doesn’t actually make your bones stronger? “Got Milk” is one of the largest fibs of our modern media! Probiotics are the most natural way to maintain your bone’ strength and durability.
8. Minimizes diarrhea side effects
Unfortunately, a lowered immune system also leads to other diseases and problems that call for medications. A 2012 study found that probiotics may improve symptoms of diarrhea associated with chemotherapy and antibiotic usage.
In addition, the British Journal of Cancer found that those participants who were treated with two strains of probiotics (5-fluorouracil and L. rhamnosus) experienced less severe diarrhea and shorter hospital stays than those patients not taking probiotics. This was especially true for participants who were undergoing chemo for colorectal cancer, likely because probiotics can have other positive effects on the large intestine.
9. Treats diverticular diseases
Probiotics are well known for their ability to aid in digestion and stomach disorders—but they may have even stronger effects on the intestines than previously considered.
Diverticulitis and diverticulosis are much more common after the age of 40, and diverticulosis is one of the most common medical conditions in the U.S. with nearly one-third of all Americans developing it by age 60—and two-thirds by age 85. But just because it’s common doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously. In fact, the pain is so intense it often causes hospital stays, and serious cases can call for emergency surgery and long-term health concerns.
But diverticular disease is preventable and treatable. Multiple analyses and studies have shown that probiotics can help prevent diverticular disease by improving digestion and bowel movements. Less poop in your system, the less likely you’ll develop diverticular disease—and the more energy and vigor you’ll have! These studies also showed that probiotics can help treat symptomatic diverticular disease, prevent disease recurrence, and improve quality of life.
One study found that the probiotic L. casei was an especially effective treatment—as effective as the standard medication for diverticulosis. Plus, the probiotics had fewer side effects. A combination of probiotics with prescription medications showed the fastest and most complete recovery.
10. Eradicates ulcers
Similarly, ulcers become a common occurrence with age. Acid builds up over the years (especially when processed foods are consumed), and the stomach doesn’t have the youth and vigor to handle the imbalance of acid. This causes the stomach to eat itself, causing painful and dangerous ulcers and internal bleeding.
Probiotics have been shown to eradicate ulcers and restore the gut’s natural balance. Probiotics attack and eat Helicobacter pylori, a bacteria linked to the development of ulcers. This stops ulcers in their tracks before they even begin to form.
Probiotics thus can reduce peptic ulcers, gastritis, and other stomach atrophies.
Where can you find probiotics?
Have I convinced you of the importance of probiotics in your aging health? Great! So how can you get the probiotics your body so desperately craves?
You can naturally find probiotics in fermented foods such as:
- Yogurt
- Kimchi
- Soft, fermented cheeses
- Unpasteurized sauerkraut
- Miso soup
- Sourdough bread
- Sour pickles (naturally fermented)
- Kombucha
- Kefir (fermented milk drink)
These delicious foods are an easy addition to your diet. I always recommend eating at least one cup of Greek yogurt per day. It’s a healthy snack that will give you your daily dose of probiotics while also helping to slim down your waistline, curb hunger cravings, improve mental clarity, and more.
The unfortunate paradox of probiotic-rich foods is that many of them are lactose-happy. If you are lactose intolerant or sensitive, you should not eat many of these foods. Nevertheless, you especially need probiotics to help overcome your IBS and lactose intolerance problems.
Thankfully, probiotic supplements are easy to come by. You can buy a variety of probiotic strains at your local health grocer, supplement store, or drug store. Taking the daily dose of these supplements will ensure you regulate your gut flora towards overall healthier wellbeing—no matter your age.
Always be sure to consult with your doctor before starting a new regimen. Your doc can help find the best natural probiotic solutions for your health concerns.
Do you want to learn more about ways to boost your health? Sign up for The Male 90X program now.