Testosterone plays a huge role in men’s health , but its perhaps most meaningful role is in feeling sex drive and performance. Testosterone levels decrease with age and similar to what women go through with menopause, men go through what we call andropause. The peak levels occur in early adulthood and then drop by about 1% per year beginning in the 40’s. An abrupt decrease in levels can occur with certain conditions. It can happen because of an injury or illness (such as an infection), chemotherapy or radiation treatment, or certain medications. More commonly and at very high levels we are seeing men’s testosterone levels dropping because of changes in the American diet. I have been speaking about the Standard American Diet in the past, and that diet consist of high processed carbohydrates. A blood sugar that goes above 110-120, causes changes in the hormones that feed into the production of testosterone. Many do not realize this connection and it can be a rude awakening to discover once irreversible damage has occurred to the cells in the testicles that produce testosterone. A lot of the damage can occur in a way that is painless and can go undetected because of lack of symptoms until there are dramatic issues in the health.
Testosterone helps to maintain sex drive and sexual performance. This function can be important to men’s self esteem so it is important to act proactively to prevent this decline prematurely.
