Currently, intermittent fasting is the most distinguished health trend all over the globe.
That’s why people are looking for a link between Intermittent Fasting and Testosterone.
But, what has science to say on this buzzing topic.
Does intermittent fasting have any effect on the male hormone?
Well, through this article we are going to discover the entire fact.
Does intermittent fasting raise testosterone levels?
Unfortunately, low testosterone level or declining T-level is a widely common issue.
A study from 2007 suggests that every year the average T-level drops by 1%. In addition to it, a normal 65-year-old man in 2004 had 17 percent less male hormone than a typical 65-year-old man in 1987.
But, before we come to any point, let’s see what’s testosterone and its link to intermittent fasting.
What is Testosterone?
Testosterone is a male sex hormone responsible for several masculine characteristics like hairiness and bigger muscle.
Well, in men, the hormone is produced in testicles, and in women, ovaries produce a significantly lower T-level.
Testosterone impacts different bodily functions. This includes:
- Sex drive
- Sperm production
- May influence mood
- Bone strength and development
- Elevating muscle strength and size
- Stiffening the vocal cords, deepening your voice
Low Testosterone Levels— Why Does It Matter?
Low testosterone levels are quite problematic. In fact, it can lead to sleep problems, concentration issues, and even osteoporosis.
However, the issues don’t end here either.
Research reveals that low testosterone levels can lead to metabolic syndrome. This can result in stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Moreover, it can significantly affect your body weight.
You would gain more weight while losing lean muscle. Eventually, you would find it tough to gain muscle or workout.
For fitness freak and people into bodybuilding low T-level can create a big fuss.
Let’s check out the ways you can find your testosterone levels are low…
Symptoms of Low Testosterone
Testosterone level below 300 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL), means you need to get checked.
Here are the common symptoms indicating it
- Low sex drive
- Low semen volume
- Hair loss
- Fatigue
- Low blood count
- Weight gain
- Fat loss
- Weak nails
How to Increase Testosterone: Intermittent Fasting
Testosterone therapy doesn’t work for you? Well, there are other better ways to get it a push.
In fact, these natural ways to amplify your male hormone requires nothing but little change in your diet.
By making alterations in your eating habits, intermittent fasting can become an ideal solution for your low testosterone level.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting isn’t like a normal diet plan you are used to complying with.
Actually, it is a way of eating and having food. Particularly, it is a combination of deciding to skip meals consciously.
You can comply in two ways with Intermittent Fasting for more testosterone!
#1: The 16:8 Plan
In this fasting pattern, you have an open continuous 8-hour window to have whatever you want to.
For instance, you would eat food between noon and 8 p.m. In such a routine, you would skip your breakfast daily.
Moreover, you can even eat for a six- or four-hour window.
Whatever eating pattern you pick, make sure you are comfortable with it and can proceed with it for a long way.
#2: The 24-Hour Plan
This eating pattern helps you maintain a normal consuming routine with a single yet prominent exception.
You have to do a complete fast twice a week. In short, you are not going to have anything for straight 24 hours twice a week.
For instance, you are done by your dinner at 6 p.m. then you are going to have nothing till 6 p.m. the next day.
Initially, you can manage 18, 20, or 22 hours. Adjust the routine to see what works best for and how it affects.
The Link Between Intermittent Fasting And Testosterone
When we have food, we consume energy. In its response, our body creates insulin.
The greater is insulin sensitivity, the greater are you likely to use the food.
When you are fasting, insulin sensitivity increases and you burn more fat than usual.
Eventually, this results in muscle creation and weight loss.
Glycogen is a starch accumulated in the liver and muscles from which energy can be extracted while you are asleep.
Continuing with intermittent fasting can even exaggerate insulin sensitivity.
In short, having your meal post-workout in the morning is greater use of energy. It turns to glycogen and either it functions as energy or accumulated in your muscles. Either way, fat storage is minimal.
Compare this result with a normal day without fasting.
Eventually, your insulin sensitivity reduces and the carbohydrate you have functioned as full of glycogen stores.
Evidently, this would store like body fat too.
Next, fasting increases several body functions. In fact, hormones like HGH, testosterone increases in a fasting condition.
Whether you are sleeping or awake, their production and secretion ascend.
Finally, the fat loss process becomes rapid, muscle gain increases and testosterone level elevates.
Boosting Testosterone with Fasting
Several studies and research supports the concept of increasing testosterone level by fasting.
The most eating pattern has one thing common i.e. skipping breakfast.
So, is that really essential for elevating your male hormone level? But, why?
Actually, your blood sugar, cortisol, and insulin levels are extremely sensitive after a complete night’s sleep.
This might seem odd. However, studies indicate that show higher blood sugar results in reduced T levels.
In short, high blood sugar levels leads to insulin sensitivity.
Well, we have cited it a couple of times, but let’s take a peek in detail.
Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity if your body’s fighting to insulin. Surprisingly, this relates to the male hormone likewise cortisol does.
In the morning, cortisol raises and lessens testosterone naturally.
When we eat breakfast after waking up, the situation goes like this!
- Having breakfast leads to high blood sugar
- The body secretes insulin to manage it
- Blood sugar drops radically
- Cortisol levels are naturally high in time the morning
- The grouping of fluctuating blood sugar and high cortisol results in hunger pans, even when you had have our meal
- Again, when you have the meal, it begins repeatedly
Obviously, this cycle leads to over calorie consumption. Over time, this can result in even insulin resistance.
Hence, men having insulin resistance leads to significantly low testosterone levels.
Skipping breakfast can lessen your cortisol level to a great extent. In short, it puts a stop to the annoying cycle.
Moreover, this protects your pancreas too.
Not only that, but it makes you have lesser calories and help in weight loss.
An increased body-mass index another huge reason behind lesser T-levels.
Lepin
Leptin greatly affects your male hormone level. In fact, short term fasting lessens the quantity of Leptin in your body.
Research shows a converse relationship between it and the hormone.
It is not just about correlation. Actually, there are solid pieces of evidence that intermittent fasting can influence your male hormone.
A study exposed a 180 percent upsurge in male hormone levels and a 67 percent upsurge in testosterone’s precursor levels.
However, the most important question revolving around Intermittent Fasting And Testosterone is should you even fast?
Intermittent Fasting And Testosterone: Should You Fast?
The science is simple, Intermittent Fasting and Testosterone have a link. Still, people wonder should they fast.
Let’s move to the ground level to grab some real facts!
#1: Support Your Goals
Obviously, not all calories are equal. Still, caloric restriction plays a pivotal role in fat loss.
When you stick to a lessened eating pattern, you easily restrict weekly calorie intake.
Moreover, with lesser time to overeat, you lose weight or maintain it.
#2: Simplifies The Day
Most of the time you spend cooking packing and timing your meals every day.
Contrarily, you just bother for your start and end times for your eating window. At least, you have one lesser thing to think about daily.
Furthermore, you can enjoy more significant meal portions, which are satisfying and have fewer calories.
#3: Save You Money
Instead of purchasing different ingredients for three or more meals daily, you require to prepare for two only.
#4: Promotes Growth Hormone Secretion and Insulin Sensitivity
Clinging to intermittent fasting increases several body functions.
Eventually, this helps you gain massive muscle and help you lose weight.
Next, checking out the Intermittent Fasting Benefits would get you higher surety.
Intermittent Fasting Benefits
Intermittent fasting and testosterone correlation is a great thing to rejoice.
However, this eating pattern has more to offer. Here are the major benefits of intermittent fasting.
#1: Eating Influences Testosterone Levels
A study from the Journal of Metabolism and another from the British Journal of Nutrition has amazing facts to share.
Caloric ingestion irrespective of the macronutrient results in a drop in the testosterone in the male body.
#2: Fasting Will Elevate Testosterone Levels
On a hormonal level, intermittent fasting has shown amazing facts in the study from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
It can significantly lessen the hormone leptin. This drop in the leptin hormone leads to the instant stimulation of testosterone secretion.
In short, the testosterone volume in your blood would spike up.
Several clinical research including one published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation had concluded incredible results. Actually, 24-hour fasting has led to a drastic spike in your HGH level. This typical study has shown an increase of 2000%.
Another interesting yet surprising research published European Journal of Endocrinology has some strong points to depict.
The study had two sets of male subjects. The first one was 9 massively obese men and the other set had 8 non-obese men.
Both sets had to overnight fast for as well as a 54-hour fast.
The first group of obese men had a 26% upsurge in the gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or GnRH, the male hormone precursor.
The non-obese men had an elevation in GnRH by 67% as well as a 180% upsurge in serum testosterone levels.
#3: Fasting Activates Fat Burning
In the same study from the Journal of Obesity, the men who had cling to fasting had amazing results to show.
Their fat burning rate as well metabolism had elevated drastically.
#4: Fasting Increases Healthy Detoxification
Your body accumulates several harmful radicals, toxins, and agents throughout the day.
Due to constant engagement in digestion, the human body doesn’t have the required time for detoxification.
A study in the American Journal of Physiology, fasting triggered autophagy boosted the efficacy of the removal of toxins and estrogenic compounds, and delaying estrogen is certainly best.
Well, these were more facts on intermittent fasting and testosterone.
Nonetheless, the most asked question about it is how to use Time-Restricted Eating Testosterone.
Here’s how to do it?
How To Use Intermittent Fasting?
As mentioned earlier, there are two pivotal variations of intermittent fasting.
Here’s how to use intermittent fasting!
The 16-Hour Fast
The eating pattern became popular due to Martin Berkhan. You can perform it daily or a few times every week.
Here’s how to do it.
- Select a start time. (for instance 8:00 PM)
- Eat no calories for 16 hours. (Coffee, water, tea, and non-caloric brews are okay.)
- End fasting after 16 hours (for instance 12 PM next day)
- Begin your 8-hour feeding window of clean and healthy food.
The 24-Hour Fast
If you like the 24-hour fast idea more impressive, do it twice every week.
Here’s how to follow 48 Hour Fast Testosterone
- Select a start time. (for instance 6:00 PM)
- Have no calories for 24 hours. (Coffee, water, tea, and non-caloric drinks are okay.)
- End fasting after 24 hours (for instance 6:00 PM the next day)
- Eat as you typically would throughout your training and non-training day.
Lastly, we have addressed some popular questions moving around intermittent fasting and testosterone.
Commonly Asked Fasting Questions
Q1: Does fasting affect testosterone test?
Intermittent fasting doesn’t promise your surreal increase in your testosterone level.
However, that doesn’t mean it has no impact on balancing hormone at all.
In fact, evidence suggests its capability of managing different hormones and even increase your testosterone.
Nonetheless, the increase in testosterone varies from person to person.
Q2: Will intermittent fasting affect muscle gain?
Intermittent fasting does not really lead to direct muscle loss than other weight-loss diets.
However, adding weight training or any other specialized workout can help in maintaining your muscle mass.
Still, working out or not is entirely your choice. Anyway will get you significant results.
Q3: Does intermittent fasting help with hormones?
Clinging to intermittent fasting improves your hormone function and even leads to weight loss.
In fact, in the long term, you are going to experience lowered insulin levels, greater HGH levels, and elevated amounts of norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
Q4: Does testosterone level need to be fasting?
Blood for the male hormone should be taken in the morn before 8 while you are in a fasting state.
The measurement should be repeated if you have lower or borderline testosterone levels.
Q5: What time is testosterone highest?
In the morning, the male hormone levels are highest in the morning. However, this won’t be the same in older men.
To get the best results, experts take blood for measuring testosterone between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. make sure you are in a fasting state all the while.
Q6: What is the best testosterone booster?
Natural testosterone boosting supplements are the best thing you can try out.
In fact, these natural edibles can increase your male hormone level naturally but such including them in your diet.
Some of the best natural testosterone boosters are spinach, oysters, green leafy vegetables, eggs, and more.
Q7: What increases and decreases testosterone?
Natural testosterone boosting foods and certain workouts can elevate your male hormone.
Whereas testosterone killing foods, sitting idle, having unhealthy lifestyle habits can lessen your testosterone level drastically.
Intermittent Fasting and Testosterone | The Final Take
Undoubtedly, intermittent fasting and testosterone have a strong link.
Also, scientific findings indicate a strong probability of its capability to elevate your male hormone.
Long Term Fasting and Testosterone has sturdy results to provide.
Still, only intermittent fasting won’t get you significant results. Along with that, you need to work out rigorously.
Moreover, the diet is most crucial. Only have testosterone increasing food in your meals, but don’t overdo it.
Also, point out testosterone killing food from your diet to preserve your male hormone.
Here are more tips on intermittent fasting and testosterone.
Tips for “Doing” Fasting
- Feast and fast regularly: Whatever eating pattern you pick, just keep with it. Have entire calories during this time frame.
- Eat normally, then fast once or twice a week: whatever eating pattern you go for, in the eating window eating normally than feasting once a week.
- Fast every so often: If you are having a tough time fasting, you can just keep skipping meals o make it work.
Once you stick to these rules, you begin fasting keep a record of your testosterone level; keep measuring your weight to track your progress.
Our intermittent fasting and testosterone blog ends here!
Hope you find it informative. Don’t forget to share your reviews in the comment section. Have a good day!