Quick summary
- Testosterone plays a crucial role in various metabolic cycles in the body, including the development and management of male characteristics, sexuality, reproduction, muscle building, bone health, cognitive function, and cardiovascular health.
- Testosterone levels decline with age and can result in sexual health issues, infertility, decreased muscle growth, poor bone health, cognitive decline, and increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Testosterone can be naturally boosted through lifestyle changes and supplements, and has numerous benefits, including improved libido, stronger erections, better sperm quality, muscle development, healthy bones, improved cognitive function, and cardiovascular health.
When you hear the word testosterone, the very first images that will flash in your mind, is a sexually active male with a muscular physique.
It is how media and internet portrayed testosterone over the past few years, but in reality, the t-hormone is much dynamic than that.
It not just one or two functions, but testosterone1 has a number of roles in various metabolic cycles in our body.
They are very crucial for the development and management of male characteristics, in fact, even females secrete testosterone but in a lower volume.
This understanding created a huge market for supplements2, and various anabolic steroids.
There are other natural ways to boost the testosterone levels because the diminishing amount directly reflects on the daily life of an individual.
In this article, we shall discover some of the unspoken and unknown benefits of testosterone to make you understand how much this hormone means to the body.
Read more: Can Boosting Your Testosterone Help You Burn Fat?
The benefits of optimal testosterone levels
Testosterone increases libido and improves erections
Let’s talk about the most perceived benefit.
It’s no secret that testosterone is the hackamore for men’s sexuality and depending on its levels the libido changes.
Men with above-average levels of t-hormone are generally sexually active with strong sexual desire and vigor.
After the age of 30, levels plummet in males, and this is when the majority of people would go for testosterone boosters and other medicines.
So, in a sense, the sexual vigor goes down with age or rather ‘testosterone,’ and it is during this phase many of the males develop erectile dysfunction, which can also be caused due to various other reasons.
Sperm quality is also linked with the levels of t-hormone, and so is the sperm count.
Technically, testosterone peak during early adulthood would give you the best sex life after which it’s all down to personal factors like lifestyle and physiology.
Testosterone for reproduction
Testosterone is the most important signaling molecule required to initiate the preliminary steps of reproduction.
Developing male gonads, aiding the formation of male genitals, inducing sexual desire, and producing sperm, all this process critically need testosterone.
The male testicles are instructed by luteinizing hormone to produce testosterone, which results in fresh sperm production.
Having more t-hormone helps in better virility and sperm quality, leading to effortless insemination.
Men who have lower t-hormones are often sexually low and suffer from many sexual health issues, pushing them towards infertility.
Sperm count and t-levels are directly linked, with a healthy balanced range of 600ng/dL, the sperm health and count will be optimum.
Build a herculean figure with testosterone
The major reason why people supplement testosterone is to boost muscle growth than to jumpstart their losing sexuality.
This might sound bit contradictory, but yes, testosterone would rhym as muscle and sexuality for many of us because it is how the social stigma has been written over the years.
It doesn’t matter how hard you work on your gym, the right recipe for muscle development needs a major ingredient, and it is the mighty ‘T-hormone.’
When you perform strenuous exercises, the muscle expands and contracts, thereby straining the tissue, which creates invisible micro-tears.
It is the repairing of this micro-tears in the muscle tissue that leads to the growth of muscle mass.
Harder you train, more intense will be the tears, and so will be the cuttings and groves of the muscles.
Testosterone interacts with various action centers and releases plenty of neurotransmitters, which will help in muscle development.
Also, testosterone can specifically bind to certain nuclear receptors, which can upregulate the protein synthesis process.
In a nutshell, more the amount of testosterone more will be the growth hormones and therefore, greater muscle building.
That’s not all of it; testosterone is an excellent fat burner ensuring best-ripped muscles when combined with rock-solid work out plans.
Boosting the testosterone is the best way to build lean muscles since the hormone targets the excess adipose fat deposited under the muscle skin, thereby exposing the profile and veins, adding the appeal.
Grow stronger with healthy bones
Bone health and testosterone are very much inter-related. Studies have shown how bone mineral density had decreased with diminishing levels of t-hormone.
Also, the observation that men with osteoporosis are highly likely to be testosterone deficient elucidated the importance of t-hormone in bone health.
Testosterone has androgenic activity, and as a result, they stimulate the osteoblast receptors to increase bone production and absorption of calcium into the bone.
T-hormone protects the men from osteoporosis by maintaining the cancellous bone mass and expansion of the cortical bone.
Well, keeping all technicalities aside, testosterone can help in bone mass expansion, mineral density and prevent osteoporosis which in simple terms means ‘you will get a healthy bone.’
An interesting study demonstrated that females transitioning into males by hormonal therapy experienced increasing bone mineral density compared to their female counterparts.
All of these point towards the importance of this male hormone in inducing a perfect skeletal framework other than its ability to stimulate muscle development.
Testosterone makes you smarter and intelligent!
This isn’t any fancy health drink caption, instead a fact that t-hormone in our body can do.
They are not meant for revitalizing just the physical aspects, but testosterone plays a lot of roles in boosting memory, cognition, logical thinking, and in boosting self-esteem & confidence.
In a study, it was observed that people with a higher ratio of testosterone with respect to the age were less likely to have developed Alzheimer’s disease.
Generally, people with higher levels of testosterone were found to be superior in spatial memory and processing speed compared to an ordinary individual.
This hormone can also increase self-esteem and confidence by tweaking a lot of signaling inside the brain.
It is no stranger that higher the testosterone sharper and focused you are. They are technically the mood enhancers as well.
People with low levels of t-hormone experience fatigue, irritability, excessive day time sleepiness, and depression.
They can be at the same time a mood enhancer and an anti-depressant, that makes you feel positive.
In certain cases doctors prescribe testosterone boosters to combat a range of general health problems.
‘T’ matters for your heart
Previous studies have shown the importance of testosterone in blood circulation and its effect in oxygenating the organs.
The actual interventions come at the production of RBC’s and widening the arteries that carry blood.
Testosterone can stimulate the bone marrow to produce more RBC’s, which ensures ample oxygen transportation across the body.
A study in the 2000s had found that men who underwent testosterone therapy for hypogonadism had improved their cardiovascular health by a small margin.
With its effects on bone marrow stimulation and vasodilation, testosterone alone can boost the athletic abilities by up to 25%.
A population-based study including 83000 men observed that those with normal levels of testosterone were 24% less likely to have a heart attack and has 36% less chance of getting a stroke.
The effect of testosterone on LDL cholesterol helps in clot-busting, preventing the clogging of arteries, thus eliminating the risk of a heart attack.
Conclusion
Testosterone undoubtedly is the king of hormones, or at least that’s how important it for human males.
Well, then you would as:
What about females?
The fact is that testosterone is so crucial in some bodily functions such that even human females produce testosterone at a lower level.
Ovary and adrenal glands pump smaller quantities of testosterone into their bloodstream every day.
Whether it be blood pumping, reproduction, sexuality, or muscle building, this t-factor is inevitable in all of these metabolisms.
Significant clinical symptoms are manifested by a person running low on testosterone, which could even affect daily life.
So in a nutshell, testosterone is an amazing hormone and very important for all those men out there.
Always keep an eye for symptoms or get a blood check done once in a while!
References
- Mauras, Nelly, et al. “Testosterone deficiency in young men: marked alterations in whole body protein kinetics, strength, and adiposity.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 83.6 (1998): 1886-1892. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-abstract/83/6/1886/2865200
- Gruenewald, David A., and Alvin M. Matsumoto. “Testosterone supplementation therapy for older men: potential benefits and risks.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 51.1 (2003): 101-115. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1601-5215.2002.51018.x
