Weight loss is a journey that can’t be traveled only by following a healthy diet and a good amount of physical exercise. Apart from a healthy diet and exercise, you might need some things that your body can produce by itself. Your body has some hormones which help you lose weight, and one of the most important male sex hormones is testosterone which grows in the testicles of men.
What is Testosterone?
Testosterone plays a very crucial role in the sexual health of males, but this is not all that testosterone does. Testosterone also helps maintain a healthy metabolic function and protects your body from diseases. How much muscle mass your body will be able to build and sustain and fat distribution in our body is also regulated by testosterone.
So having a high testosterone level will help your body in many ways, but a low testosterone level also has some adverse effects. Low testosterone levels can also influence your body weight.
Relation of Testosterone And Muscles and Fat
Testosterone helps build muscles, but a low level makes it difficult for your body to build and maintain muscle mass. Your body weight is highly influenced by muscle mass as it plays a crucial role in regulating your weight. Your body needs more energy to build and maintain muscles. As a result, more calories are used up by the body to perform this task.
Your muscle mass starts to decrease when your testosterone level falls below an average level, slowing down your metabolism. This creates a domino effect of muscle loss and weight gain because of slow metabolism. Based on a well-researched article, it was concluded that weight gain happens due to slow metabolism, which results in your body storing stubborn fat, which you can’t get rid of quickly despite eating healthy food and exercising.
Fat cells stored in your body start to influence other body parts. Aromatase is an enzyme produced by fat cells, which converts testosterone to estrogen, which is the primary female sex hormone. This imbalance in hormones increases body fat resulting in weight gain.
This imbalance in testosterone and estrogen also influences where your body fat will be stored. Stomach fat increases when your testosterone level drops, increasing the risk for heart diseases.
All this will push your body into the vicious cycle of weight gain, increase in belly fat and losing fat will become even more challenging. Your testosterone level will further decrease as the excess fat decreases the ability of your body to produce testosterone and its effective utilization. If testosterone deficiency is not corrected, this vicious cycle of reducing testosterone and increasing weight will be tough to break.
Increase Testosterone Level And Get Fit
There are so many ways to help you increase testosterone and simultaneously decrease fat and lose weight. If you follow these steps to increase testosterone with your weight loss regime, it will be highly effective.
Workout And Strength Training
There are tons of health benefits of regular workouts, and an increase in testosterone level is one of them. An increase in physical exercise is far better than calorie restriction for weight loss.
Also, more fat will burn, and there will be an increase in muscle mass if you do strength training. Your testosterone level will also increase if you’ll engage in resistance training.
Balanced Diet And Proper Nutrition
Your nutritional intake highly influences testosterone production. Taking an adequate amount of protein helps you in muscle building, and on the other hand, intake of complex carbohydrates helps you in your weight loss and weight management journey. Nutritionists from HealthCanal encourage you to have a diet that helps suppress your cravings and also helps break stored fats.
No or Reduced Alcohol Intake
Excess of everything is terrible, and the same goes for excess intake of alcohol as it can disrupt your body’s hormonal process, which also includes imbalance in testosterone production. So, no or less consumption of alcohol will help your body in proper testosterone production, which will ultimately help you reduce weight.
Adequate Sleep
Getting adequate sleep is healthy and necessary for your body to function correctly. If you get enough sleep, it will not only keep you healthy but will also help your body to increase testosterone production. Your body rests and recovers during sleep which also helps regulate the body’s metabolism.
Conclusion
Testosterone level and your weight are inversely linked. That is why if your testosterone level increases, then it will help you lose weight as your muscle mass will increase, and your body will have better metabolism—having better metabolism, which will ultimately help you cut out that stubborn stored fat. So, it is evident that men need proper testosterone levels to lose weight, and if you have a low testosterone level, there are several ways to increase it as well. You can boost your testosterone production level naturally by eating a healthy diet with nutrients and complex carbohydrates, regular workouts, strength training, less alcohol consumption, and getting adequate sleep.