It should go without saying that a healthy, plant-based diet will increase your testosterone levels and help keep your entire system balanced. But which foods should you be focusing on and how do you know if your testosterone is low or not?
The Symptoms of Low Testosterone
This is a problem that is becoming more and more prevalent, as unhealthy lifestyles dominate our society. Lack of sun, lack of sleep, garbage food, and heaps of stress all equal low testosterone across the board.
This unnatural, unbalanced living is creating a wide array of deficiencies and diseases. Low testosterone is one such condition, and this can have dramatic impacts on our overall health. Low testosterone has been linked to weak bones, low sex drive, low sperm count, hair loss, bodily inflammation, fatigue, feeling flushed, and an inability to sustain muscle growth / low muscle mass.
Obviously these are all symptoms of a generally imbalanced body, and these imbalances can be directly tied to low testosterone.
If you have noticed that you just feel lethargic, not really in the mood to do any kind of physical activity, not as interested in sex or harder to stay aroused during sex, or seem to be susceptible to colds or have exhibited other mild cold-like symptoms, there is a good chance that your testosterone is no longer at optimal levels.
It’s important to note that this is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not at all rare – in fact, like many other nutritional deficiencies and hormonal imbalances that seem to be popping up all over the place lately, low testosterone is becoming something of an epidemic.
In fact, it’s getting so bad in some parts of the world that it’s actually affecting birth rates and population growth. According to this report, testosterone levels have decreased about 1% every year since 1980 in America, and this applies to the population as a whole.
It’s actually at a crisis stage, despite the fact that it’s not being talked about all that much in the media and by doctors. It’s one of the many “silent killers” in our society, diseases and ailments no one wants to talk about because the cures for these problems don’t exist inside of pills. The cure the problems, you have to address your lifestyle, and many people just aren’t willing to do that.
Understand that the symptoms of testosterone deficiency can range in annoying to debilitating, and if you continue for a certain amount of years without changing your lifestyle, the symptoms will only get worse. This is why you have men in their forties and fifties having trouble getting it up, walking around with 100 pounds of fat on them, are seemingly allergic to everything, are losing hair, and need to down a few beers every night just to fall asleep because they have chronic insomnia.
Their testosterone is running on E.
Make no mistake, this issue is a worldwide problem, and it affects men in the West disproportionately, because we are the paragons of unhealthy living over here. If you’re ready to do something about your own health and take personal responsibility, read on. There are clear cut ways to not only boost your testosterone levels, but have them soaring. But the answer isn’t in a pill or a quick 5 minute fix. You have to be willing to take responsibility and make the change.
Plant-Based Diet: The Key to a Healthy Body
I know what some of you must be thinking. Eat plants to boost testosterone? What about meat? Where will I get my protein?
One thing you have to understand is that our optimal nutrition is supposed to come from plants. Forget what you think you know about protein and dieting, and think from a naturalistic perspective for a bit. Let’s talk gorillas and chimps.
Unarguably, these are massive animals, with strength that dwarfs ours. They climb trees effortlessly, are active all day long, have near limitless sex drives, and have musculature that would make world-class body builders envious. Yet, 95% of their diet consists of leaves and fruits.
You might be quick to say, “well, we’re not apes.” They are, in fact, our closest relatives in nature and we are more alike than you would think, but that is all besides the point. The protein that these animals gather in the wild doesn’t just magically vanish when we consume fruits and vegetables. It’s right there for the taking.
Now you must be curious, because haven’t you been told your whole life that plants are just incomplete proteins, and that in order to get the right proteins to build muscle, we need to eat meat? This is actually a common myth, that has to do with misconceptions in nutrition that arose decades ago. Scientists and nutritionists know the truth, but it’s not a popular truth. The “Protein Myth” endures, but it is nonetheless a myth. You can, quite assuredly, get all of the required amino acids from plant-based sources. All of the herbivores on Earth do it, including the gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos, who we share extremely close biology with.
Bottom line: if the proteins in plants are good enough for gorillas, rhinoceroses, elephants, zebras, horses, and bulls, it’s good enough for us. Humans are, after all, tiny compared to these massive animals.
It should be noted that our physiology is that of a fruit-eating ape. We are actually supposed to derive the vast bulk of our nutrition from fruits and leaves, with a few nuts, legumes, roots, and tubers to support that. There is no need, from a biological perspective, for us to eat meat.
What may come as a shock to learn however, is that there are actually superior proteins in plants. This is where the prime protein chains are, after all.
The protein in animals is extremely different than that of plants, and we were never biologically capable of taking full advantage of them like a tiger or bear can. We simply lack the digestive systems of true carnivores and omnivores.
We can’t even continuously eat meat without clogging our arteries, because our bodies cannot digest cholesterol.
Plants have superior protein, as well as trace phyto-nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that promote overall better health. Part of boosting your testosterone is in raising your metabolism, and the only way to do that properly is on a plant-based diet.
The Link Between Metabolism and Testosterone
Your metabolism plays a large part in the heath of your body – specifically, it can act as an indicator of health or disease. A healthy body has at least a moderately fast metabolism. You can eat pretty much anything and not really gain weight, or succumb to brain fog and chronic illnesses.
Healthy metabolisms are also inadvertent indicators of healthy testosterone levels.
A body that is burning fuel properly, that has all its systems “running” at peak performance, is likely to have decent testosterone levels. The two are intimately linked, but by what?
Diet, of course.
What you put into your body can greatly affect your metabolism, and if that is compromised there is a good chance that the rest of your bodily systems will also go down the same route.
Delicate balances, such as digestive flora, vaginal pH, and testosterone levels, are the first systems that suffer under a compromised body. That is why you should pay close attention to digestion issues.
If you suddenly find yourself allergic to a certain food out of nowhere (especially a natural food like a fruit or peanuts, etc.) then your body has been compromised in some way. The metabolism is breaking down, cellular communication is breaking down. The result is inflammation, imbalance, and eventually disease.
If you fuel your body with the right foods, your metabolism will be running at optimal levels, and thus your testosterone will be as well. These are intimately linked systems. The plant-based enzymes found in leafy greens, for example, are integral for healthy testosterone levels.
There is this amusing belief that has begun to circulate in some circles that not only are plants like leafy greens not needed for healthy testosterone levels, they will even make you weaker. Nothing could be further from the truth of course.
Leafy greens are supposed to make up a sizable portion of our diet.
The Vitamins E and K alone, so crucial to the subtle functioning of crucial bodily components, are primarily found in vegetation – making them an absolute must for healthy testosterone levels. Vitamin K deficiency has been linked to low T, because it has been proven that the body needs this fat-soluble vitamin for testosterone production in the first place.
Yet, many Americans, even so-called health gurus, don’t get enough Vitamin K. Where do you think their testosterone levels are?
I’m here to tell it to you straight. If you’re not eating green leafy vegetables and other vitamin-dense vegetables, your metabolism is not firing at optimal levels, and your testosterone is suffering. This is practically a guarantee.
Want to know a scary industry secret? Some of the biggest “muscle heads” you know, the ones who are in the gym 6 days a week, the ones who eat nothing but rib-eye steak and whey protein power drinks? They’re some of the biggest consumers of testosterone supplements.
Why? Because their metabolisms are shot.
Outward appearance is not a good indicator of health. Someone with a bad tan and a ton of muscles, who only passes a bowel movement every 3 days and who eats his weight in red meat every week will jump on a podcast or go on a hackneyed health show, and proclaim to the world that he’s found the secret to health.
This isn’t health, only a facsimile of it.
Slow metabolism brought on by too much meat and processed foods almost surely means low testosterone.
That’s why so many gym nuts are boosting. Their bodies can’t produce enough, they feel tired after workouts instead of energized, they can’t go that long in the bedroom, and they have anxiety and brain fog. Some so-called experts will tell you to eat more meat, cut out grain, boost more, or do something like lower reps and increase weight to stimulate more muscle tearing and growth.
Those things give occasional temporary spurts of testosterone, if at all. Then there comes less energy and another plateau. And we’re not even going to talk about the slow metabolism and clogged arteries.
Heart disease is another epidemic bigger than low testosterone, and no surprise, the two conditions are related.
You want higher levels of testosterone? Raise your metabolism by eating optimal fuel for your body: fruits and green leafy vegetables. Supplement this by constant physical activity.
Lethargy slows the metabolism as well – we’re not meant to be inactive.
Work your muscles, hone your body, and feed it the fuel it needs, then watch your testosterone levels soar.
The founder of Digital Sages, Matt has an extensive background in self-mastery and has authored several books on the subject. His goal is to demystify important esoteric subjects and help people transform their lives through self-awareness and personal empowerment.