How to Boost Your Testosterone

Some symptoms of waning testosterone include fatigue, listlessness, restlessness, decreased libido, weight gain, weaker erections, ho-hum orgasms, lack of motivation, depression, and insomnia. Not fun!

Here’s how to boost your testosterone naturally.

Sleep more.

All those hot dates and late night partying are exciting at first, but they ultimately take their toll.

Or maybe it’s all work and no play.

Whatever the cause, don’t think you can get away with skimping on sleep for long. Guys who sleep an hour less a night than others have markedly less testosterone production than others.

Reduce your alcohol intake.

I personally believe that life without drinks is a pitiful thing—I enjoy relaxing with good friends and good wine, or sipping a sexy martini to relax and get into the mood.

Limit how often and how much you drink, and remember less is more.

Alcohol reduces testosterone levels, so choose your occasions carefully, like a date or a family reunion, not watching TV at home alone.

Reassess medication consumption.

Prescription medications are a very common cause of low testosterone.

Never stop taking medicine without consulting a doctor. But if you haven’t researched the side effects of stuff you take, do so, and if waning testosterone is implicated, work with your doctor to find an alternative that won’t effect you there.

Exercise regularly.

There’s a reason why so many guys are addicted to the gym, pumping iron and sweating all the time. It’s often excessive, but the surging testosterone levels are a powerful reward for all that sweat.

Guys love sports too, and one reason is that the competition and the physicality increase hormones, providing a powerful incentive to play the game.

You don’t have to be fanatical to get the benefits those dudes are after, but if you’ve gotten lazy, get back into the swing of things and it might be all you need to boost your hormones back to normal.

Manage Stress.

Exercise and sleep are both effective testosterone boosters for many reasons, and one is that they are important factors in stress management.

Reducing cortisol is key to hormone balance.

Meditation and prayer are effective practices too, and they work quickly. So does yoga and other stretching programs. Painting, keeping a journal, being around dogs and cats, working less, laughing more, and eating healthy foods that nourish your brain and organs and provide microbiome support are all great ways to reduce stress.

Eat healthy.

Nutritional support is the holy grail of health. You can’t fuel a car to run on air or sugar or beer, and humans need proper fuel too.

The most vilified foods of the past century are the ones you need most—animal foods including their natural fats. And we eat hardly any fish in the western world, outside of Mediterranean countries and sushi lovers- but a culture without emphasis on fish is hard to find in history. Organ meats like liver pack powerful nutrition untouched by other meats and nowhere to be found in other foods.

You can’t skip the veggies, though. Learn to love a variety. Their diverse fibres grow your gut bacteria to regulate your hormones. For testosterone power, focus on meat, fish, and wide range of vegetables both raw and cooked.

Soak up the sun.

If you work outside, you make more testosterone than computer programmers.

Make a conscious effort to get outdoors every day during peak sunshine hours, in all seasons. This small change has a big impact. Vitamin D is almost impossible to get enough of from foods, and while synthetic vitamin fortification helps, nothing beats the real thing.

Vitamin D is implicated in bone health, sexual health, brain health, immunity, and much more.

This is not a license to fry under a blazing sun, get burned on the beach, and become a sun worshipper—it’s about balance, and many of us don’t see the light of day with our jobs for weeks at a time, so make a practice of walking outside on your lunch hour.