Testosterone, Weight Loss for Men?

Testosterone, Weight Loss for Men? 

 Reference:  European Congress on Obesity 

 Dr. Farid Saad didn’t set out to prove that testosterone caused weight loss.  He was treating men whose testosterone was proven to be low. They had erectile dysfunction, fatigue, and lack of energy.  Their levels were low. The treatment was rather odd. They were given a shot every three months.   At that interval, most folks are giving pellets under the skin that dissolve rather slowly.  We do know that erectile difficulty is fixed about 80% of the time in men who are treated with testosterone.  We are also pretty sure that testosterone levels have declined some 30% over the last 60 years when you look at population studies. 

 But his results were pretty impressive. The men lost an average of 16 kg (about 35 pounds) over the five years of the study when their testosterone levels were back to normal.  That’s about half a pound a month.  And all that occurred when it wasn’t even the intended outcome.  How did that happen? The answer isn’t clear yet and there is some debate in the medical world about how this happened.  But there is always debate and always should be.  

Here is the sensible explanation.  Testosterone is not just “the male hormone”.   It is our basic hormone for growth and repair.  It builds you up.  It makes more muscle.  It is “anabolic”, meaning building and sustaining.  When you are twenty, you have more anabolic hormones, in balance.  The switch over to “catabolic” or breaking down happens around age 40.  Tell that to anyone over 40 and they will agree.  You have more catabolic hormones than anabolic when you measure their balance when you are 50 compared to when you were 25.  And you feel it.  Without that effect, your muscles are smaller.  Muscles burn energy, even at rest.  They need to be constantly challenged to keep themselves healthy, but they also need sufficient testosterone to accomplish that.  

And that’s not all testosterone does.  It calms your immune system.  It gives you a sense of vitality and initiative.  It makes you think your partner is a bit more attractive (works for men and women). So what happened?  The men had more muscle and more initiative. They felt like doing things. They had energy and a stronger and more positive outlook.  That energy leads to burning calories.  When you have the “get up and go” to do tasks, you have a formula to burn more calories.  Your body is back in the balance of anabolic exceeding catabolic so you are building things back up, not breaking down. 

 Why is testosterone low in so many folks? That’s another whole story.  We live in an estrogenizing world.  Our groundwater has 2-3 parts per billion of glyphosate in it, enough to make leopard frogs all look like females.  Then there is BPA and everything else. 

 WWW.  What will work for me?  Have you noticed all the testosterone ads on TV?  Every ad you see for erectile difficulty drugs is an ad for a man with low testosterone.  The big pharma folks have figured it out.  We have an epidemic of low testosterone in men (and women). And that’s a big part of our heart disease epidemic.  Might be time to add testosterone levels to our wellness checklist.   Then, the weight loss is just a lovely bonus.  And you will look so buff with those recovered biceps.  

Written by John E Whitcomb, MD Brookfield Longevity and Healthy Living Clinic 17585 W North Ave, Suite 160, Brookfield, WI 53045 262-784-5300 Archives at www.NewsInNutrition.com