Men are willing to pay big bucks to halt the aging process and win the war against their belly fat. In 2012, sales of Abbott Labs’ testosterone replacement gel AndroGel exceeded $1 billion.1
They say all you need is a cream, pill, gel, or injection of synthetic testosterone.
But hormones are complex. You can easily throw them out of balance. An abundance of testosterone doesn’t guarantee you will stay healthy—or trim.
In fact, packing on the pounds may have nothing to do with “low-T” at all. When it comes to decreasing body fat, testosterone is only part of the puzzle.
There’s another hormone that may be even more important for fat loss than testosterone. And you won’t believe what it is…
It’s testosterone’s “sister” hormone—estrogen.
If you’re a man, estrogen might be the hormone you’ve come to fear or think you don’t really need. Especially if you’re trying to ramp up your testosterone production.
It turns out you need your female sex hormones more than you think.
While testosterone is important to muscle size and strength, estrogen is an important body fat regulator.
Researchers in a recent study turned off the testosterone production of 400 healthy men for 16 weeks. All of the men then received testosterone replacement therapy. But half of them got testosterone and a drug that also turned off their estrogen production.
The men who only received low amounts of testosterone saw small increases in body fat. The men whose estrogen was turned off gained a lot more body fat.
Even worse…they gained body fat regardless of how much testosterone they received.2
The men who had normal levels of testosterone and estrogen also had an increased sex drive… Talk about a bonus!
But before you go looking for estrogen boosters, it’s important to understand that the men in the study didn’t receive any extra estrogen. Their natural estrogen was all it took to avoid gaining extra body fat.
The bottom line is that your estrogen is just as important as your testosterone for optimal health. Men start losing testosterone as early as their thirties. As testosterone production goes down, estrogen levels can swing too high or too low. Either situation is unhealthy and dangerous.
If you’re gaining more belly fat while suffering fatigue, muscle loss and low libido, it’s time to ask your doctor to test you. But don’t ignore your estrogen—get both testosterone and estrogen tested.
You have to keep both hormones balanced in the right amounts. Exercise and a diet high in vegetables will help you stay slim. Try eating foods that help regulate estrogen, too. Your best bets are apples, carrots, cucumbers, olives, flaxseeds, and garlic.3
So listen up, gentlemen! Body fat may become harder to keep off with age. But don’t be afraid of estrogen. It’s not just for the ladies. As long as your hormones are balanced, estrogen is one of your best allies in reducing body fat.
In Good Health,
Angela Salerno
Publisher, INH Health Watch
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References:
1http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2013/06/low-t-campaign-and-other-disease-mongering-can-do-harm-doctors-say
2http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1206168?query=featured_home&&
3http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5200/estrogen/estrofood.html