Manifestations of Male Hormone Health

Don’t be fooled by the “macho standards” on the Internet. The core criterion for determining male hormone health is never whether the beard is thick, whether the arms are thick, or whether the voice is loud. Instead, it is the dynamic balance of “metabolic stability, emotional calmness, and reproductive function at the normal threshold”—this is the broadest consensus currently reached by urology and endocrinology departments at home and abroad.

I met a 28-year-old fitness instructor in a clinic before. His body fat rate remains at 8% all year round. His arms are thicker than the calves of many ordinary people. He has to shave his beard twice a day to clean it. He usually speaks loudly when he teaches students, and gets angry when he makes the slightest mistake. Everyone who meets him has to say, "This guy is full of testosterone." As a result, he came to see a doctor himself. He said that he had been feeling tired for six months, could not breathe even after climbing the third floor, and his sexual desire was extremely poor. After a blood test, the total testosterone was only 280ng/dl, which is 20 units lower than the lower limit of the normal standard for adult men. He was confused when he took the report. Didn't the Internet say that big muscles mean high testosterone?

This is actually the most common misunderstanding for many people. There is even a group in the fitness circle who insists that "high testosterone must correspond to low body fat + high muscle mass." However, clinical data from endocrinology departments is just the opposite: men with a body fat rate of less than 10% generally have testosterone levels that are 15%-20% lower than those of their peers with a body fat rate of about 15%. After all, the synthesis of testosterone requires sufficient cholesterol reserves. If the body fat pressure is too low, there will not be enough raw materials, but it will lower the hormone level. ； Of course, it doesn't work if your body fat is too high. Aromatase in adipose tissue will convert androgens into estrogen, which will also upset the balance. People with really healthy hormones don’t actually have a unified “macho sign” in appearance. Most of them are neither fat nor thin, and their hair distribution completely follows their genetics. I even met a 60-year-old man whose total testosterone level was stable at 450ng/dl, which is higher than many 30-year-old guys. He is born without much beard. You can’t say that your hormones are unhealthy, right? Oh, by the way, some people say that hair loss is caused by high testosterone, but that is unjustly referring to androgens. Androgenetic alopecia is mainly related to genetics and the activity of 5α-reductase. Many people with very low testosterone levels still suffer from androgenetic alopecia. It really makes no sense to talk about hair loss.

Compared with the visible appearance, the invisible emotional state is actually a more sensitive weather vane. In the past, a school of evolutionary psychology proposed that "high testosterone corresponds to high aggression." It was said that people with high testosterone are competitive and prone to anger. This is actually a special manifestation of primitive society's competition for resources. In modern life, it is completely reversed: if a person is prone to blowing up at every turn, Arguing with someone over trivial matters is most likely a sign of hormonal disorders - long-term testosterone exceeding the normal threshold will cause cortisol to surge, putting the whole person in a state of tension. If you get angry at a moment's notice, over time, it will backfire on testosterone levels, entering a vicious cycle of becoming more irritable and tired, and more tired and more irritable. People with really healthy hormones are mostly emotionally stable. When encountering bad things, they won't get stuck in anxiety or anger. They have enough energy. Occasionally they stay up late at night to catch up on projects, and they can recover after a day's sleep. They don't feel groggy for three or four days in a row, and can't open their eyes even after drinking three cups of coffee.

Of course, reproductive function is the most intuitive reference indicator. Normal sexual desire, erectile function, and semen quality are all within the normal range, and there will basically be no major problems. But there is also controversy here: There is a school of thought in andrology that "the frequency of morning erections is the gold standard." It is healthy to have 3-5 morning erections per week. ； But there is also a group of people who believe that as long as sexual intercourse is normal, there is no need to panic even if there is no morning erection for a week or two. Recently, a lot of stress, staying up late, and drinking too much alcohol may temporarily affect morning erections. On the contrary, if you scare yourself and feel anxious all day long, rising cortisol will further suppress testosterone, creating a negative cycle. I would also like to mention that the stronger the sexual desire, the better. If a hypersexuality suddenly appears that is inconsistent with the previous state, it may be a pathological manifestation of abnormally elevated testosterone, such as microadenomas in the pituitary gland. Don’t delay medical treatment by treating it as “good health”.

I have come across so many cases. On the contrary, those who live a regular life, do not blindly pursue extreme body fat, do not blindly take black market supplements, do not drink alcohol, and do not stay up late for a long time, their hormone levels are very stable. Even if they do not look like very muscular men, their condition is much better than many fitness enthusiasts who blindly supplement testosterone and pursue extreme figures. There was a 22-year-old boy who bought anabolic injections online in order to quickly gain muscle. After three months of injections, his muscles increased a lot, and his testicles shrank. After stopping the injections, his testosterone did not return to normal levels for almost a year, so the gain outweighed the loss.

To put it bluntly, hormonal health is ultimately about your own comfort: eating well, sleeping soundly, being emotionally stable, having energy when working, and staying on top of things when you are intimate. It is more reliable than any online self-assessment standards. I really feel that something is not right. Going to the hospital to get blood drawn to check for six items of sex hormones, which costs tens of dollars, is 10,000 times more reliable than just guessing based on the posts.