Manifestations of Male Hormone Health

The core standard for healthy male hormones (mainly testosterone and its metabolites) is not the uniform external template spread online such as muscular development, thick body hair, and deep voice, but Metabolism, emotion, and reproductive functions are in dynamic balance, and individuals have no clear symptoms of discomfort. , the performance of different individuals varies greatly, and there is no standardized reference template.

Last year I came into contact with a 28-year-old fitness blogger. His body fat rate has been maintained at 8% all year round. His abdominal muscles are so clear that he can count them clearly. His arms are thicker than the calves of ordinary men. The comment section is full of fans who call him "walking hormone". But when he came to him privately, he was in a particularly bad state: he had difficulty falling asleep for six months in a row. Even if he slept for eight hours, he still felt groggy when he woke up. He would lose his temper with employees when he was slightly unsatisfied at work, and he was often unable to do what he wanted when he was intimate with his girlfriend. The total serum testosterone found in the blood test was only 7.2nmol/L, which is far below the normal lower limit. This is because in order to maintain low body fat, he did 2 hours of aerobic and 1 hour of strength training every day. The total caloric gap was too large, and the gonadal axis was suddenly disrupted.

The currently recognized objective judgment standard in clinical medicine is that the total serum testosterone measured from fasting venous blood is within the reference range of 8.4-28.7nmol/L, the proportion of free testosterone is not less than 2%, and related indicators such as luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, and estradiol are all within the normal range, and there is no problem of hormone imbalance.

However, this standard is not absolute. Many practitioners in the fields of natural medicine and functional medicine do not advocate index-only theory. Last month, a 35-year-old programmer came to me with a report. Total testosterone just stuck at the lower limit of 8.5nmol/L. According to traditional urology standards, it is already borderline low. Regular review is recommended. But he himself is in particularly good condition: he can regain his energy level by sleeping 7 hours a day, he can still play basketball for an hour after get off work, and he has no discomfort at all in his married life. Doctors of functional medicine have determined that his hormones are healthy and naturally have low basic values, so he just needs to maintain his current schedule. Both views are actually valid. After all, there are huge individual differences in hormone levels. It is unscientific to insist on a unified value card for everyone.

Compared with staring at the test results and benchmarking against other people's external characteristics, daily physical sensation is actually more valuable as a reference. For example, you will not be constantly tired for no reason. Even if you have been busy all day and worked overtime for two hours, you can take the subway for half an hour to go home and build blocks with your children. You will not slump on the sofa without even having the strength to open your mouth to speak. ； My emotions won’t go to extremes. I won’t fly into a rage just because the delivery was ten minutes late. I won’t lose energy for half a month. I won’t even play my favorite games. ； There will be no abnormalities in reproductive function. Morning erections do not need to occur every day, but they can occur at least three or four times a week, and you will not always feel inadequate when living intimately. These small feelings are much more reliable than the size of the beard and the size of the muscles.

Don't believe the nonsense on the Internet that "the thicker the beard, the stronger the hormones" and "hair loss is caused by high androgen levels". I was born with a beard, and the hair on my chest and legs was so thick that it looked like I was wearing a wool vest. I used to boast that my hormones were all over the place every day, but as a result, I started to suffer from severe androgenetic alopecia when I turned 30. I woke up every day and the pillow was covered with hair, and I always suffered from backache and drowsiness. After going for a checkup, I found out that his 5α reductase activity was twice as high as that of ordinary people. His total testosterone was actually completely normal, but most of it was converted into dihydrotestosterone, which not only attacked hair follicles and caused hair loss, but also lowered his overall energy level. Instead, he was a typical example of hormonal metabolism imbalance. There are also those "muscular men" who have been trained by taking exogenous testosterone. It seems that their hormones are over the top. In fact, their own testicles have stopped secreting testosterone due to a negative feedback mechanism. After the injection is stopped, the hormone level will drop directly to a level lower than that of ordinary people. In essence, they are overdrafting their health in exchange for external performance.

To put it bluntly, hormonal health is a bit like an experienced driver driving a manual transmission car. It does not mean that the bigger the engine displacement is, the better, but it means that the gear can be shifted smoothly, and the car will go immediately after filling the gas. It will not stall at every turn, and it will not vibrate badly when idling. Some people are born with low basic testosterone levels, but the entire metabolic axis runs smoothly, just like a 1.5-displacement family car. It is easy to drive and durable, but is much more reliable than those performance cars with large displacement but full of faults.

I have been doing men's health consulting for five or six years, and the most common thing I advise everyone is not to blindly benchmark. There is really no need to buy testicle-stimulating health supplements just because you have a short beard and slow muscle building. If you feel unable to sleep, in a bad mood, and have no interest in intimate affairs for two or three months in a row, just go to a regular hospital for a hormone check-up. Many of the testicle-stimulating products on the Internet that boast of being amazing add exogenous androgens or similar substances. When you eat them, you will indeed feel energetic. Over time, your own gonadal axis will be suppressed, which is not worth the gain.