Forget the days when questioning your testosterone levels only belonged to males over the age of 40. Thanks to developments in the medical community, we now understand that testosterone plays a significant role in everyone’s bodies (male and female). The hormone is responsible for the characteristics most attributed to the former, but it also promotes muscle growth in both genders.
If you are curious about how your testosterone contributes to your ability to lose weight, continue reading to find out everything you need to know about the hormone, the role it plays in your body and the uplifting impact of testosterone therapy for weight loss.
What is Testosterone?
Testosterone is the primary male hormone involved in sex. It regulates male fertility, muscle mass, fat distribution, and red blood cell production. While testosterone levels tend to drop as the body ages, many males are experiencing low levels early-on. When levels decline, you may experience leaner muscle mass and a decline in bone density levels. This combination can affect your physical health, sexual function, and mental health.
How Does Testosterone Contribute to Weight Gain?
Since testosterone plays a major role in your hormone levels, it also significantly contributes to your ability to lose weight and gain muscle. In healthy men, testosterone is a wonderful tool your body uses for fat loss. Testosterone helps build muscle, ramps up your insulin sensitivity, maintains your metabolism, and can impact other health-inducing benefits.
One of the symptoms of low testosterone (low T) is decreased muscle and bone mass, fatigue, and reduced energy, as well as, increased body fat. Men with levels of low testosterone may experience extreme fatigue and a decrease in energy levels. Not only does that keep you in a less-active state but can make it difficult to push yourself to do activities that help with weight loss.
Testosterone also plays a role in building muscle and strengthening bone. Those experiencing low T will notice a decrease in their muscle mass and have lower bone volume. They can also develop gynecomastia or enlarged breast tissue and an increase in body fat. This may explain why obese men have 30% lower testosterone levels than those who are average weight.
All in all, it’s clear that increased testosterone levels can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight and body fat percentage.
How Can You Increase Testosterone?
Research shows that using Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) in the management of weight loss and obesity in men with testosterone deficiency sustains weight loss without recidivism while other alternative approaches didn’t.
This 56-week study in 100 obese men on a reduced-calorie diet found that injections improved weight loss by over six pounds compared to those who didn’t receive testosterone therapy for weight loss treatments. While both groups lost muscle mass as well as fat mass on a low-calorie diet, testosterone caused significant muscle growth during the weight maintenance period. The reason why testosterone therapy promoted weight loss is that it significantly helped in the ability to gain muscle which led to an increase in the number of calories burned.
These findings strongly suggest that your testosterone levels greatly contribute to your ability to lose weight and fat.
To learn more about how testosterone can contribute to obesity management and if a testosterone therapy for weight loss treatment is right for you, make an appointment with our testosterone specialist, Dr. Ross VanAntwerp today.
