In modern times, most men tend to eat more and follow a sedentary lifestyle making themselves, to be a likely candidate for some serious lifestyle diseases. For a considerable section of the population, a healthy diet and proper workout remain a distant dream as they do not have the luxury of time by their side. Having said that, there seem to be other alternatives that one can devise like intermittent fasting which has many benefits according to medical experts.
Does intermittent fasting improve the levels of testosterone? Well, there seems to be no clear evidence to suggest that it improves testosterone levels. However, this question has wider implications and cannot be answered in a nutshell. For instance, intermittent fasting does help to reduce weight and improve Body mass index (BMI). It is easy to draw a parallel here and one can find a lot of hints suggesting a logical connection between fasting and testosterone production.
Well, I will discuss this in more elaborate terms in the upcoming sections. So keep on reading till the end.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting can be best described as the practice of splitting the day into feeding and fasting windows. During a fasting window, you will abstain from calorie intake and when you enter the feeding window, you will eat all your meals for the day.
The good news is that there is an array of fasting schedules that you can choose from. The beginners seem to be comfortable with an eight-hour fasting window followed by a 16-hour feeding window.
What Are The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting?
In this section, let’s see some health benefits that you can get following an intermittent fasting schedule.
- Promotes natural weight loss
- Helps to manage diabetes
- Supports healthy metabolism
- Strengthens immune system
- Lowers cholesterol levels
- Improves heart health
- Detoxifies the body
Does Intermittent Fasting Increase Testosterone?
Intermittent fasting does offer a score of health benefits however medical experts do not seem to support the theory that it improves testosterone levels. However, a few others react that IE and T-levels do have a correlation that cannot be overlooked.
The problem with this observation is that there are only limited studies done to point out possible links. In a recent study conducted to understand the effect of intermittent fasting on testosterone production in men, it turned out to be negative. The findings showed that testosterone levels took a worse hit and declined in the participants as a result of fasting.
There seems no point in opposing the view that intermittent fasting is originally meant for weight loss and paves the way for a calorie deficit in the body. This explains why testosterone levels took a downslide as the nutritional gap harms various body functions, especially in male hormone production.
Notably, the same study also concluded that intermittent fasting seems not to contribute to lean muscle mass and muscle strength. Well, we honestly feel that more studies need to be undertaken to establish a correlation between intermittent fasting and its effects on testosterone production.
Is There An Indirect Connection Between Fasting And Testosterone Production?
As I saw Intermittent fasting has tons of health benefits like contributing to better Body mass index (BMI) and boosting metabolism, etc. Therefore it is only natural to assume that it may have an indirect link to improving testosterone. Well, some health experts firmly believe that testosterone is closely linked with the three most important factors that are given below.
- Daily workouts
- Healthy diet
- Proper sleep
The results received from a recent clinical test conducted mainly to understand the effects of fasting on metabolism, and physical strength, were encouraging. It was found that restricted calorie consumption combined with resistance training provided good results.
Obesity is the main culprit for lower testosterone levels in men and being overweight means the sex hormone will bind with globulin levels utilizing free testosterone paving the way for its reduced levels in the bloodstream. It is where strength training comes to the rescue as it can help to retain muscle mass and increase strength thus enhancing testosterone production.
Conclusion
In this article, I focused more on understanding the benefits of intermittent fasting and whether it has any connection with improving testosterone levels. I hardly found any concrete evidence supporting the claim that fasting helps testosterone production. However, I cannot deny the fact that undergoing intermittent fasting does improve metabolism and promotes natural weight loss.
