You’ve probably been the victim of a slew of internet searches regarding caffeine and testosterone. You probably feel so confused at this point you feel as though you are watching Season 5 of Lost. It just doesn’t make any sense.
For some men, looking into caffeine and testosterone is the hope of confirmation that their current lifestyle, which includes caffeine, is helping them with their low testosterone. For others, it is seeking out confirmation that caffeine isn’t hurting testosterone. And there are the rare others, who don’t drink caffeine currently but want to know if they should start because they hope it will help them with testosterone.
The trouble starts shortly after the search reveals results. The results are nothing short of confusing. Who shot J.R.? I don’t know! It was all a dream, I think? Depending on which position the site you click on takes, caffeine either hinders or helps testosterone production. And that’s why people end up feeling more unsettled than they did before the search.
Can’t it just be a simple yes or no answer?
Nope. Because the devil is in the details. Specifically, the details in how and when you consume the caffeine that’s pertinent to testosterone production.
Caffeine and Testosterone | Let’s Start With The Bad
The reason that caffeine gets a bad rap with testosterone production is because caffeine is a stimulant. It tends to increase cortisol production. Cortisol is our stress hormone. We need it, say, when we are being chased after by aliens who want to abduct us and learn how to clone our toes. But we don’t need it when we are in the grocery store, and we can’t find our favorite organic peanut butter cups. That leads to just being nonsensically angry.
Increased cortisol will decrease testosterone. That’s just science, friends. You can check out the study yourself.
Caffeine also raises anxiety levels, particularly when too much has been consumed. Depending on how your body metabolizes caffeine, that could be more or less than your neighbors tolerated amount. Anxiety is a health killer. You need a free and clear mind so that your body can function at top level.
Caffeine can also harm sleep. Sleep and testosterone go together like beans and rice. If your sleep gets jacked up because you pound espresso at dinner, your testosterone production might suffer. Your body needs sleep for testosterone and a variety of other health reasons. Take sleep seriously! If caffeine is interfering, either reduce it or potentially cut it out completely.
Caffeine and Testosterone | How Is It Beneficial
First of all, the amount you consume matters. Caffeine is great at staving off depression. Depression is another health killer. So consuming a tolerable amount of caffeine can serve to benefit your overall health, which in turn can help stimulate testosterone production.
But here’s the big one: Caffeine taken before workouts increase your workout productivity bigtime. And yes, there is a study to prove it.
Exercise is a big way to increase testosterone. Resistance training helps facilitate testosterone production (study). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2796409
And this schematic becomes a compounding one. One of the other major factors in testosterone production is weight loss. If your work outs are more optimal, you likely are losing more weight. So its truly double dipping.
This is why caffeine and testosterone are forever linked as the love and hate couple. You know, that couple you hang out with that’s either making out at the table or throwing dinner plates at one another?
The key to caffeine influencing testosterone in a beneficial way is understanding how to intake caffeine responsibly. Every person’s caffeine metabolism is different, so only you can figure that out. If caffeine makes you feel jittery after the second cup, well, that’s a good indicator you are heading in the wrong direction.
So yes, caffeine can play the role of both the villian and the friend. Caffeine might be the best prom date you could ever imagine, but it also might steal your awesome mix tapes. You are always best to just keep an eye on it. Also, check out my top 10 male enhancers that are reputable for increasing testosterone.