Intermittent Fasting Testosterone Benefits
If you are beyond the age of 30 and a man, you have likely at least considered the idea of boosting your testosterone. You might still feel great, energetic and burn fat like a racehorse in the springtime; but it doesn’t mean you don’t realize the inevitable demise is coming. Yes, after age 30, your testosterone will begin to taper off. You might not notice it at first, but the cold hard truth will rear it’s ugly head at some point.
So what’s the deal with intermittent fasting for testosterone boosting? Can testosterone be boosted by intermittent fasting? The answer, in short, is pretty much; but the more long winded answer is slightly more complicated. And that’s why we wrote this article. Don’t forget, you can also check out some of our top testosterone booster reviews as well. We’ve done a lot of work over there!
Testosterone Boosting and Intermittent Fasting | What’s Intermittent Fasting?
The first thing we need to understand is what intermittent fasting is. Anytime we hear or read the word, “fasting,” it can be particularly terrifying. Who wants to NOT eat food for any period of time? The truth is, we already fast naturally; IF, as it is often abbreviated, is just an extension of our natural lifestyle.
When we sleep, we are fasting. If you go to bed at 11 pm and wake at 7 am, you have at least fasted for 8 hours, unless of course, you sleep with animal crackers next to the bed. And if that’s the case, this article simply is not for you. However, for most of us, we are at least 8 hours in a fast when we wake. And for even more of us, much more than 8 hours. If you have dinner at 7 pm and your last bite of food is at 7:30 pm and you wake at 7 am, then you are fasted for just under 12 hours upon waking.
So that being said, fasting should be looked at as something that’s already embedded into our current lifestyles. Now, clearly, if just fasting while we slept were a good way to burn fat and boost testosterone, everyone would be in perfect health. The point in me saying this is to convey that we are all capable of fasting from a mental perspective. Understanding this reduces the stress and agony we often experience when we just think about fasting.
Intermittent fasting involves skipping a meal. Now, if we want to leach onto the sleeping fast, we simply skip breakfast. This automatically extends our fast to lunch. That’s an additional 4 to 5 hours of fasting the body experiences. This is the most popular way to fast.
Others include:
Skip dinner: This way is solid, however, for me, skipping dinner gives me a little insomnia. I tend to eat some carbs at night to help me sleep. I also find dinner to be more of a social time.
Skip lunch: This is good, but you are segmenting your fast between breakfast and dinner which is just roughly the length you fast at night. Nothing wrong with it, but it is the least potent way to intermittent fast.
Interval days: Some people do one 24 hour fast a week. This isn’t for me, but it may be for you. I’m just lining up some options, you can explore and experiment for yourself.
Fasting means you do not eat or drink calories. You can drink water, coffee and teas sans any sugars, dairy additions or sweeteners. Be careful drinking too much coffee, without any sustenance in your stomach, you may experience a bigger caffeine jolt than usual.
Intermittent Fasting and Fat Burn
Intermittent fasting allows your body more time to source fat as its primary source of energy. If you want to lose weight, you most certainly want your body burning fat. Once you eat something that’s carb based, your body will shift its fuel source from fat to carb / sugar. Protein can also be converted to energy as well, which can shift the gears. Clearly, your body needs good, however the intermittent fasting can allow for longer periods of fat burning.
When you wake in the morning, the hormone cortisol is at its highest levels. This makes sense because cortisol acts to wake us up. But extended periods of time with elevated cortisol can lead to increased belly fat. When you skip breakfast, you regulate insulin levels, blood sugar levels and cortisol at the time of the day they are the most elevated. Now here’s the fun science at play: Insulin harms testosterone production. So this is our first relationship between intermittent fasting and testosterone boosting.
Intermittent fasting is strongly related to insulin resistance. Measurements regarding insulin resistance are almost always inline with testosterone production.
Intermittent Fasting Boost Testosterone Precursor
A study conducted on men considered to be not obese showed that a 24 hour fast increased luteinizing hormone, which serves as a precursor to testosterone, by 67 percent and increased testosterone by 180 percent. That’s insanely good results.
Intermittent Fasting Testosterone Benefits | My Experiences
I find intermittent fasting for testosterone boosting to be pretty easy to achieve. As I stated earlier, I tend to skip breakfast because I find that strategy to be the easiest approach. When I’ve opted to skip lunch or skip dinner, I have ran into some obstacles. For example, when skipping dinner, I’ve noticed insomnia sets in. My body tends to use carbs to sleep. I usually have a little potato before bed.
Similarly, I’ve not had great results with 24-hour fasting. It works to burn fat, but I feel that my concentration and sleep are both interrupted by it. I’m a writer and it is difficult to write after that long of a fast.
Skipping breakfast, however, has worked like a charm. I recommend that you check with your Doctor prior to beginning a fast. I also recommend experimenting. What works for me may not work for you. We are all built differently. And I’d consider getting a blood test to confirm your testosterone levels if you suspect they might be low.
