Whether you want to lose weight or gain muscles, diet is the most important thing. Same goes with increasing testosterone. Planned diet must be followed. No matter how hard you workout at gym, how long you sleep or what you do, if you don’t know about natural testosterone boosters food, and provide your body raw material to produce testosterone, it won’t produce testosterone.
You will be amazed to see how just by changing your diet, how better you can feel. Hence, in this article, we discuss various foods that will help you to increase your testosterone level. In this list you’ll mostly find food items that are very cheap and easily available.
There is always a way by which you can cook or consume food without destroying it essential nutrients. I have mentioned the best way to eat, where ever I thought was necessary.
12 Foods that increase testosterone:
Salmon
Salmon contains a very high amount of Omega-3. Omega-3 comes under the category of EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids). Apart from building immunity and strengthening the heart, Omega-3 fatty acids are also very important for the production of testosterone. 100 g of salmon contains 38105 mg of Omega -3. Plus, it contains a very good amount of protein, which makes it a complete food for testosterone.
Oysters
Oysters are the probably the best source of the mineral; Zinc. Your diet must-must contain a good quantity of Zinc. But the fact is, in general, we all have some level of Zinc deficiency. Zinc is one of the most important building blocks of testosterone.
A study conducted on a group of men, suffering from Hypogonadism suggested that level of serum testosterone is very much dependent on the cellular Zinc concentration. On giving them supplements of Zinc, their testosterone level increase considerably.
Zinc increases the levels of testosterone in your body by inhibiting an enzyme called Aromatase. Aromatase is responsible for converting Testosterone into Estrogen. Probably of the best foods that increase testosterone in men.
Dark chocolate
The amount of production of testosterone is badly effected by the level of Cortisol running through your system. In simple terms, more the cortisol lesser the testosterone. Cortisol is also known as stress hormone. Dark chocholate contains Beta-endorphin which is responsible to reduce stress by cutting down on Cortisol.
40 grams of dark chocolate per day is healthy to consume and apart from increasing testosterone it is also a great source of anti-oxidants, flavonoids, which has numerous heath benefits.
Egg yolk
People usually tell you to not eat egg yolk because it contains a high level of cholesterol. This is fact, but not a complete one. First of all, you should know that there are two types of cholesterol; LDL (Low-density lipoproteins) and HDL (High density lipoproteins). LDL is the also known as bad cholesterol and is responsible for clogging up your arteries.
On the other hand, HDL is a good cholesterol and the building block of testosterone. Testes convert cholesterol into testosterone after getting a signal from the pituitary gland. The egg yolk is a good source of HDL cholesterol. So, instead of effecting your heart in a bad way, egg yolk is very good for it.
Flax seeds
For all those vegetarians out there, who cannot get Omega-3 from Salmon, this is the alternative for you. Don’t think, for one moment, that Flax seeds Omega-3 content is any less than that of Salmon(or any non-vegetarian food). In fact, it contains 106817 mg of protein per 100 g serving. Which is a much more than double of Salmon.
NOTE – The best way to consume flax seeds is after grinding it, because the coating of this seed is very hard, which creates problem in proper digestion of the nutrients. But, before you grind flax seeds you should roast them a bit, it will remove all moisture from it and doing that you will able to store it for a longer time.
You can mix a spoon of grind-ed flax seeds in water and consume it in the morning. Or you can sprinkle it on your food.
Avena Sativa
To understand how “Avena Sativa” increase testosterone , we have to dig a little deeper. This all starts at Cerebral cortex, which sends a signal to Hypothalamus. Hypothalamus in turn sends a signal to the pituitary gland. The Pituitary gland releases LH (Luteinising hormone), LH determines the amount of testosterone produced by the testes.
First of all, Avena Sative has shown to increase the LH secretion, which results in secretion of more testosterone.
SHBG (Sex hormone binding globulin) or SSBG (Sex steroid binding globulin) is a hormone that binds with the free testosterone, the resulting testosterone is not of much use to us. Avena Sative significantly reduces the amount of SHBG, which means the amount of free testosterone will increase.
Oatmeal is the best source of Avena Sative.
Beef
Beef can be said as the quintessential food to increase testosterone. It probably contains most of the raw material required for testosterone production. It contains Zinc, magnesium, proteins, selenium, etc. If you really into body building or want to look and be more masculine than it is the right food for you. It is cheaper than chicken or mutton and easily available.
Cruciferous vegetables
This group entire group of cruciferous vegetables are good foods to increase testosterone. Cruciferous vegetables consist of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. All these vegetables consist of “Indole 3 carbinol”. Indole 3 carbinol helps in removing excess estrogen from our body.
Those of you who have followed my articles might be knowing, that having too much estrogen is one of the causes of low testosterone. Actually, Indole 3 carbinol is good for woman also, as it prevents production of “bad” estrogen that can result in breast cancer.
The best way to consume Cruciferous vegetable is either raw or steamed. Too much cooking destroys the Idole 3 carbinol from the food.
Extra virgin olive oil
A study conducted analyzing the effects of extra virgin olive oil on the level of LH (luteinizing hormone) and testosterone. After 3 weeks of this diet, there was a significant rise in the testosterone level (around 17%) and LH level.
When you are buying Extra virgin oil, don’t forget to check, whether “COLD PRESS” is written on it or not. Cold press, in simple terms means that the oil is not heated up to more than 80 degrees, thus, preserving all the nutritional value.
Pumpkin seeds
As I have already mentioned that Zinc is a really important raw material for testosterone production. But, the food items, containing Zinc, that I have mentioned earlier, are all nog-vegetarian. Pumpkin seeds, although don’t have as bigger quantity of Zinc as Oysters have but still it has ample amount of it.
Pumpkin seeds also indirectly increase your testosterone by helping you sleep well. It contains tryptophan (amino acid), which after few chemical steps becomes Melatonin, which gives you quality sleep. You can have half a cup of pumpkin seeds half and hour before you sleep.
Black beans
Beans are not only a great source of zinc and Magnesium but it contains protein and fiber in good amount. And, beans comes very cheap, so you can increase your testosterone using beans without dis-balancing your budget. There are different types of beans, out of them, black beans are the best.
The darker the beans, it will be packed with more nutrients. If you get gassy after eating beans, then, you should soak them over night before eating them. It will makes the outer layer softer and digesting them becomes easier.
Brazil nuts
Brazil nuts are a best source of selenium. In fact, it contains 10 times more selenium than the second best source, which is oyster. Brazil nuts are especially important when you are body building as they contain all the 9 amino acids. Just one Brazil nut contains the recommended daily dose of selenium. Selenium is one of the essential nutrient for testosterone production and must be a part of your daily diet.
Conclusion: What foods increase testosterone?
So, we have discussed all the necessary foods to increase testosterone. But, foods and nutrients only help when your body itself wants to increase the production of Testosterone. And, that will only happen when you will exercise properly, sleep well, avoid alcohol, etc. Without a proper lifestyle all these nutrients will be of no use.
Secondly, the foods that I have mentioned are not only good for testosterone but also natural sources of testosterone, which will be healthy for you in the long run. Even if you don’t have any symptom of low testosterone, these foods should be included in your diet.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12840226/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S089990079680058X
https://www.healthline.com/health/ldl-cholesterol
https://joe.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/joe/50/3/joe_50_3_013.xml
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