Hormones play a crucial role in regulating various body functions, including sexual function, growth, and metabolism. However, several factors like poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of sleep can negatively impact hormone health. Therefore, it's crucial to optimize your hormone levels through healthy lifestyle changes and supplements. In this article, we'll explore six actionable tips to improve testosterone and estrogen levels.
The six pillars of hormone health include diet, exercise, stress management, sleep optimization, sunlight exposure, and spiritual wellbeing. These pillars are crucial for maintaining a healthy hormone balance. A balanced diet, regular exercise, stress management techniques like meditation, getting enough sleep, spending time in the sun, and practicing spirituality can improve hormone levels.
Getting about 20 minutes of light exposure to as much skin as possible 2-3 times a week can help optimize testosterone and estrogen levels. Light exposure early in the morning can align your hormones and circadian rhythm for wakefulness and later sleep.
High alcohol intake and smoking marijuana can negatively impact testosterone levels, leading to a decrease in hormone health. Therefore, it's important to limit alcohol intake and avoid smoking marijuana to maintain healthy hormone levels.
Vegans are at risk of not getting enough healthy fats and nutrients to maintain a proper ratio of testosterone to estrogen. Therefore, it's recommended to supplement with algae or other healthy fats to optimize hormone health.
Tongkat ali and Fadogia agrestis are two supplements that can help improve testosterone levels. Tongkat ali at 400mg per day and Fadogia agrestis at 425mg once a day can help boost testosterone levels and optimize hormone health.
The 6 x 10 protocol, which involves 6 sets of 10 reps at 80% of 1RM with 2-minute rest between sets, is an effective training protocol for increasing testosterone levels. However, it's important not to train to failure, and to work at a load you can sustain intensity over all 10 reps.
In addition to these tips, there are several other behavioral changes you can make to optimize hormone health. For instance, controlling apnea, reducing light exposure in the middle of the night, and increasing bright light to the eyes, cold exposure like ice baths or cold showers, and heavyweight training can help boost hormone levels.
In conclusion, optimizing hormone health requires a holistic approach that includes dietary changes, regular exercise, stress management, and sleep optimization. Light exposure, avoiding high alcohol intake and smoking marijuana, using supplements, and following a training protocol can also help improve hormone levels. By making these simple changes, you can optimize your hormone health and improve your overall wellbeing.