Aging gracefully is one of the biggest challenges mankind has attempted to overcome.
In fact, anti-aging has grown to an industry that will exceed more than $271 billion dollars by the year 2024.
Yes that’s BILLIONS of dollars.
Why is this industry growing at such a rate?
For men, our testosterone levels peak around the age of 20 and stay relatively elevated until the age of 30. After this point, testosterone levels tend to decline at a rate of around 1% to 1.5% per year (1).
What we’ve discovered over the years is that testosterone issues are more common than we thought before. New research suggests that 1 out of every 4 men experience low testosterone levels after the age of 30 (2).
In the grand scheme of life, father time is undefeated, but we can make positive changes to minimize the impact of hormonal decline. The key to a long, healthy life is finding ways of aging in the most graceful manner possible.
Hi I’m Sean Torbati. As we age, our bodies go through various types of changes. At a hormonal level, you’ll find that these changes cause shifts to our body composition.
That’s why keeping our testosterone levels operating at maximum efficiency is of the utmost importance. Just because you get older doesn’t mean you have to lose muscle and gain body fat.
In this piece, we’ll dive into how male hormones change over time and how it affects our bodies.
Testosterone is a hormone produced primarily in the testicles and is involved in a number of bodily functions.
Just a few of the natural functions of testosterone include:
As you might imagine, a decline in natural testosterone function can impact our bodies in various ways.
A lack of natural testosterone production can cause health side effects such as (3):
Let’s dive a bit deeper to understand how a decline in testosterone and growth hormone can impact each of these functions.
Loss of testosterone can contribute to a disorder known as sarcopenia. Sarcopenia causes muscle loss in men. After the age of 30, men can lose as much as 3% to 5% of muscle mass each decade (4).
Like testosterone, a decline in growth hormone can also impact lean body mass in men. Comparatively speaking, growth hormone declines at an even faster rate than testosterone. Research has shown that growth hormone secretion decreases at a rate of 15% for every decade of life after the age of 30 (5).
A decrease in either of these hormones can lead to muscular atrophy over time along with other side effects.
Testosterone has been known to play a crucial role in body fat. A study performed on 100 obese men with a low testosterone level followed a lower calorie diet while undergoing testosterone treatment or while using a placebo. The results showed the group using testosterone almost exclusively lost only body fat (6).
Adults suffering from growth hormone deficiencies also had similar results with treatment. Elderly men using growth hormone treatments had significant increases in lean body mass and small decreases in fat mass (7).
The effects of growth hormone on body fat mirror that of testosterone. Natural declines in both hormones result in increased body fat percentages. Hormonal deficiencies can also impact more than simply body composition. It can also cause drastic changes to your overall health.
When you think about testosterone, it might conjure up images of strong, muscular men attempting to be as large and strong as possible. What you may not know is that hormonal regulation is also necessary to improve overall health and well-being.
Hormonal decline also can cause other issues including (8):
Since testosterone and growth hormone decline are seemingly inevitable, it’s important to do everything in our power to keep them as naturally high as possible. Taking a few simple steps may help prevent the decline of testosterone and growth hormone.
Here are some steps you can take to help prevent hormonal decline.
Heavy resistance training is one way of helping testosterone levels stay elevated. Research has shown that total testosterone and free testosterone increases immediately after a bout of heavy resistance training in men (9).
The foods you put into your body can play a role in your testosterone levels. Studies have shown that a high consumption of processed foods such as breads and pastries, dairy products, and desserts with a low intake of fruits and vegetables negatively impacted testosterone levels (10).
Sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night can help maintain your hormonal balance.
Aging is an inevitable part of human existence. Hormonal decline tends to start in our 30’s and gradually may go down the rest of our life. Along with decline comes negative side effects such as muscle loss, fat gain, and other health problems.
By practicing positive lifestyle changes such as eating a proper diet, exercising regularly, and getting adequate sleep we can help limit our hormonal deficiencies.
For myself, I don’t plan on letting age become a limiting factor for my progress and success. I think we should all strive to age like fine wine in the journey of life. Taking the right steps can help ensure your body stays in optimal condition, even during the natural aging process.
I am here to help lead you on the way towards peak mind and body capacity. Let’s get stronger, smarter, and lead by example.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to comment below. I look forward to hearing about your road to success.
Kindest regards,
Sean Torbati
References
(2) https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=4508669&page=1
(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4816459/
(4) https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/preserve-your-muscle-mass
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279163/
(6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5054608/
(7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8300043
(8) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2544367/#b73
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