(Article Medically Reviewed By Dr. Zach Hyde)
If you aren’t already aware, all those male characteristics that we know and love (beards, muscles, hairy chests) are controlled by a specific group of hormones known as androgens.
Unfortunately, your androgen levels can waver for a variety of reasons, causing your manliness to suffer or – worse – female characteristics to start showing up (hello man-boobs).
In this article, we’ll discuss three unique ways that you can use to prevent this from happening.
What Are Androgens?
Testosterone, androstenedione, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and ehydroepiandrosterone are all examples of androgens.
These are the hormones that make you a man.
Your body begins producing them in utero once your gender is determined, causing you to develop as a male.
Later on, during puberty, they begin pumping in earnest again, remaining at elevated levels until your mid-twenties.
However, as we’ve discussed in countless articles, your androgen levels are not only likely to decline as you age but will also decline from chemical exposure, environmental factors, diet and health choices.
And since male hormones and female hormones exist in a constant state of balance in the body, it’s smart to address this decline before estrogen gains the upper hand and begins wreaking havoc in your body.
Normally, optimizing your testosterone levels is pretty simple:
- Eat the right foods (tuna, egg yolks, leafy greens, etc.)
- Pay attention to fitness and muscle development (High-intensity interval training, resistance training, etc.)
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle (don’t smoke, avoid over drinking, eat clean)
- Keep an eye on your macronutrients (Vitamin K, A, D, E and Zinc)
If you Google ways to boost your androgen levels, you’ll come across thousands of articles detailing the points above.
For instance, you can find dozens of high-quality examples on this site alone.
But while these articles offer a great education on androgen maintenance, they don’t necessarily cover everything.
In fact, there are some other less common, less known, and downright surprising ways that you can maximize your manliness.
For example…
1. Inhale Females Pheromones To Boost Androgens
Did you know that your sense of smell is more closely related to memory than taste, hearing, or even sight?
It’s true, because smells are extremely powerful stimulants.
In fact, certain smells can actually awaken primal reactions in your body. Things that our ancestors used to communicate when “speech” was still mostly grunts and whistles. Congratulations, you’ve just discovered pheromones.
Pheromones are chemicals much like hormones.
But rather than staying in one body, they are released through the skin, where they can cause reactions in members of the same species.
These reactions can affect the inflammatory system, the nervous system, and more, and cause us to feel attraction, anger, fear, and a variety of other emotions.
Here are a few of the best examples:
- Androstenone (released primarily by males)
- Androstenol (released primarily by women)
- Androstadienone (a testosterone metabolite found in male sweat)
- Estratetraenol (an estrogen metabolite found in female sweat)
- Copulins (pheromones released by the female sexual organs)
If you’re worried that this article is going to take a sharp turn into “pick-up artist” territory and tell you to start spraying your sweat on all your clothes, don’t worry.
As always, we stay firmly focused on the science here.
Luckily, some pretty interesting research shows that chemical signals from women can directly impact male testosterone levels.
For instance, in one study, women were asked to watch a sad movie, and their tears were collected onto a piece of cotton.
When this cotton was stuck under a male subject’s nose, they noted a large drop in his salivary testosterone levels.
These tears contained chemical signals that had a non-attractive effect. Ultimately, the woman’s sadness triggered non-arousal.
Another study demonstrated that inhaling copulins (the pheromones derived from the female sex organs) had the opposite effect.
The research included 100 young men, 50 of whom were asked to wear surgical masks that had been moistened with extracted copulins.
The other men were merely given a placebo mask. The results showed that the men wearing the copulin mask saw an increase in salivary testosterone levels of around 150% within a few hours!
You might be wondering what you can do with this information, but in the interest of keeping things PG-13, I’ll merely suggest that you can indeed use copulins as a way to giving your androgens a nice boost.
Sourcing those copulins for inhalation?
There are companies offering copulin extracts in the bottle, which I wrote about in an email a while back which can see right here.
2. Sexual Abstinence to Boost Androgens Naturally
The “no fap” craze currently sweeping the internet (and the gym) may seem like a terrible idea, but it does seem to have at least some roots in truth.
That said, the main problem with the no fap is that it’s meant to redirect your efforts from masturbation and porn towards actually pursuing women.
So it isn’t so much sexual abstinence as it is abstinence from self-gratification.
And while one study did show that a three-week sexual abstinence could cause a slight boost in T levels, another showed that longer abstinence actually led to a significant drop.
Which brings us to the “one-week sexual fast.”
According to a study from Japan, it was the 7th day of abstinence that saw the biggest spike in testosterone levels (145%, to be exact).
However, by the middle of Day 8, these levels had gone back to normal and even started to decline.
If you look closely at the numbers you’ll see the spike started on Day 5 and increased until Day 7.
So if you’re looking to maximize your testosterone, a 5-7 day on / off climax schedule seems like a reasonable approach.
That said, studies on any topic are never the final answer and based on my experience the response to abstinence varies depending on a number of factors.
For example…
If you’ve been mindlessely whacking off for the mere pleasure every day, abstinence will likely result in a significant increase in sex drive once you stop.
But if you already control your ejaculations instead of allowing them to control you, the impact will be probably be minimal.
And finally, if you’ve been using hardcore pornography to get off, abstinence will provide you with some life changing benefits.
Just keep in mind, quitting will be tough. And you will feel worse before you start feeling better.
But once you come out the other side, you’ll be a new man, inside and outside the sack.
3. 10 Day Water Fasts Boost Androgen Sensitivity
I’m going to preface this discussion with a nice big disclaimer: the fact that something can boost your androgen levels does not mean that you need to do it.
As you probably know, fasting is something that you see a lot in both medical and pseudo-medical practices.
However, it is only recommended for healthy individuals who are prepared and equipped to deal with the consequences of food deprivation.
In short: I don’t want you sending me an email looking like Christian Bale from “The Machinist” and wondering why you aren’t dominating both the gym and bedroom.
Anyway, there is strong evidence to show that fasting does affect your body’s sensitivity to testosterone.
This brings us to the study at hand, the “10-Day Water Fast.” The small group of men who participated was asked to drink only water for several days, after which they would slowly be reintroduced to food.
During the first few days of the study, there was a significant drop in T levels pretty much across the board.
However, as they entered Day 9 and Day 10 and were refed with 1,500 calories per day, some subjects’ serum testosterone surged upwards.
The two highest reactions went from around 600 mg/100ml to 1200 and 1600 mg/100 ml, respectively.
However, it’s worth noting that while all men saw a rise, not all of them saw anything quite so dramatic.
Moreover, it’s hard to imagine how you could make this part of a “routine” as the subsequent weight loss and lack of nutrients would do far more harm than good.
In most cases, such a fast is only recommended if you’re attempting to trigger a T response by giving your hormone production a big jolt.
Boost Androgens Naturally Conclusion
If you’re tired of the same old Testosterone boosting recommendations, chances are the three I just outlined are news to you.
While it’s up to you to decide how you use this information, I do want to reiterate how important it is to understand that your androgen levels are always changing and adapting.
And if your levels have taken a plunge, you need to remember, there’s always a solution.
