Until pretty recently, most men didn’t give their hormone health much consideration. Instead, hormone health was a topic discussed mostly among women.
And yet, hormone health is equally important to men as it is to women. Regardless of your gender, hormones regulate just about every process in your body. Everything from mood stability and energy production to muscle growth and sexual function.
Also…for both men and women, hormone production diminishes with age. No one escapes this reality.
With that said, let’s take a look at some hormones that are particularly important for men’s health.
Key Hormones for Men
- Testosterone
If men think about hormones at all, testosterone is likely the one they think of first. And for good reason.
Simply put, men need a lot of testosterone to feel good. Testosterone supports muscle growth, bone density, energy production, metabolism, mental acuity, mood stability, sexual function, and much more. You can think of testosterone as the gas in your tank.
The problem is that testosterone levels can start to drop off as early as a man’s late 20s or early 30s, with production declining by roughly 1-2% each year.
The result can be symptoms like low libido, fatigue, weight gain, depression, brain fog, and insomnia.
- Estrogen
Most people think of estrogen as being strictly a female hormone. But men need estrogen, too. They just don’t need as much of it as women do. When women are healthy, they’ll have a lot of estrogen in their bodies and a small amount of testosterone. For men, it’s the flip.
But a small amount of estrogen does important things for men physiologically. In particular, estrogen is essential for heart, bone, and brain health.
Having said that, too much estrogen can cause unpleasant symptoms in men like fatigue, low sex drive, depression, water retention, and at the extreme, gynecomastia (a.k.a. man boobs). Estrogen that is too low also causes fatigue and low sex drive, as well as joint pain.
So, what does this all mean? For men to get the health benefits they need from estrogen without side effects, estrogen must be kept within a tight window. In other words, there’s a sweet spot for each man where his estrogen level needs to be for him to feel his best and be his healthiest.
- Growth Hormone
Growth hormone supports cell growth and repair. As such, it affects every system within the body.
People produce a lot of growth hormone when they’re children and they’re growing rapidly. But once adulthood is reached, production drops off gradually. By the time a person reaches their 70s or 80s, they’re producing just a fraction of what was produced when they were younger. As a consequence, cell growth and repair occur at a slower rate—which negatively impacts the aging process.
The result is less energy, increased body fat, slower healing from injuries, compromised sleep quality, reduced mental acuity…and the list goes on.
- Thyroid Hormones
Your thyroid hormones (and there are a bunch of them) are crucial for regulating metabolism, energy production, and body temperature.
Your thyroid gland produces a thyroid hormone called T4. T4 then gets broken down into T3, and T3 is broken down into T3 Free. It’s the thyroid hormone T3 Free that accounts for most of your thyroid function.
Two things can happen as people age. One is that the thyroid gland becomes worn out and can no longer produce adequate amounts of T4. The second is that the body can lose its ability to break T4 down into T3. Either one or both of these scenarios can be at play when a person has hypothyroidism (or low thyroid).
The symptoms caused by low thyroid include fatigue, weight gain, depression, anxiety, irritability, difficultly regulating body temperature, and insomnia.
- DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
DHEA is an adrenal hormone that supports healthy immune function and energy production. It also fortifies the body against the ravages of stress and promotes longevity.
DHEA production can diminish as a consequence of age, chronic stress, or both. People who are profoundly DHEA deficient will often describe feeling rundown or worn out.
- Cortisol
Your body produces cortisol in response to stress. This burst of cortisol during times of stress is important because it helps your body to react to whatever is causing the stress.
However, chronic stress can cause chronically elevated cortisol levels. While an increase in cortisol production for short periods of time isn’t harmful, chronically elevated cortisol can be toxic and damaging to your health. If this goes on for long enough, eventually the adrenal glands can become fatigued to where they can no longer produce the small amounts of cortisol needed throughout the day for good health.
The issues that people have when cortisol production isn’t optimal include elevated blood pressure, insomnia, abdominal weight gain, irritability, and fatigue.
Hormone Tips for Men
Following are a few suggestions to help you avoid hormone-related health issues:
- Get your hormone levels checked by a provider who has experience treating hormone imbalances in men.
- If hormone therapy is warranted, make sure treatment is individualized to your body’s unique physiological needs. Also, ensure treatment is prescribed by a provider with ample expertise with men’s hormones.
- Your hormone therapy should include regular blood testing to ensure your hormones remain optimized over time.
- Support your hormone health with good lifestyle habits like a healthy diet, regular exercise, stress management, and plenty of sleep.
Renew Youth has been a leader in healthy aging for men and women since 1999. We offer personalized hormone therapy, supplement recommendations, and other healthy aging solutions designed to help you feel your best as you age. Ready to get started? Call us at 800-859-7511 or use our easy contact form to schedule your complimentary 30-minute consultation.