How to Optimize Testosterone & Estrogen
This episode explores testosterone and estrogen, detailing how behaviors like exercise, sex, breathing, light exposure, and temperature impact their levels. It also covers specific supplements and compounds that can adjust these hormones, emphasizing optimization within normal ranges and the intricate brain-body interplay.
Deep Dive Analysis
18 Topic Outline
Salutogenesis: A Powerful Health Mindset
Estrogen and Testosterone: Sources, Levels and Ratios
Competition and Testosterone's Role in Behavior
Sex, Libido, and Hormone Fluctuations
DHEA's Effects on Testosterone and Estrogen
Parenting and Illness Impacts on Hormones
Pheromones: Animal Effects and Human Evidence
Apnea and Breathing's Influence on Hormones
Nasal Breathing Benefits for Health and Hormones
Light Exposure: Dopamine, Hormones, and Seasonal Effects
Temperature: Cold and Heat Effects on Gonads
Exercise Types and Their Hormonal Impact
Managing Menopause Symptoms with Compounds
Foundational Nutrients for Hormone Optimization
Opioids as Severe Hormone Disruptors
Creatine and DHT Levels
Free vs. Bound Testosterone and Supplements
Brain-Level Hormone Optimization with Compounds
6 Key Concepts
Salutogenesis
A health mindset focused on actively promoting wellbeing and moving towards health, rather than solely preventing disease (pathogenesis). It emphasizes understanding why certain behaviors are beneficial to enhance energy and endocrine function.
Aromatase
An enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. It is produced by body fat and in the testes, playing a crucial role in balancing sex hormone ratios in both males and females.
Pheromone
A chemical released by one member of a species that impacts other members of the same species, or even other species, often unconsciously. In animals, pheromones are well-established to influence reproductive cycles and behaviors.
Apnea
Under-breathing or cessation of breathing, particularly during sleep, leading to a buildup of carbon dioxide in the body. It negatively impacts hormone levels by increasing cortisol, which then decreases testosterone and estrogen.
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG)
A protein that binds to testosterone, transporting it to cells. While often seen as reducing 'free' testosterone, SHBG is essential for shuttling testosterone to specific tissues and regulating its availability in the body.
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG)
A prescription drug that increases luteinizing hormone (LH) output from the pituitary. LH then stimulates the gonads (ovaries or testes) to increase the production of testosterone and estrogen, promoting fertility and hormone levels.
7 Questions Answered
Competition itself, even without winning, can increase testosterone levels, and winning further boosts dopamine, which then promotes more testosterone release.
Observing sex can lead to modest increases (around 10%), while actual sex can lead to significant increases (around 70%). However, abstinence or sex without ejaculation for a week or more can increase testosterone levels even further, up to 400%.
Expecting fathers experience a significant decrease in testosterone (almost 50%), a nearly threefold drop in cortisol, and a doubling of estradiol, primarily due to an increase in prolactin.
Illness leads to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6, which can directly decrease the desire for sex and reduce levels of testosterone and estrogen by interfering with hormone receptors.
Yes, viewing bright light, especially sunlight, to the eyes increases dopamine levels, which in turn promotes the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and other hormones that stimulate estrogen and testosterone production.
Performing weight training with heavy loads first, followed by cardiovascular endurance activity, appears to be the most effective order for optimizing testosterone levels.
Pueraria mirifica (also called Kwao Krua) has shown potency comparable to estrogen replacement therapy in reducing menopause symptoms in some studies. Black cohosh and Panax ginseng have also shown modest benefits for specific symptoms.
26 Actionable Insights
1. Adopt Salutogenesis Mindset
Orient towards health by taking on behaviors (nutrition, exercise, supplementation) to actively promote wellbeing beyond your current state, rather than solely to avoid disease. This mindset can enhance energy, endocrine, and metabolic function.
2. Frame Health Behaviors Positively
Consciously acknowledge and focus on the positive effects of health-promoting behaviors (e.g., exercise is good for you). This positive framing is scientifically shown to have an outsized beneficial effect on overall well-being and physiology.
3. Prioritize Nasal Breathing
Breathe primarily through your nose, not your mouth, during both waking hours and sleep. This practice improves sleep quality, reduces sleep apnea, enhances gas exchange, increases lung capacity, dilates sinuses, and indirectly optimizes testosterone and estrogen by reducing cortisol.
4. Nasal Breathe During Exercise
Practice nasal breathing during cardiovascular exercise, except when performing at maximum effort. This helps to dilate nasal passages over time, making nose breathing easier and improving overall breathing efficiency.
5. Consider Mouth Taping for Sleep
If you struggle with mouth breathing during sleep, consider gently taping your mouth shut with easily removable tape to encourage nasal breathing. This can help reduce apnea and improve sleep quality.
6. View Bright Light Early
Expose your eyes to 2-10 minutes of bright light, ideally sunlight, within the first hour of waking. This is crucial for proper cortisol timing, increasing dopamine levels, and promoting healthy production of testosterone and estrogen.
7. Avoid Bright Light at Night
Refrain from exposing your eyes to bright light in the middle of the night. This prevents the suppression of dopamine release, which is detrimental to healthy testosterone and estrogen levels and disrupts sleep.
8. Engage in Heavy Weight Training
Perform weight training with heavy loads, typically in the 1-8 repetition range (70-95% of maximum effort), but avoiding training to complete failure. This method significantly increases testosterone levels for 1-2 days by engaging high-threshold motor units.
9. Order Exercise for Hormones
If combining weight training and endurance exercise in the same session, perform heavy weight training first, followed by cardiovascular endurance activity. This order appears to optimize testosterone levels.
10. Limit Intense Endurance Exercise
Keep intense endurance exercise sessions to 75 minutes or less. Prolonged, intense endurance activity can lead to excessive increases in cortisol, which may result in reductions in testosterone.
11. Engage in Competition
Actively participate in competitive environments, as the act of competition itself can increase androgen levels, including testosterone, independent of the outcome (winning or losing).
12. Practice Abstinence or Non-Ejaculatory Sex
Consider practicing abstinence or engaging in sex without ejaculation for a week or more, as this has been shown to increase testosterone levels by up to 400%. Note that sex itself also increases testosterone, but ejaculation increases prolactin.
13. Utilize Cold Exposure
Incorporate cold exposure, such as 1-10 minute ice baths, cold showers, or cold water swims. This can potentially increase testosterone (in males) and estrogen (in females) through a mechanism involving rebound vasodilation and neural control of blood flow to the gonads.
14. Ensure Adequate Micronutrients
Maintain sufficient intake of Vitamin D3, Zinc, and Magnesium. Deficiencies in these micronutrients are linked to negative impacts on testosterone and estrogen production. Consult examine.com for appropriate dosage ranges.
15. Avoid Excessive Opioid Use
Steer clear of excessive or prolonged low-level opioid use. Opioids dramatically reduce testosterone and estrogen levels by disrupting the hypothalamic neurons responsible for gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) production.
16. Pueraria Mirifica for Menopause
For individuals experiencing menopause symptoms, explore Pueraria Mirifica (also known as Quau Curu Cow). Studies suggest it can be very potent, with effects comparable to estrogen replacement therapy in reducing menopause symptoms. Caution is advised, consult a doctor.
17. Tongkat Ali for Free Testosterone
Consider supplementing with Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma Longifolia Jack) at 400-800 mg per day. Scientific literature suggests it can have pro-fertility, pro-free testosterone, and subtle aphrodisiac effects by liberating bound testosterone. Be aware of potential excessive alertness or insomnia if taken late.
18. Creatine for DHT (with caution)
Supplementing with creatine can increase dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels. Be aware that if you are genetically susceptible to DHT-related hair loss, creatine may exacerbate this condition.
19. Boron for Free Testosterone
Consider supplementing with a couple of grams of Boron daily. Some scientific support suggests it can help free up more testosterone in the bloodstream.
20. Black Cohosh for Menopause
For modest relief of menopause symptoms and slight increases in estrogen, consider Black Cohosh. Studies show consistent but minor effects, often with a significant placebo effect also observed.
21. Panax Ginseng for Menopause Libido
Panax Ginseng has been shown to decrease some menopause symptoms, primarily those related to libido, though its effects on other symptoms may be unreliable.
22. Valeriana Officinalis for Menopause
Valeriana Officinalis may offer some improvement for hot flash symptoms and insomnia associated with menopause. Studies indicate significant but modest effects.
23. Fadogia Agrestis for LH Increase
Consider Fadogia Agrestis to potentially increase luteinizing hormone (LH), which in turn can increase testosterone and estrogen levels. Note that the side effect profile for this supplement is currently unclear.
24. Regular Hormone Blood Work
When considering or actively modifying sex steroid hormones, obtain regular blood work. This is crucial for safety, to monitor hormone levels (testosterone, estrogen, LH, FSH, etc.), and to assess the effectiveness of interventions.
25. Exercise Extreme Caution with Hormones
Approach any modulation of hormones, especially androgens and estrogens, with extreme caution. ‘More is not better,’ as excessively high levels can promote the growth of cancers in tissues with high cell turnover (e.g., breast, testicular, prostate).
26. Ecdysteroids (e.g., Turkesterone)
Be aware of ecdysteroids like Turkesterone, plant-derived molecules with structural similarities to cholesterol. Some studies suggest they can significantly increase muscle mass, strength, and hypertrophy, leading some researchers to propose their inclusion on lists of prohibited substances in sports.
5 Key Quotes
Testosterone has this incredible effect of making effort feel good.
Andrew Huberman
What it's doing is it's reducing the threshold for anxiety. And in doing so, it selects individuals of a given species to push further, being willing to, you know, suffer more, although it also reduces pain, so maybe they also suffer less in pursuit of reproduction in females.
Andrew Huberman
Inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 are bad for sex steroid hormones.
Andrew Huberman
Our results strongly suggest the inclusion of ectosteroids in the list of prohibitive substances.
Isenmann et al.
More is definitely not better, and it's not just because they can aromatize or convert into other things, it's because cancers or any tissue that has a lot of turnover of cells is going to thrive on androgen, anything that promotes growth, it's going to thrive on estrogen.
Andrew Huberman
3 Protocols
Nasal Breathing Protocol for Hormone Optimization
Andrew Huberman- Breathe primarily through the nose during waking hours, unless actively eating or speaking.
- During cardiovascular exercise, breathe through the nose unless performing at maximum effort.
- Consider mouth taping during sleep to ensure nasal breathing, using tape that allows the mouth to be opened if needed.
Light Viewing Protocol for Hormone Optimization
Andrew Huberman- View bright light (ideally sunlight) for 2-10 minutes within the first hour of waking, without sunglasses.
- Avoid bright light exposure to the eyes in the middle of the night.
Exercise Sequencing Protocol for Testosterone Optimization
Andrew Huberman- Perform weight training with heavy loads (1-8 repetition range, 70-95% of maximum, not to failure) first in a workout session.
- Follow with cardiovascular endurance activity.