The Science Behind Obesity & Low Testosterone - The Vicious Cycle

[Jozifp103]

Having too much bodyfat creates a vicious cycle of negative feedback loops within the body that can perpetually and exponentially decrease Testosterone and increase body fat simultaneously.

Testosterone burns fat, plain and simple. It acts on the androgen receptors on your fat cells and signals it to break down into fatty acids (lipolysis) which transports the fatty acids throughout the body to be oxidized for energy or excreted from the body.

How is Testosterone produced in males?
Your Pituitary gland in your brain releases gonadotropins. The one responsible for Testosterone production is called Luteinizing Hormone (LH). LH travels to the Testes and attaches to receptors in the Leydig cells. The LH then sends a signal to the Leydig cells to produce Testosterone.

How does fat interfere with this process?
One word, LEPTIN. Leptin is released from fat cells into the blood stream. When Leptin reaches the Testes it also attaches to receptors in the Leydig cells but rather than signal them to produce Testosterone, it signals them to STOP producing Testosterone. It acts as a governor or modulator, cancelling out the signal sent by LH.

So now we have less Testosterone circulating which means:



Now, there is yet another mechanism in which body fat lowers testosterone. Fat releases aromatase enzymes. Aromatase Enzymes are responsible for converting Testosterone into Estradiol (E2). When the body senses the rise in Estradiol, it slows its production of Testosterone to prevent Estradiol from rising further. YET ANOTHER VICIOUS CYCLE!

Here is a link to the study where I got most of this information -> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3253446/

If you want a quick summary with visuals here's a snapshot of the important parts.

[MONSTRO]

This is the reason why all man over 40´s should use a TRT testosterone dosage to not just look better but also fell better . I dont understand why some doctors dont understand this . Low testosterone is very unhealthy ( much more unhealthy than take testosterone injections ).

That´s why i always said learn more and more because knowledge is power .

[Jozifp103]

This is the reason why all man over 40´s should use a TRT testosterone dosage to not just look better but also fell better . I dont understand why some doctors dont understand this . Low testosterone is very unhealthy ( much more unhealthy than take testosterone injections ).

That´s why i always said learn more and more because knowledge is power .

I think with a healthy, active lifestyle there's no reason that men can't maintain healthy Testosterone levels well into their middle ages. I wouldn't necessarily recommend ALL men over 40 be put on TRT.

I have a young father but he's still in his late 50's and his TT levels are still in the 600's (I had him get blood work because he wanted to run his first cycle).