Alcohol puts the brakes on weight loss and reduces testosterone levels
Alcohol, although enjoyable, may be sabotaging your weight loss efforts.
Here is what happens when we drink alcohol:
- Less than 5% is turned to fat (doesn’t sound too bad, but read on)
- Most of the alcohol is turned into acetate.
- Acetate is what slows the fat loss we are working so hard to achieve. The body will choose to use acetate over fat as a fuel source.
The liver is burdened with the job of metabolizing most of the alcohol.
Your body can utilize many sources for energy.
If you eat too many carbs, your body will use them as a source of energy instead of fat. If you drink alcohol then the body is forced to metabolize this instead of burning fat for fuel.
The liver would prefer to use fatty acids for fuel but it is forced to metabolize the alcohol first, so the fatty acids accumulate. The body stores excessive amounts of unburned fat calories, and the result is often a beer belly. The acetate that comes from the metabolism of alcohol replaces fat as a source of fuel.
The happy news for those who enjoy wine, there are low-carb natural wines that are produced without the 76 additives allowed, without residual sugar – Ketogenic? Here’s your wine.
Alcohol reduces testosterone levels
Not a good thing, unless you want a flabby belly and weaker muscles.
Men and women both need testosterone but men have about ten times more.
By age 70 a man has about half the testosterone as when he was 30.
We all need testosterone for increasing muscle strength and bone mass.
Excess alcohol can be problematic for weight loss and testosterone levels. We all like to focus on the heart healthy studies about red wine, right?
I guess we need to realize that the nightly alcohol is doing a few bad things too, like giving us fat bellies, low testosterone, weak muscles and osteoporosis.
If you find that the occasional glass of red wine with dinner has become several glasses or more several nights a week then you may notice that you also are experiencing the slow addition of belly fat and weaker muscles.
Eating and drinking foods and beverages that rapidly convert to sugar will cause your blood sugar levels to increase, which leads to a jump in insulin which causes increased body fat and decreased testosterone.
Decreased testosterone leads to weak muscles and weak bones.
Testosterone robbers
- caffeine
- sugar
- alcohol
- cigarettes
- stress (cortisol competes directly with DHEA production, and thus testosterone too)
How do we stop this crazy train from running away with your testosterone?
- Eat a diet of whole foods
- Eat protein from clean plant and animal sources (organic, free-range, wild caught, pasture-raised)
- Eat healthy fat (olive oil, nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, coconut oil, butter)
- Increase fiber in the diet (vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts)
- Eat cabbage, radish, turnips, beef, broccoli, Brussesl sprouts, oysters, garlic, eggs and cauliflower
- Exercise daily
- Take up strength training
- Supplement with zinc (15-50 mg/day). I use LDA Trace Minerals, 15% off here.
- Add bioidentical DHEA.
- Consider saw palmetto in a comprehensive supplement like Prostate Health
- Features saw palmetto and pumpkin seed oil—ingredients known for their support of a healthy prostate gland.
- A proprietary blend of pure geranium, fennel, myrtle, lavender, and peppermint essential oils provides the body with key components.
- Supplement with Vitamin D3, 5000 IU and K2
- Daily topical application of Shutran essential oil blend can give you a T-boost.
Why supplement with zinc?
Zinc is needed for the metabolism of testosterone. Zinc inhibits fat cells from turning testosterone to estrogen and it is found in seafood, meat, eggs and black-eyes peas.
Unfortunately, many people eat plenty of meat but are not effectively breaking down the protein in order to benefit from the minerals. Adding 2 capsules of a quality digestive enzyme like Essentialzymes-4 with each meal can help.
Get help to stop taking acid-lowering medication, since stomach acid is needed to break down animal protein. These medications can cause mineral deficiencies.
DHEA cream or supplementation increases testosterone (men and women both need testosterone) and aids in weight loss
The safest and most effective supplement to boost testosterone is to use a high quality bioidentical options, see the options I recommend here.
DHEA is the base for estrogen, testosterone, estrone, estradiol and nearly 50 other important hormones. As DHEA and hormone levels decline with age we can experience a loss of vitality and sense of well-being.
Medical research has been used to show a connection between these feelings and the DHEA levels in the body.
Maintaining youthful levels of DHEA can help!
Coconut Oil boosts testosterone, regulates blood sugar and aids in the loss of belly fat
Sayer Ji has written an article, 13 Evidence-Baced Medicinal Properties of Coconut Oil, in which he states that coconut oil is
not just a “good” saturated fat, coconut oil is an exceptional healing agent as well, with loads of useful health applications.
Fat burning, brain boosting, testosterone boosting, wound healing, anti-fungal and more.
How to use coconut oil:
Try to consume 2-3 Tbs a day for weight loss and health benefits.
- It can be used in place of other oils for stir frying and cooking eggs.
- Add it to herbal tea.
- Use coconut oil to prepare healthy chocolate treats
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