What You Need To Know About Alcohol and Testosterone
Have you ever thought about how alcohol affects your testosterone levels? Here why you should consider how alcohol and testosterone interact.
Keyword(s): alcohol and testosterone
Have you ever had a few drinks of alcohol and wondered how it may affect your testosterone levels? Have you heard that drinking may lower your testosterone or change your hormone stability?
Below we will answer your questions about alcohol and testosterone. To put your mind at ease, read our top eight things you should know about alcohol and testosterone.
Reduction in testosterone levels
How does alcohol and testosterone interact, you may wonder? The ingredients in alcohol reduce your testosterone levels if you have a lot of drinks.
Moderate alcohol intake will only make a small impact on your testosterone. If you have two or three beers in a day, you will experience a temporary and slight drop in testosterone levels.
Having some alcohol will not lead to any serious problems and may in fact have some health benefits. Wine, for instance, leads to improved heart health.
So how does alcohol actually cut your testosterone levels? Keep reading to find out!
How alcohol lowers testosterone latitudes
Beer contains the chemicals phytoestrogen and prolactin, which raise your estrogen levels. This rise in estrogen decreases your testosterone latitude.
The wine you drink also includes the chemical phytoestrogen. This means that it acts in much the same way as beer would. Some liquors, like bourbon, also have similar chemicals.
These alcohols will raise your estrogen levels and make your testosterone drop.
Beers also have quite a lot of calories. If you have too many beers, you’ll end up with that beer gut many complain about. That extra fat is also known to produce more estrogen.
For women though, the opposite is true. Alcohol wreaks havoc on their hormones. It raises the amount of testosterone they have.
You will need to be careful and avoid consuming too much alcohol on a regular basis. This will keep your hormone levels healthy.
Alcohol and testosterone interference in the brain
We all know what happens when we’ve had a few too many tipsy while out for a night. We end up tipsy and our brain doesn’t function as well as it does when we are sober.
The alcohol interferes in our brain between the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. The pituitary gland handles regulating your hormones.
Our brain regulates our hormone levels very well. Yet, a slight disruption or interference from alcohol can make a drastic impact. You will end up with lower energy levels from alcohol intake. Men tend to have fertility problems if they are addicted to alcohol.
Alcohol can even impact your blood sugars since it boosts insulin secretion. Constant alcohol intake will also raise your cortisol levels, which may increase your weight.
Alcohol plays a role in changing the way your brain regulates chemical processes and hormones. Now, let’s take a look at the biochemical pathways that alcohol deregulates.
The biochemical pathways alcohol impacts to tank your testosterone levels
When alcohol or ethanol is metabolized, it lowers the coenzyme NAD+ found in the liver and the testes.
This coenzyme is essential in an electron donor procedure used in the production of testosterone.
Also, when you drink, your brain is stimulated and begins releasing the chemicals beta-opioid endorphins. Endorphins are also known for having a negative effect on the production of estrogen.
Too much alcohol can also cause oxidative damage to your tissues. This can lead to a decrease in testosterone production as well.
Ongoing high intake of alcohol can increase your estrogen levels. It does this by stimulating the activity of the aromatase enzyme. This enzyme works to convert the hormone testosterone into the female sex hormone estrogen.
Next, let’s take a look at the studies of the effects between alcohol and testosterone.
Animal studies and clinical research show the impact alcohol has on testosterone
A number of studies on mouse models and other rodents have found that drinking too much alcohol will reduce testosterone levels.
One study in particular found that the size of testicles in rats decreased by 50 percent when 5 percent of their diet was in the form of ethanol.
Clinical research studies based on human subjects also found that alcohol reduces testosterone latitudes. Men who have drinking problems may even have healthy livers but their testosterone levels are low.
The reason why low testosterone isn’t favorable has more to do with the physical impacts. Keep reading to learn about the symptoms you may experience.
The physical impacts of low testosterone
Men with lower than average levels of testosterone tend to experience a number of negative symptoms.
Men may feel fatigued, have little energy, and have no sex drive. Some men may even become infertile.
So you may find that beer actually caused you to lose more energy. However, you can get your body back to normal by either cutting down on alcohol intake or trying to go without for about a month.
Yet, you may be happy to learn that moderate alcohol intake actually doesn’t cause any major damage to your hormones. It may even have some health benefits.
The good news: moderate alcohol consumption won’t harm you
Research studies show that moderate alcohol consumption, such as 2 beers per day, will not pose any significant danger to your health.
Are you still worried about alcohol and testosterone? There is little reason to worry. This is because research determined that men will only have a slight reduction in their testosterone levels when drinking moderate amounts of alcohol.
And women don’t experience any decreases in testosterone production from drinking moderately.
The hormone DHEA-S, which is known to protect the heart, was found to be higher among those who drink moderately, according to one study. This shows that moderate alcohol intake may even have some health benefits.
Another study found that a moderate dose such as one and a half glasses of wine only decreased testosterone levels by 7 percent.
So feel free to drink that glass of wine or beer with dinner! Just keep it in moderation.
Do you have any questions about how alcohol and testosterone interact? If so, let us know in the comments below. You can also contact us here.
