Love handles may lower your testosterone!

I am sick of hearing all the radio ads for Testosterone! There are some men who suffer with low testosterone due to medical issues and modest ebbing of this male hormone with age is reasonable. But that is not the entire story.  

  Like other health conditions, research suggests that falling testosterone levels may be caused more by a bulging waistline than anything else.

  A study conducted by scientists at St. Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, suggests that weight loss in overweight men can reduce the prevalence of low testosterone by nearly 50%.

Nine hundred subjects participated in the study. All were overweight, pre-diabetic males. The average subject age was 54.

Subjects were divided into one of three treatment groups:

Treatment 1:  150 minutes of exercise weekly plus a low-calorie,   low-fat diet.

Treatment 2: The diabetes drug Metformin.

Treatment 3: A placebo pill.

  Over the course of a year, only the men in treatment group 1 experienced an increase in testosterone. The men in this group lost an average of 17 pounds. The more weight and inches around the waist the men lost, the greater the increase in testosterone.

Dr. Frances Hayes, one of the scientists who conducted the study, stated "'Doctors should first encourage overweight men with low testosterone levels to try to lose weight through diet and exercise before resorting to testosterone therapy to raise their hormone levels."

The results of other studies suggest that older men with higher levels of testosterone are at less risk of losing muscle mass and lower-body strength.

Work Smarter; Not Harder!

Dr David Marcon

Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center

Cincinnati Ohio 45255

www.marconchiropractic.com