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By Brad J King

Male Menopause is Real

Things you should know after age 40

Do you remember what life was like when you were 20 years old? Those were the days when you had the energy to shoot hoops for three hours just for something to do. Those were the days of a 34-inch waistline and maybe some blonde highlights in the hair that grew on top of your head (not out of your ears). And "ready for action" meant "ready anytime" not just for the next 36 hours like the Cialis commercial promises.

Then along came your 40s with some paunch around the waistline that’s now reached 40-something itself, in addition to thinning hair, a lot less energy and perhaps a declining libido, if you’re willing to admit to it. If you don’t, you probably just shrug off that lack of desire as being caused by too many hours spent at work. After all, you can’t expect to stay young forever! Wouldn’t it be great if you could extend the performance you had in your younger days well into your later years?

After age 30, most men can expect a loss of almost 10 percent of their male hormone levels every decade. Once you reach your 40s you have already begun to experience the effects of this drastic decline. Reduction in male hormones –primarily testosterone – through age has been well documented for over 60 years, yet very few doctors will admit that it exists. The “it” is referred to as male menopause syndrome or andropause. However, I prefer to call it the “beer belly blues” because a couple of the hallmarks of this syndrome include an enlarged waist circumference followed by a decline in your usual jovial mood.

In fact, belly fat is so closely linked to testosterone levels that Norwegian researchers have actually discovered that most men can determine whether they are deficient in testosterone just by measuring the size of their waist. Researchers found that men with waist sizes greater than 40 inches had on average 30 percent lower testosterone levels than men with waist sizes that were less than 37 inches.

Testosterone may be the most important health factor in the male body. When naturally abundant, testosterone is at the core of energy, stamina, sexuality and a lean body. But when it is deficient, it is at the core of fatigue, aging, disease and obesity. Without adequate testosterone you can experience:

• decreased energy
• lowered metabolism
• decreased muscle mass
• cognitive decline
• increased risk of cardiovascular disease
• increased risk of diabetes
• increased body fat, especially a potbelly
• diminished sex drive or sexual ability
• depressed mood or lack of motivation

The good news is that men can restore their testosterone to youthful levels again and in the process reverse the above conditions. But in order to find out how, let’s look at what happens to our valuable testosterone as we age.

Free the testosterone

The reality is that it really doesn’t matter how much total testosterone you have in your later years, especially if the majority of it is out of commission! The only testosterone that counts is referred to as “free” or “unbound testosterone.” Most testosterone in the body is bound to specialized proteins (like sex hormone binding globulin or SHBG), which make it a lot less functional then the testosterone that is free (unbound) and ready for action. The bad news is that as we age, we experience increases in these binding proteins and more testosterone is taken out of commission. This is why free testosterone is the ultimate measurement of a man’s true testosterone status.

Testosterone and estrogen

Unfortunately declining levels of free testosterone are far from a man’s biggest threat as he ages. It turns out that we also have to contend with ever increasing levels of estrogen — yes, the same estrogen that helps give women those soft curves.

Your body can turn testosterone into estrogen quite easily. The conversion of testosterone to estrogen is called aromatization and is carried out by the enzyme aromatase. The aromatase enzyme creates trouble as men age because it lives in their belly fat, which quite literally becomes an estrogen producing factory (the larger the belly, the more aromatase gets made). More aromatase means less testosterone and more estrogen. In fact, it is not uncommon for a man of retirement age to have higher estrogen levels in his body than a woman of the same age!

Researchers have discovered that this high estrogen/low testosterone status is responsible for the majority of the negative effects men experience with the beer belly blues, especially heart disease and prostate problems including prostate cancer. The other problem with rising estrogen levels is that they increase the body’s binding of free testosterone by increasing the production of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), further reducing testosterone.

Reversing the effects of male menopause

In order to effectively increase the amount of natural testosterone, men must find ways to reduce SHBG and reduce excess estrogen production. Thankfully, there are natural ways to achieve this.

Here are a few natural proven ways for most men to reclaim their health through age:

• Maintain muscle through regular resistance training (with weights), one of the best ways to increase free testosterone.
• Consume quality protein from organic lean chicken, turkey, fish and vegetarian sources (which has been shown to lower SHBG levels, thus freeing up more testosterone) and try supplementing with one or two high alphalactalbumin whey protein shakes per day, especially after exercise.
• Limit alcohol consumption (one night of drinking can lower testosterone levels for up to 24 hours).
• Supplement with stinging nettle root because this has been shown to help free testosterone from SHBG.
• Supplement with the isoflavone called chrysin; it is a highly effective aromatase-inhibitor when it is combined with black pepper extract.
• Eat cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Supplement with cruciferous vegetable extracts like indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and broccoli sprout powder because these natural indoles reduce estrogen levels and block one of the most harmful forms of estrogen—16-alpha hydroxy estrone.
• Get sufficient sleep and reduce stress.