It’s a well known fact that testosterone plays a key role in the maintenance of male health. Some of its many important benefits include maintaining muscle mass, bone density, physical and mental energy levels, as well as ensuring that everything functions as it should in the trouser department.
But if you’re overweight, you’re more likely to have abnormally low levels of this important sex hormone according to researchers at the University of Buffalo Department of Medicine.
The study, which compared blood samples taken from 1849 men, reported that 40 percent of obese participants had abnormally low levels of testosterone. What’s more, testosterone levels showed a direct correlation to Body Mass Index (BMI). If you don’t know, BMI is a commonly used method of roughly estimating healthy body weight in comparison to height. The higher your BMI (past the average range for your height) the more obese you’re likely to be. The study showed that testosterone levels fell dramatically as BMI scores increased.
The study’s principle author, Dr. Sandeep Dhindsa, was quick to point out that with a third of the U.S. population already clinically obese, the new findings had wide ranging public health implications. Low testosterone levels not only effect sex drive, but can also lower male fertility, increase the risk of osteoporosis and may also be a contributory factor in heart disease. He suggests that due to the extremely high prevalence of lower than normal testosterone levels in obese men, doctors should consider screening clinically obese patients for low levels of the hormone, as is now the norm for those suffering from diabetes.
Fat cells are believed to readily convert testosterone into oestrogen; and this could account for the lower than normal levels of testosterone that the study found in many of the overweight men.
Of course, obesity by itself is known to be a leading cause of both cardiovascular disease and diabetes. With the additional impact that being over weight can have on testosterone levels, this new research offers just one more good reason to shed those extra pounds.
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