{"id":3274,"date":"2017-04-05T11:54:19","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T11:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/?p=3274"},"modified":"2017-04-05T11:54:19","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T11:54:19","slug":"do-mushrooms-affect-testosterone-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/do-mushrooms-affect-testosterone-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Mushrooms Affect Testosterone Levels?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Without the primary male hormone testosterone, you’ll find it hard to trigger real muscle growth.<\/p>\n

Not only that but you’ll struggle to gain strength too and your energy, motivation and mood will be at rock bottom.<\/p>\n

How do you fix it?<\/em> If you’re looking to optimize your T levels\u00a0you need to think nutrients<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A small and humble vegetable, the white button mushroom<\/strong>\u00a0might be a great source of natural nutrient compounds that reduce aromatization.<\/p>\n

The result?<\/em> More testosterone.<\/p>\n

But are mushrooms all they’re cracked up to be? Should this simple food be part of your man diet?<\/em><\/p>\n

In this article, we take a look.<\/p>\n

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Testosterone and Aromatization<\/h2>\n

Testosterone (T) is the principal male hormone. It is a natural steroid that plays a number of important health and performance-related functions.<\/p>\n

It provides you with anabolic<\/em> benefits such as protein synthesis, muscle mass and strength. Testosterone also provides you with androgenic<\/em> characteristics such as body hair, a chiselled jaw line and an assertive, masculine presence.<\/p>\n

All in all it’s what you a man.<\/p>\n

Throughout your late teens and twenties, your T levels are at their peak. But as you hit thirty or so, your production of male hormones begins to decline by 1-2% per year.<\/p>\n

A normal reading would be between 300 – 1000 ng.dL.\u00a0Once your testosterone levels drop below 300 ng.dL you have clinically low T – a condition called hypogonadism<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And for many men that means a loss of muscle mass, a drop in libido and physical performance and the beginning of a much harder war against belly fat.<\/p>\n

You need to fix it.<\/p>\n

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What is Aromatization?<\/h2>\n

Testosterone works as part of a very clever feedback loop. When levels drop, your brain tells your testes to produce some more. And when levels go too high it released enzymes to bring it back down.<\/p>\n

In order to stop your T levels from going too high, your body has a clever way of removing some of it\u00a0– and this process is called aromatization<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

What happens is that some of this testosterone is converted into the hormone estrogen by an enzyme called aromatase. You’ve probably heard of estrogen before – it is the hormone that regulates female cycles and gives them their feminine characteristics.<\/p>\n

It sounds bad, but it’s completely formal and allows testosterone to optimize itself.<\/p>\n

But although it’s a natural part of T regulation,\u00a0if aromatase is too active you can end up with too much estrogen in your body.<\/p>\n

Excess aromatase activity basically ‘feminizes’ men<\/strong>.\u00a0And as a masculine male, that’s bad. Very bad.<\/p>\n

So unless you want breast growth, loss of muscle tone or a significant drop in health and performance, it’s important that you inhibit excess aromatization as best you can. That way you can maintain your T levels.<\/p>\n

And that’s where mushrooms come in…<\/p>\n

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Key Point:<\/strong> Aromatization occurs when testosterone is converted to estrogen. This can lead to ‘feminization’ and a loss of masculine characteristics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Agaricus Bisporus – an Aromatase Inhibitor?<\/h2>\n

There are a number of foods and natural testosterone boosting nutrients<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that inhibit excess aromatization.<\/p>\n

Agaricus bisporus,<\/em> also known as white button mushrooms, are the most commonly available and consumed varieties in the world.<\/p>\n

And this simple food might well be the key o inhibiting aromatization.<\/p>\n

Native to Europe and North America, these mushrooms are either white or brown in color. When mature they are known as portobello mushrooms – flat, dark and open-capped mushrooms that are often stuffed and used as a meat replacement. When immature they are small and round.<\/p>\n

So what’s the research say about this powerhouse vegetable?<\/em><\/p>\n

Clinical research<\/h3>\n

Surprisingly there isn’t much research linking white button mushrooms to testosterone, but the ones that have been conducted show some interesting results.<\/p>\n

Study #1:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Grube et al [1]<\/p>\n

A 2001 petri-dish study\u00a0published in the Journal of Nutrition\u00a0<\/em>found that in isolated cells, white button mushrooms could inhibit aromatization in post-menopausal women, which in turn reduced estrogen levels.<\/p>\n

The research team suggested that “diets high in mushrooms may modulate aromatase activity”.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Study #2:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Palomares et al [2]<\/p>\n

In one of the very few human trials, post-menopausal women with breast cancer were treated with varying doses of white button mushrooms, ranging from 5-13 g of an extract. This was done over a 3-month period.<\/p>\n

Although there was an upward trend towards significant results, there was no actual<\/em> significant reduction in\u00a0activity of aromatase enzymes or estrogen levels. The extract failed to change aromatase activity by the pre-determined benchmark level.<\/p>\n

The researchers concluded that\u00a0“aromatase is sensitive\u00a0to short-term changes, but not at high enough concentrations to significantly reduce estrogen levels from baseline”<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Study #3:<\/strong><\/span> Chen [3]<\/p>\n

This 2006 trial from Cancer Research<\/em> again looked at the role of mushroom as an anti-cancer and anti-estrogenic agent.<\/p>\n

To do this, the research team treated hamster cells and live mice to assess how an extract of Agaricus bisporus would affect estrogen receptors.<\/p>\n

The extract was found to decrease cancer cell growth and decrease aromatization.<\/p>\n

The paper concluded that whilst these results were positive, human trials would be needed to further explore its role in anti-estrogen modulation.<\/p>\n

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Mushrooms are Understudied<\/h2>\n

The claim that mushroom extract can reduce estrogen and by effect boost testosterone has been seen in only a small amount research papers.<\/p>\n

To date there have been no human trials using men.<\/p>\n