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How Testosterone Levels Impact Your Metabolism – And Your Health
Feeling good about the results of your serious workout routine? If so, you can thank a little hormone called testosterone. Deeply testosterone packs quite a hefty punch – regulating, for example, the production of muscle and the breakdown of fat. Everyone – both women and men – needs testosterone for good health and wellbeing. But too much or too little testosterone can wreak havoc on your body….…so it’s a good idea to make sure your testosterone levels are within a normal, healthy range makes it easy for you to do this).
Testosterone is a hormone that’s generally found in higher amounts in men. It’s responsible for much of the development of “male characteristics” – such as facial hair and lower voice pitch – which is why it’s known as an androgen. In men, this hormone is primarily produced in the testes, while in women it is produced in the ovaries, adrenal glands, and elsewhere in the body. Glands in your brain – such as the pituitary gland – supervise production of testosterone.
TESTOSTERONE AND METABOLISM
Testosterone is fairly well-known for its muscle-building power, and for a good reason: it acts as a crisp, clear signal that tells your body’s metabolic system to ramp up muscle production. When testosterone molecules are released throughout your body, they stick to special receptors that coat your muscle cells (these receptors are known as “androgen receptors”). As soon as a testosterone molecule binds to one of these receptors, a chain reaction is set off: the receptor sends a signal of its own deep into the cell, [triggering the cell to make more proteinThis protein is the building block for muscle fibers. So the more testosterone you have, the more muscle mass you’ll have.But testosterone’s muscle-creating action isn’t the only way it interacts with your body’s metabolic system. For example, testosterone plays a key role in bone growth during childhood development. Even in adulthood, testosterone helps maintain bone density. In fact, there is evidence that [lower testosterone comes with a heightened risk of bone fractures.
Testosterone also helps regulate the break down of fat to provide your body with energy. So having a healthy testosterone balance helps your body burn the right amount of fat.
Clearly, testosterone is indispensable to your health and metabolic performance. But what happens when testosterone levels get too high or too low? The consequences of this can be severe, but the causes of abnormal testosterone levels are not identical in women and men.
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