Balance Testosterone

Are you struggling with low energy, brain fog, mood swings, or a stubborn metabolism? These symptoms could be linked to imbalanced testosterone levels in women which influence everything from mood to muscle mass. Having a hormone imbalance, such as elevated or low testosterone levels, may be one piece of the puzzle impacting your overall health and wellbeing by presenting itself in various symptoms such as acne, mood swings, fatigue, as well as irregular menstrual cycles and excess hair growth in females. Working with a functional practitioner will help to address the root causes of your symptoms.

The Importance of Testosterone in Women’s Health

Testosterone is a key hormone that is responsible for fertility, muscle mass maintenance and growth, red blood cell production, bone density, mood, and overall energy levels. Low testosterone can lead to increased body fat, decreased muscle mass, decreased mood, and overall low energy levels. In males, testosterone is produced in the testes and plays a role in muscle growth, deepening of the voice, facial hair, and libido. In females, testosterone is produced in smaller amounts in the ovaries and adrenal glands and plays a role in mood, overall energy, and body composition. Testosterone is essential for overall health in both men and women, contributing to healthy energy levels and mood regulation.¹ It aids in balancing your mood by regulating serotonin and boosting dopamine which are typically referred to as your “feel good” hormones.²

Testosterone is part of a group of sex hormones called androgens that are responsible for male development and fertility. Androgens are responsible for giving males their masculine characteristics typically they are higher in males than in females although both genders need androgens to function.

The Role of Testosterone in Women’s Health

The role of testosterone in males:

Male development and physiology such as deepening of the voice, facial hair, and muscle mass maintenance and growth
Sperm production essential for male fertility
Libido
Bone density
Mood and emotional health: confidence, mood regulation, and overall energy levels

The role of testosterone in females:

Optimal hormone balance
Libido
Bone density
Muscle mass maintenance and growth
Mood and emotional health: confidence, mood regulation, and overall energy levels

Androgens (DHEA and testosterone) in women help with muscle and weight maintenance, memory and brain function, mood, libido and a sense of wellbeing. Androgens, specifically DHT and testosterone, help to support skin, connective tissue, bone and muscle integrity and promote dopamine conversion in the brain, which can help with mood and libido.

Common Symptoms of Elevated Testosterone

Symptoms of elevated testosterone in males:

Mood changes/mood swings
Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
Hair loss

Symptoms of elevated testosterone in females:

Irregular periods during the menstrual cycle with females
Hirsutism: excessive hair growth
Acne related to hormonal imbalance

Common Symptoms of Low Testosterone

Chronic fatigue
Low mood
Decreased libido
Decreased muscle mass
Increased body fat in males
Weight gain: increased body fat specifically in the abdomen region
Loss of bone density
Irregular periods during the menstrual cycle in females

Root Causes of Elevated Testosterone

Root causes in males:

Chronic emotional, psychological, or physical stress from work, relationships, or situations
Poor gut health
Poor overall sleep
Lack of physical activity

Root causes in females:

PCOS: link blog post here.
Chronic emotional, psychological, or physical stress from work, relationships, or situations
Lack of physical activity

Root Causes of Low Testosterone

Chronic emotional, psychological, or physical stress from work, relationships, or situations which can suppress testosterone production
Normally declines with age
Poor gut health
Poor overall sleep
Lack of physical activity
Obesity: excess body fat specifically in the abdomen region
Lack of a nutrient dense diet that is low in Zinc, Vitamin D, Magnesium, etc

5α-reductase Activity

5α-reductase activity is elevated in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) resulting in increased androgen activation, which can lead to hirsutism (excess hair growth), acne, and alopecia (hair loss).

Foods to inhibit 5α-reductase:

Green Tea
Flax seed (lignans)
Soy Isoflavones
Fatty fish (Omega-3 fats)

Herbs that inhibit 5α-reductase:

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens)
Stringing Nettle Root (Urtica dioica)
Chaste Tree Berry (Vitex agnus-castus)
Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
Pygeum (Pygeum africanum)

Nutrients/Phytonutrients that inhibit 5α-reductase:

Quercetin
Omega-3 fish oils
Krill (astaxanthin)
Beta-sitosterols
L-lysine
Rice bran

Labs To Assess

You may use DUTCH testing linked here to view your testosterone levels and DHEA production as well as it’s downstream metabolites, 5a-androstanediol and 5bandrostanediol, that generally tend to correlate with testosterone production. A female with higher levels of DHEA and testosterone will often have high androgen symptoms (facial hair, thinning scalp hair, etc.) exacerbated by 5a-metabolism. If she prefers 5b-metabolism she may not express high androgen symptoms in spite of higher levels of testosterone because 5b is the less androgenic pathway.

Additional labs to look at:

Total testosterone
Free testosterone
DHEA and it’s metabolites: 5a-androstanediol and 5bandrostanediol
SHBG: Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin is a protein made by the liver which binds to sex hormones: estrogen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and testosterone.

My storefront is linked here to order functional labs, which is signed off by a nationally-licensed physician, to assess for gut imbalances, hormonal imbalances, or vitamin/mineral deficiencies. If you need help creating a personalized functional nutrition care plan based on the interpretation of any of the above functional labs, you can work with us here.

Functional lab testing would be a good idea if you really wanted to hone in on the specifics of gut microbiome imbalances, hormonal imbalances, vitamin/mineral deficiencies.

Nutrition Tips To Balance Women’s Testosterone Levels

Add:

Consume spearmint tea: 1-2 cups daily. Recent research in Turkey has shown that spearmint tea has anti-androgenic properties in females with hirsutism.³
Grass-fed and grass-finished beef
Include antioxidant-rich foods like dark leafy greens and colorful berries

Subtract:

Remove or reduce refined sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, corn syrup, etc
Remove or reduce refined grains such as white processed bread, white rice, white pasta made with refined flour, pastries made with refined white flour and refined sugar, etc

Nutrition Tips To Boost Women’s Testosterone Levels

Add:

Increase zinc-rich food sources such as red meat (beef, lamb), oysters, chicken, turkey, nuts/seeds, etc
Include healthy fats to support testosterone production such as extra virgin olive oil, grass-fed butter, grass-fed ghee, avocados, seeds (flaxseeds, chia seeds), fatty fish like salmon, etc
Include magnesium-rich food sources such as dark, leafy greens (spinach, kale), nuts/seeds (cashews, almonds), fatty fish like salmon, organic bananas, etc

Subtract:

Remove or reduce refined sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, corn syrup, etc
Remove or reduce refined grains such as white processed bread, white rice, white pasta made with refined flour, pastries made with refined white flour and refined sugar, etc

Probiotic Strains