Want to keep testosterone levels at their best? Food can help.
Fermented foods are a wonderful addition to the diet for any age, and for men and women, but let’s look at how they improve men’s hormones.
Men, if you were given a tasty food that potentially helped improve digestion, enhanced performance, boosted immunity, optimised your brain health and helped to preserve testosterone levels would you add it to your diet? I hear a resounding “Heck Yes”.
Cue: Fermented foods!
We’re talking sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), kimchi (fermented vegetables), kefir, and yogurt (which are both fermented milk). Some countries have been eating these foods for centuries, as way back in the day fermentation helped to preserve food. Medical science is now showing these foods also offer us enormous health benefits. Including boosting testosterone levels.
How does it work?
The fermentation process produces microbes that are super good for us. They contribute to what we call our gut “microbiome”. Your body is full of trillions of beneficial tiny microbes. We want to ensure we have the good ones continuously and in the right amount.
Eating fermented foods every day helps to do this. They help combat the things that hammer our gut microbiome and upset hormone balance : excessive sugar, constant stress, a highly processed diet, and antibiotics to name a few.
We know having a healthy gut microbiome supports testosterone levels. Testosterone is a hormone we all produce, but blokes, your testosterone is your “go to” hormone! It’s linked to your sex drive, sperm production, muscle mass, fat distribution, and even your mood. It’s important to keep those testosterone levels optimised to really get the joy and juice out of life. A healthy testosterone level enhances overall health.
So what’s the nitty gritty science? Your overall nutrition will affect testosterone levels, but specifically the cabbage found in sauerkraut and kimchi contains cool little sulphur compounds that the body uses to help restore healthy hormone balance. This is combined with the probiotics (which help improve digestion, absorption, immunity and gut health) and it all helps with hormone balance. Even the extra nutrients in sauerkraut and kimchi (vitamin K2, vitamin C, and iron) help the body maintain healthy hormones.
It’s literally a domino effect of testosterone boosting wellness!
So include a couple of these delicious foods in your diet every day. Add a tablespoon or 2 of sauerkraut or kimchi to veggies or cold meat or salad. Get the whole family eating them. Did you know kids are more likely to mimic what their Dad eats! Gut and hormonal health is important for everyone.
Living Goodness brands are found in the refrigerated section of your supermarket or food store. They are preservative, gluten and sugar free, and contain live bacteria. So to all the lovely blokes in our lives: to ensure your male hormones are at their best, buy and eat fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi regularly. Eat them every day and watch your energy, enthusiasm and mood increase. And feel your gut and hormones function as they should: Optimally.
Jo Davies
Photographer/Nutritionist, Be Well Clinic Taupō
BCApSc, BSc | jodaviesphotography.shootproof.com
kyndwellness.com | 53 Gillies Ave, Taupō | PH: 0272740687