Ah, testosterone (also known affectionately as “T,” for short). That steroid hormone that put the hair on your chest. Transformed you from a spindly boy to a muscly man. And gave you the “E” before you ever had to deal with “ED.”
If you’ve been struggling with fat gain and muscle loss, T just might come to the rescue again. This essential “male” hormone is also essential to metabolism, muscle growth, and weight loss.
The all-male physicians at Men's T Clinic® have experience with the flab and fatigue that accompanies low levels of T. Here’s what you should know about how holistic hormone therapy replenishes T and gives you a host of benefits, including a healthy muscle-to-fat ratio.
Forget, for a moment, the pandemic. This country is in the midst of an epidemic, too — one which, unfortunately, also raises your risk for serious symptoms from COVID-19. It’s an epidemic of fatness.
Almost three-quarters of women and men in the United States are obese or overweight. You’re considered overweight if you have a body mass index (BMI) of 25-29.9, obese if it’s 30-40, and severely obese if your BMI is over 40.
Obesity is associated with increased risk for:
In most cases, being overweight or obese is caused by lifestyle factors, such as a diet that’s too high in nutrient-poor “foods,” and an activity level that’s too low. Your body thrives on healthy, whole foods such as fresh vegetables. Your body also needs adequate exercise and movement every day.
If you’re struggling with fat and wonder where your muscles have gone, switching to a whole-foods diet and getting more exercise is absolutely essential. But you can give your new lifestyle changes a helping hand by replenishing your levels of T, too.
Among men in the United States, 40% have low T by age 45. If “low T” doesn’t sound too dire, think about the other term it’s known by: hypogonadism. Hypo means “less.” “Gonad,” well, you know what gonads are.
When men don’t have enough T in their bodies, all kinds of things go wrong, including increased incidences of erectile dysfunction (ED). Another problem is that you can’t build muscle tissue efficiently. That’s why, even if you’re still hitting the gym and pressing weights regularly, your biceps have plateaued or even lost strength or girth.
Without muscle to burn fat, your normal daily intake of calories soon becomes too much for your body to handle. Instead of getting burned off in your workouts, the fat accumulates on your abdomen, and you soon have love handles.
Fatty tissue, like muscle tissue, produces hormones. Except that fatty tissue produces estrogen — a “female” hormone. All men have some estrogen, but if your T levels plummet and your estrogen rises, you have the perfect chemical storm to create more and more fat and less and less muscle.
Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) restores your T to levels that are normal for you. That means, even if you’ve been told by other doctors that your T levels are OK for your age, they may not be “OK” enough for your body to function the way it should.
Our doctors evaluate your T levels in the context of your symptoms. When your T levels are too low to create muscle that boosts your metabolism and burns dietary fat, we recommend TRT. We design your TRT to match your individual needs. We also monitor you regularly and change the amount of injectable T you receive to be sure you get the dose that’s right for you.
When your T levels and symptoms have stabilized, we may even transition you off of weekly injections and prescribe a T pellet that lasts for months at a time. As your body reacts to your restored T levels, you put on more muscle, burn more fat, and naturally and holistically attain a better fat-to-muscle ratio that improves your BMI.
If you suspect that low T contributes to your high percentage of body fat, contact the Men’s T Clinic® office nearest you. We have offices in Dallas, Houston, Frisco, Grapevine, The Colony, Cypress, Pearland, Pasadena, and Spring, Texas.
