What are the manifestations of male hormone health?

The core manifestation of male hormone health (the core is the homeostasis of testosterone and related metabolic pathways) is actually a balanced and stretched state of body, emotion, and energy as a whole, which is far from the stereotype of "huge muscles, thick beard, and strong sexual desire" that many people think.

I met a 32-year-old fitness enthusiast a while ago who blindly took internet-famous testicle-stimulating supplements in order to gain muscle quickly. During that time, he gained weight very quickly while doing leg exercises, and his beard grew thicker than before. He thought he had done the right thing, but he couldn't sleep for half a month. He would stop and quarrel with others for half a day when someone ignored him while driving. When he went to the hospital for a blood test, his testosterone had exceeded the upper limit of the normal range twice as fast. This is obviously a hormonal imbalance and not a healthy state at all.

In fact, the daily state is the best explanation for the problem. If you sleep for 7 or 8 hours a day, you rarely feel drowsy during the day and can't open your eyes. Occasionally you stay up late to catch up on projects, and you can come back to your senses after half a day at most the next day. You won't feel like you haven't woken up for several days. Basically, it means that your hormones are in a relatively stable state, a bit like a car's engine is always stuck in the economical speed range, you step on the accelerator with force, and it does not shake or stall when idling.

Many people use beard size, muscle mass, and frequency of morning erections as criteria for judgment. There are actually many misunderstandings here. For example, some people are born with hair follicles that are sensitive to androgens. Even if their testosterone levels are low in the normal range, they can still grow beards. On the other hand, there are people whose hair follicles are not sensitive. No matter how high their testosterone level is, they will not have much beard. This is normal. Many marketing accounts on the Internet have said that "less morning erections mean low testosterone and need to be supplemented." In fact, the consensus of urology has long been mentioned that morning erections themselves will be affected by sleep quality, recent stress, drinking, and even whether they had sex the day before. As long as it does not completely disappear for two or three months in a row, accompanied by decreased sexual desire and general fatigue, there is no need to worry about it, let alone buying supplements.

Another sign that is easily overlooked is emotional stability. Last year, I met a 40-year-old reader who said that in the past six months, he had always felt that he had no energy to do anything, and he would often get angry with his wife and children over trivial matters. I originally thought it was a mid-life crisis, so I checked it out during my physical examination. Hormones, only to find that testosterone has dropped to the lower limit of the normal range for adult men. Later, he adjusted his work and rest, added strength training twice a week, and did not take any special supplements. After two months, his overall condition was much more relaxed. Even his daughter said that dad rarely loses his temper recently. Do you think it's amazing?

Of course, it doesn’t mean that the higher the testosterone value, the better. A 21-year-old guy came to me for consultation before and said that his testosterone level was much higher than that of his peers, but he had cystic acne all over his face and the hair on his head was getting thinner. He went to a dermatologist to get a diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia. Even if the hormone value is within the normal range, but the body has problems metabolizing androgens, it is not considered hormonal health. In the final analysis, the judgment standard is never a single value or a certain characteristic, but whether your body is in a comfortable state and there is no unexplained discomfort. That is already good.