Lately I’ve been noticing a trend that is deeply disturbing to me and I think is really dangerous.
In the past few years, testosterone replacement therapy for men has become far less stigmatized and more doctors are becoming aware of the indications and benefits, thus prescribing more broadly.
In general, this is a good thing. There was a stigma surrounding low T and the idea that you were less of a man if you had low T. This prevented a lot of guys from getting treated and living a better life.
But what’s happening now is that the pendulum is swinging so far in the other direction that you have a lot of fitness professionals promoting TRT and other exogenous hormone treatments as if you are missing out if you aren’t partaking. It’s even to the point where you’ve got amateur endocrinologists making recommendations.
I can’t overstate how reckless and irresponsible this is. Besides being outrageously out of their “lane” the potential for harm is far too great.
Look, the modern hormonal environment we live in is a toxic cauldron as it is. We have none of the proper stimuli for healthy hormonal function (natural photo rhythms, exercise and activity mediated responses, healthy diet signals), we have tons of dysfunctional signaling (overly stressful jobs, bad sleep, bad diets), and we literally bathe in chemicals that are known hormone disruptors.
It should come as no surprise that our hormones are messed up. In fact, as I was talking this over with my good friend and integrative physician Dr. Jade Teta the environment is so toxic that low testosterone levels are now being observed in teens.
So on top of this you want to try to modulate the hormonal environment through exogenous hormones?
Good luck!
Talk about putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.
None of this is to say that there aren’t circumstances in which TRT and other therapies are totally appropriate, and a good doctor or endocrinologist is the one who is qualified to make those assessments. And if that doctor is good, they will be looking at the big picture and making sure they address the root causes, not the symptoms.
My own T level isn’t particularly high, so about a year ago I consulted with Jade and sent him my labs. He basically said, “Dude, your T may not be that high, but big picture you couldn’t be healthier. Do these few things because they’re easy, cheap, and might improve things further.”
So yeah, absolutely if you struggle with energy, sex drive, fat loss or muscle gain see a good integrative doctor who is going to look at the big picture and if you need to go the route of hormone therapy then do it.
But, big picture, if your local fitness bro is the one telling you that you’re missing out, you should be extremely wary.
You may be surprised what you can accomplish if you actually address the big rocks like sleep, diet, and exercise first without entering into a delicate biochemistry balancing act.
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