The fascinating dual life of testosterone is fascinating. It’s a molecule with an exact chemical structure and a huge cultural presence.
This has earned it praise and criticism for many characteristics that are associated with masculinity. Many of these claims are contrary to the scientific evidence that scientists have provided about testosterone also called “T”.
Testosterone is the male sex hormone
Answering the question, “What are male sex hormones?” According to the National Institutes of Health, testosterone is “one of the most abundant of all the androgens” and “a class of hormones which control the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics.”
Live Science states that testosterone is a male sex hormone, which is essential for sexual and reproductive development. There are available natural t-boosting products.
T, however, isn’t just for men. It’s also one of the most biologically active steroids hormones in women’s bodies and crucial for their well-being and development. It supports ovulation, as an example. It’s not just a sex hormone.
Receptors for the hormone can be found in nearly all tissues. It contributes to lean body weight, cognitive function, mood, and bone health.
Scientists searched for the chemical essences that would make maleness and femaleness possible. This is how testosterone and estrogen were discovered. It helps to explain why the “sex hormone” label has stuck.
Another reason could be the misinterpretation of importance and quantity. Yes, women have higher levels of testosterone than men. However, more T doesn’t necessarily mean greater function. Elephants have larger brains than humans but their brains aren’t any more important than ours.
Testosterone is a hormone that drives aggression and sexual violence.
The Guardian stated that testosterone levels are linked to aggression. This is a story that has been retold many times. In 2012, the International Journal of Endocrinology & Metabolism stated that testosterone levels are higher among aggressive individuals.
However, “gold standard” studies that were placebo-controlled and in which neither the researchers nor the subjects know who is getting T have proven that even very high doses of T don’t cause aggression, hostility, or anger in men.
Endogenous T, which is the hormone produced naturally by the body, is a different story. The classic studies linking T and aggression and violence are flawed due to poor statistical practice and imprecise measures. We found this when we reexamined them.
One common flaw in the 1987 study of 89 prisoners is that it includes so many measures of aggression, such as past criminal acts, survey responses, and subjective evaluations about “toughness”, that it is almost impossible to find a link between certain attributes and T levels.
Your love life is enhanced by testosterone
Advertisements for testosterone boosters promise “vigor and vitality”, increased “stamina” or “improved confidence in the bedroom,” while tabloids make enticing statements such as “The higher testosterone level, the more sexual activity.”
For marketers and potential Lotharios, “studies on men’s testosterone levels and sexual behavior suggest weak or null relationships,” one review from the scholarly literature stated in 2017.
For optimal sexual function, a certain level (relatively) of testosterone is required. However, above this threshold, more T won’t make much distinction, for either men or women.
The causal link between testosterone and healthy sex can be reversed from what is commonly believed. Sexual activity and even lust have been shown to increase testosterone (as well as many other factors such as exercise and positive feedback from a boss).
It was responsible for the 2008 market crash, boom-bust cycles, and subsequent market crashes.
However, studies linking T to financial recklessness lack strength. Two Cambridge University neuroscientists conducted a 2008 study that showed that financial gains could raise T levels, leading to more risky bets which would in turn raise T – a potentially dangerous spiral.
The researchers measured T for 17 traders over eight days. They also tracked their financial performance. Scientists found that those with a high morning T had higher earnings.
They didn’t or couldn’t find a correlation between high earnings in the morning and high testosterone levels in the afternoon, which would have been required by their risk-spiral hypothesis. The paper’s modest findings are likely due to chance given the number of analyses that were performed.
The better the athlete, the more testosterone.
“The science is very clear,” T researcher Aaron Baggish from Massachusetts General Hospital said to The New York Times. An androgenized body is more efficient.
Researchers from the International Association of Athletics Federations claimed that “wide sex variation in circulating testosterone concentrations…largely accounts for the differences in athletic performance.”
T’s impact on athleticism is not straightforward. No study has shown that T levels can be used to predict the outcome of strength or speed events. While T can have an impact on parameters such as muscle size and oxygen uptake in athleticism, it doesn’t necessarily translate into better sports performance.
Take into account the study were 52 teenager Olympic weightlifters, a rare group that is both elite and male. There was no correlation between strength and T levels in the boys. In the girls, however, there were strong relationships.
Lower T lifted more weight. One widely disputed study claimed that they had found this information. High T levels are associated with high performance in various track-and-field events.
In one analysis, the authors found that athletes with the lowest levels of T performed better in three of the 11 running events. In the 100-meter race, which requires explosive strength, which is often linked with T, the runners with the lowest T levels ran 5 percent faster than their highest-T counterparts. These inconsistent results, which are common in the literature, cast doubts on the claim that T is the key to sports performance differences.
