Do women need Testosterone?

Testosterone is a well known mens hormone but is also a key hormone for women as well. Since it's an essential hormone, an imbalance for both men and women can have a huge impact on your health and well-being.

First, what role does testosterone play in a woman's body?

Testosterone is produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands. It helps the body with a number of different functions like,

• regulate mood and supports the health of female reproductive tissue and bones

• Increase muscle mass

• Decrease body fat

• Supports a healthy libido and sex drive

• Maintain and support bone growth

• Helps support cardiovascular health

So yes, it's just as important for women as it is for men!

Now, what are some symptoms of low testosterone in women?

• Thinning hair

• Dry skin or skin issues

• Low sex drive

• Loss of muscle mass

• Increase in body fat or difficulty to lose weight

• Mood changes - depression, anxiety etc.

If you have any of these symptoms or suspect low testosterone, it's a good idea to ask your doctor for a blood test to determine your hormone levels. Even if you don't go about that route, there are a few things you can do to increase your testosterone levels naturally.

What to do?

• Exercise and lift weight - strength training is key! HIIT or High intensity interval training, is also an effective form of exercise in raising testosterone levels.

• Balance your macros - AKA - protein, fats, and carbs! Eating enough protein can help maintain healthy levels and aid in fat loss, which is also associated with your testosterone. Carb intake also plays a role, with research showing carbs can help optimize testosterone levels during resistance training. Also having a sufficient amount of healthy fats is beneficial for testosterone and healthy hormones in general. So a whole foods based, macro balanced diet is best!

• Minimize stress and cortisol - high stress and cortisol levels can extremely damaging to hormones in general. High cortisol levels can quickly reduce testosterone as these two hormones go hand in hand.

• Sunshine and Vitamin D - To boost testosterone and reap the other benefits of vitamin D, try to get regular exposure to sunlight or take around 3,000 IU of a vitamin D3 supplement daily.

• Sleep - getting enough sleep is crucial for health in general especially for testosterone levels. Studies show that getting only 5 hours of sleep reduced testosterone levels by 15%. Another study showed that increasing your sleep by just an hour a night could increase your testosterone by 15%.

Again, if you suspect you how testosterone or a hormonal imbalance in general, it's a good idea to ask your doc for a blood work up. Don't be quick to start taking meds though as there are lots of things you can do to boost testosterone and balance hormones naturally.