SO...the lower your body fat, the higher your testo levels? Example...

[Deicide]

If as a natural you go from 20% bf to 10% your testo levels will go up correspondingly?

[MONSTER_TRICEPS]

Hormone levels are optimal between 8-16%.

[jr]

It should, due to lower aromatase levels in the lower body fat condition. Aromatase converts testosterone to estrogen. The body tries to maintain a certain estrogen level. If estrogen starts to drop due to less body fat and aromatase enzyme, the body will increase testosterone to try get estrogen back up, ie trying to compensate. Also high estrogen is suppressive to the HTPA.

If body fat levels get too low, testosterone will also lower. This is mainly due to the low calories/diet required to get to low body fat levels supressing hormone levels.

[smaul]

Any articles or research links around to support this?  Would like more info.

[240 is Back]

Hormone levels are optimal between 8-16%.

Trop puts it more precisely at 10-12% optimal.

[dustin]

Any articles or research links around to support this?  Would like more info.

Look at absolutely any study about adipose tissue, man. It's nothing too eccentric or wild... fat is the most dominant source of aromatase... and we all know what aromatase does in men. Nothing too complicated there. You can probably find all the scientific info you'd need in something basic like Wikipedia.

Trop puts it more precisely at 10-12% optimal.

Yeah. Up to 16% is pretty damn liberal if you ask me. I think people nowadays are way too fat. You want to have optimal hormones, then stick within an optimal bodyfat range and take care of yourself. You can't be a fat slob and anticipate that all the intricate systems in your body are going to be fine and dandy.