Low testosterone from keto diet?

[WannaBePro]

Hey guys,

Not sure I'm posting this on the right board but here it goes.

I did some blood-work last week, just to make sure everything is on the up and up, well it isn't.
My tests came back with my testosterone being in the crapper, normal being between 30 - 70, mine being 6.
I did a natural bodybuilding show May 13th, where I dieted down from 190lbs to 165lbs (then dropped some water, and competed at 155lbs) in about 4 months. I did a keto (well, almost keto) diet. I threw in some carbs here and there, but mostly stuck to fish, chicken, eggs, lean steak and lots of vegges.
So here's my question: Assuming my testosterone was in the normal range before i started dieting, could such a drastic change in weight affect my testosterone so much that it dropped to 6?

I don't have any problems maintaining an erection, I can still perform in the sack, the only thing that this is affecting at the moment is I get tired very early in the day, by 10pm I'm like a zombie.

My stats:
23, male, 175lbs, 5'11"

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[calfzilla]

I certanly am no expert but I will chime in. Any calorie deficient diet can lower testosterone. Also being obese can lower testosterone. It looks like you were eating lean meats which does not help raise T.  Just research foods tha can increase test lime red meat, whole eggs, avocados and certain fats. Maybe even try some tribulus.

[ritch]

A high fat diet should give you favorable test levels. Have you taken a week off from the gym lately? Did you party a few nights before the test, did you have bad sleep the days before...
But dieting down as you did often brings down hormone levels but now you must be in the rebound period and the higher cal diet will help you feel better, your body is primed to be anabolic now, you should feel better real soon.

That's all I can think of.

[OTHstrong]

 I compete and help a lot of competitors dial in for shows over the last few years and almost everyone I help is on a ketosis diet except for the naturals, I have helped a few out with a ketosis diet and I find they lose way too much muscle, so basically I only go less then 100 grams of carbs on people who juice. So the true natural needs to take 16-20 weeks( in your case even longer cause you had a lot to lose) instead of the traditional 10-14 weeks I usually recommend. Is the ketosis diet and the drastic lose of weight the culprit for your low testosterone level? definitely a contributing factor, so get of the ketosis diet ASAP and eat clean in the off season so you don't have that far to go when you diet and this will also allow you to diet on higher carbs.

As of now the harm is done but getting back to better eating patterns should bring levels back to normal. The single most important thing to do is get a good sleeping pattern going, this is very important, some good dietary fats can raise you levels as well, some foods such as broccoli, some others that can help are vitamins,minerals,zinc,magnesium, easy to research on google. good luck.

[MM2K]

When I first read your post I was surprised, because if anything a good keto diet should be putting your testosterone levels through the roof. When Im on keto, I feel a much bigger difference in testosterone than I do with those "testosterone boosters".

But judging by the end of your post it seems like you may not be getting enough dietary fat, which would explain the problem. Be sure you are eating steaks, whole eggs, fish, peanut butter, and maybe even some whipping cream to make sure you are getting enough dietary fat. The big mistake people make on keto diets is they dont get enough fat.

[OTHstrong]

When I first read your post I was surprised, because if anything a good keto diet should be putting your testosterone levels through the roof. When Im on keto, I feel a much bigger difference in testosterone than I do with those "testosterone boosters".

But judging by the end of your post it seems like you may not be getting enough dietary fat, which would explain the problem. Be sure you are eating steaks, whole eggs, fish, peanut butter, and maybe even some whipping cream to make sure you are getting enough dietary fat. The big mistake people make on keto diets is they dont get enough fat.

Everyone reacts different to a keto diet I suppose but in most cases the state of ketosis will in fact lower your test levels and more often then not the ones on ketosis usually rely on stimulants, hence throwing off your sleeping pattern, which is the worst for dropping your testosterone levels. Sleeping properly is key to high testosterone for naturals.

[WOOO]

dude... i'm thinking that there could be a separate underlying medical issue... your test levels are low for an old man let alone for a 23 year old... what did your doc say?

[Montague]

...more often then not the ones on ketosis usually rely on stimulants, hence throwing off your sleeping pattern, which is the worst for dropping your testosterone levels.

Caffeine also increases cortisol secretion in people even at rest. Relying on coffee and energy drinks throughout the day doesn't help.

[DK II]

Caffeine also increases cortisol secretion in people even at rest. Relying on coffee and energy drinks throughout the day doesn't help.

Yeah, one big problem that I have... I love coffee too much, I can feel the point from when it makes me anxious, but on most days I don't give a fuck and rather cope with it.

Comes out bad sometimes if later in the day something stressful happens.

[Montague]

Yeah, one big problem that I have... I love coffee too much, I can feel the point from when it makes me anxious, but on most days I don't give a fuck and rather cope with it.

Comes out bad sometimes if later in the day something stressful happens.

I love it, too, brother. I suppose if you're on hormones, you don't need to worry as much about the cortisol increase; but, that anxious feeling can be the shits.
Caffeine if funny for that reason: it can make you feel extremely positive & agreeable, hence coffee's use before business/sales meetings or returning home with a hot date. But, it can also give you a very negative, overbearing feeling.

Also interesting is that, just as general caffeine tolerance can build, the cortisol response to caffeine diminishes over time, but is never eliminated completely.

[WannaBePro]

Thanks for the replies! Lots of good info.

I actually started eating a "normal" diet right after the show.
I eat meals every 2 - 3 hours consisting of carbs, fats and proteins, I eat 1 avocado a day, I take omega-3 supplements as well as calcium, magnesium, zinc, flax seed oil and glucosamine (had some shoulder issues, don't want them coming back). In general I keep a very good diet, I rarely ever eat fast food, if ever, I don't drink or smoke either, I'm asleep by 11 or so, and up at 6. Lately I've been going through a ton of nuts too (almost a 400g bag of mixed nuts a day!) so I think I'm getting plenty of fats. Also, I've heard nuts raise T levels (maybe cause of all the fats in them?)

dude... i'm thinking that there could be a separate underlying medical issue... your test levels are low for an old man let alone for a 23 year old... what did your doc say?

I think there may be an underlying problem too, the doctor said that it could be my body bouncing back after the drastic weight loss, but its been a few weeks since then. I got bloodwork done this morning for my entire endocrine system, as well as a urine sample, I'll update on how it comes back when I get it.

The interesting thing is, I don't have the "symptoms" of low T... I don't have erection issues, I'm not overweight/obese, I do 30mins of light cardio 3 days a week (just for health reasons, really) and work out 5 - 6 days a week.
Seems to me I should be the picture of health haha. I guess if TRT is what it comes down to, I don't think I'd hesitate, I love bodybuilding and there's no way I can go on with such low testosterone.

[DK II]

I love it, too, brother. I suppose if you're on hormones, you don't need to worry as much about the cortisol increase; but, that anxious feeling can be the shits.
Caffeine if funny for that reason: it can make you feel extremely positive & agreeable, hence coffee's use before business/sales meetings or returning home with a hot date. But, it can also give you a very negative, overbearing feeling.

Also interesting is that, just as general caffeine tolerance can build, the cortisol response to caffeine diminishes over time, but is never eliminated completely.

Haha, yeah the juice takes care of the cortisol for me.

Actually I learned over time to cope with caffeine anxiety and sort of "accept it" when it comes up.

Every few months I make a complete coffee break and go through a week of feeling like shit, tired, headaches and so on, I try to limit caffeine for as long as possible. Ever when I take caffeine after that the anxiety comes back double. 

Thanks for the replies! Lots of good info.

I actually started eating a "normal" diet right after the show.
I eat meals every 2 - 3 hours consisting of carbs, fats and proteins, I eat 1 avocado a day, I take omega-3 supplements as well as calcium, magnesium, zinc, flax seed oil and glucosamine (had some shoulder issues, don't want them coming back). In general I keep a very good diet, I rarely ever eat fast food, if ever, I don't drink or smoke either, I'm asleep by 11 or so, and up at 6. Lately I've been going through a ton of nuts too (almost a 400g bag of mixed nuts a day!) so I think I'm getting plenty of fats. Also, I've heard nuts raise T levels (maybe cause of all the fats in them?)
I think there may be an underlying problem too, the doctor said that it could be my body bouncing back after the drastic weight loss, but its been a few weeks since then. I got bloodwork done this morning for my entire endocrine system, as well as a urine sample, I'll update on how it comes back when I get it.

The interesting thing is, I don't have the "symptoms" of low T... I don't have erection issues, I'm not overweight/obese, I do 30mins of light cardio 3 days a week (just for health reasons, really) and work out 5 - 6 days a week.
Seems to me I should be the picture of health haha. I guess if TRT is what it comes down to, I don't think I'd hesitate, I love bodybuilding and there's no way I can go on with such low testosterone.

I'm on the juice, so take this comment as biased.

Once you go on "TRT" (there is no such thing, you will be doing full blast cycles in a matter of months), you will NEVER go back.

You are pretty young, I was over 30 when I started to juice.

By all means, try to get your test levels back to normal naturally, with more rest, less stress (try meditation or something), get a complete health check and whatever.

BB is in the end nothing but a hobby, get your priorities straight, health first, then think about that you might want kids in the future and how low test levels and  underlying issues might affect that and so on.

TRT is an easy way out but it does not solve your problem, only the symptoms.

[Princess L]

Thanks for the replies! Lots of good info.

I actually started eating a "normal" diet right after the show.
I eat meals every 2 - 3 hours consisting of carbs, fats and proteins, I eat 1 avocado a day, I take omega-3 supplements as well as calcium, magnesium, zinc, flax seed oil and glucosamine (had some shoulder issues, don't want them coming back). In general I keep a very good diet, I rarely ever eat fast food, if ever, I don't drink or smoke either, I'm asleep by 11 or so, and up at 6. Lately I've been going through a ton of nuts too (almost a 400g bag of mixed nuts a day!) so I think I'm getting plenty of fats. Also, I've heard nuts raise T levels (maybe cause of all the fats in them?)

Why FSO?

And HOLY CRAP! 400 grams of nuts?!?!?  That's like 2 ounces shy of a pound and over 2000 calories.  Are you sure?

[WOOO]

i agree with the princess, that many nuts is nuts

hopefully there is no issue and it's just a fucked up sample

[WannaBePro]

Why FSO?

And HOLY CRAP! 400 grams of nuts?!?!?  That's like 2 ounces shy of a pound and over 2000 calories.  Are you sure?

Haha yeah, I'm sure. I actually looked at how much the bag weighed right as I typed that up. That bag was polished off in a matter of 6 or 7 hours. I work a desk job and its pretty easy to get bored, so I just snack on nuts.

I'm on the juice, so take this comment as biased.

Once you go on "TRT" (there is no such thing, you will be doing full blast cycles in a matter of months), you will NEVER go back.

You are pretty young, I was over 30 when I started to juice.

By all means, try to get your test levels back to normal naturally, with more rest, less stress (try meditation or something), get a complete health check and whatever.

BB is in the end nothing but a hobby, get your priorities straight, health first, then think about that you might want kids in the future and how low test levels and  underlying issues might affect that and so on.

TRT is an easy way out but it does not solve your problem, only the symptoms.

I don't want to go on TRT and will definitely do my damnedest to raise my testosterone naturally. I never believe in test boosters or anything that claims to raise your testosterone by some ridiculous amount, but I still have 1/2 a container of DAA from a while back, maybe I'll give that a try and see if it helps any.

[MB_722]

jerk off some time.





good thread. I'm back on track with what I want to do. I've got to get off caffeine. Sleep pattern is fucked to.

[ritch]

jerk off some time.





good thread. I'm back on track with what I want to do. I've got to get off caffeine. Sleep pattern is fucked to.

no need to go off, just lower it to like 2-400mg a day. 600max.

[DK II]

DAA is crap and will do jack-shit for your test levels.

If anything ever helped me, it was Longjack, Eurycoma longifolia.

[supernick]

DAA is crap and will do jack-shit for your test levels.

If anything ever helped me, it was Longjack, Eurycoma longifolia.

i noticed daa, for about a week then it seemed to go away

[ritch]

In the end though, why not just go see a doc? Tell him what you did, how you feel now with what you're doing to fix this. But pretty sure your body will fix itself in time.

[WannaBePro]

In the end though, why not just go see a doc? Tell him what you did, how you feel now with what you're doing to fix this. But pretty sure your body will fix itself in time.

I'm waiting for my second blood test results to come in, and when they do I'll know where to go from there.
Maybe the first result was just bad? Mistakes are made, so hopefully these next results come in OK.
I just have days where I feel awful, like yesterday, where the whole day is just a blur. Today has been OK, but I'm definitely not back to 100% like I was before I did the contest.
I'll talk to the doc about DAA and maybe ask what I could do to speed up the process a little bit, but I agree, the body will stabilize itself I just want it to happen sooner rather than later.

[supernick]

I'm waiting for my second blood test results to come in, and when they do I'll know where to go from there.
Maybe the first result was just bad? Mistakes are made, so hopefully these next results come in OK.
I just have days where I feel awful, like yesterday, where the whole day is just a blur. Today has been OK, but I'm definitely not back to 100% like I was before I did the contest.
I'll talk to the doc about DAA and maybe ask what I could do to speed up the process a little bit, but I agree, the body will stabilize itself I just want it to happen sooner rather than later.

let me know what the doc says about daa

[supernick]

or not 

[WannaBePro]

or not 

haha sorry bro, just got my test results back today.

So as far as my test levels, everything is fine, they're going back up. Last Tuesday they were at 32.7, and by now I bet they're in mid 40's (normal).
The keto diet really depressed my test production.
All other tests came back normal.

I asked about the DAA, and she said that maybe over time it can have some test boosting effect, but it won't give you super-human test levels.
I wouldn't expect her to know much about it though since she's a GP. I would ask an endocrinologist or something to get a real answer.

[OTHstrong]

haha sorry bro, just got my test results back today.

So as far as my test levels, everything is fine, they're going back up. Last Tuesday they were at 32.7, and by now I bet they're in mid 40's (normal).
The keto diet really depressed my test production.
All other tests came back normal.

I asked about the DAA, and she said that maybe over time it can have some test boosting effect, but it won't give you super-human test levels.
I wouldn't expect her to know much about it though since she's a GP. I would ask an endocrinologist or something to get a real answer.

That's great news, glad to hear, I knew they would go back to normal cause the 2 biggest things that hinder a naturals test levels are disorderly sleeping patterns and a caloric deficit diet, which a ketosis cause both, pretty sure it was the culprit, it seems you have everything in order now, good luck.