How to Optimize Testosterone & Estrogen

Show: Huberman Lab

In this episode, I discuss testosterone and estrogen hormones and how they impact the brain, body, and behavior after puberty. I also discuss how various behaviors such as exercise (resistance and endurance training) and sex or observing sex impact these hormones and their levels. I ask: "what specifically is it about such activities that impact testosterone and estrogen?"; the resounding theme is that when our nervous system is activated in particular ways, it drives our endocrine system and vascular system to activate or repress certain hormone networks in predictable ways. I also discuss peer-reviewed studies and protocols addressing (at a mechanistic level) how light, cold and heat, and respiration (breathing) can positively or negatively impact testosterone and estrogen. We discuss specific supplements and compounds that peer-reviewed studies illustrate can adjust testosterone and estrogen levels by changing their binding to other proteins, raising them directly, or changing other hormones released from the brain and pituitary. I discuss optimization in the normal reference ranges for these hormones, and I discuss pheromones, apnea, menstrual cycles, menopause and andropause.
Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:26 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up
00:05:50 Hormone Optimization
00:07:00 Salutogenesis: A Powerful Way to Conceptualize Health
00:10:03 Estrogen and Testosterone: Sources, Levels and Ratios
00:15:46 The Power of Competition, Plus: Anxiety, Persistence and Dopamine
00:20:58 Testosterone and Libido Pre-Ovulation
00:21:48 Estrogen and Sexual Receptivity; Libido In Males
00:23:10 How Sex Behavior Impacts Testosterone: Observing vs. Actual vs. Abstinence
00:26:46 Testosterone and Prolactin: Sex Seeking vs. Pair Bonding
00:27:30 DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone): Effects on Levels/Ratios
00:28:45 Behaviors That Decrease Testosterone (and Cortisol): Parenting and Prolactin
00:31:24 How Illness Impacts Testosterone and Estrogen: Cytokines, e.g., IL-6
00:33:20 How Exactly Do Behaviors Change Hormones?
00:34:18 Pheromones: Miscarriage, Menstrual Cycles, Puberty Onset, and Mate Recognition
00:43:33 Apnea: A Powerful Bi-Directional Influence On Estrogen and Testosterone
00:47:44 Mouth vs. Nose Breathing and Hormone Levels: Effects Via Sleep and Direct Effects
00:51:11 How Sleep Adjusts Cortisol/Testosterone and Cortisol/Estrogen Ratios
00:53:49 O2:CO2 Ratios, Nasal Breathing During Exercise
00:56:30 Light Viewing Patterns and Hormones: Dopamine, GnRH
00:57:44 Spring Fever: Tyrosinase, Hair Color, Mating Frequency
01:04:39 Specificity of Hormone Effects
01:06:03 Temperature: Cold and Hot Gonads
01:14:10 How To Exercise: Types, Effort Level, Sequencing
01:21:42 Cardio/Endurance vs. Resistance Training (First or Last?) Yes, It Matters
01:24:41 Estrogen and Menopause: Compounds That May Ameliorate/Reverse Symptoms
01:33:18 Nutrients That Optimize The Foundation For Hormones
01:36:00 Opioids as Severe Hormone Disruptors
01:37:23 Testes, Antlers and Ovaries
01:38:50 Creatine and Increasing DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)
01:40:14 Free and Bound Testosterone: SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin), Tongat Ali
01:43:23 Nettles, Prostate, Boron, and Blood Brain Barrier
01:45:27 Hormone Related Cancers: Sometimes Reducing Estrogen and Testosterone Is Optimal
01:47:43 Ecdysteroids: Mimic Mammalian Hormones
01:51:50 Optimizing Brain Hormones: Chorionic Gonadotropin, Fadogia Agrestis
01:57:18 Additional Compounds, Liver Toxicity, Overall Milieu
01:59:17 Summary: And Note About Additional Related Topic Coverage Coming
Disclaimer & Disclosures
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