haidut

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When news like this features on CNN, it is becoming obvious that something it not right with the official recommendations for regular (endurance) exercise as the best way to ward off CVD, cancer, brain diseases, osteoporosis, etc. The CNN piece also states that vitamin D supplements, weight lifting (concentric exercise) and saturated fat are good ways to increase testosterone (T) in males, while PUFA is less effective. The article did not go as far as saying that PUFA lowers T levels, but this is what the human studies show so far. It will probably be another decade before the realization of PUFA's dangers hits mainstream news media, but change seems to be coming.
On the negative side, the article is about the increasing rates of hypogonadism (male menopause, andropause) in young males. Early hypogonadism, just like early menopause in women, is strongly associated with declining health, and the latter has been confirmed in multiple studies on young people over the last 2 decades. Stroke, diabetes, and cancer rates have all increased significantly over the last 20 years, while strength, sperm counts and intelligence have declined. These developments have overwhelmingly "favored" the crowd younger than 40. I bet if people drop PUFA and "endurance" exercise from their lives this trend will be quickly reversed or at least stopped.

Low testosterone, or 'male menopause,' no longer just for older men - CNN
"...You may associate increased testosterone levels with athleticism, but not all physical activity is created equal.
Endurance cardio exercise, such as running marathons, actually lowers testosterone production. On the other hand, lifting weight using large muscles such as those in the legs and back can increase testosterone. "Deadlifts and squats are excellent for this purpose," Espinosa said."

"..."For peak testosterone production, some carbs are necessary, but preferably the slowly metabolized kind from high-fiber fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes," Hoffman said. When it comes to fat, research shows that saturated fats from such sources as grass-fed meats, coconut oil and macadamia nuts appear to support testosterone better than polyunsaturated fats from refined vegetable oils, he said."

"...Men who have been diagnosed with low testosterone should consider discussing certain supplements with their clinician, Espinosa said. He notes that vitamin D and zinc play important roles in the production of this hormone, while herbs such as ashwagandha and rhodiola may also be beneficial."
 

Hans

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It's almost unbelievable how people attack you when you say saturated fats doesn't causes CVD or any other disease for that matter and that it's PUFAs that's causing it.
 
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haidut

haidut

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It's almost unbelievable how people attack you when you say saturated fats doesn't causes CVD or any other disease for that matter and that it's PUFAs that's causing it.

Yeah, and when you point out FDA recently reversed its decade-long stance on dietary cholesterol and saturated fat they accuse you of coming up with fake sources or dismiss it with statements like "How come my doctor hasn't heard about this? It's probably a hoax."
 

Risingfire

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I read this article an hour ago. My eyes jumped out of my head when I saw the recommendation to avoid pufa.

The fact that this article is implying young men can go through andropause is making me believe this issue is starting to be a serious issue.
 
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haidut

haidut

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I read this article an hour ago. My eyes jumped out of my head when I saw the recommendation to avoid pufa.

The fact that this article is implying young men can go through andropause is making me believe this issue is starting to be a serious issue.

My thinking too. If something about a disease reaches CNN it usually means it is pretty widespread and possibly an "epidemic". By the time the opioid crisis made it to CNN's website it was already of national/massive proportions.
 

Dobbler

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While this study is clearly done and meant for older 30+ males, if in todays technological hell some kid or teenager wants to run or do other 'stressful' competive sport, it's still much much better choice than sit on your **** all day and play video games. It's often a gate to other forms of exercise aswell such as strenght and functional training. If a teenager have high desire to do sports, its a sign of high energy output. Compare healthy vs sick individual.

There's a difference if someone does the sport of choice for pleasure, or because they feel like they have to. If a male does running because he feels so happy, high on energy and enjoys nature VS treadmill at gym, because he's overweight and sick.

Then there is the spectrum of how much someone knows about nutrition and lifestyle. Compare standard guy with no knowledge to Haidut. It's no hard to say who knows how to mitigate the possible damage with nutrition and supplements. Low PUFA high carb diet with vitamin e, d, pregnenolone, creatine.
 
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haidut

haidut

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While this study is clearly done and meant for older 30+ males, if in todays technological hell some kid or teenager wants to run or do other 'stressful' competive sport, it's still much much better choice than sit on your **** all day and play video games. It's often a gate to other forms of exercise aswell such as strenght and functional training. If a teenager have high desire to do sports, its a sign of high energy output. Compare healthy vs sick individual.

There's a difference if someone does the sport of choice for pleasure, or because they feel like they have to. If a male does running because he feels so happy, high on energy and enjoys nature VS treadmill at gym, because he's overweight and sick.

Then there is the spectrum of how much someone knows about nutrition and lifestyle. Compare standard guy with no knowledge to Haidut. It's no hard to say who knows how to mitigate the possible damage with nutrition and supplements. Low PUFA high carb diet with vitamin e, d, pregnenolone, creatine.

True, if some people feel brimming with energy then even running is probably OK, subject to the conditions of being glycogen bound and fun. But in my experience, due to the ubiquitous stress, many of the ones who like to run are driven by cortisol. It can create a manic-like state that feels like high energy but leads to a crash over a few years. Before picking up regular exercise it is probably not a bad idea to test for AM/PM cortisol and prolactin. If those are high then I'd say those need to be addressed first before exerting oneself even more.
 

Risingfire

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My thinking too. If something about a disease reaches CNN it usually means it is pretty widespread and possibly an "epidemic". By the time the opioid crisis made it to CNN's website it was already of national/massive proportions.
Do you think a large minority, if not majority of men 18-25 have suboptimal T or even T below the range?
 
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haidut

haidut

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Do you think a large minority, if not majority of men 18-25 have suboptimal T or even T below the range?

I think the majority have suboptimal T, hence the dropping sperm counts across the board and the increase of chronic disease in males.
Androgen Deficiency As The Main Cause Of Chronic Disease In Males

Just as with prolactin, the medical industry keeps re-defining the "normal" range. For prolactin they keep raising the upper limit and in the last 10 years the upper limit has gone from 14 to 22. For T they keep lowering the upper limit of "normal" so that it looks like the majority of men are in the upper 50%. The situation in women is not any better.
You can get some idea of the truth from the official stats that 1 in 3 US couples cannot conceive naturally and require medical support of some sort (the data on other "developed" countries is pretty much the same). TRT for the men, progesterone, clomid, hCG, etc for the women, and so on. The projections are that if the current trends continue then in 20 years 25% of all couples will be fully infertile and won't be able to conceive at all.
 

Regina

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When news like this features on CNN, it is becoming obvious that something it not right with the official recommendations for regular (endurance) exercise as the best way to ward off CVD, cancer, brain diseases, osteoporosis, etc. The CNN piece also states that vitamin D supplements, weight lifting (concentric exercise) and saturated fat are good ways to increase testosterone (T) in males, while PUFA is less effective. The article did not go as far as saying that PUFA lowers T levels, but this is what the human studies show so far. It will probably be another decade before the realization of PUFA's dangers hits mainstream news media, but change seems to be coming.
On the negative side, the article is about the increasing rates of hypogonadism (male menopause, andropause) in young males. Early hypogonadism, just like early menopause in women, is strongly associated with declining health, and the latter has been confirmed in multiple studies on young people over the last 2 decades. Stroke, diabetes, and cancer rates have all increased significantly over the last 20 years, while strength, sperm counts and intelligence have declined. These developments have overwhelmingly "favored" the crowd younger than 40. I bet if people drop PUFA and "endurance" exercise from their lives this trend will be quickly reversed or at least stopped.

Low testosterone, or 'male menopause,' no longer just for older men - CNN
"...You may associate increased testosterone levels with athleticism, but not all physical activity is created equal.
Endurance cardio exercise, such as running marathons, actually lowers testosterone production. On the other hand, lifting weight using large muscles such as those in the legs and back can increase testosterone. "Deadlifts and squats are excellent for this purpose," Espinosa said."

"..."For peak testosterone production, some carbs are necessary, but preferably the slowly metabolized kind from high-fiber fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes," Hoffman said. When it comes to fat, research shows that saturated fats from such sources as grass-fed meats, coconut oil and macadamia nuts appear to support testosterone better than polyunsaturated fats from refined vegetable oils, he said."

"...Men who have been diagnosed with low testosterone should consider discussing certain supplements with their clinician, Espinosa said. He notes that vitamin D and zinc play important roles in the production of this hormone, while herbs such as ashwagandha and rhodiola may also be beneficial."
"andropause" is the perfect word for the majority aikidoists over 40. And by that, I mean the best of them. I can think of several 1st class aikidoists who reach this stage (or crisis). Very high-skill level but the temperament of bitchy girls.
 

Spondive

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Almost everything from the media is in question... not just cnn but all media.. just look into who controls the media
 
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Risingfire

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I think the majority have suboptimal T, hence the dropping sperm counts across the board and the increase of chronic disease in males.
Androgen Deficiency As The Main Cause Of Chronic Disease In Males

Just as with prolactin, the medical industry keeps re-defining the "normal" range. For prolactin they keep raising the upper limit and in the last 10 years the upper limit has gone from 14 to 22. For T they keep lowering the upper limit of "normal" so that it looks like the majority of men are in the upper 50%. The situation in women is not any better.
You can get some idea of the truth from the official stats that 1 in 3 US couples cannot conceive naturally and require medical support of some sort (the data on other "developed" countries is pretty much the same). TRT for the men, progesterone, clomid, hCG, etc for the women, and so on. The projections are that if the current trends continue then in 20 years 25% of all couples will be fully infertile and won't be able to conceive at all.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's more than 25%. I'm already seeing many friends having serious problems.
 

Aymen

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this is good , people laugh when i tell them running is bad , and can't move their a** and start sprinting , sprinting is hard for them , i live in my country and i,m the only one who practices sprinting instead of running lol .
 

Sobieski

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If this is in MSM, then it must be getting bad. They tested the average T levels of young male Buzzfeed journalists and they came out as averaging in the 200's. The highest was in the 300's. No surprise really though given the organisation they work for (lol).
 

Ulysses

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Marathon running undoubtedly lowers T. For shorter aerobic sessions, 30-45 minutes of moderate intensity, I am not so sure. I have tried many times to eliminate cardio from my workout routine, and always eventually add it back in because I feel so much better when doing it. My experience indicates that the prevailing "hour a day" recommendation is actually a maximum, not a minimum.
 

Herbie

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"andropause" is the perfect word for the majority aikidoists over 40. And by that, I mean the best of them. I can think of several 1st class aikidoists who reach this stage (or crisis). Very high-skill level but the temperament of bitchy girls.

Is the temperament of a bitchy girl inherent to girls or is having an unpleasant temperament universal across both sexes and all ages?
 

Elephanto

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Marathon running undoubtedly lowers T. For shorter aerobic sessions, 30-45 minutes of moderate intensity, I am not so sure. I have tried many times to eliminate cardio from my workout routine, and always eventually add it back in because I feel so much better when doing it. My experience indicates that the prevailing "hour a day" recommendation is actually a maximum, not a minimum.

Good point, the title should be corrected to "Endurance running". Daily moderate cardio is likely to be pro-Testosterone simply by optimizing blood circulation to the testes. But the general optimization of blood and lympathic circulation is also likely to reduce stress hormones and increase protective ones, reducing Insulin resistance and inflammation as the whole system is working more efficiently, mitigating many conditions that lead to low Testosterone. In my experience it is an adaptogenic habit which raises resistance to all stresses while long-term inactivity seems to be a stressor itself.

The line is fine (yet intuitively felt) between physical activity being health-augmenting or health-deteriorating. Length, intensity, a mindstate either relaxed/playful or stressed during the exercise, chronic intestinal permeability, ongoing digestion or not, are important factors.
 
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Ulysses

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Daily moderate cardio is likely to be pro-Testosterone simply by optimizing blood circulation to the testes.
Swimming in particular. I have varicocele, and some mild BPH symptoms that go along with it, and swimming alleviates both like nothing else does. Daily chlorine exposure is less than ideal, but I think the benefits outweigh the risks, especially with such short sessions.

Swimming is also unique among aerobic exercises by having breath-holding and hypercapnia built into the form. I was a big swimmer in elementary and high school and since returning to it in July, my control pulse has skyrocketed. I can bag breathe for much longer than before.

Restricting sports activity in reducing the rate of varicocele and related infertility parameters in athletes

According to recent research undertaken by the authors of the present study, varicoceles occur more frequently amongst young males playing basketball, football, volleyball, or handball (BFVH) with an active training workload of three or more times per week, when compared to control groups. Conversely, young males participating in water polo have a lower incidence of varicocele when compared to control groups [9]...

The BFVH are sports that necessitate dominant body movement, both horizontally and vertically. Typical jumping against the plane forces of gravity, such as is found in basketball, may be expected to increase the presence of varicocele, given the direction of the venous blood from the testicles. In support of this hypothesis, the highest prevalence of varicocele along with the prevalence of higher grades (second and third) was found in the basketball players of this study. Conversely, the effect of increased hydrostatic pressure acting outside the body and affecting the external genital organs in water polo players is tantamount to the effect of a suspensory, as has been used in the treatment of varicocele, wherein the external pressure of the water when practicing, playing, or competing in water polo acts to enhance the blood that exits the pampiniform venous plexus and inhibits dilation of the veins. This would seem to be the main reason for the low rates of varicocele in water polo players, along with the prevalence of lower grades (subclinical and grade 1).
 
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Elephanto

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Daily chlorine exposure is less than ideal, but I think the benefits outweigh the risks, especially with such short sessions.

I've avoided swimming since several years because of this. That is, avoiding chlorine contact to the testes.

Adolescents having attended indoor chlorinated pools for more than 250 h before the age of 10 years or for more than 125 h before the age of 7 years were about three times more likely to have an abnormally low serum inhibin B and/or total testosterone (<10th percentile) than their peers who never visited this type of pool during their childhood
Associations between testicular hormones at adolescence and attendance at chlorinated swimming pools during childhood

This might be over-cautious as this was only tested in children, but I come from post-propecia about 7 years ago so I really got into the mindset of avoiding every anti-androgenic habits/substances and inversely so with pro-androgenic ones which I believe was key in restoring my hormonal homeostatis. Ryan Lochte with his dyed hair, metrosexual looks and mentally ill behaviours during the last Olympics also traumatized me into thinking of it as a "proof of theory" lol.

Anyway, it was just to share a train of thought that your quote launched. It probably has more benefits than negatives.
 

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