The Love Guru

If you've seen "The Love Guru" you've seen the male envy of other males--wanting women to be attracted to them, wanting to perform better in bed, and wanting their bodies to be more buffed and...male. Although the movie was funny in that it took these ideas to the extreme, it reflected what really exists in the male minds of our culture. Men have been taking testosterone injections and steroids, consuming muscle building mixtures, and using contraptions to make themselves more "manly".

Hypogonadism is a real syndrome in which either the testes or ovaries do not produce enough hormones--either testosterone, estrogen or progesterone. It can also be caused by low function of the pituitary or hypothalamus which stimulate the gonads. In men, this could result in retarded development of sexual organs (if ocurring in childhood), fatigue, loss of libido, loss of muscle mass, tendon and ligament problems such as sprains, decreased cardiovascular function atherosclerosis, bone density loss, and poor mood such as irritability and negativity (think "grumpy old man").

There can be other reasons for low hormone levels. Hormones are made from cholesterol. How many people are on low fat diets and cholesterol lowering drugs to get their cholesterol to a minimum? TOO MANY! Do I think that a low fat and cholesterol free diet is healthy? NO. Our hormones are made from cholesterol. When the diet is too low in cholesterol, the body has a way of making its own. However, statins interfere with this process. What are we left with? Deficient cholesterol and deficient hormones. What are men typically prescribed for this? Testosterone injections.

The problem with testosterone injections is that it gives the body a large dose of testosterone at one time. When the body has an excess of one hormone, this hormone gets converted into other hormones. Testosterone can get converted to estrogen in process called aromatization. Increased estrogen in men causes enlarged breasts and female pattern cellulite. (Increased estrogen can also be caused by obesity and alcoholism or tumors among other things, so it is important to fully determine what the hormone picture is and why.)

Naturopathic doctors can determine hormone levels through either saliva or blood testing. They can treat low testosterone in a variety of ways, including prescribing herbs that stimulate the adrenals, herbs that stimulate the gonads, prescribing essential fatty acids and a change in diet to get the correct substrates for hormone production, testing digestive function to enhance fatty acid utilization, prescribing herbs that block aromatization, and giving sublingual testosterone in very small doses to increase levels and guard against aromatization to estrogen.

Low testosterone may be the reason you are experiencing some of the symptoms above. If you need to find a naturopathic physician in your area, go to http://www.naturopathic.org/.