Is there something androgenic about meat?

[MarkKol]

I have no scientific evidence for this, and besides the high amount of protein in meat that is associated with muscle, I'm wondering if any chemicals in meat trigger androgenic, testosterone-related events in the body. Besides, why is it that every time I hear about increasing sexual energy/libido, hormone optimization, or testosterone It always has something to do with either meat, butter, and recently saturated fat?

P.s, not a carnivore and I don't believe in that whole polyunsaturated fats and seed oils vs saturated fats trend, although I have been watching lots of Carnivore content because I seem to have low test and hardly any libido and very low muscle definition while being only 20 years old.

Edited November 20, 2023 by MarkKol

[Schizophonia]

-The richer your diet is in meat, the higher your zinc/copper ratio (doesn't mean you want a copper deficiency) will be and will increase GABA signaling (both by increasing glutamic acid decarboxylase and as a positive allosteric modulator ).
A diet very rich in copper such as a typical vegan diet rich in legumes will instead increase the glutaminergic signaling ratio and by extension noradrenaline/norephedrine.

-Zinc will strongly decrease prolactin (and therefore increase testostérone and conversion of testosteron into DHT)  

-Higher intake of vitamin B6 will also increase GABA

-Iron increase oxide nitrique, dopamine, total testosteron, free testosteron and DHT

-Vitamin A (retinol) increase testosterone with similar levels of LH, ditto for vitamin D. (I even saw a study where daily vitamin D supplementation increased testosterone by 50%))

-Cholin (present mainly in eggs and organs) increase acetylcholine synthesis, which is necessary for your long-term memory but also to feel grounded and to reduce the focus on unnecessary information, reduces stress in general.

-Animal products contain no or very little estrogen, even a liter of whole milk contains only 300,000 picograms of estrogen maximum (if the cow is pregnant) or 0.0003 mg, which is absolutely tiny compared to to daily male production (several mg), knowing that the majority of its estrogens are estrones (much less efficient than estradiol in men) and that their oral assimilation does not even exceed 10%.

Products based on soy and certain legumes contain tens of milligrams of very orally available xenoestrogens per serving and certainly do not act as SERMS contrary to what their promoters say, the same goes for DIM.

-Saturated fatty (and MUFA ?) acids tend to increase sensitivity to androgens and decrease cortisol, vice versa for omega 6.

-A diet higher in fat increases GABA signaling.

 

 

I'm too lazy to find all the sources now, but if there is something that interests you I can make the effort.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Schizophonia

[Jason Actualization]

Meat is indeed androgenic but particularly misunderstood in and how it affects/impacts human health.

I've eaten over 1 ton of red meat throughout my 20s, and benefitted from a health transformation that brings me to tears to contemplate. I, for example, used to have an esophagus that was so inflamed I would struggle just to swallow food. I'll attach a before and after picture from age 20 on the left, to age 30 on the right.

My testosterone level is right around 1,000 ng/dL, and I'd be happy to share any other labs or health metrics you may be interested in. I had a DEXA scan done on my 30th birthday just a few days ago, which came back at 12.4% body fat with a FFMI of 24.2 (for reference, the 90th and 95th percentiles are 20 and 21, respectively). I am not in any way special, I simply implemented information that was handed to me at a time I needed it most (heartbroken and desperate for change).

The carnivore content is good in that it helps recontextualize cholesterol, but the issue is that they do so by seemingly celebrating sky high cholesterol as if that is not at all a cause for concern, which is only partially true. For optimal hormone output, overall health, and resistance to cardiovascular disease, omnivore will always be optimal (having carbohydrates to stay out of ketosis will improve your free testosterone to cortisol ratio). The key to cholesterol is to reduce the amount of absolute oxidized cholesterol in circulation, which requires a potent source of antioxidants, which carnivore diets are devoid of.

I will attach a PDF write up I've made to help guys optimize their endocrine system (let me know if it's inaccessible). Ten Tips To Max Your T Levels.pdf