Too many young men, in their 20’s and up, can have a gorgeous woman stand right in front of them, but the dashboards on their physiology blink warning, system break down.

What’s up with that?

Younger males are seeking out erectile dysfunction clinics.

Younger males are being diagnosed with hypogonadism in which the body doesn’t make adequate testosterone or use it properly.

There is a growing appreciation that T signals are sputtering.

Testosterone is a major sex steroid signaling system that promotes diverse functions in both males and females. In both genders it is well known for it’s sexual actions such as promoting desire and response. In men, it promotes healthy sperm. In both Mars and Venus, healthy T is critical for healthy functioning in a part of the brain that has to do with memories and warding off dementia (hippocampus). It promotes immune health in the gut. It assists in bone density integrity. T fosters stability of moods preventing and sometimes even being useful to treat anxiety, panic attacks and depression. And more.

Signs of dysfunctional T are appearing throughout society. And not just in older males.

I was at a conference in Dallas in 2015. A cogent urologist from the National Institute of Health was talking about this growing epidemic of insufficient testosterone levels in twenty-year-old males. He mentioned the first two following reasons. The others were added from my own clinical and research experience.

10 causes of low or dysfunctional T:

  1.  Obesity – fat cells manufacture estrogen. The more estrogen in ratio to testosterone that young men have, the less “healthy” their testosterone sends signals.
  2.  Insulin Resistance & diabetes – elevated insulin and blood sugar create issues with testosterone signaling.
  3.  Porn – this desensitizes men to real women so hormone brain cross talk gets muffled.
  4.  Sick guts – gut bacteria cross talk with T so that that ability to have T signal optimally is intimately related to the health of your microbiome. Harvard researchers have called this new understanding, the “microgenderome”.
  5.  Endocrine Disruptors – chemicals in our air, food and water can act as “anti-androgenic compounds” that can damage testosterone receptor ability to receive signals from T. Diverse endocrine disruptors can also paralyze gut flora, which then inhibits necessary gut flora-T cross talk. Decreasing future exposures and professionally monitored detoxes make more and more sense especially if you are infertile, have hormonally related illnesses, or unhealthy hormones.
  6.  Nutrient deficiencies/junk food – low levels of various nutrients such as zinc and magnesium negatively affect T function. This dysfunction can evade regular blood testing.
  7.  Less intimacy, less T. Regular and satisfying hugging, cuddling, connection and sex, all boost T in both sexes.
  8.  Poor communication outside the bedroom means for worse communication inside the bedroom.
  9.  Lack of knowledge of how archival estrogen and testosterone have always needed each other. Today there is a growing misunderstanding that a healthy person doesn’t “need” someone else. Biological history reveals that intimacy and needing each other are hard-wired since the earliest mammals (have a spine) were on earth.
  10.  Lack of knowledge of the hormone language of love (SEXY BRAIN soon launching). In the last 50 to 70 years there has been an explosion of sexual freedom but very little sexual education to match the availability and demand. Many still feel guilty or inadequate. If people don’t experience authentic pleasure filled intimacy, as nature intended to keep our brains and bodies healthy, they won’t value it no matter how much they have access to it.