Natural Remedies for Low Testosterone

Book excerpt: How to maintain optimum testosterone levels for the male body through the use of herbs, nutritional supplements, and diet • Explains the phenomenon of male menopause and how to deal with it • Reveals scientific evidence of testosterone-blocking agents in the environment that alter men’s essential chemistry as they age • Presents safe, organic plant medicines that can restore optimum testosterone levels • Contains the most up-to-date natural treatments for impotence, infertility, and prostate disease The recognition of andropause, the middle-age stage in male development comparable to women’s menopause, is hampered by the lack of a clear outward manifestation of the chemistry and physiology specific to aging men. Men are still capable of reproduction well into and beyond middle age. Yet a man’s sexual desire and potency varies, often according to his testosterone level. Recent studies show that the lowered testosterone levels endemic in aging men--a gradual drop that is quite normal--are being exacerbated by environmental agents. Testosterone-blocking estrogen agents are present in insecticides, industrial materials, pharmaceuticals, and foods. Men are daily inundated with a “cocktail” of estrogen agents that alter the fine balance of testosterone that makes them male. But as recent medical research has revealed, testosterone replacement therapy with Low T drugs is not a good option because of the increased risk of cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack and stroke, and because the body can become dependent on pharmaceutical testosterone and stop producing any on its own. In this updated edition of The Natural Testosterone Plan, Stephen Harrod Buhner shows why men need help to maintain their testosterone levels as they age and explains how naturally occurring phytoandrogens--plant medicines that contain male hormones--can safely remedy the depletion exerted by the environment. Buhner details how each phytoandrogen works, when its use is indicated, and the most appropriate method of application, providing all men with safe, natural, and effective means of maintaining optimum testosterone levels well into old age.