Men's Health

Natural Testosterone Optimisation Guide for Men

An evidence-based, drug-free guide to improving testosterone levels in men using diet, strength training, sleep, stress management, and micronutrient support.

8 min read

Natural Testosterone Optimisation Guide for Men

Testosterone influences strength, energy, mood, libido and metabolic health.
Levels gradually decline with age, but modern lifestyle factors can push testosterone much lower than biology alone would predict.

This guide outlines drug-free, evidence-informed methods to support healthier testosterone levels.

1. Nutrition: Building Hormones From the Ground Up

Testosterone synthesis requires cholesterol, adequate calorie intake and key micronutrients. Extremely low-fat or highly restrictive diets can suppress hormone production in some men.

Healthy fats

Include these regularly:

  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Avocado
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Whole eggs
  • Oily fish such as salmon or sardines
  • Unprocessed beef or lamb
  • Butter or ghee in moderate amounts

A practical target is around 30 to 40 percent of daily calories from fat, with a mix of monounsaturated and saturated fats from whole-food sources.

Protein

Aim for a daily intake of roughly 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
Protein supports muscle repair, metabolic health and satiety, and helps preserve lean mass when losing fat.

Good sources include fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, tofu and tempeh, legumes and lean red meat.

Strategic carbohydrates

Very low-carbohydrate diets can increase stress hormones in some men and may not be ideal long term for testosterone.

You do not need huge amounts of carbohydrate, but it helps to use them strategically:

  • Around strength training sessions
  • On heavier training days
  • From slower-digesting, minimally processed sources such as potatoes, rice, oats, beans and fruit

2. Training: Lift Heavy, Not Forever

Resistance training is one of the most reliable lifestyle tools for supporting testosterone and metabolic health.

Effective structure

A simple and effective framework looks like:

  • Three to four sessions per week
  • Forty-five to sixty minutes per session
  • Lower to moderate repetitions with higher load, such as three to six reps per set

Focus on compound movements that recruit large muscle groups:

  • Squats and deadlifts
  • Bench press and incline press
  • Overhead press
  • Rows
  • Pull-ups or chin-ups

Prioritise progressive overload and controlled form rather than chasing constant exhaustion.

What to avoid or limit

  • Sessions that routinely run much longer than ninety minutes
  • Daily maximal lifting without rest days
  • Excessive steady-state cardio in a calorie deficit

Chronic overtraining with poor recovery raises cortisol and can work against hormone balance.

3. Sleep: The Most Powerful Natural Lever

A large proportion of daily testosterone release occurs during sleep. Consistently poor sleep is a common cause of low or low-normal testosterone levels.

Factors that undermine testosterone via sleep

  • Sleeping fewer than six hours per night on a regular basis
  • Repeated waking during the night
  • Loud snoring or suspected sleep apnea
  • Heavy meals or alcohol close to bedtime
  • Very irregular sleep and wake times

Practical sleep targets

  • Aim to be in bed long enough to obtain about seven and a half to eight and a half hours of actual sleep
  • Keep the bedroom cool and dark
  • Avoid phones and laptops in bed
  • Try to wake at a consistent time each day

If you wake unrefreshed, snore heavily or a partner notices pauses in breathing, discuss possible sleep apnea with a clinician. Treating sleep apnea can make a major difference to daytime energy and hormone levels.

4. Body Composition: Reducing Visceral Fat

Visceral fat, the deep fat around abdominal organs, is hormonally active. It contains aromatase, an enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. This is one reason increasing belly fat is often linked with falling testosterone.

Reducing waist circumference and visceral fat helps by:

  • Lowering aromatase activity
  • Improving insulin sensitivity
  • Reducing chronic inflammation

A realistic and worthwhile goal is to reduce waist measurement by around five to ten percent over time through sustainable changes, rather than crash dieting.

5. Micronutrient Support: Closing the Gaps

Several micronutrients are closely involved in hormone production and signalling.

Vitamin D

Low vitamin D is associated with lower testosterone and reduced overall health.
Safe sunlight exposure and, where appropriate, supplementation can help restore normal levels.

Zinc

Zinc is required for healthy testosterone production and sperm formation. Chronic deficiency can reduce androgen levels.

Magnesium

Magnesium supports muscle function, helps regulate nervous system activity and can improve sleep quality, which in turn supports testosterone.

Typical supplemental ranges

Always discuss supplementation with a health professional, especially if you have medical conditions or take other medication. Common ranges used in practice include:

  • Vitamin D3: two thousand to five thousand international units per day, guided by blood tests
  • Magnesium glycinate or citrate: around three hundred to four hundred milligrams per evening
  • Zinc: around fifteen to thirty milligrams per day in short courses if deficiency is suspected

Where possible, test levels to avoid both deficiency and excessive dosing.

6. Reducing Testosterone-Suppressing Inputs

Patterns that often appear in men with low or low-normal testosterone include:

  • Frequent alcohol intake
  • High chronic psychological stress without adequate recovery
  • Very low calorie diets maintained for long periods
  • Heavy training loads without rest weeks
  • High exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as some plastics and pesticides

You do not need perfection, but reducing the overall load from these factors makes it easier for your body to restore hormonal balance.

7. Behavioural and Environmental Drivers

Beyond food, training and sleep, other aspects of life matter for hormonal health.

Sunlight and time outdoors

Time outside supports vitamin D production, improves circadian rhythm alignment and often reduces stress.

Sexual activity and intimacy

Regular sexual activity, intimacy and connection can support both hormone balance and psychological wellbeing.

Purpose, challenge and progress

Working toward goals, building skills and experiencing a sense of progress or mastery often correlates with better mood, motivation and resilience. While this is not a direct testosterone lever, it interacts with behaviour, training and lifestyle choices in a positive way.

8. Optional Laboratory Evaluation

Lifestyle optimisation is useful whether or not you test hormones.
However, blood work can clarify what is driving low or low-normal testosterone.

Tests to discuss with a clinician may include:

  • Total testosterone
  • Free testosterone
  • Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)
  • Luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
  • Estradiol
  • Prolactin
  • Vitamin D
  • Thyroid function, including thyroid stimulating hormone and free thyroid hormones

These can help distinguish lifestyle-driven hormone changes from primary gland or pituitary issues.

9. Where Testosterone Replacement Therapy Fits

Testosterone replacement therapy can be appropriate for men with confirmed, persistent hypogonadism and significant symptoms that do not respond to lifestyle measures.

However, TRT:

  • Suppresses natural testosterone production
  • Can reduce fertility
  • Requires regular monitoring, for example of hematocrit
  • Is generally a long-term commitment once started

For many men with low-normal testosterone, a structured lifestyle-first approach significantly improves both hormone levels and quality of life without needing TRT.

Summary

Natural testosterone optimisation is not about chasing a single number on a lab report. It is about rebuilding the conditions under which a male body functions well:

  • Nutrient-dense, hormone-supportive nutrition
  • Regular strength training and physical challenge
  • Consistently adequate and good-quality sleep
  • Gradual reduction of visceral fat
  • Targeted micronutrient support where needed
  • A lower total load of stressors such as alcohol and chronic psychological strain
  • More movement, sunlight, connection and purpose

These changes improve testosterone, but more importantly, they improve energy, resilience and overall health as you age.