How to Optimize Testosterone & Estrogen

In this episode, I discuss testosterone and estrogen hormones and how they impact the brain, body, and behavior after puberty. I also discuss how various behaviors such as exercise (resistance and endurance training) and sex or observing sex impact these hormones and their levels. I ask: "what specifically is it about such activities that impact testosterone and estrogen?"; the resounding theme is that when our nervous system is activated in particular ways, it drives our endocrine system and vascular system to activate or repress certain hormone networks in predictable ways. I also discuss peer-reviewed studies and protocols addressing (at a mechanistic level) how light, cold and heat, and respiration (breathing) can positively or negatively impact testosterone and estrogen. We discuss specific supplements and compounds that peer-reviewed studies illustrate can adjust testosterone and estrogen levels by changing their binding to other proteins, raising them directly, or changing other hormones released from the brain and pituitary. I discuss optimization in the normal reference ranges for these hormones, and I discuss pheromones, apnea, menstrual cycles, menopause and andropause.
Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Introduction  
00:00:26 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up  
00:05:50 Hormone Optimization  
00:07:00 Salutogenesis: A Powerful Way to Conceptualize Health  
00:10:03 Estrogen and Testosterone: Sources, Levels and Ratios  
00:15:46 The Power of Competition, Plus: Anxiety, Persistence and Dopamine  
00:20:58 Testosterone and Libido Pre-Ovulation  
00:21:48 Estrogen and Sexual Receptivity; Libido In Males  
00:23:10 How Sex Behavior Impacts Testosterone: Observing vs. Actual vs. Abstinence  
00:26:46 Testosterone and Prolactin: Sex Seeking vs. Pair Bonding  
00:27:30 DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone): Effects on Levels/Ratios  
00:28:45 Behaviors That Decrease Testosterone (and Cortisol): Parenting and Prolactin  
00:31:24 How Illness Impacts Testosterone and Estrogen: Cytokines, e.g., IL-6  
00:33:20 How Exactly Do Behaviors Change Hormones?  
00:34:18 Pheromones: Miscarriage, Menstrual Cycles, Puberty Onset, and Mate Recognition  
00:43:33 Apnea: A Powerful Bi-Directional Influence On Estrogen and Testosterone  
00:47:44 Mouth vs. Nose Breathing and Hormone Levels: Effects Via Sleep and Direct Effects  
00:51:11 How Sleep Adjusts Cortisol/Testosterone and Cortisol/Estrogen Ratios  
00:53:49 O2:CO2 Ratios, Nasal Breathing During Exercise  
00:56:30 Light Viewing Patterns and Hormones: Dopamine, GnRH  
00:57:44 Spring Fever: Tyrosinase, Hair Color, Mating Frequency  
01:04:39 Specificity of Hormone Effects  
01:06:03 Temperature: Cold and Hot Gonads  
01:14:10 How To Exercise: Types, Effort Level, Sequencing  
01:21:42 Cardio/Endurance vs. Resistance Training (First or Last?) Yes, It Matters  
01:24:41 Estrogen and Menopause: Compounds That May Ameliorate/Reverse Symptoms  
01:33:18 Nutrients That Optimize The Foundation For Hormones  
01:36:00 Opioids as Severe Hormone Disruptors  
01:37:23 Testes, Antlers and Ovaries  
01:38:50 Creatine and Increasing DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)  
01:40:14 Free and Bound Testosterone: SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin), Tongat Ali  
01:43:23 Nettles, Prostate, Boron, and Blood Brain Barrier  
01:45:27 Hormone Related Cancers: Sometimes Reducing Estrogen and Testosterone Is Optimal  
01:47:43 Ecdysteroids: Mimic Mammalian Hormones  
01:51:50 Optimizing Brain Hormones: Chorionic Gonadotropin, Fadogia Agrestis  
01:57:18 Additional Compounds, Liver Toxicity, Overall Milieu  
01:59:17 Summary: And Note About Additional Related Topic Coverage Coming  
Disclaimer & Disclosures
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