As you approach and cross over 30, you may notice significant changes in your body. Maybe you start balding, adding some weight, getting tired too quickly, or your body hurts in places it never did.
The problems could be sex-related, such as low libido, erectile dysfunction, low sperm count, and other symptoms associated with low testosterone.
If you find yourself in this position, testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) may appear to be the only solution. But you’re wary of committing to a lengthy treatment regime.
You probably want to know if testosterone alternatives exist. What is an alternative to testosterone therapy? Are there alternatives to testosterone injections?
Yes, testosterone alternatives definitely exist. Although TRT is the ultimate testosterone treatment in patients with very low levels of T, there are TRT alternatives that can help boost your T levels if your condition is mild.
At Craft Medical, we offer the best TRT treatments in the U.S., but we understand you may want to wait to go for it. An alternative to TRT may help boost your T levels in the meantime.
Are We On the Brink of a Low T Prevalence?
Before we dive into TRT alternatives to consider, it helps to understand the significance of low testosterone among men in the U.S.
In 2002, the New England Research Institute (NERI) released a study that showed a considerable decline in men’s testosterone levels between 1887 and 2002. There was an exponential decrease, averaging a 1% drop per year.
This means that a man who was 65 years old in 2002 would have T levels 15% lower than a man who was 65 years old in 1987.
Another study released in 2007 showed that 24% of the subjects had testosterone levels below 300 ng/dl, which is the threshold amount of testosterone a man should have. With this study, it became clear that 1 in 4 men between the ages of 30 to 79 years has low T.
As most of the U.S. male population gets older, the number of men with symptomatic androgen deficiency will increase dramatically. The study predicted that by 2025, about 6.5 million men between 30 and 79 years old would have symptomatic androgen deficiencies.
Although no recent longitudinal studies indicate when the decline evened out in recent years, scientists believe that overall T levels of men in the U.S. dropped considerably.
Currently, over more than 13 million men show symptoms of male hypogonadism (another term for low testosterone).
No Cause for Alarm
The U.S. indeed has a lot older population now, with men aged between 30 and 79 years (numbering 95.15 million) accounting for over 40% of the U.S. population in 2021. And it’s also true that the rate of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity have significantly increased in the past decade.
Aging may put you in the bracket for low T, and being prone to these and similar conditions spells additional risks of testosterone deficiency, but it doesn’t mean you have to suffer low T for the rest of your life.
Thanks to advances in medical research and an increased willingness of men to freely talk about their health problems with medical professionals, many men are able to access and undergo testosterone replacement therapies and restore their T levels to normal numbers.
Testosterone Therapy: A Worthy Remedy
Testosterone replacement therapies are, without a doubt, a satisfactory means of permanently boosting your testosterone levels and improving your quality of life.
A survey published by the online National Library of Medicine showed that 70% of patients surveyed reported being satisfied with their testosterone replacement therapies. They also noticed a substantial improvement in their mood and concentration.
Overall, living with low T is not a cause for you to worry yourself. Testosterone replacement therapy is accessible and affordable. And as always, the best step forward is to book a consultation with a medical expert for a proper diagnosis before proceeding with treatment.
For some reason, you may be looking for alternatives to testosterone injections and other treatments that could help boost your testosterone levels temporarily. But when your thoughts hover on, “What is an alternative to testosterone therapy?” nothing comes to mind.
The sections below will help you understand testosterone alternatives better. More importantly, we hope you find an alternative to TRT that works well for you.
What is an Alternative to Testosterone Therapy?
There are various TRT alternatives out there. Since the commercialization of TRTs, many alternatives, from orthodox and holistic medicine, have flooded the market.
In a lot of cases, it’s a matter of snake oil salesmen touting some remedy that is not founded on proper medical research. In some cases, they’re herbs and home remedies that have been known to work for some persons here and there. And in the more fortunate cases, they’re supplements and vitamins backed by some degree of medical research and have been shown to work for some men sometimes.
In this article, we’ll look closely at the second and third instances. But before those, what is an alternative to testosterone therapy?
Testosterone alternatives are health products outside medically-researched, evidence-based TRTs, which can potentially boost testosterone levels in men with symptomatic or asymptomatic androgen deficiencies.
Usually, when thinking of TRT alternatives as medicinal/health products, an alternative to TRT may come in the form of supplements, herbs, or vitamins. So, when thinking of what a proper answer to “What is an alternative to testosterone therapy?” would look like, it helps to limit your imagination to options that come as a supplement, herb, or vitamin.
Other than those, any other alternative to consider should be within the boundaries of healthy living: exercising, getting proper sleep, and having a balanced diet.
Understanding Testosterone Alternatives: Dealing with the Unregulated TRT Alternatives Market
If you search for alternatives to testosterone injections online, ads and websites claiming to have the best solutions for you can easily become overwhelming.
Dig deeper into most of them, and you may find that they’re not medically licensed operations or are affiliate marketing schemes exploiting search algorithms to sell placebos to unknowing men desperately trying to get their lives back on track.
Approach Alternatives to TRT With Caution
The first thing you should know about testosterone alternatives is that licensed medical professionals recommend the best ones after proper diagnosis.
The result of the diagnosis determines if you should consider alternatives to testosterone injections and other TRT treatments or get right to business and start your TRT treatment as soon as you can.
Following the result of your diagnosis, your doctor is also in the best place to tell you which alternative to go for to avoid risks of health complications.
The world of testosterone alternatives is one that lacks concrete research; there is little evidence to support the efficacy and potency of these alternative treatments.
Also, because most of these alternatives escape the radar of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulations, most alternatives do not meet the benchmark for drug standards. Quality may be below par, they may contain harmful impurities, and there may have been no research to determine the proper dosage.
In conclusion, most are health risks waiting to happen. Therefore, you must consult a licensed medical expert for diagnosis and guidance on the best ones.
The FDA has only approved testosterone replacement therapies to help improve testosterone levels.
How Do Supplements, Herbs, and Vitamins Help Boost T Levels?
As mentioned earlier, no concrete medical evidence supports the efficacy of testosterone alternatives.
However, pockets of inconclusive research have been happening here and there. And speculations from these studies guide the principles behind producing or using some of these TRT alternatives to boost T levels.
With testosterone alternatives, manufacturers often try to rely on the potential of one or two ingredients in their products to influence chemical changes in your body and induce testosterone production. Sometimes, they work; most times, they don’t.
A joint study partly facilitated by the Department of Health & Human Services USA looked at the top 5 testosterone boosters sold online and over the counter. The study reviewed 191 studies on the most common ingredients and 37 human studies.
The human studies revealed that 46% of men who used testosterone imposters felt no effect, 22% were unsure if they felt even a slight change, 3% reported a further decrease in their T levels, and only a mere 30% noticed an increase.
With evidence-based testosterone replacement therapies, testosterone implants, patches, gels, and injections would add testosterone to your body. The results will be clearly evident.
Let’s quickly examine how some of these alternatives could temporarily help you.
Supplements
Ordinarily, supplements should support your body system with the chemicals it needs but cannot boast sufficient amounts to carry out some processes effectively.
Most testosterone booster supplements rely on the probable potential of two main ingredients, D-aspartic acid and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
D-aspartic acid is one of the two forms of aspartic acid occurring naturally in a few human tissues, and it’s involved in the production and release of testosterone in the body. However, as supplements, studies have yet to prove that it helps increase T levels in humans conclusively. The study did point out that it increases T levels in some animals.
On the other hand, DHEA is a hormone that the body uses in the production of the male and female sex hormones, androgens, and estrogens. The level of DHEA in your body starts to drop as you age. Hence, DHEA supplements aim to increase DHEA levels in the body and, consequently, testosterone levels.
The evidence of DHEA effectiveness in humans and animals is almost non-existent.
Vitamins and Minerals
The role of vitamins in the body span across healing wounds, fighting infections, strengthening the bones, and regulating hormones.
Vitamin D and zinc are the top 2 vitamins and minerals associated positively with testosterone levels.
A 2021 study shows that vitamin D can boost T levels, and you can get vitamin D naturally via sunlight exposure. An older study found that sufficient zinc may help maintain serum testosterone concentrations in young men.
Other vitamins and minerals, such as magnesium, have shown considerable positive effects on T levels.
Herbs and Herbal Supplements
The probable effectiveness of herbs and herbal supplements in boosting T levels is much more subjective than evidence-based.
There are many herbal supplements in the market with claims of restoring your masculinity in a month or even less. The main ingredients in most of them are ashwagandha, fenugreek, and ginger.
Studies to ascertain the efficacy of these herbs on testosterone increase do not yield impressive results. However, some people who use herbs claim they help improve their sex drives, virility, and overall masculinity.
Still, no conclusive research details how these herbs help boost testosterone or improve overall masculinity.
Get it Right the First Time With Craft Medical
Now that you know some testosterone alternatives, would you go for them? Which would you go for?
As men’s health experts, we do not have any confidence in most testosterone boosters in the market, except for very few. Even then, we believe that if you’re not fit for TRT treatment, the next best option would be to adopt a suitable lifestyle change that could dramatically improve your overall health, not just your testosterone levels.
Generally, be physically active, sleep better, and eat better.
If you must go for a testosterone booster, do so under the guidance of a licensed medical professional who has a good understanding of your medical history and the effects of the ingredients in an alternative to TRT treatment in consideration.
At Craft Medical, we will give you a proper diagnosis to determine if TRT treatment is right for you. If you’re not, we can help you draft a health plan that could help you be YOU again.
If you’re fit for a TRT treatment, you can explore our offers and get the best treatments at the most affordable rates, with close follow-ups from medical experts.
We have a network of doctors and licensed medical professionals on the ground to help you navigate all aspects of men’s health while maintaining privacy and confidentiality.
Note: We understand that TRT treatments could result in more complications for some men with some traits or underlying conditions. We prioritize our patient’s health over the need to boost our revenue. Therefore, we do not offer TRT treatments to men whose diagnosis indicates they’re unfit for TRT.
