Fast Food And Testosterone

We all know fast foods are highly dangerous for our overall health. Yet still we dig ourselves into “comfort food” on regular basis because junk food is ridiculously delicious and economical. Yet, always keep in mind that excessive consumption of fast food welcomes different diseases and makes us gain unhealthy weight.

It’s Not Always What You Eat – Sometimes It Is About How Much You Eat!

What makes fast food an unhealthy choice? Is the bad quality oil used for frying? Or portion size, chemical and preservatives content? How about I tell you that eating “healthy, home cooked meals” can do the same thing to your body? When you consume more calories than what your body is capable of degrading; than extra calories are accumulated in certain parts of your body in the form of fats. If you do not burn enough calories, healthy nutrient choices will give you the same unwanted effects! Which means, it’s not the fast food that makes you gain weight, it’s the imbalance of calories you consume and degrade. If your caloric intake is right and you burn more than you eat, then whether you eat greasy, fried meals or eat “clean” you won’t gain those extra unwelcomed fats. It is no surprise that obesity is directly linked to low serum testosterone levels due to peripheral conversion into estrogens.

What Makes Fast Food A Bad Nutrient Choice?

Generally, fatty foods are not good for health, but at the same time diet enriched with healthy fatty acids is recommended for elevating T levels. Now this might sound confusing and frustrating! Always remember, the type of fats consumed, makes the whole difference. Trans fats and poly unsaturated fats (PUFA) are the testosterone destroying fats whereas (MUFA) monounsaturated fats or (SFA) saturated fats are the ones that increases your T levels. It is not surprising that all fast food chains use PUFA “bad fats!” no wonder why, big Macs and tacos are so “pocket friendly!”.

Sadly, the types of fats used in all fast foods are not testosterone friendly. However, the low-quality oils used are not the actual threat to Testosterone levels. As per recent research, people who consumes a lot of fast food have markedly high levels of DEHP, DiNP & phthalates (chemicals that make plastic mobile in your blood). After retrieving data from a study that was conducted on 8,877 participants, it was found that people who consume more than 33% of daily calorie intake through fast foods had elevated levels of DiNP and DEHP by 23%.

According to another survey (2011-2012) conducted by National Health & Nutrition Examine, it was observed that high levels of urinary phthalates can reduce serum testosterone levels in men by up to 20% to 29% in boys aging between 6 to 12.

Past studies carried out on rodents had also indicated phthalates (an antiandrogen compounds that exhibits direct suppressing effects on the testosterone), within testicular cells.

To sum up, fast foods contain all the bad fats, dipped in low quality oils, and accumulates phthalates! Thus, in any way they are not a good choice for hormonal and overall health.

References

• Cavaco, J., Rato, L., Alves, M., Dias, T., Lopes, G., Socorro, S., & Oliveira, P. (2013). P-014" fast food" may induce pre-diabetes impairing testicular function in rats. Human Reproduction, 28(suppl_1), i118-i137.
• Terrier, J. E., & Isidori, A. M. (2016). How Food Intakes Modify Testosterone Level. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 13(9), 1292-1296.
• Delimaris, I., & Piperakis, S. M. (2014). The importance of nutritional factors on human male fertility: a toxicological approach. Journal of Translational Toxicology, 1(1), 52-59.