Testosterone

Testosterone is the primary androgen in both men and women — and its job goes far beyond sex drive. It governs muscle mass, bone density, red blood cell production, fat distribution, mood, cognitive function, energy, and the health of your skin, hair follicles, and cardiovascular system. Despite that, it remains one of the most underdiagnosed hormone deficiencies out there, especially in women, where it’s often overlooked entirely in favor of estrogen and progesterone testing.

That’s a big miss, because a woman’s body naturally makes estrogen by converting testosterone through a process called aromatization. That’s why we start with testosterone in women’s hormone care: when testosterone is where it should be, her body can naturally make its own estrogen. In our experience, that is often enough to resolve hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness, which means less need for added estrogen and less worry about estrogen dominance.

In men, roughly 90–95% of testosterone comes from the testes, with the rest from the adrenal glands, all coordinated by a feedback loop between the brain and the testes (the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis). In women, testosterone comes from the ovaries, the adrenal glands, and conversion from other hormones in fat and skin tissue — and while women naturally run 10–15 times lower levels than men, it acts on the exact same receptor at the cellular level in both sexes.

Testosterone doesn’t always act on its own — in many tissues, it first converts into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a far more potent form that binds the androgen receptor more tightly. DHT dominates in the prostate, skin, and hair follicles (it’s why DHT is linked to hair loss and prostate changes), while testosterone itself acts more directly in muscle, bone, brain, and heart tissue. In fat, bone, brain, and blood vessels, testosterone can also convert into estradiol — a pathway that’s actually essential for bone density and brain health in both sexes.

One thing worth understanding if you carry extra body fat: fat tissue converts testosterone into estrogen (a process called aromatization), so the more fat you carry, the more of your testosterone gets converted away — and the reverse is true too. Lean men often show 30–50% higher testosterone levels than men carrying more body fat, simply from losing fat rather than just losing weight on a scale.

Zinc may be the single most important nutrient for testosterone production. It’s required for the enzyme that completes the final step of testosterone synthesis, and it directly stimulates the pituitary signal (LH) that drives the whole process. Studies show zinc deficiency alone can reduce testosterone by up to 75% within six months — and zinc deficiency also speeds up the conversion of existing testosterone into estrogen, compounding the problem from both directions. Oysters are by far the richest food source, followed by beef liver, steak, lamb, and pumpkin seeds.

Vitamin D is technically more hormone than vitamin — it acts directly inside the cells that produce testosterone. One randomized controlled trial found that daily vitamin D supplementation raised total testosterone by roughly 25% over a year in men who were deficient. It also frees up more of your existing testosterone into its usable, “bioavailable” form.

Magnesium activates key enzymes in the testosterone pathway and helps calm cortisol, which directly suppresses testosterone production — roughly half of adults in developed countries don’t get enough of it. Beyond micronutrients, cholesterol and healthy dietary fat matter too: testosterone is built from cholesterol, and very low-fat diets are associated with lower testosterone levels. Swapping omega-6-heavy seed oils for omega-3s (aiming for a 2:1 ratio or better) is one of the more overlooked levers for hormone health.

Testosterone is FDA-approved as a prescription therapy for diagnosed hypogonadism and is a Schedule III controlled substance. Use is determined through lab testing and individualized evaluation with our providers.