Men with more magnesium in their blood are likely to have a higher amount of free testosterone in their body. Chemical analysts draw this conclusion in an article published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis.

About sixty percent of the body’s testosterone is attached to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) [spatial structure above]. Androgens bound to SHBG lose their anabolic effect but probably retain their androgenic effect. In the prostate, for example, there are SHBG receptors and they send error signs to the prostate cells if they attach themselves to SHBG with androgens bound to it. Androgen steroid hormones incorporated by SHBG therefore do have undesired effects, but no desirable effects.About two percent of the testosterone in the body is active: it is not attached to binding proteins which prevent testosterone from interacting with its receptor. About forty percent of the body’s testosterone is attached to albumin, a protein that can let go of the hormone. Free testosterone and testosterone attached to albumin are referred to as bio-available testosterone.

As men get older, SHBG sweeps up more and more testosterone. This is also because older men eat less protein. Low protein consumption raises the concentration of SHBG in the blood. A higher protein intake results in more albumin, and that increases the amount of bio-available testosterone. Within limits, of course.

The researchers, linked to the Université de Franche-Comté, extracted SHBG from the blood of young men, and exposed the protein to magnesium ions. Then they measured how fast the testosterone attached itself to SHBG at increasing magnesium concentrations. The higher the magnesium concentration, the lower the attraction.

Although the researchers did not examine whether more magnesium actually leads to more free testosterone in humans, they believe their findings are meaningful at the physiological level.

“The results presented here provide evidence for an Mg ²⁺ -mediated variation of the testosterone-SHBG association, suggesting that an increase of the Mg ²⁺ -concentration inside the biological concentration range (0.75mM-1.0mM) could lead an enhancement of the bioavailable testosterone”, they write.

Fifteen years ago researchers examined the effect of extremely high – and biologically improbable – magnesium concentrations. These led to a small decline in the testosterone level. [Horm Metab Res. 1993 Jan;25(1):29-33.]

The researchers have announced that they will soon be publishing their findings on the effect of plant substances on the binding of testosterone to SHBG.

Magnesium in food is found in plant products. Good sources are fibre-rich breakfast cereals, spinach, nuts and beans.

Sources:
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2008.10.041

Article Source: http://www.ergo-log.com/magnesiumtest.html

Movies and TV shows full of svelte celebrities. Magazines and websites pushing weight loss and exercise.

It is tough being a man these days.

Just-published research, from one of the largest studies on male body image, shows how much men worry about being thin and muscular: Not quite as much as women agonize about their bodies. But still a lot. And it affects their relationships in surprising ways.

A partner may become resentful that her man slimmed down without her—or jealous of all the new attention he is getting. She may worry he will find someone else. Or he might encourage her to lose weight or work out to feel better, and she could view this as a not-so-subtle hint.

We all make sure our online presence makes us look fantastic. Better tone up the dad bod.

“There’s a much more extreme model today of what a healthy man looks like,” says David Frederick, assistant professor in health psychology at Chapman University, in Orange, Calif., and lead researcher on the new male body-image study.

The research, published online in February in the journal “Psychology of Men and Masculinity,” analyzed the answers of 111,958 heterosexual and 4,398 gay men who responded to a series of five surveys posted on MSNBC.com, NBCNews.com and Today.com between 2003 and 2012. The respondents ranged from 18 to 65 years old, and the researchers found no differences in body satisfaction according to age. For comparison, the researchers also analyzed the answers of 103,376 heterosexual women and 2,145 lesbians who answered the surveys.

The research divided the results into four categories. The first looked at body satisfaction and found that men and women have similar levels of dissatisfaction with their physical appearance: 21% of heterosexual men and 29% of gay men were dissatisfied, compared with 27% of heterosexual women and 30% of lesbians.

When it comes to their weight, 39% of heterosexual men and 44% of gay men said they were dissatisfied. When asked about muscle tone, 30% heterosexual men and 45% of gay men were unhappy.

The second category found that 29% of heterosexual men and 37% of gay men said they had gone on a weight-loss diet in the past year. More than half of both heterosexual and gay men had exercised to lose weight in the past year.

The researchers asked people how many times they checked in the mirror each day. The most common response, for all groups, was one to three times.

The third category looked at social pressure—and showed that men feel a lot of it. Sixty-one percent of heterosexual men and 77% of gay men said they felt people judged them on their looks and many said they felt pressured by magazines and television to have a better body.

The last category looked at sex. People were asked if they tried to hide parts of their body during sex during the past month and which parts. Twenty percent of heterosexual men, 39% of gay men did. The body part they tried to hide the most? Their stomach.

Finally, the researchers asked people if they had avoided having sex during the past month because they felt bad about their body. Just 5% of heterosexual men said they did, compared with 20% of gay men.

All of this male body angst can cause romantic problems. A 2013 study in the journal “Sex Roles” found that men who felt body shame were less likely to seek out—and maintain—romantic relationships.

Alan Shade says he’s been bothered by his weight ever since he was “kind of a chubby” child. He noticed that the men on TV were always thin and the fat guy was the butt of the jokes. “Even the Power Rangers were all skinny,” says the 27-year-old entrepreneur from Las Cruces, N.M.

When he was 21, Mr. Shade met a woman, whose figure he describes as “like a pinup.” After they moved in together, Mr. Shade says he told her to look the other way when he was getting dressed and he tried to hide his stomach when they were intimate. “I always thought I was going to lose her,” he says.

Two years ago, when his then-employer had a weight-loss contest, he signed up and won, losing 40 pounds. When acquaintances commented on his appearance, his girlfriend became upset.

Mr. Shade says his girlfriend told him she was worried he was going to leave her, and that he tried to reassure her. He says the couple began to fight a lot and eventually broke up.

Now Mr. Shade is single. But he has learned some lessons for his next relationship. “You have to say how you feel,” he says. “And women don’t really care too much about what you look like.”

Therapists recommend: Communicate—before and after the weight loss. “Be open about the hurdles you might go through as a couple,” says Helen M. Farrell, a staff psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Farrell says it is also important to focus on the ways that getting in better shape has benefited your relationship: Are you happier together? Do you have better sex? Do you sleep well with less snoring to disturb your partner?

If you’re a man who isn’t comfortable receiving compliments, explain that to your partner. Say: “I like it when you tell me I look great, but too many compliments makes me worry you didn’t find me attractive before.”

A man whose partner is worried or insecure should work to make her more comfortable, says Dawnn Karen, a therapist and professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Hold her hand tightly when you go out. Compliment her more. And be careful on social media: Shirtless shots that garner a lot of likes aren’t going to help.

This article is republished courtesy of The Official Website of John R. Lee, M.D. If you missed part one of the article, read it here .

A Recipe for Beating (and Preventing) Breast Cancer

The latest research on natural progesterone and breast cancer clearly indicates how important it is for women to maintain healthy, normal levels of progesterone that are in proper balance with estrogen. Doing so could not only increase many womens’ chances of recovering from breast cancer – as the latest research indicates – but could also help them to avoid getting breast cancer in the first place.

As Dr. Lee and Dr. Zava point out in their book, hormonal imbalances have reached epidemic proportions in most developed countries over the last several decades. Due to poor diets, lack of exercise, a rise in obesity levels, the widespread use of hormone-altering chemicals, and other factors, many women suffer from chronically higher than normal estrogen levels and much lower than normal progesterone levels. In other words, many women are in chronic states of estrogen dominance. This is one of the key reasons why breast cancer rates are as high as they are.

Considering the epidemic levels of hormonal imbalance we are experiencing, how can a woman know if her progesterone and estrogen levels are in proper balance? If they are out of balance, how can she return them to proper balance and maintain them in that all-important state? Dr. Lee and Dr. Zava answered these questions in their landmark book: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer . While it is not possible here to cover everything they wrote, here is a short summary of their recommendations.

• Check yourself for symptoms of estrogen dominance. While being estrogen dominant is bad news, the good news is that it usually leaves a clear trail of symptoms. To find out if you may be estrogen dominant, read Dr. Lee’s list of estrogen dominance symptoms . If you find that you have a number of the symptoms on this list, chances are good that you are suffering from this syndrome.
• Get your hormone levels tested. While symptoms are good indicators of hormonal imbalances, the most decisive tool for identifying imbalances is a hormone test. As a general rule, Dr. Lee and Dr. Zava recommended that women who are concerned about breast cancer test at least five hormones. These are estradiol (the most potent estrogen in the human body and the one most frequently linked to breast cancer), progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, and DHEA-S.
• Work with doctors who are trained in the use of natural hormones. Beating breast cancer is a team effort, so build a team that will support rather than thwart your quest for hormone balance. While growing numbers of doctors are becoming aware of the value of natural hormones, many have not kept up with the latest research and may resist your suggestions.
• When needed, take physiological doses of bioidentical progesterone and other bioidentical hormones to restore proper balance. When it comes to taking natural hormone supplements, it is critical to remember that more is not better . The goal is to return hormone levels to what would be considered normal for a healthy person. In most cases, this means taking relatively small amounts of bioidentical hormones and regularly reevaluating hormone levels through saliva testing. Many women find after testing their hormones that all they need is some bioidentical progesterone to establish proper balances between the major hormones. Others, however, find that they may need to add other natural hormone supplements to achieve balance and get adequate symptom relief. A good doctor who understands and is trained in the use and prescribing of natural hormones can advise you on your supplement strategy and help you consider your options.
• Eliminate hormone-altering chemicals and xenohormones from your life. Every day, our bodies are exposed to toxic chemicals that did not exist just a decade or two ago. There are synthetic hormones in the foods we eat, pesticides in our air and water, and estrogen-like compounds in many of the products we use every day. Many of these chemicals and xenohormones are known cancer-causing agents. Fortunately, we can sharply reduce our exposure to these substances and dramatically reduce their presence in our bodies. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer identifies the sources of these chemicals and offers concrete advice for avoiding them.
• Use diet and exercise to support hormone balance. Our modern diets are heavily tilted towards foods that promote obesity and estrogen dominance. Our sedentary lifestyles only reinforce this problem. Both women and men can benefit from reducing their intake of sugars, refined carbohydrates, and foods that are high in trans-fatty acids while increasing their intake of organic, cruciferous (e.g. cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts) vegetables, fruits, and fiber. They can also benefit from regular, moderate exercise, which helps metabolize and eliminate excess estrogens.
• Keep educating yourself, for you are your best health advocate. When it comes to preventing or fighting breast cancer in your body, you have every right to be the leading decision maker. Dr. Lee and Dr. Zava firmly believed this and wrote What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer for patients as well as their doctors. The book contains a wealth of information that can help you make important decisions with your doctor. For instance, if your doctor is recommending you take an estrogen inhibitor such as Tamoxifen, the book can help you weigh the pros and cons of using such drugs as well as chemotherapy, radiation, and other treatment options. So we encourage you to read it carefully and discuss it with your doctor. In addition, we encourage you to read the free articles about breast cancer on The Official Website of John R. Lee, M.D. as well as the references listed at the end of this article.

Thanks to the latest research, we have further proof that Dr. Lee and Dr. Zava were ahead of their time when they said that natural hormone balance could help prevent and treat breast cancer. We support you in learning from them, putting what you learn into practice, and sharing what you learn with your family, friends, and doctors.

References

Mohammed, Hisham, et al “Progesterone receptor modulates ER-a action in breast cancer,” Nature 2015; 523; 313-317. Click here for abstract .

Perks, Bea “Progesterone receptor could slow breast cancer growth,” Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ 17 Jul 2015. Click here to read .

Please contact us for more information on our bioidentical therapies.