Vitamin D and Testosterone - What Vitamin D Does For You

You probably know vitamin D is important, but there’s a good chance you don’t realize just how important it really is. Below, I’ll go into all its benefits, such as how vitamin D supports your immune system or helps you manage depression (both extremely important during the current coronavirus situation!). But that’s not all... You see, a lot of guys out there wonder how vitamin D and testosterone are linked. They wonder: can you boost your t-levels with the right vitamin D supplement? You can find the answer to that question in this short post below, together with a lot more useful stuff you probably didn’t know about vitamin D (and testosterone). So, does vit D increase free testosterone? Let’s find out... What is vitamin D? What is testosterone? The link between vitamin D and testosterone Does vitamin D increase testosterone? Benefits of vitamin D supplementation Scientific research on vitamin D and testosterone

What is vitamin D?

So before I get to the question of whether vitamin D raises testosterone we need to look at some other things first. What is vitamin D exactly and what does it do in your body? More importantly, how can you and your testosterone levels benefit from vitamin D?

Related article: Can COVID-19 affect your testosterone levels?

Find out below just how it supports your immune defence system, makes you less depressed, and ensures your bones and muscles stay healthy.

Role of vitamin D

First, let's get a few things straight. Vitamin D is actually the name of a group of vitamins. That's why you might have heard from vitamin D2 (also known as ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (a.k.a cholecalciferol). They are so-called fat-soluble secosteroids and one of their roles in the body is to increase your body’s capability of absorbing minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphate. As such, vitamin D is especially beneficial for your bone structure: it gives you stronger bones! Not enough vitamin D can lead to severe bone conditions. It can cause rickets, which affect bone development in children and can cause pain, poor growth, and soft bones; which in turn leads to bone deformities. In adults, it can lead to a similar condition called osteomalacia. Both conditions are mostly due to vitamin D deficiency. You can see how important vitamin D is for our health! But that’s not all... Studies have shown, for example, that vitamin D supports your immune system, making you less likely to become sick! You see, vitamin D gives certain types of white blood cells – macrophages and monocytes – a much-needed energy boost. This helps these cells fight off pathogens (bacteria and viruses) and decrease inflammation. Together, as described in this study, this all helps support your immune response.

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Another often studied link is the one between vitamin D and the cardiovascular system. Such studies suggest that sufficient amounts of vitamin D support blood flow through your body. So vitamin D can actually get your blood pumping! Still not convinced about vitamin D? Another study looked at the relationship between vitamin D and body composition, muscle strength and decreased body fat and - again - the results are all in favor of the D! These are just a few examples of the positive effects vitamin D has on your body - and then we haven’t even looked at vitamin D for testosterone yet! But more on that later though; let’s first see how we can actually get the vitamin D we need...

How is vitamin D produced?

So how can we give our bodies enough vitamin D? What are the typical sources of vitamin D? Let’s look at the top two.

• Sunlight

Let’s start with the most obvious one; there is a reason why this vitamin is nicknamed ‘the sunshine vitamin’! When your skin is directly exposed to sunlight your body will actually make its own vitamin D, which in turn will help your body with all the benefits we mentioned above. Let me guess, you’re now thinking; “so if I just go for a walk in the sun I get vitamin D? So why not just do that?” Wouldn’t that be amazing, raising your testosterone just by relaxing in the sun?! Unfortunately, there are several ‘buts’...

Imagine you're in a cold, seasonal climate - say in Boston, for example - and you have a Caucasian skin tone. You can often get enough vitamin D by walking outside in the sun during Spring and Summer, but what about Fall and Winter? Without taking vitamin D supplements, most people in these regions suffer from vitamin D deficiency, especially during Winter. Wait, why did I specifically say Caucasian? Because people with a darker skin tone won’t get the same amount of vitamin D from the sun. You see, people with dark skin have to spend longer in the sun for their bodies to produce the same amount of vitamin D. So if you have dark skin and live in Boston, you have an even higher risk of suffering from a vitamin D deficiency... But there's more. And this ‘but’ is the most important one: the negative effects of too much direct sunlight. Your body needs ultraviolet B rays (UVB) to produce vitamin D. These rays can’t get through windows, so to reap the benefits of the sun you need bare-skin exposure. But wait...haven’t we always been taught that bare-skin exposure to the sun causes a greater risk of skin cancer? Yep, that’s true. You see the problem now…? The nickname ‘sunshine vitamin’ sounds great and catchy but, unfortunately, getting enough of the vitamin isn’t just a simple walk in the park. During the summer months, you will most likely receive enough through sunlight (and other sources of vitamin D, we’ll get to that now). But when the temperatures drop and the days get shorter, you have to start looking at alternatives. So what other sources of vitamin D are there?

• Food

So if we can’t get enough sunlight, how else can we get vitamin D? The answer: food. Now, unfortunately, you won’t find it in many foods. Nevertheless, there are a few sources that are rich in vitamin D and which can definitely help you get the desired boost; especially for those long, dark winter months. To help you out, I made an overview for you of the most common foods rich in vitamin D. Vitamin D foods:

• Mushrooms
• Fish liver oil
• Egg
• Salmon
• Beef
• Mackerel
• Sardines
• Tuna

To get enough vitamin D from these foods you would really have to eat a lot of them, and especially as a vegetarian or vegan this is almost impossible. So what to do? Firstly, there are more and more manufactured foods on the market that are fortified with vitamin D. Some examples are fruit juices, breakfast cereals, and soy protein-based drinks. Secondly, you can take additional vitamin D supplements. In fact, the UK’s National Health Service even advises people to do so during Winter. Luckily, there are loads of these supplements. Some of them contain just vitamin D, while some will have more ingredients to help you get more essential stuff your body might be lacking. TestoGen is an example of such a supplement that doesn’t just contain vitamin D, but also many other essential natural ingredients your body needs. And best of all, it gives your body a massive testosterone boost! But what is testosterone exactly? And why do we need it? More about that in the next section below...

What is testosterone?

Testosterone is a steroid hormone found in both men and women (that’s right, it’s not just the male hormone). However, it is often described as “that which makes a man a man”, and men have a higher amount of it than women. Testosterone is produced in the testes and in the adrenal glands. Furthermore, women’s ovaries produce small bits of testosterone as well, supporting many bodily functions just like in men. Our blood contains two types of testosterone.

• Bound testosterone

The majority of testosterone in your body is bound testosterone. It attaches - or binds - to two types of protein in your blood: sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and albumin. About 65 percent of your testosterone binds to SHBG, while about 30 to 40 percent binds to albumin.

• Free testosterone

Then there is also a tiny bit of testosterone - only about 2 percent - which doesn’t bind to anything: free testosterone. Why does it matter? Here is a (rough) overview to simplify things: Testosterone is essential for your health, especially in areas such as athletic performance, general strength and muscle development, and - of course - your sexual function. Testosterone levels in men start to rise during puberty, stimulating sperm production, increasing bone and muscle strength, promoting the growth of body hair, and much more. Basically, it’s the thing that makes you more manly. You can see why testosterone is crucial to your health! Suggested read: How to be an alpha male

The link between vitamin D and testosterone

So we know now how serious low testosterone and low vitamin D are, but what we haven’t discussed yet is the link between the two. Are they really linked and if so, does that mean we can use supplementation of vitamin D specifically to boost testosterone? To answer this question, let’s have a look at what scientific research has to say about the matter. For example, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health performed an extensive study with 1,362 male participants, testing the association between plasma 25-OH vitamin D and testosterone levels in men. The result of their study supports the positive associations between vitamin D and testosterone, confirming how they complement each other. Maybe even more interesting is the following research performed on subjects from the US Military. The study focussed on Special Operations Soldiers and the correlation between testosterone and vitamin D. Results showed how vitamin D deficiency can inhibit the production of testosterone; effectively meaning low vitamin D = low testosterone.

Does vitamin D increase testosterone?

And there we have it, folks. The answer we've been looking for. Does vitamin D increase testosterone? Yes, it does! The studies described above are just two examples taken from an immense pool of studies that have been done on the matter, confirming the link between vitamin D and testosterone. Happy days! So what now?

Benefits of vitamin D supplementation

If you’ve come this far reading all the way through the article, the benefits of vitamin D supplementation will be clear. Vitamin D is extremely important for many general health matters like your immune system and your cardiovascular system. Even more so, it’s a scientifically proven testosterone booster. If your t-levels are low, vitamin D will be able to pick you up; so vitamin D supplementation can really turn your life around!

Conclusion - lift your D to lift your T

The conclusion is clear. However, we should place a side note here. If it’s just vitamin D you’re after then we can definitely recommend going to your local pharmacist/health store to buy some vitamin D supplements to help you through the Winter. But if you’re here because you are specifically looking for ways to boost your testosterone, the chances are just vitamin D supplementation is just not gonna cut it. Truth is; if you’re feeling down, without energy, and your sex life seems non-existent, you probably need more than just a vitamin D boost. Nature holds many more secret ingredients to boost your t-levels. Think for example about the aphrodisiac red ginseng (a.k.a. “Man root”), or fenugreek. Or are you aware of the benefits of zinc for testosterone?

More about zinc and testosterone >>

If you are really looking to boost your testosterone you need more than just vitamin D supplementation. You need a supplement like TestoGen. TestoGen combines multiple natural ingredients in one powerful formula to attack your low t-levels and not only boost your vitamin D, but also your zinc, your magnesium, and much more to effectively boost your testosterone!

Scientific research on vitamin D and testosterone

Aranow C. (2011). “Vitamin D and the immune system.” Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research, 59(6), 881-6. Beveridge L.A., Witham M.D. (2013). “Vitamin D and the cardiovascular system.” Osteoporosis International, 24(8), 2167-80. Forney L.A., Earnest C.P., Henagan T.M., Johnson L.E., Castleberry T.J., Stewart L.K. (2014). “Vitamin D status, body composition, and fitness measures in college-aged students.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(3), 814-24. NHS. “How to get vitamin D from sunlight.” Nimptsch K., Platz E.A., Willett W.C, Giovannucci E. (2012). “Association between plasma 25-OH vitamin D and testosterone levels in men.” Clinical Endocrinol, 77(1), 106-12. Wentz, Laurel & CB, Berry-Caban & JD, Eldred & Q, Wu. (2015). “Vitamin D Correlation with Testosterone Concentration in US Army Special Operations Personnel.” Conference Paper: Experimental Biology.