Testosterone is one of the most important male hormones for male sexual and reproductive development. It also heightens your strength and stamina, maximizing the benefits you get from your workouts and giving you a leaner, more muscular body.
It wouldn’t be incorrect to think of testosterone as being the powerhouse hormone – it boosts libido, sleep and energy, whilst supporting one’s overall quality of life.
It’s therefore understandable to want to make sure you’re not doing anything to unnecessarily diminish the amount you have – especially through something as plausibly simple as eating a banana.
Yet, there’s a long-standing myth that suggests eating this fruit can indeed have a negative impact on T-levels. Hence, you may find yourself hesitating before eating one – but can a banana really lower your testosterone?
How bad are bananas for testosterone?
It’s a wonder how this fruit developed such a peculiar reputation, when in fact there’s no science to back up the claim that they’re bad for T-levels.
Of course, it wouldn’t be wise to consume the fruit in excess – but this is similarly the case with food of any kind. Overindulgence is never ideal – even for the healthiest of foods.
Bearing that in mind, it’s not surprising that having large portions of this fruit, particularly if you happen to lead a sedentary lifestyle, could make maintaining your testosterone levels that much harder.
In fact, generally having a poor diet that’s unbalanced and in conducive to a healthy lifestyle, could eventually lead to a fall in testosterone.
Nevertheless, bananas themselves wouldn’t be the main reason behind such a decrease in T-level.
Can bananas boost testosterone?
Bananas are actually known to be a superfood. They’re a quick way to uplift your energy when you need it, and they provide a healthy combination of most of the vitamins and minerals that you need. Vitamin C and potassium, in particular.
In fact, their health benefits go considerably further. They help to lower sodium levels, boost the immune system, and support digestion. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that they require little time, effort or money to include in your diet.
And being a superfood that’s loaded with nutrients does bear an impact on testosterone production. Rather than lowering testosterone, bananas are actually a fruit that’s likely to help increase your testosterone levels.
What’s more, the likelihood of it having a positive effect on your T-levels becomes even higher, if taken in conjunction with a solid exercise regime.
This means that similar to testosterone being the powerhouse of male hormones, the same can be said of bananas being the powerhouse of important vitamins and minerals.
Consequently, they’re great for bolstering testosterone production, largely because they contain most of the nutrients that are easy to overlook and skip in our diet. (I.e. Magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, copper, vitamin B6, etc.)
But the good news is that 10% of the recommended daily intake of potassium can be found in just one banana. In addition to that, it will have around a third of the Vitamin B6 we’re supposed to consume each day; as well as 27g of magnesium.
These key vitamins and minerals are fundamental to producing healthy levels of testosterone. Yet, it can be quite hard to incorporate them into our diet, especially if you rarely have the time or resource to plan your meals accordingly.
Which is why most people will typically end up becoming deficient in these nutrients. (One effective way that a lot of men tackle this, is by using testosterone boosting supplements to get the vitamins they need.)
In addition to the benefits that bananas offer which makes them useful for boosting testosterone, is the fact that they contain a protein-digesting enzyme called bromelain.
Bananas and Bromelain
Although bromelain is usually found in pineapple stems, it can also be found in bananas. It’s a mixture of enzymes that helps the body to break down proteins, and it does so by cutting its amino acid chain, which then makes it easier for the body to absorb.
For hundreds of years, bromelain has in reality been used as a natural remedy for several health issues, which is a good indication of the effectiveness of its properties. It’s for this reason that it’s often used as a dietary supplement to aid digestion and reduce inflammation.
More intriguingly however, bromelain is additionally used to increase testosterone levels. It’s typically taken when testosterone levels are more prone to dropping – during exercise, for instance.
Bromelain will enable you to keep your testosterone levels up, and it’s also used as a means of increasing men’s libido.
Thus, eating more bananas means that in addition to all the other vitamins the fruit provides, you’ll also be complimenting your diet with this enzyme. In doing so, bromelain can contribute to supporting your testosterone production and overall health, simultaneously.
And because it’s so beneficial, many people take bromelain extract in the form of supplements. They may also take vitamin B6 or magnesium, where they’re not getting as much as they need solely from fruit.
Other Health Benefits
People mistakenly assume that testosterone production is restricted to the various functions that take place in a male’s testicles. However, healthy T production is connected to several systems in the body.
This is why it’s important not to neglect any of them, but to look after your health as a whole. By doing this, you’ll create an environment within your body, which is better equipped to produce the right levels of testosterone.
That said, it’s good to have an understanding of the other body functions that eating this fruit can improve. Because if those functions are not in good working order, they often become the factors that contribute to lower testosterone levels.
Decreasing stress levels
Cortisol is a ‘stress hormone’ which is produced when your body is under stress. If experiencing chronic stress over a long period of time, your testosterone production can be negatively impacted.
It’s a somewhat unfortunate cycle, where stress can lead to lower levels of testosterone. Experiencing low T then causes more stress, which in turn leads to the testosterone level dropping further still.
The longer this cycle continues, the more prone a man is to experience a decrease in sex drive or libido. In worst case scenario, perhaps erectile dysfunction or impotence
However, Vitamin C is proven to help keep down the level of cortisol in your body. This indicates that not having enough of the vitamin can end up in your body producing more cortisol – ultimately affecting the level of T in your blood.
And so eating bananas – as well as other fruits that have vitamin C in them – will help your body produce higher levels of testosterone.
Bringing down blood pressure
Potassium intake will enable you to keep sodium levels in check, and lower the likelihood of experiencing heart disease.
Additionally, bananas are good for taking care of your blood sugar levels. Whilst other fruits may affect blood sugar levels considerably, bananas have a low Glycemic Index. That means that unless you have type 2 diabetes, having a banana will be good for your blood sugar.
Improving gut health and digestion
Bananas are packed with fiber, with roughly 3 grams in each one. Ones that are firm and unripe are especially good for gut health, as they have a lot of resistant starch and pectin.
This enables the body to produce beneficial gut bacteria, which is important for digestion.
Developing a stronger Immune System
Vitamin B6 is a protein located in red blood cells, that helps facilitate hemoglobin production. Without enough hemoglobin, anemia may develop and the body could become at risk of infection and disease.
Luckily, bananas provide a good dose of this vitamin and also boasts of a high level of antioxidants. Thus, helping to keep the immune system strong and in working order.
What’s the important thing to remember about bananas? Essentially, that you could probably do with more of them! Far from being a food that lowers your testosterone, it has a surplus of benefits to your health overall. But more specifically, to your testosterone production.
Though it’s important to not consume too much of it, having a few during the week is much more likely to do you good, as opposed to any harm.
Especially if you opt to eat them before and after a workout, as they have the ability to both regulate your energy absorption, whilst aiding you in losing weight.
But again, this doesn’t mean that eating several bunches of bananas per week will do much (if any) good. There’s no single food source that can do that.
The same principle applies to everything that has the potential to positively impact the body and T production – even testosterone boosters. For although boosters have several benefits (such as being a natural way to supplement vital vitamins missing from your diet), they aren’t a standalone shortcut to increasing your testosterone.
To ensure that you’re living in a well-rounded, healthily balanced fashion to produce higher testosterone levels, it could be worth you considering a comprehensive T-level boosting program.
A good place to begin that journey is by visiting a wellness professional, so you can get clearer on what your vitals are, in order to develop a health regime tailored for you.
But in the meantime, having another banana certainly won’t hurt.
