86: Natural Testosterone Reboot for Peak Entrepreneur Performance

When my own battle with post-COVID low testosterone levels began to impact every facet of my life, I knew I needed to make a change. This episode is a deep dive into that personal journey and how natural means spearheaded my road to recovery. Buckle up as I, Jeffrey Mort, guide you through the maze of testosterone's impact on entrepreneurial vigor, for both men and women, and lay down the foundation for reclaiming your hormonal health to achieve sustained success.

Embark on a transformative adventure where optimizing lifestyle is not just good habits, but powerful tools for hormone optimization. You'll learn about the many factors that can effect hormone balance and exactly what to do about it.  For entrepreneurs eager to tailor their health strategies and unlock their full potential, this episode is an invitation to listen, learn, and leap into action.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:58

Welcome to Breaking Boundaries for Entrepreneurs, the podcast where we dive deep into the strategies and insights that help you push past your limits and achieve extraordinary success in your business and life through integrative health. I'm your host and personal high-performance health coach, jeffrey Mort, and today we're exploring a topic that is absolutely critical for maintaining peak performance as an entrepreneur balancing your testosterone levels. Naturally. Now, you may or may not know whether a man or a woman, your testosterone levels play a significant role in your energy, your motivation, your decision-making and overall health. Imbalances in this crucial hormone can seriously undermine your efforts and even lead to failure. But don't worry. Today you're about to discover actionable steps to help you balance your testosterone levels using an integrative health approach, so you can avoid these pitfalls and lead yourself and your business to success. Stay tuned. Hello, I'm Jeffrey Mort. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you're busy taking care of business, yet who's taking care of you? If you're ready to take your energy and performance to the next level in your life and your business, then this podcast is for you, because today you're going to start breaking boundaries of your mind, body and business with integrative health, and when you do that, that your possibilities are limitless. I'm grateful you're here, yes, always grateful.

Speaker 1: 3:32

Welcome to another episode of the breaking boundaries podcast for purpose-driven entrepreneurs. This is episode number 86, and for all of the show notes and the links mentioned in today's episode, visit jeffreymortcom and click on the podcast button. A shout out to our newest listeners in Burbank, california, in Burleson, texas and in Boston, massachusetts. We got the three B's there. I appreciate you listening and I invite you to use a new feature in the Breaking Boundaries podcast. If you go to the show notes, you'll find a link that says send us a message, and you can message me directly. I'd be happy to hear from you and, as always, if you want a little deeper dive on today's topic, you can go over to loveenergywellnesscom.

Speaker 1: 4:14

Slash learn that is our learning center and you'll find the latest blog post here that expands a little bit on today's topic because, as you know, I'm not able to get all of the information. I try my best, but all of the information that I want to convey in just a 15-minute podcast. So we do a little bit deeper dive and some additional points in the blog post. So today, today, my friend, you're going to discover actionable steps to help you balance your testosterone levels, using an integrative health approach, and I do want to say that I am not a medical doctor. I don't claim to provide any medical advice or treat or diagnose or cure any diseases or syndromes or issues like that. But what we do is we get to the root cause of the problem.

Speaker 1: 5:01

And how I know about this is because back when I ended up with COVID well, four times and then long COVID it absolutely destroyed my gut microbiome. It wreaked havoc on all the systems of my body, including my hormone levels, and I'm looking at my lab test from back then levels and I'm looking at my lab test from back then and back in March of 2022, my testosterone levels were at the level of probably a 90 year old man. It was down in the range of 52 and it should should be between 44 and 148, which is age dependent. Um, now, I know 52 falls in that range, but really what we like to see is closer to 100 for my age bracket and I was far from that, I was half of what I should have been and through natural approaches, I was able, in just a matter of five months, to bring that that 52, which is pg per milliliters, 52, 52 up to an 82 by August of that year of 2022, which is really when I started feeling better. I wouldn't say my best, but I went from being completely debilitated and bedbound from that long COVID portion of my life to, you know, to the the having the vitality that I have today. And then I kept testing to make sure my results were trending in the right direction, which in June of 2023, they were still on the rise up around 85. And then, of course, I'm about due a year later to retest again. Now that I know that it's not an issue when things are a problem for me, I'll test every four to six months and then, when things are stabilized, I'll go six months to a year on my functional lab testing, which we will talk more about in today's program. So let's get started by understanding why testosterone is so important.

Speaker 1: 7:02

For men, low testosterone can cause fatigue, depression, reduced muscle mass, increased body fat, decreased libido and cognitive difficulties like poor concentration and memory issues. Now, for women, low testosterone can lead to fatigue and mood swings, weight gain, muscle weakness, weakness and reduced sexual desire. Nobody wants those symptoms now, on the flip side, high testosterone can cause things like aggression and rage and irritability, risk-taking behavior and, especially, sleep disturbances in men. Now, in women, it can result in some of those, some of those like irritability and aggression as well, but also acne, especially on the face, hair loss, excessive hair growth and mood swings. Now you might be wondering how can it cause hair loss and excessive hair growth? Well, the hair loss usually happens on the head, and the excessive hair growth usually happens where you don't want it, which is on the.

Speaker 1: 8:04

Now, these symptoms don't just affect your personal life. They can have a direct impact on your business performance. Imagine this trying to negotiate a big deal when you're exhausted, or making crucial decisions when you're not thinking clearly. It's a recipe for disaster in business. Now you might be wondering, jeff, how can you balance your testosterone levels naturally? Well, here's where the integrative health approach comes in. It's all about a comprehensive plan that includes functional hormone testing, diet optimization, exercise, stress reduction, toxin removal, sleep optimization, targeted supplementation. You might be thinking that this sounds a lot like the de-stress protocol, and it is. You know. We can also put in the emotional balance, the success mindset, into that as well, to round things out. So let's break down each of these components with actionable steps, and before I do that, though, I want to say that you know the de-stress protocol. You can learn in depth about that through. If you're watching on video.

Speaker 1: 9:09

Here I'm holding up the Rain Barrel Effect book by my mentor, dr Stephen Cabral. He's the one that founded the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute. He's got this amazing book walks you through the de-stress protocol. You can get that book completely free if you go over to loveenergywellnesscom slash resources or jeffreymortcom slash resources. Either way you can find that book. Click on the link. You pay shipping. You get the book for free, absolutely amazing, and I have it out because I'm going to read this again. I love going through this book just as a refresher.

Speaker 1: 9:37

So let's break down each of these components with some actionable steps. I always like to give you actionable steps in the Breaking Boundaries podcast, so I don't leave you with just information, but I'm leaving you with a plan. Now, of course, like I said, no medical advice here, not treating, diagnosing or curing anything but first up functional hormone testing Using advanced at-home saliva testing kits and I will link up the kits in the show notes. You can accurately measure your testosterone levels as well as other hormone levels, depending on the kit. I will link up the stress mood metabolism test, which tests all of the sex hormones as well as the stress hormone cortisol. So these kits? They involve collecting a saliva sample and sending it into a lab for analysis. This gives you a clear picture of your hormone health and it helps you through working with a certified level two integrative health practitioner or your naturopathic doctor. Of course, it helps you to tailor your interventions effectively. Knowing your baseline is crucial and it's a starting point for any meaningful change. This is why anytime I work with a client over at Love AG Wellness, our private wellness practice, I always begin with functional lab testing.

Speaker 1: 10:57

Now let's talk a little bit about the difference between conventional medicine and functional medicine testing, the difference between conventional medicine and functional medicine testing. Conventional medicine often uses blood for hormone testing because it's a well-established, standardized method with a long history of clinical validations and, additionally, blood tests are widely accessible and can measure both bound and unbound hormone levels, but usually just bound hormone levels, providing a comprehensive overview of hormone status, despite saliva's potential for more accurate free hormone measurements. Now saliva testing it's highly accurate for measuring free, bioavailable hormone levels and that's why we use it, because we want to know what is actually available in the body and this provides a precise reflection of the hormones actively being used by the body. It's also super convenient. It's non-invasive and allows individuals to collect samples easily, right at home, without the need for a clinical visit. So here's the plan that I personally put into place to elevate my testosterone without getting into hormone replacement therapy.

Speaker 1: 12:07

So let's talk about diet optimization. Your diet has a significant impact on your hormone levels and here are some simple, simple tips. You want to increase healthy fats? Foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, high quality olive oils are great, because healthy fats are essential for hormone production. Also, lean proteins include sources like pasture-raised chicken or wild-caught fish, or plant-based proteins like legumes to support muscle mass and overall health. Very, very important Also for diet cruciferous vegetables. These are veggies such as broccoli, broccoli sprouts, cauliflower, brussels sprouts what else? Bok choy is in there, asparagus is in there. These all help to regulate hormone levels by reducing excess estrogen. Everything works in balance. I know we're talking about testosterone here, but if there's excess estrogen, that could play a role in the body's ability to produce testosterone and, of course, it probably goes without saying because you're listening to an integrative health program here. But limit sugar and processed foods because these can lead to weight gain. They can lead to insulin resistance, they can lead to other things that negatively impact your testosterone levels. So creating a meal plan that includes these components can make a significant difference, and you might want to consider consulting with any certified integrative health practitioner that's level one or level two who specializes in hormone health, for personalized guidance. You can find them at the integrativehealthpractitionerorg website. Click on practitioners and you can search by your area, your state, uh, wherever you are, and they're worldwide, not just in the united states, they're all over the all over the globe.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Now, next on to exercise, both strength training and zone two and 3 cardio have been shown to boost testosterone. You want to incorporate a mix of these into your weekly routine and aim for at least 3 sessions per week. You want a total of about 150 minutes per week is a really good number to shoot for, and you can do that in 3, maybe 4 sessions per depending on how you're going to break it up. And for the strength training, you want to focus on major muscle groups and you want to vary the intensity of the cardio, and that's why I said zone two to zone three, maybe even zone four cardio, and you find your cardio zones by your age and you take 220, you subtract your age. That gives you your max heart rate and then you can use a chart for finding the percentage of your zone two, zone three, zone four, cardio. And I highly recommend that.

Speaker 1: 14:54

So you can do this right at home. You don't need to go to, you know, subscribe to a gym and have a membership. I mean, that's fantastic if you want to use some state-of-the-art equipment, but you can do this right at home with just simply using your body weight. Or if you want to move it up a notch, you can use bands for resistance training. Or another notch is just simply dumbbells and you can follow guided training by using an app that we use in our private wellness practice. We offer it for free over at Love Energy Wellness and this is called the Ayubowan app A-Y-U-B-O-W-A-N and that is offered through a partnership at Equal Life, the global leader in functional medicine. So this will not only help with testosterone levels, but it'll also improve your overall fitness and energy levels as well when you're doing some strength training and zone 2, zone 3, cardio each and every week.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Moving on next, stress reduction. It's another crucial factor. Chronic stress elevates cortisol levels, which can suppress testosterone production. It's all tied together, my friends. Mindfulness practices like meditation, like deep breathing, like tai chi and Qigong you know I'm a huge fan of those. Those were my lead domino into wellness back in 2015. And also yoga. I do all of these things on a daily basis. The meditation, I do several times a day, actually. Deep breathing I usually do at night to get my heart rate variability numbers in check when I'm sleeping. The Tai Chi and Qi Gong I do those on a weekly basis. And yoga, also on a weekly basis as well. They can all help to reduce stress, which is going to lower cortisol levels and allow for that production of your sex hormones, specifically testosterone. So make it a habit to dedicate at least you know 10 or 15 minutes each day to mindfulness practices. And you know 10 or 15 minutes each day to mindfulness practices, and you know it's a small investment of time but it can pay huge dividends in your hormonal health and overall well-being.

Speaker 1: 16:53

Next, let's talk about toxin removal. I'm a huge fan of toxin removal. It's one of the foundational principles that I operate with in my private wellness practice, because environmental toxins can disrupt your endocrine function and impact your testosterone levels. So avoid things like artificial food colors that are found in processed foods, and even things like shampoos, for anything that has a color to it. You want to be reading the label and making sure it doesn't have like blue 1, yellow 5 and 6, red 40, etc. And, believe it or not, the FDA just retracted their statement saying that these artificial food colors are healthy in small doses. Well, not healthy, but not harmful in small dosages. And they retracted that. And now what the food companies are doing is they're using different names for these food colors which we'll do another podcast episode so we can bring awareness around that and also things like bisphenol a, bpa found in plastics. So you can, you can change by using glass or stainless steel containers so that you're avoiding those BPAs. And then, of course, choosing natural, chemical free personal care or cleaning products to minimize your toxin exposure to endocrine disruptors. And then then you want to be joining us on our quarterly detox program, doing a seven-day functional medicine detox every change of season or, if you've never done one before, do a 21-day functional medicine detox. It's absolutely life-changing, sets you up for success, and you can learn more about that at loveandagwellnesscom. Slash transform that's our detox page, our total body and mind reset.

Speaker 1: 18:35

So next, sleep optimization. That is what we're talking about. Quality sleep it's vital for hormone regulation. So you want to aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night. But it's not just about the quantity, it's about the quality. 90 minutes of deep, two hours of REM sleep that's what you're shooting for.

Speaker 1: 18:54

I have my Apple Watch on right here if you're watching on video, and I track my sleep metrics every night. Now I don't look at them every morning, but I do look at them when I'm going to go to the gym and I want to know what my readiness score is and whether or not I can do, you know, a more intense workout that day. You know, if I haven't hit my metrics, then maybe I want to tone it back a little bit. And that's where just knowing your numbers and measuring your metrics on a regular basis daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually you want to know where you're at. So establish a routine where you go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. You know this might be a little difficult for some people that like to stay up later on the weekends and sleep in on Sunday morning and things like that, but having that regular bedtime establishes that rhythm, that routine, which is important for hormone production.

Speaker 1: 19:48

So another tip that you can do is create a sleep conducive environment, and what you can do is ensure that your bedroom is dark, so maybe you need blackout shades that it's quiet. Maybe that means shutting the door at night and it's cool. So you know, maybe putting an air conditioner in the window or turning the AC on, maybe just sleeping with a sheet over you and not a blanket these are all things that help to maintain and get into those 90 minutes of deep sleep, two hours of REM sleep metrics, and then, of course, limit exposure to screens and blue light before bedtime, at least you know, try to shut down an hour, maybe two hours before bed to stay off the screens to help your body wind down, because those blue lights and maybe the movie that you're watching or the tiktok reels, those are going to stimulate your brain and elevate cortisol levels at night, and we don't want that. We have an amazing sleep help protocol that gets results as well. This is targeted supplementation, which we're going to be talking about next. Now I can't link up that sleep help protocol um in the podcast, because the FDA wouldn't have it that way, but of course I can link up the functional lab testing here in today's show notes. But you know where to find any of the targeted supplementation you can go to loveenergywellnesscom slash shop and you can find it all right over there.

Speaker 1: 21:07

So on that topic, supplements can help support hormone balance when diet and lifestyle changes aren't just enough. Things like vitamin C and vitamin d3, zinc, magnesium these are all particularly important for maintaining healthy testosterone levels and other hormone levels as well. Now I will put the caveat that you want to be using a functional medicine grade supplement Very, very important. If you're buying your supplements at the same place that you're buying your toothpaste and your toilet paper, then you might as well be throwing your money down the toilet with your toilet paper because you're just not getting a quality product there. You know, no offense to those businesses, but a lot of them have the marketing that is geared more towards profits and not helping people.

Speaker 1: 21:53

And you know, orthomolecular medicine is the science of the science of vitamins and minerals for a healthy body, and that's something that we learn over the integrative health practitioner Institute and it's not something that is taught in medical school, unless you're becoming a naturopathic doctor. Of course, they might teach you some orthomolecular medicine, but it's very important to know the difference between inferior and superior products when it comes to your supplementation. You're spending money. You might as well be spending it on something that's going to get you results and things like vitamin C, d3, zinc, magnesium those are all important for maintaining those testosterone levels. So, additionally, certain herbs can enhance or suppress testosterone production. However, it's essential to consult with an integrative health practitioner level two before starting any new supplementation to ensure that they're right for you according to your test results. That's why it's important to get that baseline.

Speaker 1: 22:52

We have products like daily testosterone support and possibly dhea for working uh on clients with low testosterone, but it's important to test, especially you know from. I'm dealing with a woman client. Um, I'm helping a woman client that has high testosterone, or I should say low testosterone but high estrogen. Even though DHEA is a precursor hormone to testosterone, it's also a precursor to estrogen, so I would want to know those levels before I would recommend somebody using a DHEA product, because, although I want to bring up the testosterone, I want to bring down that estrogen, so it's more in balance with progesterone and DHEA would not be a wise choice there, but I would still use the testosterone support there. Now, if somebody is dealing with high testosterone, there's another product called T-Quench and that is something that quenches the testosterone production using a different set of herbs. Now again, I can't link those up, but you know where to find them.

Speaker 1: 23:55

So implementing these integrative health strategies can significantly enhance your energy, your motivation, your cognitive function, your emotional resilience all of it. All of these things are critical for entrepreneurial success. All of these things are critical for entrepreneurial success. Imagine having the energy to tackle your schedule, the clarity to make more informed decisions and the resilience to bounce back from setbacks. Balancing your testosterone levels, naturally, can help you achieve all of this and so much more. By taking control of your hormonal health, you're setting yourself up for greatest success in your business success in your business and in your personal life, and that's what we're all about here. At Breaking Boundaries, you're less likely to experience the fatigue, the mood swings, the cognitive difficulties that can derail your entrepreneurial efforts. Instead, you'll be more focused, you'll be more motivated, you'll be more productive, and these are all essential traits for a successful entrepreneur.

Speaker 1: 24:53

Now, I know this might seem like a lot to take in, but remember you don't have to do it alone.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Over at love, energy, wellness.

Speaker 1: 25:00

We offer personalized integrative health programs designed to help you balance your hormones naturally and achieve peak performance. Take advantage of our complimentary health consultation to discover how we can support you on this journey. I'd be happy to sit down with you for a consultation and listen to your challenges, listen to your health goals and explain how we can help. So visit lovinagwellnesscom slash I don't even know what the slash is lovinagwellnesscom and the complimentary consultation button is right there, front and center, and you can do that to schedule your consultation today and let us help you optimize your health so you can break boundaries and achieve extraordinary success in your entrepreneurial journey. I appreciate you joining me on the Breaking Boundaries for Entrepreneurs podcast today. If you found this episode valuable, first of all, I want you to share it with your network and then click the send us a message link in the show notes to let me know your biggest takeaway from today's program. Your feedback helps us to help more entrepreneurs just like you. Until next time, value your health, stay motivated and keep breaking boundaries, my friends. Bye-bye.