Cyclic ketogenic diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cyclic ketogenic diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A cyclic ketogenic diet (or carb-cycling) is a low-carbohydrate diet with intermittent periods of high or moderate carbohydrate consumption. This is a form of the general Ketogenic diet that is used by bodybuilders as a way to maximize fat loss while also building body muscle. A ketogenic diet limits the number of grams of carbohydrate the dieter may eat, which may be anywhere between 0 and 100gms per day. The remainder of the caloric intake must come from protein and fat sources in order to maintain ketosis. Ketosis is the condition in which the body burns fat (ketones) instead of glucose for fuel. The Cyclical Ketogenic Diet can be complex, as it requires the dieters to closely watch the number of carbohydrate grams they eat during the intermittent period that they are not maintaining a strictly low carb/moderate protein diet.^[1]

When following a low carbohydrate diet, for the first few days, there is an adaptation period during which most people report feeling run-down or tired. The slightest exertion causes muscles to burn. Some people report feeling irritable, out of sorts, and unable to make decisions. For most people these feelings disappear after the adaptation period, however, and are replaced with feelings of calm and balance, consistent energy.^[1]

Not everyone is dedicated enough to wait long enough for the body to adjust, so the potential for burnout on a non-cyclic ketogenic diet (like Atkins) can be high. Although most people report an absence of cravings while in ketosis, some people may crave carbohydrates during ketosis, for psychological reasons. During a hypocaloric ketogenic diet, this temptation becomes even stronger, as the carb cravings may be combined with the usual hunger pangs that accompany reduced calories.^[2] (However, it is noteworthy that most people report having no hunger pangs on a ketogenic diet, due to its higher fat and protein contents, which help to increase a sense of fullness).^[1]

A CKD offers a way to combat this. It offers a cyclical "refeed" (sometimes also called a carb-up). What happens during a refeed is that the dieters will change their diet to comprise mostly complex carbohydrates, limiting dietary fats as well as sucrose and fructose. Since the glycogen stores in their liver and muscles are depleted, these carbohydrates go straight to refilling them, instead of being added to the body's fat stores. For this reason, the amount of calories consumed during a refeed can be far above an individual's maintenance intake.

The goals of a refeed are threefold:
 
a) to refill depleted glycogen stores
b) to upregulate hormones and thyroid activity that is depressed during dieting
c) to provide a psychological "break" that makes the rest of the diet easier to bear

A refeed is risky, as careless individuals can end up gaining fat, instead of losing it, if they eat more carbs than is needed to refill their glycogen stores. The timing, duration and macronutrient composition of a refeed are crucial to the overall success of the diet.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} McDonald, L. (1998). The ketogenic diet. Austin, TX: Body Recomposition.
2. ^ Bough K.J., Eagles, D.A., and Kossoff, E. (2007). Diet and epilepsy. New York, NY: Nova Science.

External links

• keto.org summary

Bodybuilding.com - Cyclical Ketogenic Diet: The Best Ever Bodybuilding Diet?

Bodybuilding.com - Cyclical Ketogenic Diet: The Best Ever Bodybuilding Diet?

by Mark McManus Mar 24, 2009

Cyclical Ketogenic Diet: The Best Ever Bodybuilding Diet?

This diet did not originate with me of course. However, because of the massive impact it had on my results, I feel compelled to share it. Learn more right here and give it a try.

 

What would you consider to be the perfect bodybuilding diet? If such a thing existed it would meet the following criteria:

• Allow you to build muscle without accumulating fat when bulking. You'd stay lean all year round.
• Allow you to lose fat without losing muscle when cutting.
• Induce an increase in serum anabolic hormones naturally (without supplements).

What would it mean to you and your bodybuilding goals if this diet was not something that only existed in fairytales, but was available to you right now!
You may have heard of this strategy before, but dismissed it. I advise you to keep an open mind and test it for yourself, many others including Hugo Rivera have tried it with amazing results.

Origins And Method

This diet did not originate with me of course. However, because of the massive impact it had on my results, I feel compelled to share it with as many people as possible. I would like to credit the following people for their wisdom before I go any further:

• Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale
• Anthony Colpo
• Gary Taubes
• Dr. Michael Eades
• Dr. Robert Atkins
• Dr. Jeff Volek

So what is this diet? It's a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet, or CKD for short. CKD basically means that you cycle periods of low carb, high protein, and high fat with periods of high carb, high protein, and low fat.

The majority of time you will be consuming a low carb diet, with a period set aside each week for carbing-up. This isn't for the fun of it; there are real scientific reasons for this, reasons with exciting implications for the bodybuilder.

Increasing Anabolic Hormones

A diet that maximizes serum levels of growth promoting hormones is a dream come true. Specifically we're talking about:

1. Testosterone
2. Growth Hormone
3. IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor 1)

I'm sure that all sounds good to you. So how do you actually implement a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet?

For most of the time you will be consuming a high fat, high protein, low carb diet. This is interspersed with smaller periods of high carb, high protein, low fat nutrition. There are variations on the CKD but the standard (and my favorite) way is to implement it in the following way:

• 5-6 days of low carb.
• 1-2 days of high carb.

This gives a manageable and sociable weekly cycle where you carb up over the weekend and return to your low-carb diet during the week.

Carb up over the weekend.

Please note: Depending on how intense you train, some people may find that their gym performance deteriorates towards the end of the low-carb phase. In this case, it is highly recommended that you implement a mid-week carb-spike to replenish your muscle glycogen stores by having another high-carb, high-protein, low-fat day on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Low-Carb Advantage

When you keep your carbs sufficiently low, you body switches to a fat metabolism; this is called the 'Metabolic Switch'. Switching from a carbohydrate to a fat metabolism has some real advantages for the bodybuilder:

• Increased Lipolysis (breakdown of fat)
• Decreased Lipogenesis (accumulation of body fat)

This metabolic switch usually takes around 3 days to take full effect. Synthesizing the correct enzymes in sufficient quantities to become a fat-burner takes a little time. This is why some new comers to low carb diets can feel foggy at the beginning.
Please do not confuse this short period for the whole diet; your energy will be back up in no time, and for some people, better than ever!

The Role Of Insulin

Some of you may have noted that I left out an important anabolic hormone in the above list - Insulin.

What Does Insulin Do?

Insulin is a hormone with extensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems (eg, vascular compliance). Insulin causes most of the body's cells to take up glucose from the blood (including liver, muscle, and fat tissue cells), storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stops use of fat as an energy source. When insulin is absent (or low), glucose is not taken up by most body cells and the body begins to use fat as an energy source (ie, transfer of lipids from adipose tissue to the liver for mobilization as an energy source). As its level is a central metabolic control mechanism, its status is also used as a control signal to other body systems (such as amino acid uptake by body cells). It has several other anabolic effects throughout the body.

So when does our body produce insulin? Insulin is secreted by our pancreas primarily in response to the carbohydrates in our diet. Since we are keeping carbs low, our insulin levels will also be low. Does this mean we miss out? Not at all.

This is where the carb-up period comes in. Once a week you should load up on carbs and let your insulin levels spike. Insulin will shuttle amino acids into the muscle tissue, but we also refill our depleted muscle glycogen stores during this time.

Our muscles are like tanks for glycogen. They fill up and empty again when we workout. Unfortunately when we eat too many carbs these tanks become satiated. Some glycogen is then stored in the liver and any excess is converted to triglyceride and stored as fat. This is where traditional high-carb diets can let us down. So why fill them at all?

Muscle glycogen means better performance in the gym. We load up on it and fill our tanks. By the end of our low-carb period we have once again emptied the tanks and we repeat the cycle over again.

Growth Hormone & Insulin

These 2 hormones have a strange relationship. It seems that when one is in abundance, the other is nowhere to be found. We therefore do not want chronically elevated insulin levels as:

1. Our growth hormone production will be blunted
2. We may overspill our glycogen tanks and start to lay down fat (lipogenesis)

Fat & Testosterone

Testosterone and dietary fat have a positive correlation; i.e. diets higher in fat and dietary cholesterol lead to higher concentrations of circulating testosterone.¹ We all know how important this hormone is to maximizing our lean muscle gains. You could be throwing away potential gains by consuming a low-fat diet, that goes for the ladies too.²

How Many Carbs Is Low-Carb?

In order to become a 'fat-burner', you should consume around 60 grams or less of net carbohydrate per day (total carbs minus fiber). However, in order to determine just how many carbs you personally should be consuming, a little trial and error is necessary.
The general rule is this:
 
Eat the smallest amount of carbs it takes to allow maximum output in the gym.
This will vary from person to person. Please bear in mind that fat will become your main source of energy and large quantities of carbs are unnecessary.

If you are unsure, try beginning at 30 grams and adjust as necessary.

What About Post-Workout Carbs?

Remember, our goal is to keep insulin low and growth hormone elevated for most of the week. Post-workout carbohydrates will therefore work against you here.

Apart from blunting growth hormone levels, carbohydrates may do nothing to increase protein synthesis in the post-workout period beyond that which protein can do by itself ³. Take the following study for example:

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You've always wanted to get in the best possible shape, but you've just been waiting for someone to help you make that first step and keep you moving down the right path. Kris Gethin is your own Daily Personal Trainer! Today we're discussing the importance of post-workout nutrition.

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The following study took place in the Netherlands, the subjects being healthy young men. The study split the men into 3 groups, each ingesting different combinations of protein & carbohydrates. Therefore the only variable was the level of carbohydrate.

Each group performed resistance training for 60 minutes and was given either protein or a combination of protein and carbohydrate each hour for 6 hours after training. The amount of protein for all the groups was 0.3g per kg of bodyweight. The protein and carbs varied as follows:

• Group 1 - Just protein, no carbs
• Group 2 - Protein with 0.15 g per kg of body weight of carbohydrate
• Group 3 - Protein with 0.6 g per kg of body weight of carbohydrate

STUDY CALCULATOR

Weight Results Protein Carbs 1 Carbs 2

Protein synthesis rates were then measured for 6 hours after training. The results?

1. The intake of protein after training increases protein synthesis.
2. The addition of carbohydrate (whether in small or large amounts) to this protein did not further increase protein synthesis at all.

This is good news for those interested in or currently living a cyclical ketogenic lifestyle.

What To Eat

Any anabolic lifestyle is only as good as it is practical to actually live.

Perhaps you think a low-carb diet is too restrictive. Maybe you've even tried something like this before and failed because you felt that there wasn't a wide enough variety of food. This is understandable.

In order to experience the awesome benefits of this diet and also make it enjoyable, I am continually searching for recipes and concocting a few of my own. To show you just how tasty and easy it is to live this lifestyle here's a typical 1-day eating plan:

Breakfast:

• 

  Bacon

• 

  Whole Eggs Scrambled

Mid Morning:

• 

  Low-carb wrap filled with: Tuna, Mayo, Cheese

  (Low-carb tortillas can be bought in some stores and online)

Lunch:

• 

  Caesar Salad

  (With full fat sauce, no croutons)

Main Meal:

• 

  Taco Salad

• 

  Post-Workout Shake

  Low or no carbs.

Late Snack:

• 

  Protein Bar

Low Carb Concerns

When the light of science shines on the concerns some people have about low carb diets, they vanish without a trace.

Sluggish Gym performance

Once your body gets fully fat-adapted (3-14 days) this isn't a problem. Also, you fill you glycogen stores once or twice per week.

Once your body gets fully adapted sluggishness isn't a problem.

Saturated Fat and Cholesterol

Is a high fat/low carb diet increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease? Not on your life! This belief is based on an unproven hypothesis from the 1950's. The surprising truth is that low carb/high-fat diets consistently outperform all others in improving lipid profiles. Typically, HDL (good) cholesterol rises, LDL (bad) cholesterol drops and triglycerides plummit, producing a much reduced risk of heart disease. ^{4 5}

Brain Fog

This does not happen to everyone though some experience it only in the initial 'metabolic switch' period. A fat metabolism requires different enzymes to function than a carbohydrate one. Synthesizing the correct enzymes in sufficient quantities to become a fat-burner takes a little time, stick it out.

Conclusion

So there's no reason to not give this a go. Prepare for some initial water weight loss at the beginning, you'll put it back on every carb-up phase.

This could be the step you've been waiting for. Take your game to the next level!

Mark McManus

References:

Alteration of the Lipid Composition of Rat Testicular Plasma Membranes by Dietary (n-3) Fatty Acids Changes the Responsiveness of Leydig Cells and Testosterone Synthesis1 Elena Sebokova2, Manohar L. Garg3, Antoni Wierzbicki, Alan B. R. Thomson* and M. Thomas Clandinin4 Nutrition and Metabolism Research Group, Department of Foods & Nutrition * Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2C2

Effect of low-fat diet on female sex hormone levels. Ingram DM, Bennett FC, Willcox D, de Klerk N.University Department of Surgery, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia.

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Sep;293:E833-E842

Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. N Engl J Med 2008 Jul 17; 359:229.

Krauss, Ronald, et al. "Carbohydrate, Weight Loss, and Atherogenic Dyslipidemia." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006 May;83(5):1025-31.

"Boost Your Testosterone Level for Health, Power and Confidence..."

Testosterone Levels Fall Worldwide

Man Up: Boost Your Testosterone Level for Health, Power and Confidence

Posted on April 4, 2012 by WashingtonsBlog

Men’s testosterone levels across all age groups have been plummeting over the last couple of decades, probably due to environmental factors. As Reuters reported in 2006:

A new study has found a “substantial” drop in U.S. men’s testosterone levels since the 1980s, but the reasons for the decline remain unclear. This trend also does not appear to be related to age.

The average levels of the male hormone dropped by 1 percent a year, Dr. Thomas Travison and colleagues from the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Massachusetts, found. This means that, for example, a 65-year-old man in 2002 would have testosterone levels 15 percent lower than those of a 65-year-old in 1987. This also means that a greater proportion of men in 2002 would have had below-normal testosterone levels than in 1987.

“The entire population is shifting somewhat downward we think,” Travison told Reuters Health. “We’re counting on other studies to confirm this.”

Travison and his team analyzed data from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, a long-term investigation of aging in about 1,700 Boston-area men. Data from the men were collected for three time intervals: 1987-1989, 1995-1997, and 2002-2004.
***
The researchers observed a speedier decline in average testosterone levels than would have been expected with aging alone.
***
It’s likely that some sort of environmental exposure is responsible for the testosterone decline, Travison said, although he said attempting to explain what this might be based on the current findings would be “pure conjecture.”

Men’s Health wrote in 2007:

In the summer of 2006, Travison attended an Endocrine Society meeting where another researcher, Antti Perheentupa M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Turku, in Finland, presented evidence of a similar decline. The Finnish results suggested the change was happening among younger men, too. A man born in 1970 had about 20 percent less testosterone at age 35 than a man of his father’s generation at the same age. “When I saw another group reproducing our results,” says Travison, “that was convincing to me that we were seeing a true biological change over time, as opposed to just some measurement error.”
***

Mitch Harman M.D., Ph.D., an endocrinologist at the University of Arizona college of medicine and the director of the Kronos Longevity Research Institute, sees the shadow of Silent Spring. Back in 1962, when Rachel Carson published her environmental classic, estrogen-like substances in the insecticide DDT were making eggshells so thin that they were crushed by nesting parents; populations of eagles and other large birds plummeted. And today? Dr. Harman says, “I’m concerned that we’re just pouring chemicals out into our environment that are endocrine-suppressing, estrogen-like compounds,” possibly causing similar disruptions in human reproduction. The authors of a recent article in the Medical Journal of Australia likewise suggest that from early fetal life onward, male hormonal and reproductive functions are under “xenobiotic attack,” meaning chemicals not naturally found in the body appear to be disrupting normal biological development.

For instance, 90 percent of American men have evidence of chlorpyrifos in their urine. This shouldn’t be surprising, since up to 19 million pounds of the stuff was distributed across the United States in 1999 alone, much of it in household products like tick-and-flea powder for pets, lawn treatments, and common insecticides. Though residential use is now restricted, chlorpyrifos is still common in agriculture, as well as in some professional applications; for most people, diet is now the main source of exposure. In a recent Harvard study, men with the highest chlorpyrifos exposure typically had 20 percent less testosterone than those with the lowest exposure.

Carbaryl is another possible culprit. Detectable levels turn up in 75 percent of American men, and having it in your urine appears to be associated with reduced sperm count and liveliness, or motility, as well as increased DNA damage. And yet we still apply carbaryl to lawns and gardens at a rate of up to 4 million pounds a year, mostly by way of an insecticide known as Sevin. There should be a bumper sticker: Honey, the lawn shrunk my testicles.

Phthalates are also everywhere, almost certainly including your own body. Manufacturers use them in colognes and cosmetics and as softeners in plastics. Baby bottles now come “phthalate-free,” but hospital intravenous bags generally don’t. And yet some phthalates seem to have all of carbaryl’s unpleasant associations with reproductive health. And not just in men: Last year Greenpeace issued a warning against the danger of phthalates in your girlfriend’s sex toys. Then the Danish Environmental Protection Agency came riding to the rescue, declaring such toys safe—as long as she keeps it to an hour or less a day.

Scientists can’t say that any of the suspect chemicals actually cause the reproductive effects that are occurring. They can only point out troubling associations. But these associations seem to be proliferating. About 50 new chemicals come onto the market weekly, says Dr. Harman, and while testing for carcinogenicity is required, “there’s no systematized testing for subtle endocrine effects.”

We’re not likely to have good answers anytime soon. The reproductive problems of human males will remain understudied, says Dr. Harman, in part because federal research dollars are being diverted to issues like biological warfare and terrorism. “We might just wind up disappearing from the planet quietly,” he says, “because we were too busy fighting wars to figure out that our reproductive systems were going south.”

Moreover, as noted by the The Internet Journal of Urology in 2004:

There have been a number of studies over the past 15-20 years … which suggest that sperm counts in man are on the decline. Since these changes are recent and appear to have occurred internationally, it has been presumed that they reflect adverse effects of environmental or lifestyle factors on the male rather than, for example, genetic changes in susceptibility. If the decrease in sperm counts were to continue at the rate that it is then in a few years we will witness widespread male infertility.

Studies published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the journal Diabetes Care, the journal Heart and other major medical journals show that low testosterone levels not only lead to obesity, loss of muscle, weak bones and depression, but also increase the odds of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimers and other major health problems.
In addition, low testosterone levels are correlated with decreased confidence, drive, ability to concentrate, and cognitive abilities.

The bottom line: Most men – and especially those over 30, fathers, or men who have been exposed to toxic chemicals or potent medications – need to maintain their testosterone levels to keep their health, power and confidence.

How to Boost Your Testosterone Level

There are numerous ways to boost your testosterone (we’ll call it “T”) level. Choose what works for you, depending on your health, finances, time and temperament.

Sprint

The International Journal of Sports Medicine found that, in young men, a six-second bout of sprinting increased serum total testosterone levels. Levels remained elevated during recovery.

Lift

Numerous studies have shown that resistance training is a powerful stimulant for testosterone production. So – if you are physically able – be sure to lift heavy things every now and again.

The rest intervals between sets can also stimulate different hormonal responses. A study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that resting 90 seconds between squat and bench press sets boosted post-workout T-levels the most.

Snooze

The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that lack of sleep dramatically lowers testosterone in healthy young men. Peak testosterone levels coincide with rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep onset. Getting 7-8 hours sleep a night – to make sure you get your REM sleep – will boost your T levels.

Chill Out

As shown by studies published in the the Journal of Hormones and Behavior, the European Journal of Applied Physiology and elsewhere, prolonged stress produces cortisol, which reduces T levels.

So take breaks and play sports, go for a walk, meditate, do yoga or do whatever else de-stresses you.

Get Excited

Newsweek reported in 2009:

Monkeys that see sexually active females register as much as a 400 percent jump in testosterone (nature’s own performance-enhancing drug) promoting lean muscle and quick recovery times, according to the Yerkes Center for Primate Research at Emory University. In humans, German researchershave found that just having an erection is enough to spur testosterone levels. it makes no difference whether a man is watching sex on a screen or having it in real life, his testosterone levels will go up. Just having an erection, in fact, is enough to spur production.

Such findings, along with work that shows family life to be a drain on testosterone levels, prompted Rutgers University sex researcher Helen Fisher to advise this month that males in the “captivity situation”-her term for married with kids-”go on the Internet and look at porn” as a kind of hormone-replacement therapy. “[Porn] drives up dopamine levels, which drives up your testosterone,” she tells NEWSWEEK, while kissing your wife or hugging your kids drives it down.

Indeed, marriage and fatherhood have both been shown to decrease testosterone levels.
(This post concentrates on science, not objectification of women, relationships, ethics, or addictions … all important things to reflect on. I am an ethical, happily-married man with kids, and I value all of those things tremendously. But I also know that if I didn’t have a strong sex drive, my T levels would be lower.)

Keep Your Vitamin D Levels Up

Vitamin D positively correlates with testosterone levels in men, according to the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and researchers at the Medical University of Graz in Austria.
So make sure you get enough vitamin D.

Magnesium

The Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis reports that magnesium levels correlate with T.

Calcium

Biological Trace Element Research notes that calcium levels correlate with T, at least in people who exercise a lot.

Zinc

The Journal Nutrition reports that a zinc deficiency predicts lowered testosterone in men.
But don’t take extra … supplementary doses of the mineral don’t boost T levels beyond normal in men with adequate dietary intake.

Eat Monounsaturated and Saturated Fat

We’ve previously documented that fats have gotten a bad rap, and that they are essential for our health. See this, this and this.

The Journal Lipids reports that olive oil – a monosaturated fat – converts cholesterol more easily into testosterone. So use raw olive oil on salads and in other dishes. (Coconut oil – a saturated fat – does the same thing, but to a lesser extent.)
While cholesterol has gotten the worst rap:

Cholesterol is actually a vital precursor to vitamin D, and to basic hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and adrenaline. If we don’t have enough cholesterol in our body, we will be sickly, impotent and depressed.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reports that a low-fat, high-fiber diet reduced T levels in middle-aged men. The Journal of Applied Physiology reports:

Preexercise T was significantly positively correlated with percent energy fat, SFA [saturated fatty acids] and MUFA [monounsaturated fatty acids] ….

(Click image above for larger picture.)
***
These data are consistent with the findings of several other investigations that have reported a decrease in T in individuals consuming a diet containing ∼20% fat compared with a diet containing ∼40% fat ….

The results from several investigations strongly suggest that dietary fat has a significant impact on T concentrations; however, the influence of different types of lipids on T is not as clear. In the present investigation, dietary fat, SFA, and MUFA were the best predictors of resting T concentrations. Interestingly, Tegelman et al. observed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.76) between percent energy fat and T in young athletic men, which is very similar to the correlation (r = 0.72) obtained in this study. Also, Adlercreutz et al. reported significant positive correlations between T and dietary fat, SFA, MUFA, and cholesterol in postmenopausal women. The same nutrients were positively correlated with T in the present investigation except for cholesterol, which showed a correlation of r = 0.53 (P = 0.07) with T. In contrast to the results obtained in this study, Key et al. reported a significant positive correlation (r = 0.37) between PUFA and T in male vegetarians and omnivores. Our results showed a nonsignificant correlation between PUFA and T and a significant negative correlation between the PUFA/SFA ratio and T. Thus dietary lipids appear to have a significant influence on resting T concentrations; however, the effect of different types of lipids on T regulation and metabolism is complicated and most likely influenced by a complex interaction of several nutritional and metabolic factors. This complexity is illustrated by the findings of Sebokova et al., who reported that alteration in the testicular plasma membrane and changes in the responsiveness of Leydig cells and subsequent T synthesis occur as a result of ingestion of different compositions of lipids.

Avoid Foods that Spike Blood Sugar Levels

Researchers found that 75 grams of pure glucose – and the resultant spike in blood sugar – was enough to drop T levels by as much as 25% in a random grouping of healthy, prediabetic, and diabetic men.

The glycemic index measures how much of a food converts into blood glucose. Because refined carbs have a higher glycemic index than even candy, you should watch the refined carbs.

Get Enough Antioxidants

Oxidative stress may decrease T. So get enough antioxidants, which protect against oxidative stress.

Note: I’m not a medical professional, and this should not be taken as medical – or marital – advice.

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