High cortisol lowers testosterone, you can increase levels by dealing with the stress component - some adaptogens like ashwagandha modulate the HPA axis and lower cortisol release, increasing T levels
mellosouls 12 minutes ago [-]
Can't help wondering to what extent the decline is directly and/or indirectly influenced by both the positive changes (eg increased women's rights and power) and the negative (presumption of masculine "toxicity" and fallibility) in socio-culture over the period surveyed.
superze 1 minutes ago [-]
Or the negatives (toxic femininity)
greekrich92 9 minutes ago [-]
That is not how biology works
LaurensBER 3 minutes ago [-]
While I mostly agree with your statement there's evidence that testosterone is linked to social status and mental well being.
A 50% drop most likely has a multifactorial explanation, being told that some traditional male traits are bad (and thus lower well being or social status) or medicated away (see e.g the rise in ADHD and Autism diagnosis) might have some effect.
I'm not nearly knowledgable enough to give any reasonable estimate but it would not surprise me if it was higher than 0%.
_moof 40 seconds ago [-]
> testosterone is linked to social status and mental well being
As well as a zillion other things. And "linked" in which direction?
3 minutes ago [-]
idleplant 1 hours ago [-]
> Obesity was also not controlled for, which is known to be strongly correlated with low testosterone.
adam_arthur 8 minutes ago [-]
Testosterone is directly causally inverse to bodyfat in men (once above some very low baseline)
Fat directly converts testosterone to Estrogen via a process called aromatization.
Personally my Testosterone close to doubled when going from 25% bodyfat to 13%. I get blood tests regularly and can see the levels fluctuate pretty exactly with fat levels
idleplant 1 hours ago [-]
In the past decade, research suggests that testosterone levels have actually gone up[1].
Really makes the study completely pointless when the last 50 years has also seen the rise of the global obesity epidemic.
OldSchool 14 minutes ago [-]
I'm old, but I get this subjective read: of my friends and even family who had sons, they seemed smaller and less bold than we were 50 years ago.
ibero 3 minutes ago [-]
less bold? what do you mean?
ThinkingGuy 14 minutes ago [-]
Could this be a possible factor in the reduction in violent crime (at least in some countries)?
aucisson_masque 11 minutes ago [-]
America found the solution, put everyone on enhanced TRT and cash a shit load of bucks in the process :)
Others are trying to regulate pesticide, junk food (obesity, diabete). For instance nutriscore in Europe, also the recent change on pesticide allowed.
I'm not sure it will be enough, but at least they are attacking to the root cause. You're not just adding even more problem, like the increased cardiovascular event or erectile dysfunction with overdosed TRT.
Same for the semaglutides that everyone and their mother take in the usa, people wouldn't need them so much if they didn't eat absolute crap all the time.
We know that semaglutides have also side effects, and that rebound happen when you stop, but I guess it's better than just fixing the food lobby ?
xvxvx 1 hours ago [-]
“The solution that’s being promoted is that we give you testosterone,” he said. “But if you give a man testosterone, you switch off his sperm production. I’ve seen that in the clinic.”
Interesting…
joshkel 20 minutes ago [-]
As explained by https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/magazine/testosterone-mas..., "Supplementing with testosterone sends the message to the brain that testosterone is in oversupply, shutting down the testicles’ production of testosterone and sperm... The hormone is so incredibly effective at decreasing sperm counts that it is being tested as a possible male contraceptive."
pembrook 9 minutes ago [-]
I'm playing with fire going against the narrative, but I'll just say this:
You should be highly skeptical of any claims of drastic variance in human biology over short time periods.
bolangi 16 minutes ago [-]
Sperm counts, too, have dropped precipitously.
standardUser 12 minutes ago [-]
Seems like a minor issue, since most men only utilize their sperm two or three times in their entire lives, if at all. Maybe men should be freezing sperm while they're young and virile.
scottyah 52 seconds ago [-]
Just because you don't always hit a home run doesn't mean you don't need a bat.
standardUser 6 minutes ago [-]
“Obesity and diabetes could easily account for all of this,”
Wither Ozempic? I've seen several friends and family members use it to great effect and thought it might sweep the nation. But I imagine most of the same barriers that keep people from eating better or moving more are also in play when trying to engage with any new habit.
greekrich92 7 minutes ago [-]
It's just our shitty food system and sedentary lifestyle but everyone is projecting their weird hangups on it
DANmode 51 minutes ago [-]
Endocrine disrupting compounds.
metadat 23 minutes ago [-]
Microplastics.
ThrowawayTestr 47 minutes ago [-]
Or rising obesity and poor overall health
SoftTalker 21 minutes ago [-]
Agreed. A lot more men are just fat and sedentary compared to the past.
21 minutes ago [-]
DANmode 45 minutes ago [-]
These are all items in the same feedback loop.
ButlerianJihad 30 minutes ago [-]
[flagged]
aaron695 57 minutes ago [-]
[dead]
Rendered at 22:16:01 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
A 50% drop most likely has a multifactorial explanation, being told that some traditional male traits are bad (and thus lower well being or social status) or medicated away (see e.g the rise in ADHD and Autism diagnosis) might have some effect.
I'm not nearly knowledgable enough to give any reasonable estimate but it would not surprise me if it was higher than 0%.
As well as a zillion other things. And "linked" in which direction?
Fat directly converts testosterone to Estrogen via a process called aromatization.
Personally my Testosterone close to doubled when going from 25% bodyfat to 13%. I get blood tests regularly and can see the levels fluctuate pretty exactly with fat levels
[1]https://www.cremieux.xyz/p/why-are-testosterone-levels-risin...
Others are trying to regulate pesticide, junk food (obesity, diabete). For instance nutriscore in Europe, also the recent change on pesticide allowed.
I'm not sure it will be enough, but at least they are attacking to the root cause. You're not just adding even more problem, like the increased cardiovascular event or erectile dysfunction with overdosed TRT.
Same for the semaglutides that everyone and their mother take in the usa, people wouldn't need them so much if they didn't eat absolute crap all the time.
We know that semaglutides have also side effects, and that rebound happen when you stop, but I guess it's better than just fixing the food lobby ?
Interesting…
You should be highly skeptical of any claims of drastic variance in human biology over short time periods.
Wither Ozempic? I've seen several friends and family members use it to great effect and thought it might sweep the nation. But I imagine most of the same barriers that keep people from eating better or moving more are also in play when trying to engage with any new habit.