by Chris Shugart
How to Avoid Dad Bod
Testosterone significantly drops when you become a father. Here's why and how to fix it.
Brad is a high-testosterone single male. His hormone status gives him some advantages in the dating world.
Compared to his lower-T rivals, his physique is better, he's more extraverted and confident, he takes more risks (he isn't afraid to approach women, increasing his odds), and he's more likely to be status-driven and competitive, so he probably has a decent career. He may even be more dominant and assertive, innately attractive to females.
In the dating and mating world, Brad's probably going to win a wife and make babies. And that's when Mother Nature kicks him square in the balls and tanks his testosterone.
Evolution vs. Environment
In the world of hormone research, there's a common debate. It's accepted that men experience a drop in testosterone after they become fathers, but why?
- One side takes an evolutionary approach. Once a man "pair bonds" with a woman and puts a baby inside her, there's no need for all that testosterone. Reduced T makes him better at childcare and less likely to stray. He's a loyal husband and a better caregiver, but he also develops a softer, pudgier dad bod due to the testosterone drop.
- The other side points to environmental and social factors. New dads don't get as much sleep, and they have more stress and less time to eat correctly and exercise. Priorities shift. They may experience a drop in T levels, but that's mainly because they're approaching 30 or over 30, and this dip is expected.
Who's right? Well, most likely, it's a combination of all these factors (plus a few others), but one study gives us some insights.
The Study: Dads Have 26% Less T
Lee Gettler, an anthropologist and director of the Hormones, Health, and Human Behavior Lab at Notre Dame, studied over 600 men in their 20s, some single and childless, and some married with newborns. Here's what he found:
- Men with high T are indeed more likely to become "partnered fathers" i.e. married dads. In sciency terms, high T predicted subsequent mating success.
- Married dads experienced a big drop in waking and evening testosterone (-26% and -34% respectively). Single nonfathers about the same age did not see this decline.
- Dads reporting three hours or more of daily childcare had lower T than dads not involved in care.
How to Avoid Being a Low-T Dad
Don't procreate. If you do, don't take care of them. (Just jokes, folks.) If you want to be a dad without the dad bod, then fight back with supplements and drugs.
On the drug front, it's wise to know your baseline testosterone levels before you impregnate your spouse. (Some experts think that the testosterone decline begins as soon as your partner gets preggers.) After all, your T levels may be 26% lower, but might still fall into the normal range. Armed with a baseline T test, your doc may be more willing to prescribe TRT to get you back up to YOUR normal range.
Supplementally, if your diet goes from protein shakes to leftover dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, first take care of the basics and take a magnesium supplement.
Magnesium plays a role in testosterone synthesis and appears to "free up" more testosterone from binding proteins, increasing levels of free (bioavailable) testosterone by up to 24%. Just used the chelated form of magnesium, as found in Elitepro Vital Minerals (Buy at Amazon).
If you need to pull out the big guns, look into Longjack. If you use the right form (LJ100), Longjack stimulates your body's natural testosterone production. Omega-Man High Absorption Longjack (Buy at Amazon) contains the LJ100 form.
Reference
- Gettler. "Longitudinal evidence that fatherhood decreases testosterone in human males." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011 Sep 27;108(39):16194-9.