Women and testosterone boosters: Can women benefit from them?

Testosterone Booster For Women: Do They Work?

Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

Testosterone boosters are more associated with men, yet women can benefit…

A testosterone boosting supplement conjures up images of men in gyms with snarling faces smashing up the iron with ultimate fury and then working the doors at the weekend smashing up punters.

However, you may well be surprised to hear that women have and produce their own testosterone, just like men.

Author: Nicola Joyce is a competitive strength athlete and has two amateur bodybuilding titles to her name, not to mention other accolades such as swimming the English Channel.

LAST UPDATED: March 2019 by Ben.

This article discussing testosterone and women is supported by cited sources.

Contents show

Can Women Use A Testosterone Booster?

Unlike men, women only produce about a tenth of what a man would typically produce, so much, much less.

That said, an older man can actually have higher levels of estrogen than a post menopausal woman…that is a major sex hormone imbalance. [1]

Video

What is testosterone?

Testosterone is known as an androgen that falls within the male hormone spectrum.

While women do not have high levels of natural androgens, they still have some which are produced by the ovaries and also in the adrenal glands.

Yet, it must be remembered that these are in much lower amounts than what is produced by men.

This is what separates men from women and their ‘characteristics’.

Uses

You may not be aware of this but testosterone acts in much the same way for women as it does men.

Therefore, it is imperative for many bodily functions and is responsible for your sexual urges and desires.

Notwithstanding your body being able to build and maintain lean muscle mass – however, if you want to get really muscular like a female body builder you will require much larger quantities of testosterone, much more than you would be able to develop naturally.

Testosterone is not produced consistently and constantly throughout the day, it can vary, and is released in dribs and drabs where it will circulate around your blood stream.

As such, it is good to ensure that you can stimulate as much secretion when you are awake.

Differences

As we have discussed, testosterone is a male sex hormone, and men produce a lot more of it naturally than women.

So, it would be prudent to appreciate that production and levels may also be a bit different too.

And, they are.

There is a lot of talk about men suffering from the andropause, whereby their natural production decreases as they age which can have some negative health effects.

There is also talk of hypogonadism, whereby a man will have abnormally low levels of testosterone that doesn’t correlate with the natural decline.

However, a general rule of thumb for men to start secreting less testosterone is during their thirties at some point.

There is no real definite age, but that period of time is about right.

Women, on the other hand, start producing less testosterone during their twenties. [2]

Effects of low T

For men, if they suffer from hypogonadism, or when they age and start producing less testosterone they can start to suffer from ailing health, particularly around the following parameters:

fatigue
mood issues
sexual dysfunction
loss of sexual desire
decreased sperm motility
osteoporosis
muscle wastage
more belly fat
risk of metabolic syndrome

However, considering we are discussing the benefits of women using test boosters, let’s also look at why low testosterone may negatively impact their lives.

Women and low T

Lowering estrogen and increasing testosterone is being used to help treat breast cancer, and, increasing levels of testosterone in post menopausal women who suffer from the following symptoms:

lack of sexual fantasy
low vitality and motivation
Inhibited sexual desire

Yet, testosterone’s use and benefit for women does not stop there.

Testosterone also improves other areas of health that men also use it for such as bone density, fat mass, muscle tone and bone health.

Once testosterone is created and secreted by a woman’s body it then converts in to estradiol which is a form of estrogen. [3]

That means, without testosterone, the female body cannot naturally produce estrogen. [4]

Necessity

As a result, it is highly important that the balance of testosterone is healthy and that testosterone is being secreted to help improve female health.

This is produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands.

Whereas testosterone is secreted by the testes in males.

Testosterone and women, is it important?

Absolutely, a healthy hormone balance is key to healthy bodily function, there are studies available that demonstrate women who are both menopausal and post menopausal have experienced an increased sex drive and increased sexual pleasure when compared to those using a placebo.

Initial research

The studies regarding testosterone and women date back to the 1940’s where the link between testosterone and libido were first observed.

These studies petered off but then resurfaced in the 2000’s which stimulated more research.

Libido

In fact, a majority of physicians now recognize that there is a link between low testosterone levels in women and a low libido.

In addition, over half of these would advise that there was some form of testosterone treatment required to increase hormone levels. [5]

A further study showed that over a quarter of (pre-menopausal) women and over half of postmenopausal women suffer from a low libido. [6]

Additional studies also observed an increase and positive effect on sexual desire, masturbation, increased sexual activity, increased sexual satisfaction including orgasm for those women who have received treatment to increase their testosterone levels. [7]

Then there’s a link between increased testosterone and sexual fantasies and sexual thoughts which can lead to an increased sexual satisfaction. [8]

Cardiovascular health

However, we’re not quite finished with just that. There’s also positive news regarding cardiovascular health…

A study showed that increasing testosterone levels in women was able to offer cardiovascular protection. [9]

Interestingly several studies have suggested that there is a connection between testosterone and cognitive performance in women. [10]

Of all the studies, there were no adverse effects recorded nor were there any negative impact to health other than what could be considered within the normal parameters.

I’ve heard Methyltestosterone is just as good

You may have read or heard about Methyltestosterone being testosterone and that it is just as effective as testosterone.

However, it is not testosterone.

Therefore, the short answer is no. It will not provide the same overall benefits testosterone can.

Methyltestosterone is sometimes prescribed to women who are suffering from the menopause to help increase their libido, however, it does not raise testosterone levels.

It cannot be measured in the blood and it does not have an effect on the body and brain like testosterone does.

It just mimics testosterone. [11]

What options are available to increase testosterone levels?

We should clear up one popular and obvious option: anabolic steroids.

Anabolic steroids will supplement, or flood your body with synthetic testosterone which is not produced by your glands.

This can be in very high doses and cause physiological and physical problems.

Anavar is a popular steroid option because its androgenic effects are very mild, as such, many women who are looking to build muscle use this.

It is often in tablet form and can be very expensive (about $100 for a month supply).

You can read about my experience with Anavar, here.

Safety

It regions where steroids are not legal to buy over the counter, you are subject to black market products that may or may not be effective.

They may or may not be safe.

They are most likely not produced in a legit pharmaceutical laboratory or manufacturing plant and probably made in China which has very low quality control in place.

Realistically, you may not know the real dose administered, therefore, to find the ‘sweet spot’ you will have to enlist some trial and error.

This does not bode well for your safety or health.

Side effects

Plus, if you take oral steroids, these are processed by the liver and it may affect cholesterol levels. [12]

In addition, again, this is not natural testosterone that your body is producing by itself.

This is synthetic amounts of testosterone being pumped in to your body, and, in cases will stop your body from producing its own hormone by the adrenal glands and ovaries when it recognizes it doesn’t need to.

You then run the risk of not being able to produce your own natural levels when you stop using the steroid.

This is a common occurrence with men who use steroids.

Shutting down

It is a process known as ‘shutting down’ and it is whereby the testes stop producing testosterone when the body recognizes there is a surplus amount and no further production is required.

When the person stops using steroids the body takes a long time to acknowledge the drop in supply and to start producing its own testosterone again.

Depending on the amount of time the body has received this supply of synthetic hormones, it may or not be able to restart ‘normal’ production.