When you don't eat enough food and your body fat gets very low, your body slows down the hormones that make testosterone, focusing on staying alive instead of having kids.

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Pro

36

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (2)

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Community contributions welcome

31

Caloric Restriction Increases Serum Testosterone Concentrations in Obese Male Subjects by Two Distinct Mechanisms

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2014 Apr

The study shows that when obese men cut calories, their testosterone levels actually go up, not down, which is the opposite of what the claim says.

10

Effect of Chronic Moderate Caloric Restriction on the Reproductive Function in Aged Male Wistar Rats

Cohort Study

Animal

2022 Mar 16

The study found that cutting calories actually increased testosterone and improved reproduction in older rats, which goes against the idea that low body fat from dieting lowers testosterone to focus on survival.

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Similar Assertions

When you have very low body fat and eat fewer calories, your body lowers testosterone levels to save energy for staying alive instead of making babies.

0

31

93%

Not eating enough saturated fat is the main reason for hormone problems when cutting calories, not just having low body fat.

0

77%

When overweight men eat fewer calories, their bodies slow down the process that turns testosterone into estrogen. This means they have more testosterone relative to estrogen, showing that fat tissue isn't making as much estrogen as before.

31

0

72%