DHEA: The potential limiting factor in low Testosterone

In my past article, Going BALD before 60? It’s time to do a deep dive your sex hormones, I broke down the Steroidogenic Pathway. This pathway is pivotal for producing testosterone, DHEA, Cortisol, estrogens and other hormones required for life. Today, I am going to expand on this and talk about DHEA and when to add it to your personal Testosterone plan. Ladies, this does have applicability to you as well as DHEA plays an even more important role for you when it comes to testosterone production. (We can cover this in the future if we gain enough interest. For the time being, this article is for the male hormone cascade.)

We have to keep in mind our body does NOT help us become ideal. It does NOT optimize our hormone function. It does NOT allow us to live at peak, without constant effort. What our body does do is keep us alive. Every cell, organ, gland and system in the body functions for survival, NOT peak health. This is massively forgotten and gleefully ignored as a concept in modern medicine.

DHEA sulfate is a very stable metabolite of DHEA, and is the most abundant form in the body. This makes it very easy to test. DHEA has even been touted as one of the best anti-aging markers because it is a direct marker of adrenal function. It is made by the adrenal glands. When your adrenal glands are overworked, under functioning or a combo of both, you will have testably low DHEA sulfate.

Around 50% of a males testosterone comes directly from DHEA. This means if your DHEA is low, your testosterone will also be low. The other aspect of DHEA is the anti-cortisol actions. The more DHEA you have the higher your testosterone and the lower your Cortisol.

I personally believe that DHEA sulfate is the best indicator of adrenal health. If your DHEA is low, your cortisol function will be imbalanced and in almost every single case I have tested, testosterone will be low.

DHEA sulfate - ideal level for peak hormone function - 400 ug/dL

A level lower than 400 indicates some high level of stress. I frequently see men (and women) with levels in the lower double digits. This is massively problematic and will result in massively depleted testosterone and accelerated aging.

If you don’t know your DHEA sulfate level, get it tested today. If your doctor doesn’t know what it means or doesn’t want to test it, find a new doctor. This is a life saving and ‘life worth living’ adrenal steroid, and an absolute must for your peak health lifestyle.