For the last several years I have been dealing with reduced libido and fatigue (especially in the afternoons). After I started a keto-ish diet (14 weeks ago), things seemed to get even worse especially on the libido front so I decided to order a full blood panel to see if anything was out of the ordinary.
Stats:
5' 11"
35 years old
204 lbs
Weight lifting: 4x week.
Keto diet consuming 1500-1800 calories per day. More on weekends.
Avg. Macros: 100 g Fat, 78 g Carbs (25-30 is soluble fiber) and 97 g Protein
16 hours intermittent fasting 4-5 days per week
Never messed with AAS's.
Total Testosterone (Mass Spec): 360 ng/dl (Ref: 270-1100)
Free Testosterone: 5.51 ng/dl (Ref: 4.65-18.1 for 35-39 YO)
SHBG: 26 nmol/L (Ref: 10-50)
Total Serum Estrogen: 131 pg/ml (Ref: 60-190)
*Should have gotten estrodiol measured but I didn't.
Other things that were in the normal range but not optimum (according InsideTracker).
Total Iron: 70 mcg/dl (Ref: 50-180)
Vitamin B12: 400 pg/ml (Ref: 200-1100)
Homocystein: 12.8 (Ref: <11.4)
Everything else was in the optimal range.
After such a long post I guess my questions are:
1) Unfortunately I do not have a reference test level before I started doing a lower carb diet, but is it likely that my lower test level is completely due to the reduction in carbs and calories? If so, does anyone have a general recommendation about how many more carbs and/or calories I should consume. Based on apps, my maintenance caloric intake should be around 2200-2500 per day.
2) At this point what would you guys do? Up calories and carbs a bit and get re-tested in a few months? I expected my test levels to be low but honestly I didn't expect 360.
Stats:
5' 11"
35 years old
204 lbs
Weight lifting: 4x week.
Keto diet consuming 1500-1800 calories per day. More on weekends.
Avg. Macros: 100 g Fat, 78 g Carbs (25-30 is soluble fiber) and 97 g Protein
16 hours intermittent fasting 4-5 days per week
Never messed with AAS's.
Total Testosterone (Mass Spec): 360 ng/dl (Ref: 270-1100)
Free Testosterone: 5.51 ng/dl (Ref: 4.65-18.1 for 35-39 YO)
SHBG: 26 nmol/L (Ref: 10-50)
Total Serum Estrogen: 131 pg/ml (Ref: 60-190)
*Should have gotten estrodiol measured but I didn't.
Other things that were in the normal range but not optimum (according InsideTracker).
Total Iron: 70 mcg/dl (Ref: 50-180)
Vitamin B12: 400 pg/ml (Ref: 200-1100)
Homocystein: 12.8 (Ref: <11.4)
Everything else was in the optimal range.
After such a long post I guess my questions are:
1) Unfortunately I do not have a reference test level before I started doing a lower carb diet, but is it likely that my lower test level is completely due to the reduction in carbs and calories? If so, does anyone have a general recommendation about how many more carbs and/or calories I should consume. Based on apps, my maintenance caloric intake should be around 2200-2500 per day.
2) At this point what would you guys do? Up calories and carbs a bit and get re-tested in a few months? I expected my test levels to be low but honestly I didn't expect 360.