Could you explain why I feel more tired and have less morning wood occurrence when I eat quinoa? I've tracked this time and time again, and it seems like quinoa is softening my morning erections and frequency. The problem is I feel the ecdysteroids do work, so I get benefits from eating quinoa, but my erections take a hit wouldnt this imply a hormonal issue from eating quinoa?
I wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion. Why? Because any quinoa mediated increase in estrogen (if it's even happening at all) would be so minor (still within a normal, healthy range for men) that it wouldn't have any negative effect on erections. In fact, estrogen is necessary for the maintenance of libido and erections. One of the big reasons steroid users often don't like using AI's is because of their potentially negative impact on libido and sexual functioning.
Having a normal estrogen level simply won't harm sexual function. There is no known mechanism through which it could...and quinoa just doesn't raise estrogen levels enough to result in estrogen-induced erection issues.
There are many potential reasons why you may be experiencing decreased erection quality (if you use AAS, I would start there), but I wouldn't jump right to the conclusion that a quinoa induced increase in estradiol is the reason.
You also seem to have connected the feeling of tiredness to increased estradiol. However, research shows that estradiol is more likely to increase wakefulness-alertness, than it is to make you tired. This is because estradiol increases c-FOS expression in several regions of the brain that regulate wakefulness-sleep.
However, some people have wrongly concluded that estradiol increases feeling of tiredness simply because estradiol supplementation improves sleep quality in post-menopausal women, but that is a completely different situation. Menopause is a state of hormonal disruption. By restoring hormonal stability in menopausal women, sleep quality is restored, but in non-menopausal women (or healthy men), estradiol is more likely to increase alertness than to make one tired. Therefore, I wouldn't be quick to attribute your feeling of tiredness to quinoa.
Now, could quinoa be working through a different mechanism to make you tired? It's possible, but I wouldn't automatically assume estrogen is the issue. Also, keep in mind that in South America, the Inca considered quinoa to be the "Mother of all grains" and would specifically consume quinoa before battle (or long journeys) because they believed it improved their stamina and alertness. The Inca were not the only culture to view Quinoa in this fashion, either. It has been praised throughout much of South America for its ability to improve physical performance and health.
The point here is that while quinoa could possibly be making you tired, I do not think this is a universal trait of quinoa. I also think there may be another reason you are feeling tired, that is unrelated to quinoa.
Lastly, is the decrease in morning erections you are experiencing parlaying itself into the bedroom? If not, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I mean, who really cares if you get morning wood or not if your sexual functioning is still good. Morning wood tends to diminish with age, even if testosterone levels remain high through TRT.
