Do Women Have Testosterone?

There are a number of things that women have in common with men.

One of those similarities is testosterone.

Many of you may be wondering how testosterone affects women, especially in training. Therefore, it’s so important to clarify how testosterone affects women in general and the differences between men and women.

Testosterone is an androgen that belongs to the lipid family.

Many studies have been done on testosterone and men because testosterone is the primary male sex hormone. Still, there are fewer studies done on testosterone and women.

This is most likely because women do not have the kind of fluctuations in testosterone levels that can occur in men.

To better understand testosterone’s function in women, let me explain which role it plays in terms of metabolic function and fitness (the most common case).

Accordingly, there can be many different effects when testosterone levels drop in women.

This is the key reason why men usually find it easier to build and maintain muscle mass than women. As early as the 1980s, this led to artificially produced testosterone without androgenic effect, merely reduced to its anabolic effect, so-called anabolic steroids used as doping agents in weight training.

Testosterone is also in the control of carbohydrate, fat metabolism, and the predisposition in which form and at which location body fat is accumulated:

A healthy testosterone value supports the fat-burning sustainably; some studies even say that testosterone is of fundamental importance for successful weight loss.

Conversely, however, it is also the case that a high proportion of body fat, especially visceral fat, has a negative effect on the body’s own testosterone level:

If a disease can be ruled out as the cause of testosterone deficiency, other possible causes of low hormone levels include excess abdominal fat, also called visceral fat, excessive stress, or inactivity.

This abdominal fat is highly hormone–active. It promotes testosterone conversion into estrogens by releasing the enzyme aromatase, which converts existing testosterone into a female hormone.

That means a healthy testosterone level increases fat burning. A high body fat percentage has a negative effect on testosterone levels.

Testosterone levels can also be too high, for example, if hyperfunction or, in the worst case, even a tumor drives hormone production in the testes or ovaries or the adrenal cortex.

Disbalances in hormone balance can also occur in the “control center” of hormones, the pituitary gland.

The #1 reason that causes low testosterone production is age.

However, insufficient testosterone levels can also be present much earlier for other reasons. For example, if damage to the testicles, ovaries, or adrenal cortex results in only reduced the production of the hormone.

Serious illness, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, rapid weight loss, and high-stress levels can also lead to reduced testosterone production.

In many cases, a testosterone deficiency is primarily a symptom of more serious diseases. A doctor should definitely get to the bottom of the deficiency’s cause instead of directly prescribing a testosterone drug for treatment.

All in all, testosterone plays a decisive role in performance and muscle building, which is why a low testosterone level can harm physical performance, and any suspicion of this should be clarified by a doctor.

Because unless there is a medically confirmed testosterone deficiency that needs to be treated, supplementation of the hormone brings enormous risks that should not be underestimated. On the contrary, even with regular training and a healthy lifestyle, you can increase the testosterone level in the blood and improve the general condition and performance.

Remember that women need less testosterone than men to live healthy and fit lives.

However, testosterone is just as vital for women as men. It fulfills the same roles in female metabolism as in male metabolism.

Without enough testosterone, both women and men have no desire for sex. Estrogen is made from testosterone. Women need testosterone to build strong muscles and bones.

A low testosterone level will probably promote fat storage even if the value is still in the lower normal range — the higher the testosterone level, the lower the body fat percentage.

Thank you for investing a few minutes in reading this article! Now you know more than 95% of your fellow people about the male sex hormone and how it’s vital for women.

Disclaimer: The article isn’t medical advice. Author is not a medical doctor. The information is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose or treat any medical conditions.

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