34 year old, first ever bloodwork, Free T below reference range

Nerdandertall

New member
Lifetime natural, been lifting since high school, close to 20 years now. I've pretty much plateaued for the last 10. Been relatively happy with my body, 6'1 185 lbs around 11% BF I'd guess but I'd much rather be in the upper reference range for test than the lower half.

First bloodwork results show

488 ng/dL Test
8.6 pg/mL Free T

I plan to test again in a few weeks, just wanted to hear out any advice anyone has. Thanks in advance!

PS I don't feel like my free T is especially low. Is there anything that could have warped my results? I was just coming off a sore throat when I got my blood drawn. Could that, or hard workouts, or alcohol play a big role in test results?
 
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whats your diet like? you look well, and very defined.

Thanks :)

About 3,000 kcal a day
200p
200c, more on training days
100f or less

lots of blueberries, oats, almond milk, whey, salmon, smoked oysters, broccoli, spinach, carrots, and a bottle of wine a couple nights a week

I do eat a very small amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, which I think has my HDL/LDL and triglycerides looking pretty good, but not sure if it might affect testosterone production. Typical eating day looks like this
 
ditch the wine and drink straight up grape juice, your liver will thank you and I would add more fiber veggies as well.
 
You asked about being sick, hard workout, and alcohol - yes those can all knock you down. As well as time of day, you should test in the morning.

And a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol is a sure ticket to low testosterone. I watched my dad do it his whole life, and mid 70's it caught up to him with heart and brain problems.

A few years ago there was an 18 year old guy on here with the testosterone levels of a 90 year old. He was a strict vegan, and wasn't doing much in the way of making sure he ate some saturated fats. No other issues at play. I asked him, do you think your diet might have something to do with it? Find a way - coconut oil, avocados, nuts...

Here's a chart that shows expected levels by age

View attachment 567945

You can see you are at the bottom of the curve on testosterone, and a bit above the midpoint on free test
 
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