Jump Start
Jump Start
By Logan Christopher
In my studies of hormones one thing becomes very apparent.
Whether good or bad, these things tend to perpetuate themselves. In fact, this
extends to all areas of health and even more, beyond hormones.
Ideally, what this means is that if something is too low, say testosterone for
example, the body takes that feedback, and then will trigger the creation of more.
If it is too high then production will be stopped, or it will be converted or removed,
in order to bring it down to normal.
However, you’ll often get trapped in a cycle of too much or too little of certain
hormones. Unfortunately, in those cases, other interactions in the body work to
keep you there.
Let’s take the example of estrogen dominance. One thing this leads to is the
creation of more adipose tissue, i.e. fat. Fat then creates the aromatase enzyme,
which converts testosterone into estrogen. The vicious cycle continues…
Another example is with cortisol, the stress hormone. Get too stressed and it
becomes harder to relax, throws you sleep off, prevents recovery, and disrupts
pretty much all the other hormones too. This in turn leads to more stress and thus
more cortisol. Testosterone goes down. The vicious cycle continues…
Not getting enough growth hormone and you’ll feel the need for sleep decrease
(notice many of the elderly sleep less and less). But what is the biggest trigger of
growth hormone? Sleep! The vicious cycle continues…
This means that the better things are, in general, it is easier to keep them that
way.
When you have optimal levels of testosterone you’re more likely to be happy.
You’re more likely to have sex. You’re more likely to do some sort of physical
activity including workouts.
When you’re entire HPA axis and HPG axis are not off kilter, but are “balanced” and
running well, you’re better able to take charge of your life and make it even better.
It’s much easier to take the time to meditate when you’re not stressed the f*ck out!
Eating right helps you to be more active. And being more active helps you to eat
right.
They’re operating in a virtuous cycle that keeps the status quo of things running
well.
But over time…not from the time itself necessarily, but what occurs during it (as
Peter Ragnar, a great model of vitality into old age says “Time is not toxic”), the
cycle slows and eventually can become vicious.
Here, when it hits the fan, you drop deeper into a hole.
Just like being in debt typically becomes more and more debt. (And the flip side,
the virtuous cycle, of wealth becoming more wealth, is also true.)
But even if you’re stuck in a vicious cycle, all is not lost. What does it take to move
from vicious to virtuous?
Often times it takes massive action. A jumpstart can help get you there. If you are
here I highly encourage you to make some big changes.
And that’s one of the reasons I love super herbs and select nutrients. They can act
as that jumpstart in a way that is simple enough for people to get started.
With the benefits they bring you’re better able to make lifestyle changes to support
you getting into a virtuous cycle. With testosterone running you’ll be better at
training, eating right and all the other things you should be doing.
First of all testosterone production doesn’t occur without many vitamins and
minerals. There are some very notable ones like zinc and vitamin D, but basically
every vitamin and most minerals play a role in the hormonal cascade.
Every single hormone conversion, of which there are many, requires these as co-
factors. Thus a single deficiency can throw the whole thing off. No zinc, no
testosterone. No potassium and your luteinizing hormone, which triggers the testes
to make T is off. No vitamin E and lower testosterone, LH and FSH levels. And on
and on it goes.
We are deficient in many things for several reasons. One is that our food, even
natural and organic food, often has less because the soil is depleted. If it’s not
there then it can’t be in the plant or the animal. And if you’re eating processed food
it’s even further stripped.
Secondly, with the environmental stressors our bodies actually use up even more of
these nutrients than our ancestors did. If you engage in hard training of any type
that also means you need more.
So what do you do about it? The simplest solution is to make sure you are on a
well-rounded multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. Unfortunately, they are not all
created equal, not by a long shot. If you think you’re getting covered by any of the
popular one-a-day multivitamin, the truth is many of those may be doing more
harm than good.
I’m all about getting what you need from real food. Yet I recognize that even eating
the highest quality food and taking various herbs may still leave you with gaps
Thus for many people the best bet is to make sure you have micronutrient
insurance. For much more on this subject make sure to check out this interview
with Jayson and Mira Calton, leaders in this field.
People will often leap to conclusions and say an herb doesn’t work. Well, I’m sorry
but if you have almost zero zinc, these herbs can’t really make up for that fact. But
if you have the bases covered then watch out.
These work through different mechanisms, but they both to seem to work quite
well. If you find yourself at the bottom of a deep hole try taking both at once. Then
go out and lift something heavy and you’ll be well on your way.
Of course, it’s not just taking these things. There are two more steps that will serve
to supercharge these even further. That’s because the manner in which we take
them also matters.
One of the most fascinating studies about testosterone, and one which helped me
to understand the implication that hormones work both ways as chemical
messengers was as follows.
This study, Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels
and Risk Tolerance, by Cuddy, Carney and Yap, looked at body language and found
that by taking more “dominant” poses testosterone immediately increased, while
cortisol went down. And the opposite occurred in “non-dominant” poses.
So what I want you to do while you’re taking these nutrients and herbs especially is
to do so in a powerful position. Stand or sit like a real man. Erect spine. Head held
high. Breathing deeply. Chest held high and shoulders back. See the next page for
more examples, as well as what not to do.
This physiology does affect your hormones levels. Of course, you should do it
throughout the day, but here we are using it to stack the benefits.
And that’s not all. In addition, it is my belief that HOW you think will also affect
your hormone levels. If body language affects testosterone, why wouldn’t your
thoughts? After all, you can think about biting into a lemon and your mouth will
begin to pucker and saliva flows. Our body and mind are intimately connected.
This can come in different forms. Some people might “feel” the testosterone
flowing. Other people may visualize how they’re going to act and feel in the future.
Still others may imagine seeing numbers having gone up from testing hormones
and others asking what they did to do so. Experiment and find what works for you.
In every study averages are what is looked at to achieve statistical significance. But
if you look at individuals you can see ones with no or negative results, and those
that had phenomenal results. Why not become the high point outlier yourself?
Basically you can get a real effect and a so-called placebo effect at the same time.
It’s an affirmation or belief that what you’re doing is optimizing your hormones.
Feed this into your subconscious and the body will better act on it.
It is in stacking these things together you can expect even greater results. Some
people will likely note results right away. Others may take some time to do so. Just
to recap, do the following:
1. Take Nutrience to make sure all your micronutrient bases are covered.
5. Do all of these while thinking, visualizing and feeling how what you are doing
is going to lead to better hormone levels.
Of course, this can and should be customized to you as an individual. There’s many
other possible steps you could add in, or substitutions you could make. But armed
While the final steps are free the first few take a little money. But for less than
$100 a month it’s a great deal. With higher testosterone levels it should be easy to
make that extra money some way!
Here is the truth about it. These are not just cycles but instead more like a spiral.
Whether it goes up or down is largely up to you.