[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by Grindin

Thanks for the responses.

Meat and cocaine. My kind of discussion!

I currently try to consume 1.5 grams of protein for each pound of body weight. I weigh 215 lbs. Eating strictly vegetarian, I don't think I would be able to meet this requirement anyway.

One, possibly unfounded, fear I have manifested about the vegan diet is that it would lower my testosterone levels. If someone could clear that up I would appreciate it.

Yes you wish it would lower it! Just kidding. I have naturally high testosterone just like my mom did. This means no excess fat and plenty of muscle. So she was great at gymnastics and ballet. She taught ballet at the famous Joulliard's School of Performing Arts in NYC.

Many ballet dancers are bulimic so they can stay thin. My mother could eat like an elephant and stay thin and muscular. To be technical, she was an ecto-mesomorph. There are several on this forum that are trying to get huge muscles.

My experience is that sunbathing increases testosterone. It also causes hair to grow faster. The 2nd one is a medical fact. The first one is also the opinion of Stephen Arlin, raw food bodybuilder. Here is a picture of him: http://i22.tinypic.com/1gotqb.jpg The governor of CA sunbathed a lot to look tan, not knowing that sunlight had other benefits. It does produce vitamin D-- good for bones and muscles.

If you are young do not worry about giving up all meat. You have a low chance of heart attack, cancer or stroke. You can do that (vegan) when you get near 40. My mother died of a stroke at 46. The doctor said that she had the arteries of an 80 year old. So I say enjoy your youth!

So I sunbathe besides being high in testosterone already. At 13 I was doing bodybuilding, martial arts and yoga. At 15, I was a gymnast. I ate tons of meat and 8 glasses of milk a day. No soft drinks.

Now I am a vegan but it is decades later. But I still have more than enough testosterone. To be more objective though I do take an Amazon herbal product that is anti-aging. It feeds the endocrine system glands. They produce the hormones in your body. It contains suma, maca and muira puama.

IF you look them up they are known to give people energy and raise libido similar to meat and cocaine but are healthy for you. Wiki. says "Suma is said to support hormonal balance, reduce inflammation, inhibit cancer and leukemia cells, enhance immunity, increase libido, and a provide a number of normalizing and rejuvenating effects. One of the reason for its myriad effects may be its ability to increase oxygenation and energy efficiency at the cellular level."

Wiki says: ""It is often cited that maca was eaten by Inca imperial warriors before battles.[13] Their legendary strength was allegedly imparted by the preparatory consumption of copious amounts of maca, fueling formidable warriors."

"Small-scale clinical trials performed in men have shown that maca extracts can heighten libido and improve semen quality,[20][21] though no studies have been performed on men with sexual dysfunction or infertility. Maca does not affect sex hormone levels in humans, and has not been shown to act on hormones directly. It has been presumed that maca's hormone-normalizing effects may be due to the root's unique nutritional profile, which provides optimum levels of nutrients utilized by the body's endocrine system." Sumacazon. I guess I should have put this on thread about things being good for muscle growth.

The above site says this about muira puama (potent wood) "Muira Puama is one of the most active botanicals with a long history of traditional use as an energy tonic, general health improver and remedy for impotence & sexual insufficiency. It is known in some circles as "the Viagra of the Amazon" and in fact, many people now consider it the new Yohimbe but with considerably less possible side effects."