🚬 WARNING: Marijuana and THC Kills Your Testosterone (2024)

As Marijuana becomes more legalized, I get asked questions often these days, such as:

• If using pot or THC, lowers testosterone?
• If you lose muscle size?
• If it lowers your sex drive?
• If it makes you fatter?
• If it causes man-boobs (gynecomastia)?

And similar questions.

Generally, these questions are from men.

However, this also affects women as well. In fact, just a few weeks ago I had one of my private clients tell me that after filming ends on one of her movies, she reduces and stops smoking pot. And within days, her sex drive shoots up like crazy… and asked why?

Lowered Testosterone

And the answer is that yes, marijuana lowers testosterone levels. I’ve seen it over and over again in dozens of blood tests over the years and especially in recent times since it’s now legal and people have easy access.

What’s worse, it also creates an imbalance in other hormones, which I’ll get to in a minute.

In fact, studies have shown this for years. In 1974, The New England Journal Of Medicine¹ showed that marijuana smokers between the age of 18-28, had testosterone levels of about 416 ng, while the non-smokers had 742 ng. That’s like half the testosterone.

Normal levels are roughly between 300-900, on the higher end for guys in their 20s. YET, the pot smokers were near the low/normal range. That’s horrible!

In another human study⁴, it showed that testosterone levels drop by 33% within an hour and 66% within 2 hours. Again, not good.

However, there are other studies showing very little difference.

Man Boobs – Gynecomastia

Men can get gynecomastia (aka “gyno”), which is also called “man boobs” or “moobs”.

This happens when estrogen levels go up… which then causes a negative feedback loop in your body, causing a decrease in testosterone levels.

Thus, the imbalance will cause swelling in your nipples, leading to man boobs.

This will also eventually accelerate prostate problems (BPH) and hair loss as well. But, that’s another topic for another day.

And, there are studies^2,3 showing that marijuana use causes higher estrogen levels and thus, leading to all of these problems.

Kills Your Sperm

Another problem with all of this is that for sure, marijuana lowers sperm concentrations, count and mobility.^5-7

The crazy part is that the negative effects happen with just once-a-week usage and can last for 3 months or longer.^6,7

So if you want to have kids, you better stop using cannabis.

Real Life Feedback

So, let me give you REAL life feedback that I have since my background is in both Pharmacology (the study of drugs) and Endocrinology (the study of hormones).

1. YES – marijuana lowers your testosterone levels by decreasing FSH and LH levels.
2. YES – it increases estrogen levels, which further decreases your testosterone levels.
3. YES – it can cause and exacerbate gynecomastia / “Man Boobs”.
4. YES – it will cause negativity in your sperm count, motility, and quality.

However, some things to keep in mind.

• Everyone reacts differently.
• The more you use and the higher the dosage, the worse the effects.
• The younger you are, the worse the effects.

The good news is that all of this can be reversed, once you stop using any form of cannabis and the active ingredient, THC.

Lastly, for many people, marijuana relaxes them and makes them kinda lazy and thus, they don’t want to go to the gym. And if they do, because pot is a depressant on your Nervous System (CNS), your strength goes down.

All of this means less muscle, which gets even worse with the lowered testosterone.

But, YOU have to be the judge of it — see how it affects your life and mood.

One other thing, IF you don’t want to stop using marijuana, or you’re concerned about your testosterone levels or sex drive … and you want to improve your levels and ALSO decrease negative hormones such as estrogen and stress hormones like cortisol, then I suggest you discover a natural method for increasing your testosterone — without any change in your lifestyle.

This is especially important for anyone over the age of 30.