TRT Diet Breakdowns

Hi all, been lurking awhile and wanted to personally thank all of you for the wealth of knowledge! It is truly a fantastic resource in this forum.

I am 43, 6’5" and usually around 245lbs or so. I can almost universally be found in the 15-18% bodyfat range, and ive been training for roughly 15 years pretty consistently. I adhere to a 80 to 90 percent rule on diet, for the most part, im pretty clean, but i allow myself the cheats and pleasures of life at times.

Had some symptoms of low T for a year or two, the norm, lack of libido, decrease in mood and drive, all your typical ones. Reached out for bloodwork and had TT of around 350, SHGB of 60, and E2 was below detectable ranges. Im going from memory here, either way, began TRT.
Test Cyp, 165 mg per week, E3D dosing. No AI. Been going fantastic, 6 weeks in. Next bloods coming up.

Was curious about diet changes people have made when begining TRT. I guess my thought process is that with exogenous hormones, the need for the precursors to testoterone produced in the body may not be needed to the degree as a natural man may need.

What general diet types are folks here on (keto, carnivore, carb cycle, balanced, etc) and have you made any changes with that regard since begining TRT?

can someone on TRT have a no fat diet?

presuming they supplement with fish oil.

1 Like

I basically just try to avoid or limit the foods that offer little other than a lot of calories in an easy to consume package. Very caloric dense foods. These are things like desserts (especially ridiculous things like skillet cookie sundaes and milk shakes), beverages with sugar, fried foods (chips included). I try to only have alcoholic drinks when it is worth it (out with friends), but not when it doesn’t really provide any extra fun (home watching a movie / football or something).

In addition to this, I also try to get meals that have are on the higher end for protein.

I am no physique competitor. This approach has gotten me into pretty good shape though. For me, it is sustainable because it is easy to adhere to. For example, it is a much easier choice to get a side of mashed potatoes or side salad with my burger with a diet coke instead of a regular coke, compared to getting just a salad, or not even being able to practically go out while on the carnivore or keto diet.

I think for many people they can get almost as good of results, just by going after the low hanging fruit on the short term. On the long term, I think most people would do better with this approach, since it’s requires much less will power. It becomes a habitual eating pattern.

3 Likes

You still need lipids to transport proteins through the cell walls. Also worth mentioning that there are more hormones than just testosterone that need producing.

Fish oil/Omega 3’s won’t hurt any, but still recommended to keep fats at least 0.3g/lb BW.

3 Likes

can/does excess existing body fat provide any of these needs?

1 Like

Conceivably, it would. But I would also imagine that you aren’t getting a great return on hormones production through fat metabolism.

It does raise questions though:

  • What happens if you consistently eat 0g fats on TRT?
  • Would your body still burn fat in a surplus?

This question was more interesting than I first thought.

1 Like

I’ve been eating egg whites and lean meat.

OP’s question made me wonder about the unintended consequences of less than 10g of fat per day.

1 Like

You suddenly discover life without ice cream and chocolate is not worth living and drop a 200lb barbell on your neck to end the misery?

5 Likes

That is extremely low fat. Almost every diet - ever - recommends a minimum of 0.3g/lb.

Going to reference Renaissance Diet again:

Very simply, if you eat all of your daily calories in protein, you will not be able to get sufficient fats or carbohydrates and your health, sport performance, and recovery will
suffer. Maximum protein intake is as much protein as can be eaten within the caloric constraint while still allowing the minimum amounts of fat and carbohydrate for health .

As you may have already inferred, the primary role of carbs in the human diet is for use as an energy source. Proteins are mainly used as building blocks for tissue and only used for energy on occasion (when carbohydrates and fats are lacking). Carbohydrates are the raw materials for energy metabolism and are used only in limited forms as structural components. In other words, the body’s primary use for carbs is to power cells, and carbs are particularly important in powering the operation and contraction of muscle cells. As energy substrates, carbohydrates have no equal––they easily and rapidly provide energy, especially for high-volume users like
nervous system cells and muscle cells.

Essential fats, much like essential amino acids, are fats that are critical to survival and health, but that cannot be made by the body and so must be consumed. The two types of essential fats in the human diet are Omega-6 and Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Both occur in a wide variety of foods and can also be supplemented. Very low fat diets can risk deficiencies, especially for Omega-3’s. Further, some vitamins cannot be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract without the presence of fat, so extremely low fat diets also risk vitamin deficiencies. Hormone dysregulation can also occur when fats are under-eaten as fats supply some of the raw materials for hormone production.

The minimum recommendation is around 0.3g per pound of body weight per day––this amount makes it very likely that enough essential fats (Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats) will be consumed to meet minimum needs. In addition, this minimum value ensures enough fat intake to support sufficient testosterone, estrogen, and prostaglandin production for best body composition and performance outcomes.

image


None of this is presented as an argument, just information that I think is worthy of posting. Didn’t directly answer the question, but can help, I think.

3 Likes

That is kimd of where i was going with the thought process. I would never consider a super low fat diet as i’m firmly in the fats are good camp, but the experiment could be interesting as is the thoight process.

2 Likes

I do go on spurts of extremely low/no carb fairly frequently. Never more than a month and always dependant upon where im at in my training and what my goals are. I always find it does me alot of good personally.

Hadn’t thought too much beyond the sex hormones from the fat perspective, but definitely, now that it was brought up, there are plenty more beyond that.

I do feel like, even though 6 weeks is very very new to this, i feel like my body uses food differently. I am certainly begining to notice a shift in where i store fat as well as the fullness of some muscle groups, such as shoulders.

1 Like

None, initially. Eventually I went to a higher carb, low fat diet just out of convenience with schedule, but never felt any different.