Cheeseburger, Please

A growl is heard somewhere
No one seems to be with you
Ok… you realize it’s your stomach communicating a ‘Mayday’
Hunger
You never hesitate to let your little friend in there suffer for more
Beep … Beep … Beep … Beep.
Hello, 1x Cheese Burger meal, upsized with large fries and 1x piece of pie, please
Sure sir, however I want to let you know it’s our feast day, which means you can get one extra meal for free…
A moment of silence…
Growling sounds intensifies…
Mayday…
Yes please make them two Cheese Burgers.

Food is considered by most of us as the most delightful experience, and needless to say, a source of pleasure even in the sad and solitary environments. It is also very widely accessible with low cost; financially to be more precise. Time spent thinking about food; in addition to time spent consuming it is significant and constitutes a cornerstone of our daily life. Yet, with that being said, this is probably also why you’re sitting alone without a bunch of kids playing around in your dining room, and needless to say, not with your significant other having fun in the bedroom; if I may say. Over indulgence of unhealthy food, results in an increased fat deposition in the body. This will not only implicate an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as we all know, but also can result in reduced fertility and sexual potency.

The testicles produce testosterone (male reproductive hormone), which gets converted in the body fat into estrogen (female reproductive hormone). Normally, there is a delicate ratio between testosterone and estrogen in the blood, nearly 10:1 which means that estrogen is actually needed in many vital functions including sperm development, but only in small fractions. When more weight is gained, and hence increased fat concentration in the body, the rate of testosterone to estrogen conversion will speed up, resulting in lowering of testosterone concomitant with rising estrogen levels, and subsequently reduced fertility and sexual dysfunction.

Treatment is essentially a lifestyle modification more than being medical therapy. It has been shown that each 9 kg weight gain can result in a 10% reduction in fertility potential in males [1], and hence losing weight can translate to a better fertility potential and improved sexual function.
When needed, a medication is used that blocks the enzyme responsible for the testosterone to estrogen conversion, resulting in rising of testosterone and lowered estrogens.

So the next time your stomach growls, sit down and relax, meditate for 10 minutes, or maybe do some yoga, and order one big, chunky, humongous, ginormous bowl of salad.

[1] Katib A. Mechanisms linking obesity to male infertility. Cent European J Urol. 2015;68(1):79-85. doi:10.5173/ceju.2015.01.435