You might love nothing more than cracking open a cold beer after a long workday or indulging in a cocktail (or five) with your girlfriends during Happy Hour. However, while drinking might offer temporary relaxation, it could be doing some serious damage to your body, particularly to your hormones. In this blog, we're focusing on the relationship between alcohol and testosterone and what you need to know before taking even one more sip (especially if you're a man).

How Does Alcohol Affect Testosterone?

Drinking most types of alcohol isn't great for your health, period. And your hormone health is no exception. It can cause both short- and long-term effects, especially for men, since testosterone is their primary sex hormone. (But note that women still produce testosterone!)

In order to understand the relationship between alcohol and testosterone, we need to back up and look at the three main glands that play a role in testosterone production: the hypothalamus, the anterior pituitary gland, and the testes.

How Does Alcohol Lower Testosterone in the Short Term?

Excessive drinking can make it much harder for these glands to do their jobs. In fact, the adverse effects of drinking alcohol on testosterone production and testosterone levels can be witnessed within minutes!

For instance, one study found that testosterone levels can decrease in just 30 minutes after alcohol intake. In another study, men who consumed a pint of whiskey every day for 30 days exhibited lower testosterone levels by day three. By the end of the 30 days, their testosterone levels were similar to men with alcoholism.

Furthermore, when the body processes alcohol, it produces oxygen molecules. This can cause cell damage in the testes. Yet another byproduct is ethanol, a chemical that can get in the way of healthy testosterone levels.

How Does Alcohol Lower Testosterone in the Long Term?

What about in the long run? Well, you probably guessed that heavy drinking can do a real number on the male body over time — and not just to testosterone levels. We're also talking about erectile dysfunction and low libido (not to mention all the other damage that alcohol use will cause).

Alcohol dependence can throw your other hormones out of whack, too. Namely, it can lead to higher levels of estrogen along with cortisol (the stress hormone). This can contribute to low testosterone.

Plus, as your body metabolizes alcohol, the amount of NAD+ (a coenzyme) in your body that helps with testosterone levels decreases in both the testes and the liver.

So, you can see that alcohol affects testosterone in multiple ways both now and in the future — especially if you're battling chronic alcoholism.

Remember, too, that testosterone plays a role in many things beyond sex and reproduction. It's important for your bone and muscle health, maintaining a healthy weight, and producing red blood cells.

Alcohol Also Impacts Sperm

You might not be surprised to learn that not only does substance abuse lead to lowered testosterone levels, but it can also impact sperm production. But how?

It has to do with something called the "Sertoli cells," which exist in the testes. These cells are necessary in order for sperm to mature — something called spermatogenesis.

When sex hormone production is disrupted, it gets in the way of sperm maturation. What ends up happening is there's a low concentration of sperm in the semen. All of this is called spermatogenic arrest.

Sure enough, research confirms this process. For example, one study found that 50% of men exhibiting alcohol misuse had spermatogenic arrest (and smaller testicles), compared to 20% of men who were not consuming too much alcohol.

Maintaining sperm concentration is important to the male reproductive system. There is research suggesting that heavy alcohol consumption before fertilization of the female's egg might lead to birth defects in the baby. While women trying to get pregnant generally know to stay away from alcohol, it can hurt male fertility too!

How Much Alcohol Consumption is Too Much?

Does all of this mean you can't drink at all? Not necessarily. Light and moderate alcohol consumption don't have to be problematic (although you should talk to your healthcare provider first).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that for men, "heavy drinking" means consuming 15 alcoholic drinks or more in a week. For women, it's eight drinks or more in a week.

If this sounds like you, then your alcohol consumption is likely beyond what is safe and could be negatively impacting your testosterone production.

Keep in mind that not all alcoholic drinks are equal. For example, 12 ounces of beer is not the same as 12 ounces worth of shots. Rather, a standard glass of liquor is usually less than two ounces.

This means that you should adjust your drinking limits and boundaries appropriately based on the type of alcohol you're consuming.

Signs of Low Testosterone in Men and Women

Aside from your alcohol consumption, how else can you tell that your testosterone levels might be low? Look for signs like:

• Low libido
• Hot flashes
• Irritability
• Problems with bone and muscle development (i.e., a loss of muscle mass)
• Fatigue
• Changes or impairment in hair growth
• Trouble concentrating

For women, common symptoms of low testosterone include:

• Low libido
• Mood swings
• An irregular cycle
• Excessive hair growth
• Weak bones

While these symptoms could indicate a number of health problems, it's worth asking your doctor if your primary male sex hormone needs some support.

Your provider can determine your testosterone levels with a simple blood test. At eNational Testing, this hormone is included in the Standard Men's Health Panel, Complete Men's Health Panel, Standard Women's Health Panel, and Complete Women's Health Panel.

We have more than 2,000 locations around the US, and you don't need to see your doctor first. Find a testing center near you.

What Happens to Your Testosterone Levels if You Stop Drinking?

Let's say you decide to drastically reduce your alcohol intake — or even stop your alcohol use completely. What will happen to your testosterone production?

It depends on a couple of factors, including how significant the alcohol abuse has been and how long you've been drinking alcohol like that. Getting back to healthier testosterone levels can take months or years, and in some cases, whatever damage was caused can be permanent.

More research is needed on the specific timeline since there are so many variables at play. However, one fascinating study with mice found that some of the negative effects of alcohol on their reproductive systems were reversed after 10 weeks of stopping consumption.

While we can't say for sure what this healing process looks like in humans, it at least offers some hope that even after the effects of alcohol have grabbed hold, it's possible to return to healthy testosterone levels after time and with the right lifestyle choices.

What About Alcohol and Testosterone Replacement Therapy?

You can probably already guess what we're about to say! If you're undergoing testosterone replacement therapy to boost low testosterone levels, then your provider will likely advise you to limit alcohol consumption or ideally, stop drinking altogether, to improve the treatment's effectiveness.

Should You Quit Drinking?

The damages of excessive drinking don't end here — not nearly. In fact, you can likely imagine that if this is what alcohol abuse can do to the reproductive hormones alone, it can do a whole lot more to your physical and mental health.

Other effects of alcohol outside of decreased testosterone production (and disruption of other key hormones) can include liver damage, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, stroke, and even cancer.

While small amounts of alcohol probably aren't dangerous for healthy adults, if you're dealing with hormone problems or trying to have a baby, you should probably steer clear!