The importance of proper nutrition can't be overemphasized. While being overweight isn't a disease in itself, it makes a lot of other diseases worse. From heart disease to diabetes to arthritis, carrying too much weight, particularly around your waist may actually cause, and will significantly worsen these conditions. This applies to andropause as well.

The excess fat will increase the production of Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, which will lower your bioavailable testosterone and can cause or even worsen andropause. Excess fat will also promote the conversion of some of the testosterone to estrogen further worsening the condition.

When it comes to diet there are several things that are known.. A diet that's low in fat is helpful for heart disease and some forms of cancer. A diet that's high in fibre is also helpful for heart disease and some forms of cancer. A diet that promotes consistent insulin levels is felt to be very beneficial in many ways. Finally the only nutritional intervention that's been shown to make people live longer is to take in fewer calories as they get older.

If you take all of these things into account, you wind up with a low fat, high fibre, low "Glycemic Index", low calorie diet. Fortunately, a number of the most popular diets seen these days are promoting this concept, the "GI" and "South Beach" among others. The keys are adding fibre, lowering fat and avoiding the kinds of food that tend to make your insulin levels spike (i.e. simple sugars). It's not about eliminating carbohydrates per se, just the ones that have lots of calories and cause insulin jumps. These include white bread, white rice, pasta ,potatoes, juice and pop and alcohol. Some of these things have some benefits as well, so rather than stopping them altogether, it's worthwhile to find out what he potential benefits may be and adjust your intake accordingly.

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