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I see alot of info here about ways to LOWER DHT. But, DHT is the most powerful male hormone (much more than testosterone, and it cannot aromatize) and really increases sex drive and other desirable, confident male behavior. So, I want to know how to INCREASE DHT. I don't have a receding hairline and my prostate is healthy, so I'm not so worried about those effects.

From another thread: http://paleohacks.com/questions/27631/5-alpha-reductase-saturated-fats-monounsaturated-fats#axzz1pw4hIK8U

I see that "Lauric acid (C12) is in coconut oil and breast milk. Palmitic acid (C16) is in palm oil and meat, butter, etc. Oleic acid is the main mono-unsaturated fat in meats (45% of lard for example). ALA is the primary omega-3.

So the best fats for inhibiting or lowering 5-alpha reductase, are coconut oil, animal fats and oily fish. Hmm... sounds very paleo."

5-Alpha-reductase is an enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. Meat, fish oil, and coconut oil inhibit 5-alpha reductase. That could explain why many men are saying their libido is decreased on paleo. Less DHT = less libido.

Zinc inhibits the production of 5-alpha-reductase.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3207614 " When added at concentrations of 3 or 9 mmol/l, zinc was a potent inhibitor of 5 alpha-reductase activity. At high concentrations, zinc could completely inhibit the enzyme activity"

Beef and Lamb are loaded with zinc.

So paleo fats and meat must lower DHT.

What do you all think of this? Whats the best way to INCREASE DHT?

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I didn't think this made logical sense because I've always heard that good levels of zinc help increase libido. Then I clicked on the link, and all became clear. They took skin cells, put them in a petri dish, and then put supraphysiological levels of zinc on them, which resulted in 5-alpha-reductase being inhibited. If we step back a bit and think about what is really going on, we can see these scientists have proven you can damage and eventually kill skins cells if you dump enough zinc on them. What they have not done is prove anything about what goes on if you eat proper human food.

It seems to me cholesterol, vitamins A&D, magnesium and selenium are probably the things to be making sure you get enough of. You might go look at what people doing an anti-estrogen diet do, though I can't remember it differing too much from what I am already doing. Really, I think eating a paleo diet and avoiding the pro-estrogen crap of modern life is just about the best thing you can do to put your body on the path you want to go.

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Fair enough about that zinc study. But that's not the only bit I recall reading that said zinc lowers DHT. I'll have to dig and cite something else. Bit what about those fats that inhibit 5-alpha-reductase? – animaleater Mar 24 2012 at 0:00
I think this falls under the category of 'what do we do when we know we don't know?' (I didn't make that up Nassim Taleb did.) I don't know the particular studies in which these fats were maligned, but in lieu of decent knowledge, I'd suggest avoiding the plant based ones and eating the animal fats. Corn oil is novel, but so are massive amounts of coconut oil. Meanwhile we've been eating meat for a very long time, and though palmitic acid may inhibit 5-alpha-reductase when it is introduced in a purified form, the effect of the whole food is very to likely increase 5-alpha-reductase. – August Mar 26 2012 at 14:04
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Would love to get more input on this topic! (bump?)

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think the best solution is to increase testosterone as much as possible in order to have quantities for a good dht conversion, once you realise what is the high test thing when young you don't want nor will ever want to get old

it got me thinking though about this negative loop feedback systems - doesn't the body lowers testosterone when DHT become a bit too high?

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