A hormone expert has identified five everyday foods and drinks that could be lowering testosterone levels, but he cautions that diet's effect is often overstated compared to other lifestyle factors.
Rising Testosterone Prescriptions
Testosterone has become one of the most discussed hormones in Britain. NHS data shows the number of testosterone-related items dispensed rose by 52% between 2020 and 2025.
Mike Kocsis, founder of HRT provider Balance My Hormones, says the effect of diet on testosterone is real but frequently exaggerated. He said: "No single food is going to transform your hormones one way or the other. The effects found in these studies tend to be small, and they depend heavily on quantity."
The Five Foods and Drinks
Research found that testosterone levels fell by 26% when 17 men ate 7g of liquorice a day for a week, then recovered once they stopped. A similar finding was reported in a smaller group of seven men in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999.
Alcohol interferes with the signalling chain from the brain to the testes, which is why heavy drinkers consistently show lower testosterone levels. Beer gets singled out because hops contain a potent plant oestrogen, but the amount in a single pint is small, so the bigger issue is volume and the abdominal weight that tends to come with drinking.
A 2025 trial put 43 young men through a period of ultra-processed (UPF) eating and a period of unprocessed eating. The follicle stimulating hormone dropped on UPFs when calories were in excess. Where calories were matched, testosterone trended downwards and blood levels of a plastics-related chemical known to disrupt hormones went up.
Researchers gave 74 men a standard 75g glucose drink and tracked their hormones for two hours. Testosterone fell by an average of 25% across men with normal glucose tolerance, prediabetes and diabetes alike.
A 2021 review in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology found that low fat diets significantly reduced total, free and urinary testosterone. The effect appeared strongest in European and North American men.
Focus on Basics First
Kocsis says the basics tend to outweigh anything on a list like this: "Weight, sleep and alcohol intake have a far greater influence on testosterone than any individual food does. Those are the things worth addressing first."
He also urges caution about acting on symptoms alone. He said: "Anyone worried about their testosterone should get tested rather than change their diet on a hunch. The guidance is a morning sample taken while fasted, with a repeat test around four weeks later, because a single reading can be misleading."
The five everyday foods and drinks that could be lowering your testosterone: liquorice, beer, ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, and low-fat foods.
