Lowering testosterone levels typically involves a combination of lifestyle changes, dietary adjustments, and in many cases, medication prescribed by a doctor. The right approach depends on why your testosterone is elevated in the first place. In women, normal total testosterone falls roughly between 7 and 50 ng/dL, and levels above that range can cause noticeable symptoms like excess hair growth, acne, and irregular periods.
Why Testosterone Gets Too High
The most common cause of elevated testosterone in women is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which accounts for 80% to 90% of all cases of excess androgen production. PCOS involves a cycle where insulin resistance drives the ovaries to produce more testosterone than normal. Obesity can worsen this cycle by further increasing insulin resistance.
Less common causes include congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a group of genetic conditions where the adrenal glands overproduce testosterone due to missing enzymes, and androgen-secreting tumors of the ovaries or testes. If symptoms like sudden hair growth, voice deepening, or rapid acne onset appear quickly rather than gradually, that pattern points toward a tumor and warrants urgent medical evaluation.
How Insulin Resistance Drives the Problem
For the majority of people trying to lower testosterone, insulin is the hidden lever. When your body becomes resistant to insulin, it compensates by producing more of it. Elevated insulin directly stimulates the ovaries to ramp up testosterone production. This is the core mechanism behind PCOS-related hyperandrogenism, and it means that anything you do to improve insulin sensitivity can lower testosterone as a downstream effect.
That makes weight management, blood sugar control, and exercise genuinely effective tools, not just generic health advice. Even a modest reduction in body fat can measurably improve insulin sensitivity and bring testosterone levels down.
Exercise and Weight Loss
Regular physical activity improves insulin sensitivity directly, which helps reduce the signal telling your ovaries to produce excess testosterone. Both aerobic exercise (walking, cycling, swimming) and resistance training have demonstrated benefits. You don’t need extreme routines. Consistent moderate exercise, around 150 minutes per week, is enough to shift the needle on insulin resistance over several months.
If you’re carrying extra weight, losing even 5% to 10% of your body weight can produce meaningful hormonal changes. The effect isn’t about the number on the scale so much as reducing the visceral fat that contributes to insulin resistance and inflammation.
Dietary Changes That Help
Because insulin resistance is central to most cases of high testosterone, eating in ways that keep blood sugar stable is the most impactful dietary strategy. That means prioritizing whole grains over refined carbohydrates, pairing carbs with protein or fat to slow absorption, and reducing added sugars. A lower-glycemic diet consistently improves insulin markers in people with PCOS.
Spearmint tea has some clinical support as a mild anti-androgen. In a randomized controlled trial, women with PCOS who drank spearmint tea twice daily for 30 days had significant reductions in both free and total testosterone. The effect was measurable on blood tests, though the researchers noted it didn’t clearly translate into visible changes like reduced hair growth within that short timeframe. Still, it’s a low-risk addition to a broader plan.
Flaxseed is sometimes recommended because its lignans have a chemical structure similar to sex hormones and can theoretically increase testosterone excretion. However, a systematic review of ten randomized controlled trials found that flaxseed supplementation had no significant effect on total testosterone, free androgen index, or sex hormone-binding globulin levels. The evidence doesn’t support relying on flaxseed for testosterone reduction.
Soy is another food that comes up frequently in this conversation. Multiple meta-analyses have concluded that neither soy protein nor isoflavone supplements alter testosterone levels in men or meaningfully affect reproductive hormones in women. You can eat soy without worrying it will disrupt your hormones, but don’t expect it to lower testosterone either.
Medications That Lower Testosterone
When lifestyle changes aren’t enough on their own, several medications can bring testosterone levels down effectively.
Combined oral contraceptives (birth control pills containing both estrogen and a progestin) are one of the most commonly prescribed options. They work through two mechanisms: suppressing the ovarian and adrenal signals that trigger testosterone production, and increasing levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a protein that binds to testosterone in the blood and makes it inactive. The net result is lower circulating total and free testosterone.
Spironolactone is frequently prescribed alongside birth control for women dealing with hormonal acne or excess hair growth. Originally developed as a blood pressure medication, it also blocks testosterone from binding to its receptors in the skin and hair follicles. It reduces testosterone’s effects even when circulating levels haven’t dropped dramatically. Because it can cause birth defects, it’s almost always paired with contraception in women of reproductive age.
For people with insulin-resistant PCOS, medications that improve insulin sensitivity can lower testosterone indirectly by addressing the root metabolic issue.
Supplements With Anti-Androgen Properties
Reishi mushroom has shown some promise in laboratory research. In a study comparing the anti-androgenic effects of 20 mushroom species, reishi had the strongest action. It significantly reduced the activity of 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into its more potent form, DHT. Less DHT means less stimulation of oil glands and hair follicles, which is where many symptoms originate. That said, most of this evidence comes from lab and animal studies, and human trials are limited.
Licorice root has more direct human evidence. In a small trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, seven healthy young men given 7 grams of licorice daily (containing 0.5 grams of glycyrrhizic acid) experienced decreased serum testosterone. Licorice blocks enzymes involved in testosterone synthesis. The researchers noted that the amounts used were comparable to what many people consume normally. However, licorice in large doses can raise blood pressure and lower potassium, so it’s not something to take in high amounts without monitoring.
How Long Results Take
One of the most important things to understand about lowering testosterone is that visible results lag far behind hormonal changes. Blood levels of testosterone can shift within weeks of starting treatment, but the symptoms you’re trying to fix, particularly excess hair growth, operate on their own timeline.
Facial hair has a growth cycle where the active phase lasts about four months. Because of this, it takes roughly six months to even detect the effects of hormonal therapy on hair growth, and about nine months for those effects to reach their maximum. The Endocrine Society recommends giving any medication at least six months before adjusting the dose or switching approaches. Acne tends to respond somewhat faster, often within three to four months, but patience is essential for any anti-androgen strategy.
This timeline applies whether you’re using medication, lifestyle changes, or both. The hormonal environment may improve quickly, but the tissues responding to testosterone need time to turn over and reflect that new environment. Combining approaches, such as pairing medication with dietary improvements and exercise, tends to produce better outcomes than relying on any single intervention alone.