Men don’t have estrogen, women don’t have testosterone.

Testosterone, the “male hormone,” promotes muscle growth, bone mass and body hair. Estrogen, the “female hormone,” plays an important role in regulating menstrual periods and reproductive cycles.

It is widely believed that only men produce testosterone and only women produce estrogen. That is incorrect, though the relative proportions of these hormones are very different in men and women.

Adult male testosterone levels are about 7 – 8 times that of adult females and daily testosterone production is 20 times greater. Testosterone is necessary for women’s health but their bodies’ needs are much less than men’s.

Likewise, men’s bodies produce estrogen, but women have significantly higher levels. In males, estrogen regulates certain functions of the reproductive system.

Bonus Fact: When a couple falls in love, the man’s testosterone level decreases while the woman’s increases, for unknown reasons. This “honeymoon period” ends in one to three years, after which hormone levels return to normal.