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A study has revealed that for middle aged men, hitting the gym might do much more than just helping lose some pounds. The research claims that losing weight is directly proportional to increasing sex drive in men in their 50s who are prone to diabetes.

The study conducted by Dublin Doctors involved 900 participants aged around 54, and showed that weight loss reduces the chances of low testosterone in men by 50 percent. The research was conducted as a part of US Diabetes Prevention programme.

People who are prone to diabetes, are advised to lose weight in order to avoid the onset of the disease. However, an increased sexual drive is an added benefit to the men who diet and exercise, say scientists.

For the study, the 900 participants were divided into three groups and were put on a yearlong treatment regime to ward off diabetes.

Out of the three groups, one group was told to diet and exercise for 150 minutes a week, one was given the diabetes drug metformin and the rest were given a placebo.

Groups which were given the placebo and the drug were almost found to be identical in their low testosterone level measurements. However, it was found that the in the group which exercised and was on diet, the proportion with low testosterone fell from 20 per cent at the beginning of the study to just 11 per cent a year later, reported Mail Online.

According to Researcher Dr Frances Hayes of St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, low testosterone levels are common among overweight men before they get diabetes.

"Doctors should first encourage overweight men with low testosterone levels to try to lose weight through diet and exercise before resorting to testosterone therapy to raise their hormone levels," she was quoted as saying by Mail Online.

The research results revealed that the testosterone levels in men went up in direct proportion to the number of pounds they lost.

"Losing weight not only reduces the risk of prediabetic men progressing to diabetes but also appears to increase their body's production of testosterone," said Dr Hayes.

The results were presented on Monday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, US.