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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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07.07.2009 |
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Prohormone androstenedione increases muscle mass
Androstenedione has not been on the market since George Bush put prohormones in the same boat as steroids in the new Anabolic Steroid Control Act. Not that it made much difference to chemical athletes. Those who used steroids disguised as supplements had already gone on to stronger stuff, like 17-alpha-methyl-1-testosterone. According to their experience – and those of researchers in a handful of studies – androstenedione didn't work. But one study, which was published after the ban, says otherwise.
The figures above show the effect on the total testosterone and the free testosterone concentrations. Free testosterone is not attached to a protein and is active. Half of the ordinary testosterone is attached to the binding protein SHBG and no longer has a muscle-strengthening effect. SHBG that is 'charged' with androgens may still be capable of inducing undesirable androgenic effects, such as prostate enlargement. The rest of the testosterone in the blood is attached to albumin, but it can free itself from this. Because the amount of albumin in the blood increases the more protein you eat, athletes can increase the amount of available testosterone in their body by increasing their protein consumption.
The amount of female hormone also increased after taking the supplements. See the table below.
The men ate 1.3 g of protein per kg bodyweight daily. They didn't do weight training. But even so, their fat free mass increased by 1.7 kg during the trail. Their fat mass decreased by half a kilogram.
The negative side-effects were minimal. There was no effect on the prostate cancer protein PSA. The men's blood did not become thicker and their concentration of 'bad cholesterol', LDL, did not rise. The only thing that the researchers found was that the 'good cholesterol', HDL, decreased from 44 mg/dl to 33 mg/dl.
When Bush put androstenedione in the same category as, say, stanozolol and nandrolone, he was right, the researchers conclude. "Androstenedione has remarkable structural similarity to testosterone and increases muscle mass and strength in humans. Therefore, androstenedione is a bonafide androgen with anabolic properties that meets the essential criteria for an anabolic steroid established by the Controlled Substance Act."
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