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24.03.2023


Betaine increases testosterone, lowers cortisol after strength training

Supplementation with a few grams of betaine per day changes the hormone balance of strength athletes. You would expect that such a hormonal shift would speed up the build-up of muscle mass.


Betaine increases testosterone, lowers cortisol after strength training


Study
Sports scientists at the University of Guilan in Iran got young male handball players to take a dose of 1.25 grams of betaine twice a day for 14 days. The athletes therefore used 2.5 grams of betaine per day. The product the researchers used came from BulkSupplements.com.

On the last day of the supplementation period, the researchers got the athletes to do bench presses and leg presses.

The researchers measured the amount of testosterone and cortisol circulating in the subjects' blood just before the supplementation period began. They repeated this measurement on the last day of the supplementation period, once just before the subjects started training and once afterwards.

On another occasion, the researchers repeated the procedure. Then the athletes took a placebo.

Results
Betaine supplementation increased the concentration of testosterone and decreased the concentration of cortisol. This hormonal shift could mean that the hormone balance is better suited to build muscle mass.


Betaine increases testosterone, lowers cortisol after strength training

Betaine increases testosterone, lowers cortisol after strength training

Betaine increases testosterone, lowers cortisol after strength training

Betaine increases testosterone, lowers cortisol after strength training


Mechanism
In a Chinese animal study in which pigs were given betaine through their feed, the concentration of betaine in their hypothalamus increased. [J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2007 Apr;91(3-4):85-90.]

The hypothalamus is a gland in the brain that produces control hormones such as GnRH and GHRH. GnRH may stimulate the release of testosterone via the pituitary gland and indirectly inhibit cortisol, the researchers speculate based on this Chinese study.

In the animal study just mentioned, supplementation increased growth hormone release and the pigs retained more protein. The Chinese did not look at effects on testosterone and cortisol.

Source:
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2022 Mar 22;19(1):1-16.

More:
Heavy training + betaine = more testosterone 04.05.2022
Trimethylglycine stimulates muscle growth via IGF-1 20.02.2014
The anabolic effect of betaine 04.11.2013

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Betaine


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