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Cher
once did a television commercial for a large chain of health
clubs. In this
commercial, she said that everyone could look like her if
beautiful bodies came in a bottle.
Unfortunately, she claimed, you actually had to work out
to look like her.
Although
we still can’t buy beauty in a bottle, people are finding more
and more effective ways of using diet supplementation to aid
them in sculpting the perfect body.
As
science progresses and the art of “alternative medicine”
creeps into the mainstream, there is mounting evidence that some
of the supplements that people have been buying at the health
food store for years may indeed be effective.
Over
the past few years, one of the most striking trends has been for
people to manipulate their hormones through supplementation.
It
has long been known that the hormone that is responsible for
“maleness” may also contribute to the development of new
musculature. Some bodybuilders have used this knowledge and injected
themselves with the hormone called testosterone.
Testosterone
is the hormone that is responsible for most of the physical
characteristics that we associate with being male including the
male body habitus, facial hair, etc.
Although there are legitimate medical purposes for a
physician to prescribe this hormone to a patient, it is illegal
to take this drug to improve ones physical appearance.
Through
biochemistry we know that testosterone is not created in a one
step reaction. Indeed,
there are several precursors in a very complex and enzyme
mediated cascade that eventually ends in the production of
testosterone.
In
addition to occurring in the human body, several of these
precursors occur in nature.
Because of this, it is legal to sell these drugs at
health food stores. Two
of the more popular ones are androstenedione and DHEA.
Both
androstenedione and DHEA are precursors of testosterone.
The theory goes that if you take either or both of these
drugs then the body will do the work and turn them into
testosterone.
Up
until recently, most the evidence that this theory worked was
anecdotal. Several
fairly recent medical studies have tried to see if the theory
works. For example,
one experiment was conducted by giving volunteers
androstenedione by mouth and then measuring the subjects blood
levels of testosterone. The
study concluded that for subjects taking a certain dose of
androstenedione that their blood testosterone level was indeed
elevated when compared to control subjects.
There
is ongoing research to answer several questions regarding
hormone supplementation including what dose of hormone works
best, should the hormones be taken in combination, what side
effects can be anticipated, are there any drug-drug
interactions, and
are these medicines safe.
Unfortunately
even if there is reasonable evidence that these hormones do
improve athletic performance or make body toning easier or more
effective, there is little evidence that suggests that these
drugs are safe over the long term.
Indeed
several professional sports associations have banned
androstendione for performance and safety concerns.
For
now at least, the bottom line is that Cher is right. You still have to expend precious time and effort to get a
beautiful body. And
if you choose to experiment with ergogenic supplements, you do
so at your own risk and with little scientific evidence with
which to make an informed decision.
In general, you should always do as much research as possible on whatever
supplement that you choose to take. Of course you should always mention any medicines that you are
taking to your doctor and pharmacist since even some drugs from
health food stores can interact with medicines that your doctor
may prescribe.
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