Testosterone-boosting Supplements: How they work and do they work? by Jerry Brainum 3/25

 

Supplements reputed to increase testosterone are among the most popular supplements for athletes, bodybuilders, and those seeking increased muscle and strength gains. This notion is based on the fact that testosterone is needed to support muscle gains. Studies in which young men involved in resistance training were given a drug that blocks testosterone showed that the men made no muscle gains, no matter how hard they trained. A landmark study published in the late 90s found that testosterone was so potent at promoting increased muscle gains that it did so without any accompanying exercise. However, exercise did add to the effect. Many athletes and bodybuilders resort to using various forms of testosterone, including testosterone (T) itself, as well as anabolic steroid drugs, which are synthetic versions of testosterone designed to be more anabolic but less androgenic compared to testosterone. Androgenic effects include hair growth and side effects that include acne and male pattern baldness if a person has genetics for it. In the early days of anabolic steroid usage in sports, scientists and physicians, who knew little or nothing about the drugs, were loathe to admit that anabolic steroids could help to induce muscular growth. Instead, the apparent increases in muscular size and sports performance demonstrated by athletes who used the drugs were written off as "water retention." The athletes knew better, and anabolic steroid use became a staple in sports to the extent that sports organizations, including those that run the Olympic games, finally addressed the issue of anabolic steroids in sports by banning the drugs in athletic competition in 1972, with testing begun four years later.

Steroid usage became widespread in bodybuilding competitions in the early 1960s. Most of the popular anabolic steroids were initially developed in the mid-50s to the early 60s, which is considered the "golden age of steroid development," with hundreds of anabolic steroid compounds developed by major pharmaceutical companies. Many of these drugs were never released to the commercial drug market because of various side effects. One example of that was the harmful effects on the liver induced by oral anabolic steroids. As shown in animal research, some drugs were more potent in this effect than others. Such drugs were never released for public use, although many of them later were resurrected as "prohormones" or "supplements" that increased testosterone. These substances, without question, raised testosterone levels because they were abandoned anabolic steroid drugs. As expected, the disguised anabolic drugs marketed as supplements led to serious side effects in many of those who used them, primarily related to decreased liver function. While all oral anabolic steroids can cause liver damage if taken in large enough dosage or for extended times, the prohormone steroids were particularly potent at causing severe liver problems that could lead to liver failure. As a result, a series of laws were passed to ban them from over . . .