Originally posted by Mr. Fantastic
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There is also a reason why Androstenedione was the first to come out, then almost completely abandoned by any of that knew anything about prohormones.
Marijuana is banned in all sports. Does that mean it enhances performance? There are lots of things that are banned that are not proven to be performance enhancers. Andro WILL enhance performance in high enough doses, but its like using a slegdehammer to kill flies, get my point?
I didn't say you won't get some of the effects, but it needs to be in high doses since only 14% of oral andro can be convertered to testosterone.
From Wikipedia
The Andro-Project
The "Andro-Project", conducted by medical researchers at East Tennessee State University, showed that the supplement "Andro"(androstenedione/androstenediol) does not increase muscle mass or strength.[5][6][7]
Biological effects
Androstenedione has been shown to increase serum testosterone levels over an eight-hour period in men when taken as a single oral dose of 300 mg per day, but a dose of 100 mg had no significant effect on serum testosterone. However, serum levels of estradiol increased following both the 100 mg and 300 mg doses. The study also reported that the serum level of estrogens and testosterone produced varied widely between individuals.[8] A 2006 review paper summarized several studies that examined the effect of androstenedione on strength training. At dosages of 50 mg or 100 mg per day, andro had no effect on muscle strength or size, or on body fat levels. One study used a daily dosage of 300 mg of androstenedione combined with several other supplements, and also found no increase in strength when compared to a control group that did not take the supplements. The review authors speculate that sufficiently high doses may indeed lead to increased muscle size and strength. However, due to the federal ban on androstenedione supplements, it is difficult to carry out new research on its positive and negative effects. The review authors conclude that individuals should not use androstenedione supplements due to the lack of evidence of beneficial effects, the wide variation in individual responses to the supplement, and the risk of unknown side-effects.[9]
Because androstenedione is converted in part to estrogens, people taking this supplement may have estrogenic side-effects, although none of the studies cited above used a sufficiently high dosage to draw any conclusions.
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