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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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08.11.2011 |
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More vitamin K2, more testosterone
The list of supplements that boost testosterone production has just got a little longer. Nutritionists at Tohoku University in Japan say that male rats synthesise more testosterone if given food that contains high amounts of vitamin K2.
We need K2 to enable vital enzymes to function. These include enzymes that synthesise coagulant factors and others that fix calcium in the bones – but vitamin K probably has many more functions. The Japanese research was set up to learn more about these unknown functions of vitamin K2.
The researchers gave one group of lab animals food containing low amounts of vitamin MK-4 – 0.75 mg per kg – and the other group got food containing high amounts of vitamin MK-4 – 75 mg per kg. The experiment lasted for five weeks. In the group that got a high amount of MK-4, the animals’ testosterone levels and their testicular testosterone concentration increased as the experiment progressed. The vitamin had no effect on the level of LH, the pituitary hormone that stimulates testosterone production in the testes.
The food with a high vitamin K content caused an increase in the activity of the enzymes PKA and CREB in the testes. And this in turn probably caused the enzyme CYP11A to become more active. This enzyme is responsible for the synthesis of testosterone.
When the researchers repeated their experiment with vitamin K1 they observed hardly any testosterone-boosting effect.
A diet with high levels of vitamin MK-4 "may contribute to the reduced risk of age-related diseases by promoting increased testosterone production in the testis", the researchers write.
Maybe we'll hear more about this. The Japanese reveal that they have also done experiments with geranylgeraniol, “a side chain structure of MK-4”. This compound and its analogues have been shown to boost testosterone production in cell studies.
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