Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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22.07.2013 |
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DHEA supplementation lowers cortisol levels
In small quantities the stress hormone cortisol is amazingly useful, but continuously raised levels of it are bad... for just about everything. We've been doing some digging around in old scientific journals, and fortunately there's an easy way to reduce the amount of cortisol in your body by thirty to forty percent. Take 25 mg DHEA daily, and Bob's your [anticatabolic] uncle.
25 mg DHEA/d
Study 1
Supplementation started on day 8 and continued until day 22. The bars in the figures below show the amount of cortisol in the blood of the participants on each of those days.
The reduction in cortisol level as a result of the DHEA was greater in the women than in the men. Although the men's cortisol levels did go down, the reduction was not statistically significant on all days.
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Study 2
The Italians gave their test subjects – women aged between 50 and 55 [dark bars on the figure below] and between 60 and 65 [light coloured bars] – a daily 25 mg DHEA for a period of 12 months. 0 = cortisol level before DHEA supplementation started; 2 = after 3 months; 3 = after 6 months; 4 = after 12 months.
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The figure above shows how DHEA supplementation may work. It shows the effect of the administration of 10 micrograms ACTH on the cortisol level, before administration, and after 3, 6 and 12 months. ACTH is the messenger hormone that stimulates the adrenals to release cortisol. ACTH secretion increases under stress. It seems that DHEA supplementation makes the adrenals less sensitive to ACTH.
Conclusion
Source:
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