Welcome to the Supplements Expert Q&A for February 2007. Supplements play a key role in the development of muscle. What supplements you take and when you take them can really have an impact on your development and reaching your goals. Here at Muscle&Strength we want you to reach your goals so we've recruited a supplement expert to help you Q&A each month!
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February Supps Question:
What is a Prohormone Supplement?
Answer:
Prohormone supplements are supposedly capable of being actively converted into the hormone testosterone by naturally occurring enzymes in the body. They are termed anabolic supplements because they serve as direct precursors for testosterone synthesis. The main prohormones available today include: Androstenedione, 4-Androstenediol, 5-Androstenediol, 19- Norandrostenedione, and 19-Norandrostenediol.
Without going too deep into the actions of the above prohormones, the Androstenedione and 4-Androstenediol are direct precursors of the muscle building hormone testosterone. 5-androstenediol is precursor to methandriol an anabolic hormone that is associated with a veterinary steroid, and has the additional properties of increasing the effects of all prohormones. 19-Norandrostene (diol or dione) is converted to nortestosterone, the highly anabolic hormone Nandrolone which has great nitrogen and muscle enhancing effects which last longer than the normal andro prohormones.
When Prohormone supplements are converted into testosterone by various enzymes in the liver and other tissues, they circulate in the blood as free and bound testosterone. As such, they are subject to conversion to estrogen whenever the enzyme aromatase is encountered. As the estrogen levels rise from this conversion, the testosterone/estrogen ratio (T/E ratio) tips toward estrogen. When that happens, several negative events related to higher body estrogen levels in men begin to occur. These estrogen-related effects include possible gynecomastia (male breast development). This is commonly seen in many athletes who use anabolic steroid drugs capable of being aromatised, such as testosterone injections.
Another possibility is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or prostate gland enlargement. Research shows that BPH results from a combined effect of a testosterone byproduct called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estrogen. Estrogen metabolites offer protective effects for women against cardiovascular disease onset presumably through antioxidant activities. But in men, the failure to metabolise estrogen has been linked to reverse effects, including that of promoting increased internal blood clotting associated with both heart attacks and strokes. Another side effect of dihydrotestosterone is male pattern baldness..!!
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About Doug Lawrenson:
Doug Lawrenson is our resident diet guru & fitness over on the Muscle&Strength Forum. Doug has had experience as a bodybuilder, coach and judge at national competition level. If you have questions for Doug or need some advice you can chat to Doug on the forum. Doug is on the forum almost every day!
Doug has written some in-depth and informative articles that have been featured on Muscle&Strength.com. To read some of his articles, check out the diet & nutrition articles section of this this website.
