Ecdysteroids are plant defense chemicals that mimic the effects of insect molting hormones. In humans, they are believed to have anabolic effects, such as promoting muscle growth and enhancing workout performance, without affecting sex hormones.
Commonly reported effects include enhanced workout performance, better erections, muscle hardening, and anti-hyperglycemic effects that lead to fuller muscles and better pumps.
A study showed that 48 milligrams of 20-HE per day for 10 weeks led to a 2-kilogram increase in muscle mass, while the placebo group experienced a 0.35-kilogram reduction.
Ecdysteroids, particularly 20-hydroxy-ecdysone, were shown to preserve lean muscle mass and reduce creatine kinase, a marker of muscle breakdown, in a 12-week study.
Supplementation with 20-hydroxy-ecdysone was associated with significantly lower cortisol levels post-workout compared to placebo, indicating a potent anti-cortisol effect.
Ecdysteroids have been shown to reduce body weight, waist circumference, total body fat, and serum cholesterol and triglycerides. They also appear to support the immune system and extend the immune response.
Ecdysteroids are controversial due to their potential anabolic effects and the fact that they are highly counterfeit. Many products do not contain the claimed amounts of ecdysteroids, and some may contain banned substances like androstenedione.
It is crucial to source high-quality ecdysteroid products because many on the market are counterfeit and may not contain the active ingredients. Reliable lab results that differentiate 20-HE from terkesterone content are essential to ensure the product's efficacy and safety.
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The information provided in this podcast episode is for entertainment purposes and is not medical advice. If you have any questions about your health, contact a medical professional. This content is strictly the opinions of Lucas Owen and is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The references, claims and scientific information linked to any products
are only applicable to those listeners who are based in the US. If you are outside the US, this information does not apply to you. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult with their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions.
Thank you for listening to the Boost Your Biology podcast. My name is Lucas Owen. I uncover the most cutting edge health information on the planet, ranging from hormones, nutrition, supplementation, fat loss, biohacking, longevity, wellness, and a whole lot more. Welcome to the Boost Your Biology podcast.
Most men are on the hunt for compounds that can increase muscle growth without shutting down or suppressing natural testosterone production. What we're going to do is take a look at ectosteroids, which are marketed as natty gear since the early 2000s as potential compounds to support muscle growth. So for those of you who are brand new to my channel, my name is Lucas, the founder of Boost Your Biology.
In today's video, what we'll do is take a look at ectosteroids. Now, ectosteroids are plant defense chemicals which mimic the effects of insect molting hormone and now found to have biological effects in humans. Specifically, 20-hydroxy-ectisone was found to be a MAS receptor agonist with similar binding affinity of the bioidentical hormone angiotensin 1,7, an indirect inducer of AKT-MTOR.
Now, ectosteroids were very popular back in the early 2000s and they were very convincing at the time as it was understood that they had no perceived toxicity, side effects and did not affect sex hormones. Now, they're highly controversial and that actually made them more popular. Now, the supplement died off in the West but continued to thrive in Russia and Central Europe.
Now, if we look closely at the subjective effects associated with ectosteroids, things like ectosterone and toquestrone,
Some of the commonly reported effects are workout enhancement, so transforms workouts by promoting greater power and improved endurance. Better erections, commonly reported effect in addition to spontaneous erections. Muscle hardening effects, so commonly reported to decrease water retention and promote a drier look.
The nutrient partitioning and pumps, so they possess anti-hyperglycemic effects after meals, which promotes greater glycogen synthesis, which leads to fuller muscles and better pumps.
Now positive user feedback, advanced trainees reported enhanced workouts and visible physical improvements within two weeks of supplementation. Now there are some varied effects from each person. Some experience increased hunger, some report sleep disruption if taken too late in the day. So look at this first study here.
Ectosteroids as non-conventional anabolic agents. Performance enhancement by ectosterone supplementation in humans.
Now the effect at 48 milligrams per day of 20-hydroxy-ectisone or 20-HE supplementation led to a two kilogram increase in muscle mass, while those not receiving the active drug here showed an average reduction of 0.35 kilograms of muscle mass. Now the 12 to 24
Now the 12 to 48 milligrams of 20 HE per day led to a 4.7 kilogram greater one rep max bench press than placebo. Now there were 46 males in this particular study and it was a 10 week study. Now these were healthy males in this particular study.
Looking at the 2024 monitoring program by the World Anti-Doping Agency, otherwise known as WADA, they've actually listed these compounds as anabolic agents. And in conclusion, the project demonstrates the performance enhancing effect of ectosterone in humans. Thus, our results strongly suggest including ectosterone in class S1 anabolic agents. Now,
If we look at the effects on hormonal parameters during the 10-week intervention study, various hormonal changes were observed. However, no change can be excluded or exclusively related to the supplementation of ectosterone.
Possible tendencies and positive effects on IGF-1 could possibly be explained by intensive training. Now, intensive training may negatively affect IGF-1, which could be counteracted by supplementation with ectosterone. Now, this next study here, efficacy of a oral 20-hydroxyzone bio-101, a mass receptor activator in adults with severe EFT,
a randomized placebo controlled phase two to three trial. So we can see here the time to respiratory failure or early death up to day 28 versus those that are on these ectosterone. So it appears that they may actually extend the immune response and support the immune system.
Now looking at the mechanism of action affecting the angiotensin 1 7 pathway increasing nitric oxide synthesis, interacting with that estrogen receptor, the E2 pathway decreasing myostatin and increasing protein synthesis.
Now, the main mechanism of action is the anti-corticotropic effect. In healthy males, 20-hydroxyzone supplementation was associated with significantly lower cortisol levels compared to placebo. So they're demonstrating that these compounds have potent anti-cortisol or suppresses cortisol production post-workout.
Looking at the anti-catabolic effect, 20-hydroxazone or 20-HE group preserved significantly more of their lean muscle mass after 12 weeks in comparison to placebo. And in healthy test subjects, 20-HE supplementation led to a dose-dependent decrease in creatine kinase, which is a marker of muscle breakdown in comparison to placebo.
So they're demonstrating that these compounds, these ectosteroids appear to reduce muscle wastage and muscle breakdown by having an anti-catabolic effect. Now, in addition to that, it does appear to possess anti-mineral corticoid effects, which basically means that it modulates the aldosterone secretion. So it does appear to change levels of aldosterone.
Now in a placebo controlled study, beta-ectisone or ECD prevented the development of the metabolic syndrome. So the effect was actually reduced body weight by 1.3%, waist circumference reduced by 3.1%, total body fat reduced by 7.6% and muscle mass increased by 2.9% compared to placebo.
Now a reduction of serum cholesterol by 17% and triglycerides by 37% compared to placebo. Now this was a study with 39 subjects. It was a non-randomized placebo controlled trial and the trial length was three to nine months. So the population was slightly overweight men and women
and they were receiving 100 milligrams of this 20 HE per day, plus 900 milligrams of spinach powder. This next study here, aspects of sports medicine, the effect of EctiSten translated from Russian. The effect lower heart rate in HIIT training, that was very significant.
decrease in body fat, increase in muscle mass by 5% compared to the control group, an average of 4.2 millimeter reduction of subcutaneous fat by skin caliper measurement compared to the control group,
And no negative effects on organ damage were found in the 20HE group. Now there were 64 subjects in this particular trial and it was a 21 day non-randomized controlled trial. And the population was actually athletes. And the dosage that they used was five to 15 milligrams of 20HE.
So ectesterone, especially terkesterone are highly counterfeit. And it's so important to find a right source. This shouldn't be news to most of my listeners here because many of you know about the importance of sourcing high quality compounds. And many of these companies that actually synthesize these compounds do not actually contain what they claim on the label. And
So this is really, really crucial stuff specifically for these sort of compounds. So we can see that many of these compounds actually don't even contain any tergesterone or any ectosteroids. In fact, one company actually contained, well, they actually had one for androstenedione, which is a pro-hormone. So this could actually conflate the effects. And most men might think that it's actually ectosterone
you know, contributing to these effects, but maybe it's actually these banned substances that are actually found in these products. Now, it's important to note that that these compounds are highly counterfeit. Now, if the product is bunk, the results will be bunk. And that is basically you will perceive no benefits beyond placebo.
So if you've had terkesterone or ectesterone, comment down below, have you noticed any effects at all? If you haven't noticed any effects, this probably doesn't contain any ectesterone or terkesterone at all. Now, due to a high probability that the ectesterone product may be fake, it's best to get a product for which the labs are publicly available. Almost all terkesterone products do not contain any terkesterone.
Some may contain a small amount of ectosteroids. And I would only recommend buying if the company can show reliable labs which differentiate 20HE content from terkesterone content. So that wraps up today's podcast. If you did find this episode helpful, please consider leaving a review. Thank you very much for tuning in. I look forward to seeing you in the next podcast.
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