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If you've been reading up on some new prohormones available and were thinking of purchasing here's a must read article (from MD). It's pretty long so I'll post one part each of the next four days.
The game is over, brothers. And despite some truly valiant efforts on the part of people like Rick Collins, we appear to have lost. We're going to lose prohormones (and probably a lot of other cool, useful and safe supplements) because of the bill Senator Joe Biden is pushing in the U.S. Senate. His agenda is essentially that prohormones are the root of all things dark and evil in sports. We have perhaps 12, maybe up to 18 months, and then the supplement landscape is going to change dra-matically. I didn't want it to be that way and when it hap-pens, you won't want it to be that way either, but by then, when everyone finally realizes the magnitude of the loss, it will be far too late. I hope all of you who sat on your collective fat ass and did nothing to try to stop this are happy in 18 months when the only supplements available are Russian Velvet Deer Antler, Boron and Smilax.This legislation could potentially even threaten the sale of such benign substances as creatine and protein powder.
However, in the meantime, right now, today, is truly the golden age for prohormones/prosteroids. Never has there been a bigger selection of cool, legal, hormonal goodies you can easily purchase that will dramatically transform your physique in a matter of weeks. Some of the prohormones and prosteroids available are even more potent and more effective than the "illegal" stuff. The most recent and most exciting crop of legal hormones to reach our market to date would be the "methylated prohor-mones," which are very avant garde and very effective.
Methylation is an old-fashioned technique of making a steroid exponentially more potent and more bioavailable, meaning close to 100 percent oral bioavailability. (Technically speaking, methylation refers to alpha alkylation of a steroid at Carbon #17; strictly speaking, it doesn't have to be a methyl functional group and occasion ethyl or methoxy group is used). Methylation also changes the anabolic and androgenic characteristics of the steroid being methylated. Take boldenone (Equipoise) for a moment. It's a very popular steroid that many people would say is somewhat similar to nandrolone (Deca Durabolin) in its effects, both good and bad. However boldenone's Carbon #17 methylated analog is methandrolstenelone (methyl boldenone, aka Dianabol) and I don’t think anyone would compare Dianabol to Deca on any level. So obviously, methylation does more than just a steroid more potent; it changes its "flavor" quite a bit.
Methylation also increases the potential toxicity of a steroid. Adding the methyl group at Carbon #17 makes the molecule much more difficult to metabolize hepatically, so essentially, the liver has to work that much harder to process the stuff so it can be excreted in urine. This is why people who use methylated steroids tend to have higher than normal liver enzyme levels. Most people believe this makes the steroid "toxic" or "hepatotoxic," but most studies have shown that these rises in liver enzymes are usually transient and usually disappear and return to baseline after the user has stopped using the methylated hormones for a period of time (say, six months to be safe).
I personally believe the risk associated with using methylated hormones is way overblown by our community and completely overstated by the medical community, which routinely uses methylated steroids in patients for short durations without batting an eye (ever hear of methylprednisone?), but freak out when the steroid any way, shape or form "anabolic." Put it this way, I would rather swallow a bottle full of any commercially available methylated androgenic anabolic hormone a bottle of Tylenol (or even six or eight Tylenol tablets) or have a few shots of Jose Cuervo tequila. Tylenol (acetaminophen) and all types of booze (ethyl alcohol) are just as toxic (or more toxic) to humans than any methy-lated steroid ever will be, in my opinion.
Putting aside the question of toxicity for another day and debate, there's no question that tagging a steroid, any steroid, with a methyl functional group at Carbon #17 is a relatively cheap, easy and effective way to make that steroid much more potent and much more orally useful. So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if methylating a steroid makes it "better," then methylating a prohormone or prosteroid will also make it "better." And that's just what's happened. The proverbial “Bigger Better Deal" has come along in the form of three new products. I am going to rank them with regard to their effectiveness, safety and net usefulness. I will also point interested people in the right direction, so they can purchase these items.
All these items are currently being sold in the USA legally – or at least quasi-legally. It’s a gray are because these items aren't technically illegal... yet. They absolutely do not fall into Schedule C-III and at worst, the FDA might classify them as unlicensed drugs and call for their removal from the market. At the request of some of the manufacturers and marketers though, I won't mention every company's name. These guys are content to stay under the radar screen and sell 500-1,000 bottles of their goodies per month. Mentioning them by name will "only bring unwanted attention to us and might get us into trouble," said one company spokesman. Other companies don't see any real danger or problems and were very candid and forthright in talking about their gray market products with me. I also want to thank Christopher Bolman and "Matt the Sledgehammer" from Designer Supplements for their technical assistance with this arti-cle. Without their help, I could not be bringing you all this information at this time.
Part 2 tommorrow.....M4-AD
The game is over, brothers. And despite some truly valiant efforts on the part of people like Rick Collins, we appear to have lost. We're going to lose prohormones (and probably a lot of other cool, useful and safe supplements) because of the bill Senator Joe Biden is pushing in the U.S. Senate. His agenda is essentially that prohormones are the root of all things dark and evil in sports. We have perhaps 12, maybe up to 18 months, and then the supplement landscape is going to change dra-matically. I didn't want it to be that way and when it hap-pens, you won't want it to be that way either, but by then, when everyone finally realizes the magnitude of the loss, it will be far too late. I hope all of you who sat on your collective fat ass and did nothing to try to stop this are happy in 18 months when the only supplements available are Russian Velvet Deer Antler, Boron and Smilax.This legislation could potentially even threaten the sale of such benign substances as creatine and protein powder.
However, in the meantime, right now, today, is truly the golden age for prohormones/prosteroids. Never has there been a bigger selection of cool, legal, hormonal goodies you can easily purchase that will dramatically transform your physique in a matter of weeks. Some of the prohormones and prosteroids available are even more potent and more effective than the "illegal" stuff. The most recent and most exciting crop of legal hormones to reach our market to date would be the "methylated prohor-mones," which are very avant garde and very effective.
Methylation is an old-fashioned technique of making a steroid exponentially more potent and more bioavailable, meaning close to 100 percent oral bioavailability. (Technically speaking, methylation refers to alpha alkylation of a steroid at Carbon #17; strictly speaking, it doesn't have to be a methyl functional group and occasion ethyl or methoxy group is used). Methylation also changes the anabolic and androgenic characteristics of the steroid being methylated. Take boldenone (Equipoise) for a moment. It's a very popular steroid that many people would say is somewhat similar to nandrolone (Deca Durabolin) in its effects, both good and bad. However boldenone's Carbon #17 methylated analog is methandrolstenelone (methyl boldenone, aka Dianabol) and I don’t think anyone would compare Dianabol to Deca on any level. So obviously, methylation does more than just a steroid more potent; it changes its "flavor" quite a bit.
Methylation also increases the potential toxicity of a steroid. Adding the methyl group at Carbon #17 makes the molecule much more difficult to metabolize hepatically, so essentially, the liver has to work that much harder to process the stuff so it can be excreted in urine. This is why people who use methylated steroids tend to have higher than normal liver enzyme levels. Most people believe this makes the steroid "toxic" or "hepatotoxic," but most studies have shown that these rises in liver enzymes are usually transient and usually disappear and return to baseline after the user has stopped using the methylated hormones for a period of time (say, six months to be safe).
I personally believe the risk associated with using methylated hormones is way overblown by our community and completely overstated by the medical community, which routinely uses methylated steroids in patients for short durations without batting an eye (ever hear of methylprednisone?), but freak out when the steroid any way, shape or form "anabolic." Put it this way, I would rather swallow a bottle full of any commercially available methylated androgenic anabolic hormone a bottle of Tylenol (or even six or eight Tylenol tablets) or have a few shots of Jose Cuervo tequila. Tylenol (acetaminophen) and all types of booze (ethyl alcohol) are just as toxic (or more toxic) to humans than any methy-lated steroid ever will be, in my opinion.
Putting aside the question of toxicity for another day and debate, there's no question that tagging a steroid, any steroid, with a methyl functional group at Carbon #17 is a relatively cheap, easy and effective way to make that steroid much more potent and much more orally useful. So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if methylating a steroid makes it "better," then methylating a prohormone or prosteroid will also make it "better." And that's just what's happened. The proverbial “Bigger Better Deal" has come along in the form of three new products. I am going to rank them with regard to their effectiveness, safety and net usefulness. I will also point interested people in the right direction, so they can purchase these items.
All these items are currently being sold in the USA legally – or at least quasi-legally. It’s a gray are because these items aren't technically illegal... yet. They absolutely do not fall into Schedule C-III and at worst, the FDA might classify them as unlicensed drugs and call for their removal from the market. At the request of some of the manufacturers and marketers though, I won't mention every company's name. These guys are content to stay under the radar screen and sell 500-1,000 bottles of their goodies per month. Mentioning them by name will "only bring unwanted attention to us and might get us into trouble," said one company spokesman. Other companies don't see any real danger or problems and were very candid and forthright in talking about their gray market products with me. I also want to thank Christopher Bolman and "Matt the Sledgehammer" from Designer Supplements for their technical assistance with this arti-cle. Without their help, I could not be bringing you all this information at this time.
Part 2 tommorrow.....M4-AD
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