Lean Mass

Keywords
Human Effect Matrix

The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (excluding animal/petri-dish studies) to tell you what what supplements affect Lean Mass

Grade	Level of Evidence
A	Robust research conducted with repeated double blind clinical trials
B	Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
C	Single double blind study or multiple cohort studies
D	Uncontrolled or observational studies only

Level of Evidence	Supplement	Magnitude of Effect Size	Scientific Consensus	Comments
A	Creatine	Minor	100% See all 14 studies	Does appear to have inherent lean mass building properties, but a large amount of research is confounded with water weight gains (difficult to assess potency).
A	Conjugated Linoleic Acid	Minor	53% See all 15 studies	Some evidence that CLA can preserve lean mass during fat loss in an obese cohort of patients, but even in this subgroup the results are highly unreliable.
B	Dehydroepiandrosterone		100% See all 8 studies	Perhaps due to a lack of studies pairing DHEA with a prolonged resistance training program, there is no evidence to support DHEA supplementation to increase muscular or lean mass
B	Whey Protein	Minor	50% See all 4 studies	Protein in general increases lean mass, but there is not a significant body of evidence to support whey protein as being more effective than other protein sources
B	HMB		57% See all 8 studies	No significant influences on lean body mass associated with HMB supplementation
C	L-Carnitine	Minor	100% See 2 studies	An increase in lean mass has been noted in elderly persons. This may not apply to lean healthy individuals, and no research assesses youth
C	Yohimbine		100% See study	No significant influence on lean mass detected with yohimbine ingestion
C	Punicic Acid		100% See study	No significant influence on lean mass has been noted with punicic acid supplementation
C	Beta-Alanine	Minor	100% See all 3 studies	Doesn't appear overly potent, but either inherently or through greater workload there appears to be a hypertrophic effect associated with beta-alanine.
C	Licorice		100% See study	No significant alterations in lean mass associated with licorice
C	Coleus Forskohlii	Minor	100% See study	Somewhat effective (2lbs over 12 weeks relative to placebo) although somewhat confounded with the increase in bone mass, as lean mass is inclusive of bone and skeletal muscle.
C	Velvet Antler		100% See study	No interaction between velvet antler and lean mass accrual
C	Tribulus Terrestris		100% See 2 studies	Insufficient evidence to support an increase of lean mass associated with tribulus relative to placebo during a training program.
C	Ecdysteroids		100% See study	No differences between ecdysteroids and placebo in improving lean mass accrual during a weight lifting program
C	Fenugreek		100% See study	No demonstrated benefit to lean mass accrual in otherwise healthy trained men given a workout program
C	Vitamin D	Minor	-- See 2 studies	An increase in lean mass has been noted in dieting obese women relative to control (2,000IU) and a trend to reduce lean mass relative to control has been noted in exercising... show healthy persons (4,000IU); there appears to be potential for both effects with Vitamin D supplementation, but there is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions
C	Fish Oil		100% See all 3 studies	No significant influence on lean mass associated with fish oil supplementation
C	Leucine		0% See study
C	Arachidonic acid		0% See study
C	Leucic Acid	Minor	100% See study	An increase in lean mass has been noted in the legs of soccer players to the degree of 0.4kg over 4 weeks; this study currently stands alone
C	Arginine	Minor	100% See study	An increase in lean mass has been noted in persons with impaired glucose tolerance using L-arginine over a long period of time, where placebo experienced a decrease. It... show is unsure how this applies to otherwise healthy persons
D	Eurycoma Longifolia Jack	Minor	100% See study	One pilot study has noted an increase more than control when both eurycoma and control were paired with exercise
D	Safflower Oil	Minor	100% See study	An increase in lean mass relative to control (CLA) has been noted in obese menopausal women

References

Wax B, et al. Acute L-arginine alpha ketoglutarate supplementation fails to improve muscular performance in resistance trained and untrained men. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. (2012)
Collier SR, Casey DP, Kanaley JA. Growth hormone responses to varying doses of oral arginine. Growth Horm IGF Res. (2005)
Bode-Böger SM, et al. L-arginine-induced vasodilation in healthy humans: pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship. Br J Clin Pharmacol. (1998)
Marcell TJ, et al. Oral arginine does not stimulate basal or augment exercise-induced GH secretion in either young or old adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. (1999)
Isidori A, Lo Monaco A, Cappa M. A study of growth hormone release in man after oral administration of amino acids. Curr Med Res Opin. (1981)
Wilson AM, et al. L-arginine supplementation in peripheral arterial disease: no benefit and possible harm. Circulation. (2007)
Böger RH, et al. Restoring vascular nitric oxide formation by L-arginine improves the symptoms of intermittent claudication in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. (1998)
Liu TH, et al. No effect of short-term arginine supplementation on nitric oxide production, metabolism and performance in intermittent exercise in athletes. J Nutr Biochem. (2009)
Abel T, et al. Influence of chronic supplementation of arginine aspartate in endurance athletes on performance and substrate metabolism - a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Int J Sports Med. (2005)
Fahs CA, Heffernan KS, Fernhall B. Hemodynamic and vascular response to resistance exercise with L-arginine. Med Sci Sports Exerc. (2009)
Lucotti P, et al. Beneficial effects of a long-term oral L-arginine treatment added to a hypocaloric diet and exercise training program in obese, insulin-resistant type 2 diabetic patients. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. (2006)
Jabłecka A, et al. The effect of oral L-arginine supplementation on fasting glucose, HbA1c, nitric oxide and total antioxidant status in diabetic patients with atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease of lower extremities. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. (2012)
Monti LD, et al. Effect of a long-term oral l-arginine supplementation on glucose metabolism: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes Obes Metab. (2012)
Schwedhelm E, et al. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of oral L-citrulline and L-arginine: impact on nitric oxide metabolism. Br J Clin Pharmacol. (2008)
Willoughby DS, et al. Effects of 7 days of arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation on blood flow, plasma L-arginine, nitric oxide metabolites, and asymmetric dimethyl arginine after resistance exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. (2011)

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Table of Contents

Keywords

Human Effect Matrix

Scientific Support & Reference Citations

References

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