Ecdysteroids
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Summary of Ecdysteroids
Primary information, health benefits, side effects, usage, and other important details
Ecdysteroids are a class of compounds (polyhydroxylated ketosteroids, with various tails) that are structurally similar to androgens. They are well studied as plant and insect growth factors, and derived their name (ecdy-) from the process of molting in insects, called ecdysis.
Ecdysteroid is a category, and popular ecdysteroids include 'ecdysone', 'ecdysterone', 'turkesterone' and '20-hydroxyecdysone'. These four are the most commonly studied, but each ecdysteroid shares the same general properties although varies in potency and effects slightly. Turkesterone appears to be the most anabolic.
They have some biological effects in mammals when orally ingested, and have been called by some researchers as "behaving similar to anabolic steroids putatively without the androgenic effect".[1] Due to the lack of androgenicity, their safety profiles are much greater than anabolic androgenic steroids.
Additionally, they seem to have a wide variety of side-effects that are deemed as healthy. Ecdysteroids can lower cholesterol and blood glucose, are seen as healthy for the liver and intestines by increasing protein synthesis rates, and may have protective effects on neural tissue.
A lack of trails are currently available for humans, but promising evidence is available for in vitro studies on human muscle fibers as well as a multitude of animal models showing enhanced growth rates with ecdysteroid ingestion.
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Hypoglycemic effects of edcdysterone and its plant sources seems to be dose-dependent. For athletics, it's unclear which dose is effective in humans. One study found 60 mg daily to be ienffective, though safe over the short period of 8 weeks. Long-term safety concerns and a lack of long-term trials may make short-term use the most sensible policy.
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Human Effect Matrix
The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what effects ecdysteroids has on your body, and how strong these effects are.
| Grade | Level of Evidence [show legend] |
|---|---|
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Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials |
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Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled |
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Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies |
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Uncontrolled or observational studies only |
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Level of Evidence
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The amount of high quality evidence. The more
evidence, the more we can trust the results.
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Outcome |
Magnitude of effect
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The direction and size of the supplement's impact on
each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
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Consistency of research results
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Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or
VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
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Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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- | - See study |
No demonstrated changes in cortisol levels with ecdysterone consumption
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- | - See study |
No differences between ecdysteroids and placebo in improving lean mass accrual during a weight lifting program
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- | - See study |
No significant alterations in any measured liver enzymes (ALT, AST, GGT)
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- | - See study |
No difference between improvements in power output between ecdysteroids and placebo
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- | - See study |
No alterations noted in serum testosterone associated with ecdysterone consumption
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- | - See study |
In resistance trained males, no significant influence of ecdysterone supplementation on cholesterol
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- | - See study |
No significant influence on triglycerides
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Things to Note
Is a Form Of
Primary Function:
Also Known As
Suma extract, pfaffia extract, Brazilian ginseng extract, beta-ecdysterone, turkesterone, ecdysterone
Ecdysterone is non-stimulatory.
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