What is ecdysterone?
Ecdysterone is a compound that belongs to a special group of plant sterols that are said to have a variety of anabolic, muscle-building, strength and athletic performance-enhancing effects that have been proven in numerous scientific studies.
Ecdysterone was already extensively studied as a performance-enhancing substance by sports scientists in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and there is evidence that this compound was successfully used by Russian Olympic athletes (1).
The effective muscle-building and performance-enhancing effects of ecdysterone have been proven beyond doubt in human studies!
While numerous studies have already investigated and proven the various muscle-building and performance-enhancing mechanisms in the past, this year a human study was carried out at the FU Berlin with young healthy men as test subjects in accordance with the gold standards of scientific research on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA (3).
Like other previous studies (1, 2), this study came to the conclusion that ecdysterone has a clear muscle-building effect and can significantly increase strength in the bench press.
Figure 1:
Increase in maximum weight during bench press (PL = placebo group, EC1 = 200 mg ecdysterone, EC2 = 800 mg ecdysterone). Source: (3)
Figure 2:
Increase in muscle mass (PL = placebo group, EC1 = 200 mg ecdysterone, EC2 = 800 mg ecdysterone, CO = control group). Source: (3)
This cited study (3), like a study from 2015 (1), comes to the conclusion that consideration should be given to including ecdysterone in class "S1.2 Other anabolic agents" of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List due to its potent muscle-building and performance-enhancing effects (1).
Another study also came to the conclusion that the muscle-building effects of ecdysterone surpass the effects of classic hormonal compounds, which have been abused by world-class athletes in weight training and bodybuilding since the 1960s (1, 2).
The muscle-building and strength-enhancing effects of ecdysterone appear to be primarily based on an increase in the rate of protein synthesis (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14), as well as an increased incorporation of leucine into the muscle cells (15). These effects appear to be independent of the androgen receptor (7) and are based on an increased influx of calcium into the myocytes, which leads to phosphorylation of Akt and thus to increased protein synthesis (4, 5, 6).
At least as important as these breathtaking effects is the fact that the above-mentioned human study (1), just like other previously conducted studies, did not observe any undesirable side effects of ecdysterone. Unlike comparable banned performance-enhancing substances, no negative changes in blood values such as liver enzyme levels were measured. Furthermore, ecdysterone does not suppress the body's own production of muscle-building hormones.
You may now be wondering why such an effective muscle-building and performance-enhancing compound, which has been known since the 1980s, has not been one of the best-selling sports supplements for a long time. The answer lies in the fact that previous ecdysterone products were of inferior quality and contained ridiculous doses of ecdysterone that were far below the effective dose.
But that's all over now! GN Ecdysterone provides you with more than TEN TIMES the amount of the highest quality ecdysterone per capsule compared to leading competitor (?) products for incredible gains in strength and muscle mass!
What other health benefits does ecdysterone have?
In addition to its muscle-building and strength-enhancing effects, studies have shown that ecdysterone may have a number of health benefits, including the following:
- It may provide protection against neurological toxins, protecting the nervous system from damage caused by alcohol and drugs (16, 17)
- It can lower cholesterol levels (18
- It may lower blood sugar levels and potentially protect against diabetes (19, 20, 21
- It can promote bone health and potentially protect against osteoporosis (22
- It acts as an antioxidant and may protect the body's cells from free radical damage (2
- It can protect the liver from damage and promote liver regeneration (17, 24)
