HS Donor …allicin…zzz
Something to consider having tested if you are older. I have read that DHEA ("precursor hormone, meaning that it can be converted by the body into other hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone) is commonly deficient in older people so I decided to have mine tested. Before I decided to take a DHEA test I began supplementing with DHEA.
Some of the blood markers that DHEA commonly affects are:
Testosterone and Estrogen Levels: DHEA is a precursor to both testosterone and estrogen. Therefore, taking DHEA supplements can increase the levels of these hormones in the blood.
Insulin and Glucose Levels: Some studies have suggested that DHEA supplements may improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, which can lower blood sugar levels.
Cholesterol Levels: DHEA has been shown to affect cholesterol levels in the blood. It can increase levels of HDL (good) cholesterol while reducing levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Inflammatory Markers: DHEA has anti-inflammatory properties and can reduce levels of certain inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6).
Bone Markers: DHEA has been shown to increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. It can also affect blood markers of bone metabolism, such as osteocalcin and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase.
Mine must have been really low because this test was taken after a few weeks of supplementation. I might have to increase the dose to obtain normal levels.
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How long have you been taking dhea? Any noticed affects?
A few weeks. Unfortunately, I started full-body red light therapy at about the same time so I have two variables that changed so I don’t know which one is giving me more energy.
I am feeling significantly more energetic. In a few weeks, I will have blood work done again to see if there are any improvements to my biomarkers.
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Sermorelin mimics the human growth hormone releasing factor. It is a lot cheaper than HGH.
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This is so interesting to hear. My knees started to hurt (for the first time in my life) around the same time that I began creatine (after not having taken it for more than a decade).
I was trying to figure out if it either (A) could be that I’ve been increasing my leg workouts (especially squats and deadlifts) or (B) if it could be that I began to use a whole leg compression/massage recovery set from Therabody.
But perhaps it’s (C), creatine that is the culprit…
Rapasailor Did you ever figure out if it was the creatine for you? Hear anything from anyone else re creatine and knees? See anything in the literature?
Anyone else have any thoughts and/or experiences?
@desertshores re “Boswellia serrata”, will check it out, thanks for the tip.
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Regarding creatine, I think I’d probably stay away given I have one kidney (even with an excellent eGFR of over 90 for the one guy, and overall good health anyway). It seems like a risk not worth taking for me specifically.
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Run away from any doctor that believes taking creatine decreases kidney function …
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That sounds great @Arhu, thanks. Is there something you can point me to so I can get up to speed on this? — papers? Doctors podcasts? Etc. I’ve seen the potential benefits of creatine touted in the literature, particularly for the gym, and I’m also considering supplementing with beta-alanine (for higher carnosine, for more workout performance and health/longevity effects, and maybe some vanity skin benefits as well…) even though I am “mostly” carnivore and likely get more than the average person. But I’d love to wrap my head around some studies showing creatine doesn’t impact kidney function (as I have one).
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I’d love to hear more on carnosine if you are willing. There’s a great deal of studies on it but little practical information as far as I see. I’ve gone through a bunch of papers on it and it sounds like there are very very few human trials, a few animal trials, and a wide number of cell culture/in vitro studies of function. It sounds like the exercise crowd use it to boost performance / buffer lactic acid, and then there are a number of other potential benefits, but when I look on Healthline or similar websites it says “support for these benefits are unfounded” (or some phrasing like that). It seems very interesting to me. Do you take straight carnosine (which sounds like it breaks down easily in the intensities) or beta-alanine instead (which is half the price)? Do you dose once per day or several times per day, or just before working out? It seems very safe but any side effects I should be aware of (besides the “tingling” in the face/etc at too high a dose)? You mention you haven’t seen any benefits to speak of: not even increases in the gym (as would be expected)?
Thank you.
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I took beta-alanine for a while but had to stop due to side effects. Beta-alanine caused whole-body itchiness. It felt like my whole body was a giant mosquito bite. Anything that causes systemic inflammation is a nonstarter for me. Of course, not everyone is allergic.
if you get that feeling you are taking too much in one go, I take only around 1g (like a 1/4 teaspoon)
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I was only taking 500 mg. I think beta-alanine just doesn’t agree with me. It’s OK. Peanuts aren’t for everyone either. 
if you gave side effects take less but take it more frequently during the day
CreatiNine is used as a marker of kidney function because creation is (assumed) constant from muscle creatine and excretion which is exclusively done through the kidney. So in averagely build people not taking exogenous creatine creatinine levels tend to correlate with kidney function but in muscular people or people taking creatine it underestimates kidney function and in frail people it overestimates. Anyway creatinine is just an easy marker a better marker which is available today is cystatin c. Ask your new physician to determine that if you worry about kidney function.
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I have stopped carnosine for now because of the tingling. I may revert to it later, but I don’t claim to have done a lot of reading up on it.
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Thank you for that; very helpful, @John_Hemming .
Does anyone else have experience with carnosine (positive, negative, or no effect)? — I didn’t see a separate topic in this, and don’t see it discussed here often (or even mentioned). It probably doesn’t merit a separate topic (although I am happy if people want to move this).
I know someone is likely to suggest I try the “body building” forums (and once could say the same for creatine), but I great appreciate this community’s more scientific-based opinion, and that there aren’t overwhelmingly “true believers” in one topic (except, possibly, Rapamycin). But I’m not interested in most other forums — bodybuilding included — because I really have little interest in “bro-science”.
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Thank you for your thoughts, @Arhu. I was aware of the short-comings of creatine in eGFR and that cystatin-C was another measure of kidney function (albeit less common, more expensive, not prescribed by my doctor even with a request, and not covered by insurance in my case); I’ll try again for this (or pay out of pocket).
But I’m still wary because I see referenced that excess creatine leads to kidney damage. I believe in a previous post above I linked the official Mayo Clinic site in which they mention this; they are far from the only site doing so. (No-one mentions a dose, of course.) So what are they missing? Misunderstanding? Etc.? (Excluding the “everything is poisonous at a high enough dose” argument. ). Does creatine get flushed by the kidney? Does it impact the kidney more than a typical protein? Is this just remnants of “bodybuilding” doses of creatine causing harm and the longevity doses are fine? Are there do to podcasts that promote this view? Papers? Books? I’m looking for guidance as (with only one kidney) I need to be extra careful.
Thanks.
FWIW
Review the following;
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I started taking carnosine recently. 500 mg/day. I have not noticed any effect positive or negative; no tingling or itchiness as noted by others, but it is possible that I have not yet saturated the CN1 enzyme which breaks down carnosine into B-alanine and histidine. Apparently once this enzyme is saturated it allows carnosine to enter the blood and increase serum carnosine levels. I do not know the dosage of carnosine required to saturate this CN1 enzyme, but apparently saturation requires “chronic consumption”.
As a side note the only supplement I have every noted having a significant positive effect on my well being is GlyNac. Before taking this I would wake up in the morning a bit stiff. After a month or so I noticed less stiffness and then after about 5 months I had no stiffness at all, which surprises greatly as I was not expecting this result. I have stopped taking the NAC but continue on the Glycine, so hopefully I will be able to determine which one was beneficial. I stopped taking NAC because the more I looked into it the more negative studies I found (cancer, osteoarthritis). NAC seems to be both a helpful and hurtful supplement and because of this uncertainty I gave it up for now.
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