Natural Hormone Optimization Made Simple & Cheap: Avoid These 10 Anti-Androgens to Boost Testosterone & DHT

Image 1: I am not aware of the effect the process of making yourself up has on androgen levels, but the PCPs in many cosmetics could in fact lead to hormonal imbalances.

One of the things you hear and read increasingly often, when it comes to topics such as detoxification, the use of anti-inflammatory supplements or simply increased intakes of omega-3 fatty acids to counter the "hazardous omega-6 overload in your diet", is the analogy of somebody banging his head against a wall asking for a helmet, instead of simply stopping this stupid practice. Likewise, it does not really make sense to invest $50 into an already more or less worthless natural testosterone booster, when, at the same time, you are eating or even supplementing one of the items on the following list of proven anti-androgens:

• anti-androgenic drugs - cyproterone acetate, spirolonactone, flutamide, ketoconazole, finasteride & co.: It stands to reason that your doctor will have had good reason to prescribe you one or the other of the aforementioned drugs; and at least as far as the DHT blocker dustasteride is concerned, diligent SuppVersity students will be aware that it does not compromise testosterone-replacement-therapy induced changes in body composition. In this regard, it should however be mentioned that the pertinent study, I discussed on March 12, 2012 (cf. "Dustasteride Does Not Hamper Changes in Body Composition on Supraphysiological Doses of Testosterone") was not a training study and that, given DHT's hitherto not fully elucidated role in satellite cell recruitment and proliferation, it is well possible that we would have seen differences in weight training athletes.To use these drugs as a means to bolster up your testosterone levels is therefore not just risky and irresponsible, but plain out stupid.
• ATD (1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione): Yes, surprisingly the potent anti-estrogen (aromatase inhibitor) and much-touted testosterone-booster ATD is a relatively potent anti-androgen. You can read all about ATD's anti-androgenic effects in an older blogpost here at the SuppVersity: "Anti-androgenic effect of ATD"
   
• Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus): Also sold to help your testosterone levels along, yet even more to counter the scientifically hitherto non-established phenomenon of "progesterone gyno", Vitex is another relatively commonly used supplement of which a 2007 study by Nasri et al. shows that it will probably reduce, not increase your luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone levels in parts, but not exclusively via dopaminergic pathways (Nasri. 2007)
• Green Tea (Camellia sinensis): As a diligent student of the SuppVersity you will already be aware of the differential effects of green tea and its catechins on serum testosterone levels; if you are interested, in the details you can read them up in "5 Cups of Green Tea Can Reduce Testosterone by Up to -20%"
• Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra): The phytoestrogens in licorice have been shown to reduce testosterone levels in women; glycyrrhizin and glycrrhetic acid exhibit anti-androgen effects in healthy (Armanini. 2003) and diabetic men (Fukui. 2003)  - there is yet also counter-evidence coming from Josephs et al., who were "unable to reproduce" previous results showing a licorice reduced reduction in the conversion of androstenedione to testosterone (Josephs. 2001), since the latter does yet reference a previous study by Armanini et al. the results of which the latter were able to repdroduce in 2003 (Armanini. 2003), it is save to assume that licorice does in fact reduce testosterone levels in diabetic and healthy men and women; and that despite the fact, that a more recent study shows that its corticosteroid (cortisol) modulating effects are probably of greater relevance than its impact on the androgens and other sex steroids (Sigurjonsdottir. 2006)
• Red clover: Extracts from red clover exhibit potent binding affinity to the androgen and progesterone receptor and "theoretical estrogenic activity expressed as equivalent E2 concentration is in the same range as recommended for synthetic estrogen" (Beck. 2003)
• Reishi (LinghZi): Red reishi is supposed to be the mushroom with the greatest anti-androgenic activity. A methanol extract from Ganoderma lucidum has been found to decrease testosterone-to-DHT conversion by up to 80% in a 2005 study by Fujita et al. (Fujita. 2005)
• Spearmint (M. spicata): At least in women spearmint tea has been shown to increase estrogen and luteinizing hormone in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (Aktodgan. 2007). In a 2004 study that was conducted on male rodents, on the other hand, the daily administration of peppermint tea (M. spicata) for a period of 30days lead to significant increases in luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormone and increases in serum testosterone, yet with the serious downside of "extensive degenerative changes in the germinal epithelium and spermatogenesis arrest compared with the findings in the testicular biopsies of the control group" (Aktogan. 2003)
• Soy and soy phytoestrogens: It goes without saying that you won't take your girlfriends pill, right? So why do you even remotely consider eating soy, let alone supplementing soy phytoestrogens? "I've seen soy consumption cause impotency in numerous patients." - Dr. John Crisler (male hormone expert) on my facebook wall in response to Jefferson. 2012; avoid feeding soy to your male offspring at all costs (Sherill. 2010; Leraiki. 2011; Siepmann. 2011)
• White Peony (Paeonia lactiflora): Also known as Chinese Peony, the ornamental plant has been shown to contain at least two compounds, 6'-O-galloylalbiflorin and pentagalloylglucos, which bind to the androgen receptor and thusly inhibit its activation by testosterone, DHT and weaker androgens (Washida. 2009).
• Xenoestrogens & Co - BPA (Bisphenol A as in plastics), PCPs (as in cosmetics), etc.: Can inhibit testosterone production by reducing the conversion of cholesterol to androgens (Feng. 2012) and estrogen-like effects (Nakamura. 2010); similar effects have been reported for all sorts of so-called "xenoestrogens", these are synthetic compounds that act as (mostly weak) estrogens in the human body and can induce permanent damage to the endocrine system and resproductive system, specifically in young boys and adolescents. In grown up men and women they have been linked to the development of various forms of cancer (Donovan. 2007).

I know, "avoid this... avoid that..." does not sound half as sexy as "with just three caps of our product you can boost your testosterone levels by up to 123.741%!... but you know what? Other than those red gren, blue, yellow, red and white caps in their mostly black, as of late yet often white (probably to suggest "drug-like" effects) boxes, it's totally free and, more importantly, it works!

+87% Increase in Testosterone Within 21 Days from a 100% Natural Supplement? Study Shows: Soy Bean Extract Can Do Just That While Wreaking Havoc on Your Testes. Plus: Corn Oil Reduces Testosterone to Estrogen Ratio by -50%!

Image 1: I guess the feed of those boars does not contain any corn oil and is spiked with both bisphenol A and soy bean extract - I mean, how else could you possibly explain those balls? (img dirtybutton.com)

Let me start today's post with a few questions: Would you buy a 100% natural product that can lower your estrogen levels by up to -98%, increase the weight of your testes by ~30% and, above all, boost your testosterone levels by a whopping +87%? I guess, at least all those of you who either have not read or not understood the Intermittent Thoughts episode on estrogen's role in skeletal muscle hypertrophy are just sitting there, nodding their heads... I would yet also venture the guess that this nodding will end pretty abruptly, now that I am about to tell you that this all natural testosterone booster is derived from the powder of 2kg of Glycine max soy beans via methanol extraction, subsequently freeze dried and capped into 600mg caps of which the average adult (~80kg body weight) is supposed to ingest two per day.

Chose your poison: BPA, soy, or maybe just some governmentally subsidized corn oil?

The preceding paragraph was an ironic, yet as far as the underlying facts and figures are concerned 100% accurate introduction to today's post which revolves around a study Evanski from the Mind&Muscle forum has brought to my attention (Norazit. 2012). The authors, a group of scientists from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, had set out to investigate the purportedly negative effects of what they call "soya bean extract" (interestingly this spelling of "soy", which is identical to the German version is probably the reason the study did not appear on my "interesting stuff for the SuppVersity radar", before ;-), bisphenol A, 17β-estradiol and "harmless" corn oil on the testis and endocrine system of juvenile rats.

Figure 1: Phytoestrogen content (µg/g dry weight; mind the logarithmic scale!) of soy bean extract an standard rat chow measured by LCMS (data adapted from Norazit. 2012)

To this ends, the scientists divided thirty 21-day old juvenile male Sprague-dawley rats (=the standard lab rat) into five groups, receiving either a standard diet (which contained an insignificant amount of soy, cf. figure 1) + 100mg/kg Tween 80 (a standard food emulsifier with derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan and oleic acid; this group served as control for the soy and the bisphenol group) or standard diet +100mg/kg of corn oil (Mazola; this group served as a control for the estradiol group because the 17b-e did not dissolve in the Tween 80), soy extract, bisphenol A (Aldrich Chemical Co.) and 17b-estradiol (the most active form of estrogen, which binds to both the alpha- and beta-receptor) for three weeks.

Note: It is (at least in my view) a lucky coincidence that contrary to the soy extract and the bisphenol, the estradiol did not solve in the Tween 80, so that the scientists had to come up with Mazola corn oil as a "positive control". I mean, if you take a look at the effects this supposedly neutral "solvent" had on the endocrine milieu of the peripubertal rats, it is no wonder that with the average testosterone levels of the male inhabitants of the #1 corn producer of the world, the Unites States of America, is on a constant decline.

At the end of the study period the rats were sacrificed, the testis were excised and their testosterone and estrogen levels were assessed using standardized enzyme immunoessay (EIA) kits from Caymen Chemical.

Figure 2: Section of seminiferous tubules from control Tween 80 group, BPA group and soy bean extract group; (1) maturing spermatids, (2) lumen filled with cellular debris, (3) vacuaolation, (4) interruption of spermatogenesis (data adapted from Norazit. 2012)

Even a layman can see that both the bisphenol A, as well as the soy bean extract treatments induced profound changes in the cell-morphology of the testes (cf. figure 2). Vacualation (3), i.e. formation of vacuoles in cellular tissue, was present in both, only the bisphenol A group showed the characteristic lumen filled with cellular debris (2). Visible signs of spermatogenesis (1) were visible in neither of the groups, a clear interruption of the latter (4), was yet observed only in the soy and the estrogen group (latter not shown in figure 2). Moreover, the estrogen treated animals were the only ones where the testis showed clear signs of apoptosis (cell death).

The "harmless" corn oil shifts the testosterone to estrogen ratio from ~1/1 to 1/2pg/ng

Reckless, as I am I decided to discard Norazit et al.'s distinction into the BPA and soy groups with the Tween 80 group as a control and the estradiol group with their corn oil control and just plotted the total body and total and relative testis weight gain, estrogen and testosterone levels relative to the Tween 80 group. In other words, I treated the corn oil group as if it was just another treatment group. This is obviously somewhat fishy, but if no scientist appears to be willing to investigate the potential negative effects of corn oil on the endocrine system of adolescent rodents (let alone humans), this is the only way for us to get respective data ;-)

Figure 3: Body weight gain, total and relative right testis weight, estradiol and testosterone levels in peri-pubertal rats after 21 days on diets containing 100mg/kg bisphenol A, soy bean extract, corn oil or 17b-estradiol (in soy bean oil); data expressed relative to Tweenn 80 (polysorbate + oleic acid) control (data calculated based on Norazit. 2012)

And if you take a look at the data in figure 3 (the vertical axis of which is by the way discontinuous!) it becomes clear that you better feed your boys a food solvent such as Polysorbate 80 (=Tween 80) than the "healthy" corn oil the US government is trying to con you into. After all, the administration of 100mg/kg corn oil (human equivalent ~16mg/kg) during puberty decreased the testis weight of the rats by -23% it reduced the amount of estradiol by -35% and the amount of testosterone by -66% and thusly shifted the testosterone / estrogen ratio in the peri-pubertal rodents from 1.11pg/ng to 0.57pg/ng!

BPA and soy compete for the title of "most potent endocrine disruptor"

Following the bro-scientific "the more the better" type of reasoning, bisphenol A and soy bean extract are two potential candidates for the "testosterone booster of the year"-award. After all both, the organic solvent bisphenol A, as well as the "natural toxin" (sorry, I just had to write that ;-) soy, exert potent (8x) and ueber-potent (100x) effects on the testosterone to estrogen ratio, which is 8.2pg/ng for BPA and 100.1pg/ng for soy!

Note: Neither I, nor the scientists have any clue as to why the results of this study are diametrically opposed to those of previous studies in which extracts from soy products reduced, not increased, testosterone levels in male rodents and monkeys(!), across-the-board (eg. Sharpe. 2002; Cline. 2004) - and that although Sharpe et al. observed an increase in the testosterone producing Leydig cells in their soy-formula fed monkeys. Whether the rats in the study at hand were in a state where similar effects temporarily increase testosterone output until the Leydig cells literally "burn out", or whether other effects were responsible for the temporary increase in testosterone, would have to be elucidated in future studies, the results of which you will obviously read here at the SuppVersity, first ;-)

So, even if we assume that the data is correct and there were no cross-reactions between components in the soy bean extract and the testosterone anti-body test, I would strongly caution against the use of either of this compounds to boost your testosterone levels - I mean what's the use of a wickedly skewed testosterone to estrogen ratio (which in and out of itself will probably mess up your health and can potentially hinder your gains, cf. "Are You Serming Away Your Gains?"), when, at the same time, your testicles turn into dysfunctional balloons?

BPA & Phtalate News for the Plasti-Nation. The Endocrine Contribution to Muscle Growth. Magnesium & Testosterone Increase in Parallel. Anabolic Vibes on the Lat Pull & More

You still have a couple of milli- or centimeter too much on your waistline? Let's hope this spring will provide ample time to work out in the sun, after all that's the energizing way to work out, something even virtual reality indoor exercise cannot compete with (Plante. 2006)

The SuppVersity figure of the week is "90". That was the average total amount of sunshine hours we got here in North-Rhine-Westphalia within the winter months (DWD. 2013; and there were places with only 40h!). A pretty depressing figure, in the literal sense. If you listened to the last installment of the Science Round Up (click here to download the podcast), you may remember that I was actually somewhat surprised to hear that this was the darkest Winter ever since the sunshine hours have been recorded - after all, I got my 45min of "artificial sunshine" in, every morning. So, just in case you are still wondering how it's possible to write a blogpost everyday, the data from a 2012 series of studies in Dutch schools would support that it's all about the right lighting (Sleeges. 2012).

Apropos news, here is your weekly serving of short news on all sorts of things... you are missing the exercise related news? Well, I saved those for a round-up and one or two individual posts in the course of the next week ;-)

• Fiber renders mammalian guts colon proof (Nagy-Szakal. 2013) -- As a recent rodent study from the Baylor University suggest, it can hardly be too early to keep an eye on fiber intake. The mice in the pertinent study that had been randomly assigned to a low-cellulose (indigestible fiber that's present in fruits, veggies, whole grains etc.) diet had little to no protection against experimentally induced cholitis.
  
  

  

  Semisynthetic non-fermentable viscous fiber Hydroxpropyl-Methylcellulose is imported pound-wise from China and ends up as E464 from in all sorts of food - obviously at too low dosages to do the anti-obesity trick, though (learn more).

  Murine pediatric cellulose supplementation, on other hand, induces transient trophic and  anticolitic effects, which is - and that's important (!) - dependent on a continuous supply of adequate amounts of dietary fiber. The same goes for the benefifical changes in the diversity of the gut microbiome which did largely  decline after only 10 days.
  
  The protective effect on the epithelial cell lining and the increase in surface area in response to cellulose supplementation should also facilitate the uptake of those vitally important nutrients, people with Crohn's etc. are lacking - a result that may well be significant for those of you who are trying to make the most of the nutrients and not just the energy in their diets.
  
  Edit: As George Henderson rightly said, the study at hand does not talk about cancer protection, I simply inferred that from previous human studies such as Mendez (2007), Terry (2001) or Roth (2001), without mentioning that, my mistake, sorry for that. I still changed the headline to reflect the contents of the study and want to point out that George also makes a valid point stating that (a) fiber often replaces other less healthy nutrients in the diet and (b) that (my addition) "once the baby has been thrown out with the bathtub" and you already have Crohn's and co different rules may apply.

• The diabesity syndrome - Is it the soda, or the bottle it's packaged in? (Indumathi. 2013) I am well aware that the doses of BPA we are supposed to get from our "diets" is way below those that are uses in rodent studies like the one by Indumathi et al., but don't you think that it is still remarkable that the same plastic poison aka BPA that leaches so readily into the acidic brown soup 50% of the US citizens guzzle on a daily basis, induces exactly the same nasty reductions in insulin receptor and GLUT-4 transporter expression, as well as glucose oxidation and the phosphorylation of Akt which are currently still ascribed exclusively to the soda itself (see figure 1).

  

  Figure 2: Effects of 20 or 200mg/kg body weight of BPA on insulin receptor and Akt phosphorylation, GLUT-4 expression in skeletal muscle and systemic insulin and testosterone levels (Indumathi. 2013)

  Now what's worst is that these pathological changes are not likely to be observed, because it happens "silently"; i.e. in the absence of elevated blood glucose levels.
  Did you know that the amount of BPA that leaches from plastics increases by x40, when you dishwash and reuse them (Brede. 2003)? And worst of all, these figures were observed in baby bottles and thus objects those of us get in contact for whom the otherwise probably harmless exposure could actually be dangerous (DiVall. 2013). Exposure to higher temperatures of liquids in plastic containers in the summer (>40°C) is another factor which contributes to an increased leakage of BPA from the container into the liquid (Makris.2013)
  With the latter being the only blood parameters that are evaluated on a regular basis within at least a reasonably large cross section of the population it's no wonder that many of us don't see how the diabetic beast and the BPA castrator are sneaking up on them before it's already too late. Obviously no reason for the FDA or any other governmental body to even bother. Aside from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which has published a reference dose of 0.05 mg/kg/day for BPA in 1993 (IRIS. 1993) an official acceptable daily reference intake for BPA is still lacking. Even if the current research does not suggest that our daily exposure is high enough to actually do any harm, I would expect the reference levels to reflect that - what about you?

• 

  In 1998 the Consumer Union wrote a letter to the FDA compaining about "endocrine disrupting chemicals" in cheese and dairy in plastics wrappings. I wonder if they knew about the masked phtalates in hygiene products, as well.

  More news for the"Plasti-Nations" (various): A couple of days ago Wu et el. published a paper on the TSH and estrogen suppressive effects of phtalates in Taiwanese children. With >40% lower TSH levels and estrogen levels the changes, in the 4-5 year olds with the highest (500ppm) phtalate exposure from food stuff is alarming. The only good news is that it these changes appear to be reversible, when further exposure is avoided (Wu.2013).
  
  Apropos good news, in December 2012, Fierens et al. investigated the effects of cooking at home on the phtalate content of foods and found that, except for veggies, the phtalate content of almost all foods decline after cooking (Fierens. 2012). I guess, I don't have to mention that this is not going to happen in a crock pot unless you pour away the brew.
  
  What you should also keep in mind is that your diet is by far not the only way you are exposed to phtalates, as a group of scientists working at a University right around my corner elucidated (Koch. 2013). The "pro-breast cancer" monoethyl carboxylpentyl phthalates (MEPs) for example usually come from personal hygiene products (it's the stuff thats called "fragrance"). The dosage, by the way, was high enough for the scientists to be able to actually measure rises in MEP concentrations after people (esp. men, by the way) took a shower. Ah, and not to forget a non-negligible amount of the low molecular weight phtalates is simply with ubiquitous sources including dust and indoor air. Up to now convincing evidence for the role of this constant assault in any of the ailments our society is suffering from is not conclusive.

• Don't like oats? Buckwheat has similar benefits (Stringer. 2013) -- In a recently published paper in the scientific journal Metabolism, a group of researchers from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, reports that the consumption of buckwheat cracker either instead of rice crackers or simply on their own could help both diabetics and non-diabetics maintain a healthy weight.
  
  

  

  4x more iron, 3x more calcium, >9 times more magnesium, ~6x more potassium and about twice as much zinc, copper and manganese that's what buckwheat flour has to offer compared to wheat (de Francischi. 1994). If you like those figures, what about havin' one of the pancakes you see above (recipe)

  Yet, despite an increased satiety effect and improvements (increases / decreases) in the corresponding hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) and pancreatic polypeptide (PPY) the glucose response to the buckwheat crackers was not significantly different from the one the scientists observed after the consumption of rice crackers.
  
  What's intriguing, though is that it appears as if these effects were not exclusively fiber-specific. After all, the rice crackers had almost as much fiber as the buckwheat. Moreover, a 2003 study Kawa et al. confirmed that even fiber-free buckwheat extracts exert potent anti-diabetic effects, the researchers ascribed to the presence of d-chiro-inositol in the extracts (Kawa. 2003).

• Anabolic vibes - Vibrate your way to higher testosterone levels (Couto.2013) -- If you still believe vibrators were for women only you got to check out the latest issue of the International Journal of Sports Medicine, in which a group of Brazilian scientists reports that the use of one of those fancy vibration devices (20-Hz and 12-mm) during the lat pulldown induced greater increases in testosterone and lactate concentrations. Dunno if that will also work if you just swipe your girlfriends vibrator and honestly, I don't even want to know that ;-)

• Does the testosterone  and overall hormonal response to workouts even count, or are we still chasing a hormonal ghost? (Schoenfeld. 2013) -- In his latest review of the literature, Brad Schoenfeld who has been busy writing reviews on everything muscle heads are interested in within the last couple of weeks, picks the role of the endocrine response to exercise apart. In that, Schoenfeld points out that it is important to look close before you can tell whether or not a certain "hormone" will effect or even drive skeletal muscle hypertrophy.
  
  

  

  Check out this previous analysis of post-workout anabolism here at the SuppVersity (read more)

  There is for example ample evidence for the involvement of the muscle specific IGF-1 isoform IGF-1Ec, or its locally expressed splice-variant MGF and the presence of high and low responders (cf. West. 2012). Studies using its parent growth hormone, which used injections of the artificially produced recombinant growth hormone are of questionable value, since they lack the natural diversity of "growth hormones" (different GH peptides). Schoenfeld also points out that the evidence that testosterone is anabolic "is inconvertible" (Schoenfeld. 2013) and that the debate would thus have to center around its influence in the vicinity of a workout, where - and this is interesting - we actually know that the effects should occur only after the initial repression of androgen receptors is reversed.
  
  In accordance with what I have pointed out in the Intermittent Thoughts on Building Muscle Series Schoenfeld comes to the conclusion that it would be inappropriate to totally discard the importance of the endocrine response to workouts (IGF-1 & Co, in particular), just because it does not promote the (imho totally overrated) short term protein synthetic response to exercise:

  "Based on limited cellular signaling data, it is conceivable that the primary effect of post-exercise hormonal elevations is to increase satellite cell activity as opposed to mediating acute increases in muscle protein synthesis. If so, this could favor greater long-term increases in muscle hypertrophy without significantly impacting short-term gains." (Schoenfeld. 2013)

  Obviously (and rightly so) Schoenfeld concludes this paragraph of the discussion of this excellent review with the sentence "This hypothesis requires further study." -- And you bet, I will keep an eye on the topic in order to let you know whether the 8% of which West and Phillips say that it's the upper limit of the contribution the transient increases in endocrine hormones have on skeletal muscle hypertrophy (West. 2012) is an over- or underestimation.

• Excess magnesium is good for your testosterone levels, bad for your prostate and could potentially become fatal for your heart (Chandra. 2013) -- According to the latest results from a rodent study, it appears as if an excess intake of magnesium, ingested not as supplement but in form of magnesium sulfate in the chow, can boost testosterone levels by almost 30% (figure 1):

  

  Figure 1: Testosterone  levels prostate weight, luteinizing hormone and serum magnesium levels (all data expressed relative to baseline) after 15 or 29 days on diets with different magnesium content.
  

  The increase in testosterone does yet not come without downsides in the form of slight, but significant increases in prostate size as well as a profound increase in magnesium levels, which would - if they were observed in human beings already mark the early stages of hypermagnesemia. So, as important an adequate amount of magnesium in your diet may be, it should be obvious that 1.5% of the diet or ~350mg/kg magnesium sulfate and thus 35mg elemental magnesium per kilogramm body weight (the HED of the dosage that was administered to the rodents; ) is simply too much - honestly, I am surprised that the rodents did not get chronic diarrhea, anyway ;-)

Since a wise man facebooked me earlier today to keep the SuppVersity posts short on this weekend, spending some time idling around, in order to avoid ending up totally burned out (I wonder if that really was an all altruistic advice of him ;-), I will now do just that - cut it short; yet not without pointing you towards the SuppVersity Facebook Wall, which does - as every day - hold 6-10 new short news for you to read up on.
 

+++ Have a nice weekend, everyone! +++

References:

• Brede C, Fjeldal P, Skjevrak I, Herikstad H. Increased migration levels of bisphenol A from polycarbonate baby bottles after dishwashing, boiling and brushing. Food Addit Contam. 2003 Jul;20(7):684-9.
• Chandra AK, Sengupta P, Goswami H, Sarkar M. Effects of dietary magnesium on testicular histology, steroidogenesis, spermatogenesis and oxidative stress markers in adult rats. Indian J Exp Biol. 2013 Jan;51(1):37-47.
• Couto BP, Silva HR, Filho AG, da Silveira Neves SR, Ramos MG, Szmuchrowski LA, Barbosa MP. Acute Effects of Resistance Training with Local Vibration. Int J Sports Med. 2013 Feb 26.
• de Francischi ML, Salgado JM, Leitão RF. Chemical, nutritional and technological characteristics of buckwheat and non-prolamine buckwheat flours in comparison of wheat flour. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 1994 Dec;46(4):323-9.
• DiVall SA. The influence of endocrine disruptors on growth and development of children. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2013 Feb;20(1):50-5.
• DWD. Press Release from February 27, 2013. < http://www.dwd.de/presse > 
• Fierens T, Vanermen G, Van Holderbeke M, De Henauw S, Sioen I. Effect of cooking at home on the levels of eight phthalates in foods. Food Chem Toxicol. 2012 Dec;50(12):4428-35.
• Indumathi D, Jayashree S, Selvaraj J, Sathish S, Mayilvanan C, Akilavalli N, Balasubramanian K. Effect of bisphenol-A on insulin signal transduction and glucose oxidation in skeletal muscle of adult male albino rat. Hum Exp Toxicol. 2013 Feb 19.
• Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Reference Dose (RfD): Description and use in health risk assessments. 1993 < http://www.epa.gov/ncea/iris/subst/0356.htm > 
• Kawa JM, Taylor CG, Przybylski R. Buckwheat concentrate reduces serum glucose in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Dec 3;51(25):7287-91.
• Koch HM, Lorber M, Christensen KL, Pälmke C, Koslitz S, Brüning T. Identifying sources of phthalate exposure with human biomonitoring: Results of a 48h fasting study with urine collection and personal activity patterns. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2013 Jan 17. 
• Makris Kc, Andra S, Jia A, Herrick L, Christophi C, Snyder Sa, Hauser R. The Association Between Water Consumption From Polycarbonate Containers And Bisphenol-A Intake During Harsh Environmental Conditions in Summer. Environ Sci Technol. 2013 Feb 28.
• Mendez, A M, Pera G, Agudo A, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Palli D, Boeing H, Carneiro F, Berrino F, Sacerdote C, Tumino R, Panico S, Berglund G, Manjer J, Johansson I, Stenling R, Martinez C, Dorronsoro M, Barricarte A, Tormo MJ, Quiros JR, Allen N, Key TJ, Bingham S, Linseisen J, Kaaks R, Overvad K, Jensen M, Olsen A, Tjønneland A, Peeters PH, Numans ME, Ocké MC, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC, Trichopoulou A, Lund E, Slimani N, Jenab M, Ferrari P, Riboli E, González CA. Cereal fiber intake may reduce risk of gastric adenocarcinomas: the EPIC-EURGAST study. Int J Cancer. 2007 Oct 1;121(7):1618-23.
• Nagy-Szakal D, Hollister EB, Luna RA, Szigeti R, Tatevian N, Smith CW, Versalovic J, Kellermayer R. Cellulose supplementation early in life ameliorates colitis in adult mice. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e56685. 
• Plante TG, Cage C, Clements S, Stover A. Psychological benefits of exercise paired with virtual reality: Outdoor exercise energizes whereas indoor virtual exercise relaxes. International Journal of Stress Management, Vol 13(1), Feb 2006, 108-117
• Roth J, Mobarhan S. Preventive role of dietary fiber in gastric cardia cancers. Nutr Rev. 2001 Nov;59(11):372-4.
• Schoenfeld B. Post-exercise hypertrophic adaptations: A re-examination of the hormone hypothesis and its applicability to resistance training program design. J Strength Cond Res. 2013 Feb 25. 
• Sleeges PJC, Moolenaar MN, Galetzka M, Pruyn A, Sarroukh BE, van der Zande B. Lighting affects students’ concentration positively: findings from three Dutch studies. Lighting Research and Technology. June 22, 2012.
• Stringer DM, Taylor CG, Appah P, Blewett H, Zahradka P. Consumption of buckwheat modulates the post-prandial response of selected gastrointestinal satiety hormones in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Metabolism. Available online 26 February 2013.
• Terry P, Lagergren J, Ye W, Wolk A, Nyrén O. Inverse association between intake of cereal fiber and risk of gastric cardia cancer. Gastroenterology. 2001 Feb;120(2):387-91
• West DW, Phillips SM. Associations of exercise-induced hormone profiles and gains in strength and hypertrophy in a large cohort after weight training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2012 Jul;112(7):2693-702.  
• Wu MT, Wu CF, Chen BH, Chen EK, Chen YL, Shiea J, Lee WT, Chao MC, Wu JR. Intake of phthalate-tainted foods alters thyroid functions in taiwanese children. PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e55005.

Science Round-Up Seconds: DHA, Algae Oil, Fish Protein, Insulin Sensitivity, Fat Loss & Muscle Gain. Plus: Night Shifts & BPA = Pro-Carcinogenic From Breast to Prostate

It's somewhat ironic that Nurse's are one of the three high risk groups for breast cancer, because they work night shifts to help others. Who the other two groups are? Female military personnel and flight attendants on international flights.

If you did already listen to yesterday's installment of the Science Round-Up, you should actually be able to connect the dots between both, the first and second course of today's installment of the Science Round-Up Seconds, and the studies on the effects of DHA on fatty acid metabolism, as well as the fallacies of insufficient, interrupted, or irregular sleep Carl and I have been addressing, yesterday.

If all that does not ring a bell, I suspect you missed the show and have not had a chance to listen to the podcast (as usual the Science Round-Up starts in the 2nd hour of the show), yet. In this unfortunate case, I'd suggest you do at least start downloading the file while you take the first bite of today's two course menu ;-)

More things fishy from proteins with funky names to DHA and fish protein

Pollachius virens (Photo: Tino Strauss) is king, when it comes to the n:3/n:6 ratio, but with <1% of fat you will still be hard pressed to get tons of omega-3s from eating pollock... but is more really better, let alone necessary? Learn how to make the right fish choices here.

(Lane. 2013; Vikøren. 2013) -- Actually I wanted to title this one "Some Things Fishy", but then I remembered that there is already a SuppVersity post with this title, one I am still not able to make head or fin... ah, pardon tail of, by the way, because it clearly suggest that the consumption of oxidized fish oil is not a problem. Be that as it may, these are the SuppVersity Science Round Up Seconds, so the "more" does not refer to the said SuppVersity post on oxidized fish oil, but rather to the 70x* increase in the expression of a protein called Angiopoietin-like 4, which controls the availability of fatty acids for fuel I mentioned during the podcast (*the differential response for DHA was elucidated in a separate study on isolated rat hepatic cells, the general effect was however observed in a human trial, where all tested fatty acids, not just DHA, produced 11-12x ANGPTL-4 increases).

In view of the more of less undisputed benefits of having reasonable amounts of DHA (400mg) in your diet, it would obviously be nice if we could increase our intake of this relatively scarce omega-3 fatty acid in our diet, without having to resort  to fish and fish oil caps. A recently published overview of vegetarian dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids by Katie Lane and her colleagues does however confirm what you've heard both Carl and me say on previous episodes of the SuppVersity Science Round Up, already.

The conversion of alpha linolic acid (ALA, the short-chain version of omega-3) from nuts (walnut) and seeds (flaxseed, echium) to DHA is literally zero. 

According to he researchers' review of the literature, only the ingestion of oils that were derived from micro-algae provide some, albeit preliminary evidence to support their usefulness as dietary source of DHA. The number of studies is yet relatively limited and "further research is necessary to evaluate optimal doses" (Lane. 2013) of respective supplements and/or food additives for "functional foods" (how I hate this word)

Micro-algae oils are not fish, though, and thus you would once more be missing out on the unique synergy only real foods have to offer: The fish proteins!

If you are not one of the many new visitors who have found their way to the SuppVersity only recently, the keyword "fish protein" should actually ring a bell... exactly! That's the stuff that has previously been shown to have astonishingly pronounced effects on glucose metabolism. Effect that have initially been observed in rodent studies and are not being replicated in human trials. Trials such as the one by Vikøren and his colleagues from the University of Bergen who report in their latest paper that was February issue of the British Journal of Nutrition that the provision of 3 g/d of a cabbed fish protein supplements for the first 4 weeks and 6 g/d for the last 4 weeks of a 2 months placebo controlled intervention study effectively and significantly

• 

  Table 1: Amino acid composition of fish, whey and casein protein (Hall. 2003; Vikøren. 2013)

  lowered the values of fasting glucose
• 2 h postprandial glucose and glucose-area under the curve,

• increased the important early insulin and 
• decreased the detrimental late insulin response to glucose ingestion 

• reduced the amount of  LDL-cholesterol (P< 0·05) and

• led to increases in lean (+0.8%) and decreases in fat mass  (-1.6%)

compared to the calorie-free placebo. Pretty impressive results, right? That's particularly true in view of the fact that neither the food intake nor the physical activity levels changed in the course of the 8-week intervention period.

What's that: Fish protein + fish oil? (Almost) whole fish, right!

Fish happens to be a way better source of taurine than the sperm of this Belgian Blue. There is in fact so little taurine bull sperm that it is "supplemented" with this amino acid in order to keep it fresh and stable and have it survive refrigeration. Apropos, you do remember that taurine can boost testosterone levels up to 250% - at least in rodents?

The obvious question therefore is: How does that work? The scientists don't provide a satisfactory explanation and to be honest, I have nothing more than a couple of half-assed hypotheses either. My best bet, and I am suggesting that despite the fact that a recent post of mine was entitled "Don't Judge a Protein By Its Amino Acid Content", would in fact be the amino acid content. If you take a look at table 1 it is obvious that the cod protein the scientists used in the study contained one amino acid you as a SuppVersity reader should by now be familiar with and neither whey, nor casein or any of the other standard proteins has to offer: Taurine!

Yet despite the fact that taurine has the potential to boost testosterone levels, increases insulin sensitivity and has in fact been shown to actively reduce body weight in a 2003 human study by Zhang et al. (Zhang. 2003), I am not sold on the idea that the relatively minor total quantity of taurine in the already low amount of fish protein (I mean 8g?) is the only reason for the non-negligible health benefits the scientists observed in their 10 male and 10 female participants (BMI 31-37kg/m²). Maybe it's another of those funky di-peptides you've read about in the context of the nutrient repartitioning effect of whey protein hydrolysate, only lately.

Regardless of what exactly it may be that facilitated the improvements in blood glucose management and the minor, but significant improvements in body composition, the health benefits you can derive from the consumption of cod protein make the notion of fish oil, let alone micro-algae oil supplementation appear even more retarded, when eating fish once or twice a week offers a way more natural and unquestionably more tasty solution to satisfy your DHA requirement.

Night shifts and breast, BPA and prostate cancer

There are two clockworks operating parallel in your body. The one in the brain has to be hacked by light exposure (learn more about "Sunlight a la Carte"), the one in your liver and other peripheral organs, on the other hand, can be (re-)set by specific feeding strategies, like Intermittent Fasting (learn more)

I simply assume that you have by now downloaded and listened to the podcast and are thus aware of what I said about the importance of rythmicity (if you did not really get the notion, I suggest you read up on the posts in the SuppVersity Circadian Rhythm Series to get a better grasp of the different clocks that are ticking in your body ;-) Exactly this kind of rhythmicity is continuously disturbed when you are either switching back and forth from day- to night-shifts or work the night-shift continuously and dare having a social life that's simply not compatible with sleeping all day and waking all night.

That the life of a nurse, for example takes it's toll on your health and precipitates not just the development of breast cancer (+36% after 30 years of rotating night shifts; Schernhammer. 2001), but colorectal cacers (+35% after 15 years of rotating night shifts; Schernhammer. 2003) and endometrial cancer (+47% after 20+ years and even +109% in obese women; Viswanathan. 2007), as well, has been debated ever since the early years of the 21st century.

With the recent publication of two meta-analyses the debate probably will not be over; and that despite the fact that even the less unsettling analysis by Kamdar et al. reports increases in breast cancer risk of +21% for women "with ever night-shift work exposure" (Kamdar. 2013).

"Subgroup analyses suggested that flight attendants with international or overnight work exposure and nurses working night-shifts long-term were at increased risk of breast cancer." (my emphases in Kamdar. 2013)

While the Kamdar study also included observational data, this 2nd meta-analysis, which was likewise published less than a week ago, included only case-control and cohort-studies yielding risk increases of +32% and +8%, respectively (Jia. 2013). Somethin else thatg may be worth mentioning is the fact that both, the studies the scientists ranked as "high quality" research, as well as the only existing study involving female military personnel observed even higher risk increases of +40%.

Despite methodological differences and slightly different outcomes of the two meta-analyses, both research groups do reach very similar conclusions stating that the evidence is still "weak", but does "support previous reports that night-shift work is associated with increased breast cancer risk" (Kamar. 2013) and that "large-scale epidemiological studies are needed" (Jia. 2013).

From breasts to prostates ;-)

Figure 1: Effects of 4-days of BPA injections at different dosages on systemic hormone levels (Castro. 2013)

I know the subheading sounds somewhat gross, but there are certain parallels. For one, there is the same need for large-scale epidemiological studies on the connection between BPA exposure and the development and malignancy of prostate cancer as it is the case with breast cancer and night shifts. On the other hand, BPS of which a recent study was now able to show that it messes with the aromatase and 5-alpha reductase activity in the prostate and can thus precipitate prostate cancer even in adulthood (Castro. 2013), is unquestionably relevant for the development of breast cancer, as well.

What's more, the reductions in 5α-R1 and 5α-R2 Castro et al. observed in their previously healthy, adult rodents after only 4-days of BPA injections at doses of 25, 50, 300, or 600 µg/kg per day and the concommitant increase in the expression of the third isoform of 5-α reductase (5α-R3) does not only precipitate cancerous growth, it's also a recently proposed as a biomarker of cancer malignancy. In conjunction with the quasi-reversal of hormones (see figure 1), the results of this study, which happens to be the first one to demonstrate such profound detrimental effects on mature mammals, should remind us of the fact gestation and early childhood are not the only time-points in our lives, we have to beware of endocrine disruptors.

---

That's it for the Seconds and in case you are missing the information about fruits and vegetables, I will serve those tomorrow as part of the as of in fact short, but way more numerous "Short News". In case you are still hungry for more, I suggest you make take a slight detour to the SuppVersity Facebook Wall before you you sally into the weekend. There are a couple of appetizers waiting for you there:

• 

  "Does the Usefulness of Vitamin E Supplementation Depend on Your Activity Level?" While the marathon runners in the facebook study took only 50IU, 400IU is what most supplements have to offer as a minimum. Is that too much, for you? Do athletes need more? What about the hormetic response to exercise - it it even hormetic? (learn more)

  EGCG is an "anti-folate" - You still don't have to worry, nature has made sure that those who value the synergy of whole foods, or in this case drinks, won't be harmed (read more)
• LOW(!) doses of vitamin C & E (125mg & 50IU) don't diminish the benefits of exercise - On the contrary, in marathon runners that's enough to blunt the neutrophil damage (read more)
• Smart Kids = Lean Adults  - General intelligence as assessed in childhood has a significant and direct effect on adult obesity risk (read more)
• Valine, vanadium and oxygenated water - All useless for athletes. That's at least what the latest installment of the "A–Z of nutritional supplements" says (read more)

When you are done with those, it's about to start news fasting, for a couple of hours until tomorrow's morning news (for you probably today's late evening news) will be published on Facebook. Have a great "Post-Valentine's Day", everyone - I just  hope your spouses were happy with their presents ;-)


References:

• Castro B, Sánchez P, Torres JM, Preda O, Del Moral RG, Ortega E. Bisphenol A Exposure during Adulthood Alters Expression of Aromatase and 5α-Reductase Isozymes in Rat Prostate. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e55905.
• Hall WL, Millward DJ, Long SJ, Morgan LM. Casein and whey exert different effects on plasma amino acid profiles, gastrointestinal hormone secretion and appetite. Br J Nutr. 2003 Feb;89(2):239-48.
• Jia Y, Lu Y, Wu K, Lin Q, Shen W, Zhu M, Huang S, Chen J. Does night work increase the risk of breast cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. Cancer Epidemiol. 2013 Feb 8.
• Kamdar BB, Tergas AI, Mateen FJ, Bhayani NH, Oh J. Night-shift work and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013 Feb 12. 
• Lane K et al. Bioavailability and potential uses of vegetarian sources of omega-3 fatty acids: a review of the literature. Critical Reviews in Food and Science Nutrition. February 2013 [Epub ahead of print].
• Schernhammer ES, Laden F, Speizer FE, Willett WC, Hunter DJ, Kawachi I, Colditz GA. Rotating night shifts and risk of breast cancer in women participating in the nurses' health study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2001 Oct 17;93(20):1563-8. 
• Schernhammer ES, Laden F, Speizer FE, Willett WC, Hunter DJ, Kawachi I, Fuchs CS, Colditz GA. Night-shift work and risk of colorectal cancer in the nurses' health study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Jun 4;95(11):825-8. 
• Vikøren LA, Nygård OK, Lied E, Rostrup E. Gudbrandsen OA. A randomised study on the effects of fish protein supplement on glucose tolerance, lipids and body composition in overweight adults. British Journal of Nutrition. 2013; 109:648-657.
• Viswanathan AN, Hankinson SE, Schernhammer ES. Night shift work and the risk of endometrial cancer. Cancer Res. 2007 Nov 1;67(21):10618-22.
• Zhang M, Bi LF, Fang JH, Su XL, Da GL, Kuwamori T, Kagamimori S. Beneficial effects of taurine on serum lipids in overweight or obese non-diabetic subjects. Amino Acids. 2004 Jun;26(3):267-71. Epub 2003 Dec 15.