LegendaryLife Blog

Like many other people interested in “peak” health, I have read up and discussed anabolic steroid use with both users and health practitioners – consequently I have learned a lot about anabolic steroids. I have skimmed over a lot of information on purpose – it is up to you to educate yourself.

Essentially it comes down to health practitioners and politicians who say NO and people deeply involved in their own health being either on the fence or dabbing in it.

What are steroids and how do they work?

Anabolic steroids are the synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring male anabolic hormone testosterone. Testosterone is a hormone that is responsible for the secondary sex characteristics you see in males such as deep voice, body hair etc. It helps in the burning of fat and increases protein synthesis (ei: more and faster muscle buildup).

Although there is a very large variation in the amount of testosterone produced by a healthy male throughout their lifetime, the testes produce between 50 and 70 mg (milligram) a week, usually peaking in the mid 20s. Woman also produce testosterone, but in far lesser quantities. What athletes are doing with steroids is simply augmenting their natural production artificially, usually several fold.

Although their exact working mechanism is still unknown, it is theorized that it they prevent muscle breakdown (catabolism) after an intense workout and greatly accelerates muscle protein synthesis.

This stuff actually works

Honestly, I would love to add an extra 50lbs of muscle onto my frame increase my overall strength and have the body of my dreams. Unlike 99.9% of the supplements sold at your local health food store, anabolic steroids actually do work – when mixed with the proper diet, exercise, growth hormones, IGF-1, insulin, post cycle therapy etc- its quite dramatic what can be achieved in 1-2 years of a carefully executed regime. Unlike what you may read, steroids are not the lazy mans muscle builder, if you don’t eat and exercise correctly; you will get nothing from taking them. More importantly, the stronger your foundation is BEFORE you take them, the better you will respond and be able to keep the gains made.

To take or not to take?

I think it’s a very personal issue whether to go to what term the “dark side of athleticism”. I have seriously considered taking them myself but let me tell you why I chose NOT to take that route.

Steroids are incredibly easy to secure, the fact that many countries consider them “illegal” simply makes for a larger markup by suppliers. Laws do very little to curb their use and I would argue once again that prohibition does nothing but harm those who are uneducated before taking the plunge. Do not fool yourself in believing availability equals safety; they can still cause lifelong disruptions in your hormonal balance which may lead to both psychological and physiological consequences.

My main reason oddly is health related, remember those “Popeye the Sailor Man” comics, for those unfamiliar with the character, when his girlfriend would get in trouble, he would chug down a can of spinach and develop a super human body that would allow him to save her. Well, when executed as part of an overall plan, your body is working 200%+ at making your dream body a reality. This has negative side effects that aren’t fully realized until you really get “off the juice”. You go from giving your body all the testosterone it wants to 0 (you must get completely off eventually) but your body doesn’t adapt that quickly so if your lucky, with proper post cycle therapy your body will return to its normal balance. You will still slowly loose your gains regardless, there is nothing you can take other then more steroids to get those gains back and keep growing beyond your natural genetic potential. Many bodybuilders as a result refer to steroids use as two-steps up and one-step down system. I simply do not see myself doing this to my body; I believe mine deserves better then a hormonal roller coaster ride.

Natural Realistic Results

With proper diet, exercise, sleep and monitoring – anybody can develop the body they desire (within reason). Sure I may never be a solid 250lbs guy with 25-inch arms and a six-pack but when I consider the emotional, physical and financial costs of introducing “supplements”, right now it doesn’t bother me very much. I am very happy with the slow but steady gains I can produce with my bodies own testosterone supply. I have great admiration and respect for what bodybuilders and other athletes are able to achieve either on or off the sauce, I am a great fan of bodybuilding. I simply realize that the life they lead not one I wish to proceed with at this point in my life.

Will I ever take steroids?

I honestly do not know. I love my body and what it is able to do for me, and I continue to feed it a steady diet to keep is as healthy as possible. I have seen many articles about how older men benefit greatly from testosterone augmentation. There is no such thing as a testosterone overdose nor can you die from using it, unlike what you may read, the health “costs” are negligible as long as you are monitored by a doctor and do not abuse them. All those horrible stories you hear from users are those who didn’t know what they where doing to begin with. As for me, time will tell me if and when I need them.

The Bottom Line

Educate yourself about a product before you take a plunge, read as many sources as possible (both “for” and against), then make your own personal decision. I, for one, would not stop politics from either side, in getting in the way of my own goals in life.

UPDATE – May 28, 2006

Here is a fantastic report about Steroids in Health Men

http://www.steroidlaw.com/images/steroids_0002.wmv

Against

Steroids use is NOT an HIV risk factor anymore then diabetes testing is. Ignorant scare tactics and absolute rubish have no place in this discussion – use a new needle each time & don’t share them and you don’t need to ever worry about HIV
Fastastic Educational Resource
Anabolex.com

Fantastic site! Learn from users, see how others have faired over months and years then make up your own mind.

Go through the aisles of your local food market, it seems that everything now says “all natural”, “natural ingredients”, “organic” or their many derivatives. Even what is traditionally known as junk food is starting to look pretty good – but is it?

Natural = Healthier?

Ask people on the street what their definition of what a natural product is and what you will hear is that it’s healthier for you, organically sourced and usually unprocessed. I guess somebody forgot to tell this to the food manufacturers

The problem is most people only read the front of the box their food comes in instead of looking in the back – sections called ingredients and the food label!

Ingredients list

In North America at least, the ingredient list is sorted by most to least, so if you see for instance olive oil followed by flour, it means there is more olive oil then flour in the food you are about to consume. What it doesn’t tell you is if the flour was deep-fried in olive oil.

The fact is, the ingredients list is a good start but I sure wish it told me a little more about how a food was “processed”. The fact is something can be labeled “all natural” and still contain a lot of sugar, fats and other ingredients not normally associated with healthy eating make some “healthy natural foods” essentially overpriced junk food.

Labels lie

You got to wonder who writes the FDA specifications for food labels, the government or the food company. If I tell you I am finally debt-free, that means I no longer have ANY debt. Not so according to FDA specs. Using their logic, I can still be in debt with many creditors yet, still being considered debt-free if I spread the debt around enough to create smaller amounts.

Now, when you go through the specifications, notice how it usually says, “per serving size”, this is very tricky. Go through your cupboard, look at your favorite food and eat ONLY the serving size – I bet you will be surprised as how little companies think you actually eat of their product. If regularly eat 3-6x the suggested serving size, so that means what the food label said should be multiplied 3-6x – but most don’t realize to do this final multiplication. No wonder obesity and diabetes is reaching pandemic proportions!

FDA Specifications for labeling claims

Fat-Free Less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving, with no added fat or oil
Low fat 3 grams or less of fat per serving
Less fat 25% or less fat than the comparison food
Saturated Fat Free Less than 0.5 grams of saturated fat and 0.5 grams of trans-fatty acids per serving
Cholesterol-Free Less than 2 mg cholesterol per serving, and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving
Low Cholesterol 20 mg or less cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving
Reduced Calorie At least 25% fewer calories per serving than the comparison food
Low Calorie 40 calories or less per serving
Extra Lean Less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per (100 gram) serving of meat, poultry or seafood
Lean Less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 g of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per (100 gram) serving of meat, poultry or seafood
Light (fat) 50% or less of the fat than in the comparison food (ex: 50% less fat than our regular cheese)
Light (calories) 1/3 fewer calories than the comparison food
High-Fiber 5 grams or more fiber per serving
Sugar-Free Less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving
Sodium-Free or Salt-Free Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving
Low Sodium 140 mg or less per serving
Very Low Sodium 35 mg or less per serving
Healthy A food low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, and contains at least 10% of the Daily Values for vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein or fiber
“High”, “Rich in” or “Excellent Source” 20% or more of the Daily Value for a given nutrient per serving
“Less”, “Fewer” or “Reduced” At least 25% less of a given nutrient or calories than the comparison food
“Low”, “Little”, “Few”, or “Low Source of” An amount that would allow frequent consumption of the food without exceeding the Daily Value for the nutrient – but can only make the claim as it applies to all similar foods
“Good Source Of”, “More”, or “Added” The food provides 10% more of the Daily Value for a given nutrient than the comparison food

Fat-free foods is an oxymoron
I hope the above chart made you realize how trivial your nutrition is taken into account by those you may trust to feed and protect your family, now one more interesting fact. Here is a simple calorie calculation chart:

1 gram fat = 9 calories
1 gram protein = 4 calories
1 gram carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram alcohol = 7 calories

People purchase foods that are labeld fat-free (I hope you now realize they can still contain fat), now for a shocker… if you really did eat food that 100% fat free but it contained carbohydrates or alcohol, guess what happens to all the extra calories you consumed – your body converts it to fat. So you can still become fat by eating fat-free foods.

The Bottom Line

Cook all your own meals using fresh ingredients; this will save you from a lot of potential health problems in the future caused by an improper diet.

Regardless of your religious beliefs or cultural/ethnic background, it is a scientific fact that ALL humans can trace their origins to ONE woman in Africa through their own genetics (mitochondria DNA). Excavated bones from around the world, relics and artifacts left by our ancestors only help to augment our understandings. This includes corroborating techniques that back one another up such as carbon-14 & potassium-40 dating, environmental and geological markers etc.

Science traces back our origins

Every cell in our body is powered by a mitochondria, the DNA present within its nucleus is only passed on from mothers to daughters. It was discovered quite a few years ago that mutations in mitochondria DNA occur on a regular basis and even more fascinating, that every human on the planet could trace their ancestry based on only six genetic mutation markers, which can then be traced back to a single genetic mutation. Large genetic mutation markers occur every 20 000 years. Although this knowledge is old hat in the scientific community, I am still surprised at how few people know this.

Age of our species

The human species, homo sapien to be more precise, is only 120 000 years old, using mitochondria DNA techniques, we know that there have been roughly 7 000 generations of humans. This might sound like a long time but it is insignificant compared to our 14 billion years old universe. We are dealing with enormous time scales, considering humans rarely reached 100 years old before the advent of modern medical intervention.

Around the world in 120 thousand years

We evolved from a distant species about 120 thousand years ago on the plains of Africa and unable to move north due to the Sahara Desert, which was much dryer and larger back then, we simply stayed put, for 40 thousand years. It is estimated we grew to no more then 10 thousand in total world population, living a hunter/gatherer lifestyle. This was during the middle of an Ice Age, the oceans where up to 150ft lower and the world map looked generally similar to what you see now.

We begin to adapt to our environment

As we began to move from a dry, hot environment pelted by the sun to a cooler and forested areas, our skin began to lighten up and to adapt to the colder weather, our physiques began to get shorter and stocker to overcome heat loss. It is estimated that it took about 20 thousand years for the skin to change from very dark brown to white. Our height also changed depending on diet consumed.

Controversy

The nice thing about science is that it is constantly being challenged, based on new understandings and developments that are added to our collective knowledge. Science is not perfect but at least it is evidence based, dates and times may change but the general direction it leads us to is usually correct. There is some controversy to the “African origins” theory, the strongest to date is from China that says essentially humans evolved from a number of places (notably China), not only from Africa. Now, this does not erase all our previous gained knowledge but may accentuate details towards a unified theory regarding our origins.

Bottom line

It probably took well over 120 thousand years to engineer the human body that you enjoy today, appreciate it, so that future generations may also enjoys its beauty.

A large driving force for just about every species, whether plan, animal, bacteria or virus is the urge of procreation. Although there is some controversy as to what controls this (nurture vs nature), one thing that cannot be disputed is how strong the urge is.

A little education first

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, it is a Retrovirus, meaning that once it gets into a cell, it is able to use hijack that cells function to replicate itself. HIV is spread through the exchange of fluids; it doesn’t matter if it’s from mother to child or unprotected sex or a dirty needle, you still get it to the same degree. Infection can take years to develop into AIDS. AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, and you have it when your CD4 count is below 200/ml. Most often this is the first time somebody finds out that they even had HIV in the first place and this is when infections begin to take advantage of you now depressed immune system.

Abstinence and fidelity is not enough!

I read an article today at how 23% of the 15 billon US the Bush administration has put towards the fight against HIV Disease in Africa has gone to religious groups that promote fidelity and abstinence over condom use”. We all know how bad the track record on prohibition is (drugs, alcohol etc), try advocating sexual prohibition to a young population anywhere in the world.

A little history

Throughout most of recent history, African has been pillaged by European colonists and used as a boxing ring during too many wars by other countries. From slavery to propped up dictatorships, Africa has seen far more of its fare share of misery. It was not always this way, Africa was once a very powerful continent but the culture, languages and resources of the people have been mismanaged for centuries. Colonists simply packed their bags when they no longer had a use for a nation and left them to fend for themselves. Not all of Africa has had this fate, but large swaths have yet to recover from it.

HIV Disease in Africa – why should I care?

Sure, I am a Canadian – why should I care about what is going on in Africa? They are on the other side of the planet!

The Bottom Line

Prohibition is not a cure nor solution, unbiased education is at least heading in the right direction.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/10/16/koinange.adoption/index.html