Tribulus Boosts Testosterone (+12%), IGF-1 (+20%), Sheds 2kg (7%) Body Fat and Maintains Lean Mass in 12 Wk RCT

Tribulus Boosts Testosterone (+12%), IGF-1 (+20%), Sheds 2kg (7%) Body Fat and Maintains Lean Mass in 12 Wk RCT

andropause build muscle gains lose fat male health testosterone testosterone booster tribulus tribulus terrestris TRT

Could a high dose of purified saponin tribulus extract as it was obviously used in the study at hand actually be a valid TRT alternative or even option? 

No, this is not the 2015 study in trained boxers that found similarly surprising, because impressive benefits from tribulus terrestris (TT) supplementation (read it). It's a new study from the Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland (Wilk. 2016) that has no direct link to the previously discussed study from the  Shanghai University of Sport Affiliated School of Sports in China.

And even though, the aim, i.e. to determine the effects of steriodal saponins from tribulus terrestris on the blood concentration of testosterone (T), GH and IGF-1 was similar, the overall design of the study was significantly different.

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While the previously discussed study by Ma et al. (2015) was conducted with young athletic individuals, Wilk et al. deliberately chose 14 men between the age of 45 and 60 years, i.e. exactly those years in a man's life over the course of which the natural hormone production starts to decline significantly.

Table 1: How to recognize your T-levels are declining (from Matsumoto. 2002).

Over twelve weeks, the subjects who were normal-to-overweight with a body mass index of 25–33, and body fat content between 23–30%, received either...

• experimental group: steroidal saponins (TT) - for the first six weeks three capsules (900 mg) per day in split doses (2x capsules were ingested in the morning on an empty stomach, 600 mg, and one at bedtime, 300 mg) and twice the dose, i.e. 6 capsules (1,800 mg) were ingested per day in split doses (4x capsules in the morning on an empty stomach, 1,200 mg, and 2x capsules at bedtime, 600 mg), or 

What's the use of the "front load", i.e. taking more in the AM vs. PM? That's a question I just received from Peter via Facebook. Good question, but one the scientists do not answer. So I'd have to speculate that they may have intended to mirror the natural 24h (=circadian) rhythm of testosterone which peaks in the AM and declines over the day to re-increase over night and peak again in the AM. What is particularly interesting about this rhythm, by the way, is that it - or rather the peaks in the AM, are lost as you age (see Figure on the left | Bremner. 1983).

• control group: placebo (CON) - in the form of gelatin capsules using the same supplementation protocol as it was prescribed in the experimental group 

And even though all subjects participated in a physical activity program over the 12 week study period, the workouts the scientists describe as follows,...

"Get leaner, more muscular and hornier than ever before" - That's probably the promise on the T-booster someone will release after reading this SuppVersity Classic article and sourcing an inferior Shilajit extract on Alibaba. Is that going to be a waste of time - just as the majority of the tribulus products on the market, which are lightyears away from providing grams of pure saponines on a multiple serving per day basis | learn more.

"4 training sessions per week, with 2 sessions directed at the improvemnt of anaerobic power (resistance exercise), while 2 consisted of aerobic endurance exercise. Aerobic training was performed on a stationary cycle ergometer, starting with 30 minutes of continuous exercise at an intensity of 70–75% of maximum heart rate (HR max). Every two weeks, the work volume was increased by 5 minutes in order to reach 60 minutes in the last two weeks of the experiment. Strength training had a holistic aproach, involving all major muscle groups (the back, chest, abdomen, arms and lower limbs). For the first four weeks, exercises were performed in 3 sets of 8–12 reps with the resistance equal to 60–70% of 1RM and 2 min rest periods between sets. During the experiment, the number of sets of each exercise increased from 3 to 4 sets in weeks 5–8, and respectively to 5 sets in weeks 9–12 for each exercise," (Wilk. 2016)

was of course not the same as the one in the previously discussed Chinese study. In conjunction with the standardized isocaloric (same energy content) mixed diet containing 55% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 25% fat, the workouts are still an important means of standardizing / reducing inter-group differences that could otherwise arise due to personal exercise and / or diet preferences.

Figure 1: Relative changes in blood lipids, GH, IGF-1 and testosterone (Wilk. 2016).

The results of the scientists' two series of laboratory tests (independent tests were conducted at the beginning and after 12 weeks of the intervention), revealed a statistically significant effect of the intervention on the following variables: T-Ch (η2 = 0.542), HDL-Ch (η2 = 0.522), LDL-Ch (η2 = 0.587), T (η2 = 0.603), IGF-1 (η2 = 0.512) and GH (η2 = 0.621).

Figure 2: Relative changes in body composition; effect sizes and p-values (Wilk. 2016).

Effects of which you will probably pleased to hear that they went hand in hand with significant decreases in total body fat (TBF) total body mass (BM) and borderline significant effects on the fat-free mass (muscle, organ and bone mass) of the subjects - an observation of which the scientists say that it "indicate[s] that treatment or supplementation of individual hormone deficiencies can be a successful form of counteracting the aging process" - an aging process that is evidenced by increasing body fat levels, decreasing amounts of fat-free mass and concomitant deterioration of blood lipids and blood glucose (the latter was unfortunately not measured in the study at hand).

Wtf!? What kind of tribulus was that? I wish I could tell you that, but a brand name or other specifics are not mentioned in the publicly financed study from Poland.

Make no mistake about it, the impressive increases in free T in Brown's often miscited 2001 study from which I took this figure were due to a combination of the prohormone androstenediol with tribulus and other herbs. To ascribe the T-increase to TT is idiotic.

What I can tell you is that the results are in line with a 2009 study by Milasius, et al. who used food a commercial supplement Tribulus from Optimum Nutrition, USA, and observed positive effects on the acid-base equilibrium after short-term, high intensity anaerobic exercise in competitive athletes. The study at hand apparently used a more pruified steroidal saponin supplement, however, and observed similar effects as Brown et al. (2001), who supplemented tribulus alongside 300mg of the prohormone androstenediol and found - not to anyone's surprise, probably a significant effect on serum testosterone concentration in both young and older men (see Figure to the right).

Since no such effects were observed in the often cited study by Neychev, et al.  (2005) in allegedly much younger subjects, the question future studies will have to answer is whether that's due to an (subject-)age- or dosage / otherwise supplement-related difference between the high dose of (probably) pure saponins used in the study at hand and the relatively low dose of Bulgaria TT (200mg/day) with 60% saponins that was used by Neychev, et al. in 2005 | Comment!

References:

• Bremner, William J., Michael V. Vitiello, and Patricia N. Prinz. "Loss of Circadian Rhythmicity in Blood Testosterone Levels with Aging in Normal Men*." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 56.6 (1983): 1278-1281.
• Brown, Gregory A., et al. "Endocrine and lipid responses to chronic androstenediol-herbal supplementation in 30 to 58 year old men." Journal of the American College of Nutrition 20.5 (2001): 520-528.
• Matsumoto, Alvin M. "Andropause clinical implications of the decline in serum testosterone levels with aging in men." The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 57.2 (2002): M76-M99.
• Milasius, K., R. Dadeliene, and Ju Skernevicius. "The influence of the Tribulus terrestris extract on the parameters of the functional preparedness and athletes’ organism homeostasis." Fiziol Zh 55.5 (2009): 89-96.
• Neychev, Vladimir Kostadinov, and Vanyo Ivano Mitev. "The aphrodisiac herb Tribulus terrestris does not influence the androgen production in young men." Journal of ethnopharmacology 101.1 (2005): 319-323.
• Wilk, Michał, et al. "Endocrine Responses to Physical Training and Tribulus Terrestris Supplememtation in Middle-Age Men." Central European Journal of Sport Sciences and Medicine 13.1 (2016): 65-71.

Tribulus is Good for Something: 1.25 g/day Modulate IGF-1 Availability and Alleviate Muscle Damage While Promoting Anaerobic Performance of Intensely Trained Male Boxers

Tribulus is Good for Something: 1.25 g/day Modulate IGF-1 Availability and Alleviate Muscle Damage While Promoting Anaerobic Performance of Intensely Trained Male Boxers

athletes boxers IGF-1 IGF1 IGFBP-3 performance saponins testosterone booster tribulus tribulus terrestris

Tribulus terrestris extracts - While the boxing gloved protect a boxers fists from damage, the TT extracts may protect his muscle. Recent study yields surprising results and insights into the performance enhancing effects of TT and why it may have failed to work in previous studies.

Yes, it's (a) not a rodent study, (b) published in a peer-reviewed journal, (c) not sponsored by a supplement company (but the Chinese government), and was (d) conducted not just with untrained and mostly sedentary or "recreational trained" human beings, but even with fifteen highly trained male boxers (national second-level athletes, 2–3 years of training) who were recruited from the boxing team of Shanghai University of Sport Affiliated School of Sports in China. This alone makes the latest study from the Shanghai University of Sport newsworthy. The fact that the scientists actually observed significant and practically effects when they 'fed' their subjects 1.25g of a standardized tribulus terrestis (TT) extract (bought on the free market from Pronova Biocare, Sweden) with a saponin content of >40% per day, however, makes the study even more interesting.

If you want to build muscle forget T-booster and optimize your protein intake 

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In contrast to previous studies that focused exclusively on testosterone and (sometimes) DHT, when it comes to identifying mechanisms for potential performance increases, the study at hand was designed to investigate the effects of Tribulus terrestris (TT) extracts on muscle mass, muscle damage, and anaerobic performances of trained male boxers and whether those may be brought about by androgen, IGF-1, and/or changes in IGF-1 or the concentration of its binding protein (IGFBP-3). To this ends, the previously mentioned fifteen male boxers were divided into an exercise group (E, n = 7) and an exercise plus TT group (E + TT, n = 8). The two groups both undertook 3-weeks of high intensity and 3-weeks of high volume training. The latter were separated by a 4-week rest period.

Table 1: Training protocol of the boxers with high intensity and high volume training (Ma. 2015) | Abbreviations: HR, heart rate; RM, repetition maximum.

"All athletes received similar 3-week high intensity training and 3-week high volume training separated by a 4-week rest. Besides special technical training, the main part of the high intensity training was strength training including maximum strength training (twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday) and speed strength training (twice a week, on Monday and Thurs day). For high volume training [see Table 1], the boxers undertook endurance training (10,000 m race every day and low to moderate intensity rope skipping twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday), and special technical training and speed strength training similar to high intensity training" (Ma. 2015).

The supplement, the aforementioned TT extracts (1,250 mg/day), was orally administered only in the E + TT group, obviously. Before the pills were handed out to the subjects, their exact compositions had been analyzed and their saponin content had been confirmed by UHPLC–Q-TOF/MS.

Not all TT extracts are created equal! If you've previously taken tribulus supplements and have seen no results, the reason could well be that they did not contain the right amount or type of saponins. As Ma et al highlight, the content of 25(R)-Spirostan-3,6,12-trione/25(R)-Spirostan-4-ene-3,12-dione and TT saponin A varies "depending on geographical region, climate23 and part of herb, which may partly explain the divergent results of TT extracts from different studies" (Ma. 2015).

The results of the pre- and post assessments of muscle mass, anaerobic performance, and blood indicators revealed no inter-group differences for testosterone, DHT, muscle mass or total IGF-1. Creatine kinase (CK), the IGF binding protein IGFBP-3 and the subjects' absolute and relative muscle power, on the other hand, increased significantly more in the supplement (E + TT) vs. control (E) group (Figure 1 shows the relative difference of the change from baseline, i.e. ΔE+TT - ΔE).

Figure 1: Differences in relative changes of IGF-BP3, the ratio of IGF/IGF-BP3, mean power, relative mean power and creatine kinase (CK) - higher values denote significant increases compared to control (E), lower values decreases in (E+TT) vs. (E) (all p < 0.05) | data calculated based on Ma. 2015

Against that background it is only logical that the scientists speculate that the performance increase and reduction in muscle damage they observed could be a result of the increased availability of IGF-1 (the total IGF-1 to IGF1BP-3 ratio is an indicator of the amount of insulin growth factor 1 that's actually floating around unbound in the blood).

Figure 2: Overview of the general role of IGF-1; focus on what is missing when it declines as we age (Berryman. 2013).

If you look at the far-reaching effects of IGF-1 on muscle (Frystyk. 2010) and its general effects on human metabolism as depicted in Figure 2 from Berryman, et al (2013), it certainly appears reasonable to assume that the significant increase in IGF-1 availability could explain the decreased muscle damage in the study at hand as well as similar results from a human study by Milasius, et al (2009) and studies in overtrained and intensely trained rodents by Zhang, et al (2010), Wang et al (2010) and Yin et al (2013), respectively.

Read this highly suggested SuppVersity Classic: Beware of falling victim to the "Brocebo Effect", Bros! Brocebo? Add 10kg to Your Bench in Days with Sugar-Based "Anabolic Steroids". Old Study Shows, Many "Natural Anabolics" Could Work Solely via Placebo Effects | learn more

What's the verdict, then? In view of the large influence the exact ratio and concentration of saponins will probably have on the effect of a given TT extract and its variability according to region, harvest and the part(s) of the plant that was/were used to prepare the extract (see red box) it is not impossible that previous studies by Antonio et al (2000) and Rogerson et al (2007) simply didn't find performance benefits in resistance-trained men and rugby players, because they used the 'wrong' extracts (or the training was not intense enough, some of the benefits in the study at hand were after all blunted performance decreases during intense training).

While it is hard to determine whether or not this hypothesis is true, there's no reason to debate the conclusion Ma et al draw based on their more recent results in trained boxers - a conclusion that reads: "Taking 1,250 mg capsules containing TT [...] alleviated muscle damage and promoted anaerobic performance of trained male boxers, which may be related to the decrease of plasma IGFBP-3 rather than androgen in plasma" (Ma. 2015) | Comment on Facebook!

References:

• Antonio, et al. "The effects of Tribulus terrestris on body composition and exercise performance in resistance-trained males." International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 10 (2000): 208–215.
• Berryman, Darlene E., et al. "The GH/IGF-1 axis in obesity: pathophysiology and therapeutic considerations." Nature Reviews Endocrinology 9.6 (2013): 346-356.
• Frystyk, Jan. "Exercise and the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor axis." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 42.1 (2010): 58-66.
• Ma, Yiming, Zhicheng Guo, and Xiaohui Wang. "Tribulus Terrestris extracts alleviate muscle damage and promote anaerobic performance of trained male boxers and its mechanisms: Roles of androgen, IGF-1 and IGF binding protein-3." Journal of Sport and Health Science (2015).
• Milasius, K., R. Dadeliene, and Ju Skernevicius. "The influence of the Tribulus terrestris extract on the parameters of the functional preparedness and athletes’ organism homeostasis." Fiziol Zh 55.5 (2009): 89-96.
• Rogerson, Shane, et al. "The effect of five weeks of Tribulus terrestris supplementation on muscle strength and body composition during preseason training in elite rugby league players." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 21.2 (2007): 348-353.
• Wang et al. "Effects of Tribulus terrestris on exercise ability, endocrine and immune functions of over-trained rats." Journal of Shanghai University of Sport 46 (2010).
• Yin, Liang, et al. "The Effects of Tribulus Terrestris on the Time of Exhaustion in Rats with High Intensity Training and Its Mechanism." Journal of Shanghai University of Sport 5 (2013).
• Zhang, Shuang, et al. "[Effect of gross saponins of Tribulus terrestris on cardiocytes impaired by adriamycin]." Yao xue xue bao= Acta pharmaceutica Sinica 45.1 (2010): 31-36.