Dehydroepiandrosterone, or simply known as DHEA, is a hormone that is produced by your adrenal glands. We can look at it as a precursor to male and female sex hormones.

As we get older, we produce less and less DHEA. Testosterone levels are also known to drop as we age, so we can see the correlation between declining DHEA levels and diminishing testosterone levels. It’s important to note that DHEA is not a nutrient or vitamin of some sort; it is a hormone.

Similar to when individuals supplemented with Melatonin, you are precisely supplementing with a hormone. Although you can purchase it at your local pharmacy, this is a synthetically made hormone. This article will hope to show the dosage, benefits, and side effects of DHEA supplementation and if this touted supplement is worth your money.

DHEA Benefits

DHEA has its pros and cons when it comes to supplementing with this hormone. Research is quite conflicting and it can be difficult to track what the current word on DHEA is. Some of the potential benefits of DHEA are:

• Improving sexual function in women and men

• Cognitive functioning

• Cortisol-lowering effect

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

(Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA))

The Potential Side Effects of DHEA

The real issue is that there are far too many conflicting studies on supplementation usage of DHEA to establish if this is an efficacious hormone to add to your arsenal. By staying within the recommended dosage alluded below and by your physician, side effects should be minimal to non-existent.

Recommended Dosage:

DHEA appears to be safe in dosages between 25-200 mg. Always consult your physician for advice when it comes to supplementation. (Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA))

Testosterone and Estrogen:

In the bodybuilding world, testosterone and estrogen are two hormones that stick out exponentially to us. Men are constantly trying to increase their testosterone levels while minimizing how much is aromatized into estrogen. Higher testosterone levels are associated with more muscular gain, increased libido, and an increase in overall well-being. Essentially, testosterone is king. How does oral consumption of DHEA effect testosterone levels?

It was thought that supplementing with a hormone that is a precursor to testosterone would yield a serum rise in the aforementioned hormone. However, research has shown that supplementing with DHEA has no effect on serum testosterone levels.

"In 10 young men (23 +/- 4 yr old), ingestion of 50 mg of DHEA increased serum androstenedione concentrations 150% within 60 min (P < 0.05) but did not affect serum testosterone and estrogen concentrations."

"An additional 19 men (23 +/- 1 yr old) participated in an 8-wk whole body resistance-training program and ingested DHEA (150 mg/day, n = 9) or placebo (n = 10) during weeks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8. Serum androstenedione concentrations were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in the DHEA-treated group after 2 and 5 wk. Serum concentrations of free and total testosterone, estrone, estradiol, estriol, lipids, and liver transaminases were unaffected by supplementation.” (Brown GA, 1999)

This shows that supplementing with DHEA for performance enhancement proves to be futile.

Fat Loss:

So far you’re thinking: “DHEA is a waste to supplement with.” Although you may be right, DHEA does have metabolites that have a little more legitimacy when it comes to performance enhancement. This metabolite is known as 7-Keto DHEA, or simply 7-Keto. Although further research is needed, one study showed that 7-Keto DHEA has the potential to:

• Increase fat loss when diet and training are efficient

• Favorable body composition changes

• Increase in thyroid activity

“Our results indicate that one hour of cross-training three times per week supplemented with 200 mg of 7-Keto™ per day yields a significant reduction in both body weight and body fat. Furthermore, 7-Keto™ elevated T3 significantly, which may indicate an effect on basal metabolism.” (Carlon M. Colker, 1999)

Author’s note: Why would we be skeptical? This test was done on 30 overweight individuals. Of course when overweight people begin to exercise they will lose weight. Also, this study doesn’t note dietary intake.

Checking your DHEA Levels – Do I Have Low DHEA Levels?

As previously mentioned, DHEA is a hormone produced in your body, thus you can have a physician check and monitor your DHEA levels within your body. Some health risks of low DHEA levels include, but aren’t limited to:

• ischemic heart disease

• endothelial dysfunction

• atherosclerosis

• bone loss

• inflammatory disease

• sexual dysfunction