Androstenedione: Science or Hype?
By Dustin Parsons B.S.

Androstenedione, or "andro", became immensely popular as a dietary supplement after the public admission of St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGuire to use of the product during his record-breaking 1998 season. Since then, marketers of the product have increasingly targeted young, male athletes with promises of superhuman strength, muscle gains, and fat loss from the use of androstenedione. Are their claims justified? If this product works like a steroid, how could the FDA let it be sold over-the-counter to children and adolescents? You might be surprised at what you are about to learn.

The reason androstenedione can be sold at any corner drug store or sports nutrition outlet is because it is classified as a dietary supplement, not a steroid. One of the four criteria required to place a substance under the rules of the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 is that the product must promote muscle growth. Androstenedione did not meet this criterion. Believe it or not, every valid study done to date on androstenedoine has shown the supplement to have no effect on testosterone, muscle mass, strength or body fat levels. It is for this reason that the FDA classifies andro as a nutritional supplement, not a steroid. In short, the product's lack of effectiveness is the only thing that keeps it on the market.

Unfortunately, this does not mean the product does not have effects on the body. A year 2000 study by Ballantyne et al published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology found that androstenedione supplementation did not increase plasma testosterone, but DID increase plasma estrogen concentration in males. The result could be development of breast tissue and other female characteristics in males, similar to the effect of steroids. Increased estrogen levels in males has a potential link to increased incidence of stroke, heart disease (through reduction of HDL's) and aggressive behavior. This same effect (elevated estrogens but no change in testosterone) was observed in a study by King et al published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1999, as well as by other researchers.

Because of the existing legal structure, the FDA cannot pull a dietary supplement off the shelf until they can "prove" that it is harmful to consumers. Unfortunately, this process takes time. One day we will likely see androstenedione banned for sale, but until that time it is up to us in the fitness industry to teach the facts to all we come in contact with. Androstenedione is currently on the banned drugs list of the International Olympic Committee, the National Football League, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Notice that unlike the FDA, these organizations choose to list androstenedione as a drug.

- Dustin Parsons B.S.