Halodrol Liquigels
CHEMICAL CORNER - INTRODUCING NEW HALODROL LIQUIGELS - THE BEST MASS AND STRENGTH BUILDER YOURE GOING TO BE ABLE TO LEGALLY FIND ANYWHERE IN THE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY!
The original Halodrol by Gaspari
Nutrition were a huge hit with the “hardcore” crowd.
These days,
consumers are equally concerned with product safety as well
as efficacy, as they well should be.
Recognizing this
marketing demand, Gaspari reformulated Halodrol to contain safer and arguably
more effective ingredients. Halodrol Liquigels contain five separate ingredients,
each targeting a specific aspect of anabolic signaling within the male endocrine
system without disturbing any of the feedback-loops commonly associated with
androgen use, as none of the ingredients are inherently anabolic or androgenic,
although the combined effects of the ingredients do trigger natural anabolic
pathways such as Growth Hormone (hGH) mediation, along with increases in both
free and total testosterone
By Rich Gaspari
Since I made the transition from elite level professional bodybuilder to president of a cutting edge supplement company, I have learned something that might come as an incredible shock to anyone reading this. Being a professional bodybuilder is far easier than being at the helm of and steering a successful, large supplement company in the 21st century. Making a living in the sports supplement industry is ultra-competitive, cut-throat, adversarial and high pressure. The stress is really heavy duty! There maybe sweet rewards when you manage to get it all together� with a winner product but the back stabbing, the constant dishonesty by many people, the theft of intellectual property and luring away of key employees by rivals makes the supplement market a business that is not well suited for the faint of heart. As the leader of Gaspari Nutrition, I have always tried to work in a collaborative and fair manner with other supplement companies. That whole �do unto others thing.� Well, we practice what we preach here at Gaspari Nutrition. It�s rarely worked to our benefit and favor though as virtually every other company we've collaborated with to co-develop a product has either out and out stolen our ideas and claimed them as their own or in some cases, have actually stolen raw materials and product from us. It gets worse than that! Some of our �alliances� have ended when we've been informed by distributors and wholesalers that our co-developers were trash talking and completely lying about our products and what we stand for as a company. So when I was approached and asked to allow two people who are undoubtedly the absolute and undisputed best product formulators in this business but who essentially work in opposite sides of the universe so to speak to work together on a project, these people being William Llewellyn and Bruce Kneller, I was very leery and quite skeptical of what the outcome would be. Not only was I afraid that this would be a battle of the egos but Bill owns Molecular Nutrition which could almost certainly be viewed as a competitor of ours and it made me very nervous to discuss our future project ideas with a guy who could have, if he was anything less than honest and a straight shooter, just ripped them off and run away with them. I am quite glad to write that Bill is not that kind of a guy so my fears have been put to rest. Bill is also a columnist at Muscular Development, publishes his own magazine called Body of Science and is probably best known for his incredibly informative and well thought out Anabolics series of books, universally known as the �go to encylodepedia for steroid knowledge, updated and published annually. Bill has done radio and television interviews and is widely regarded by the lay public as �the go to guy� when it comes to steroids, supplements and bodybuilding. Bill knows his stuff. He�s got several patents and many more pending for very cool ideas and he has developed some of the best supplements the industry has ever seen. I've known Bruce Kneller for a very long time now and he has essentially taken over as the chief formulator and scientific officer for Gaspari Nutrition (even though he is technically not an employee). Say what you want about Bruce being a hot head, antagonistic in nature or having a big mouth, I think all of us know that every supplement Bruce has designed for Gaspari Nutrition has been an absolute home run � his designs sell well, people absolutely love them and he delivers what he promises (even if it is in an ostentatious, provocative manner sometimes). Novedex XT is the best selling testosterone boosting supplement in the industry right now for a reason it works better than anything else has or does at increasing endogenous testosterone levels! THREE independent clinical trials clearly conclude this as FACT! SizeOn� as an independent clinical study conducted with thirty competitive, world class athletes has demonstrated, is the most effective cell volumizing/creatine/recovery product the world has ever seen (creatine gluconate, the magic in SizeOn was Bruce's brainchild). Bruce has close to a dozen pending patents on some of the coolest and most useful things you will ever see in our industry (and you will see more of them very soon). Bruce has also been published in MuscleMag International, Muscular Development, Muscle Media and a plethora of other magazines. He has also formulated for Biotest Laboratories and Nutrex Research, cranking out some of the most cutting edge supplements in history for those two companies. So the question I had to mull over was if I thought that these two industry braniac bigwigs could constructively work together harmoniously and long enough to design a product that will be sold under the Gaspari nameplate and will be so incredible that it will rapidly come to dominate the marketplace as a best in its class� Or would their respective egos and colorful personalities get in the way and cause this project to come crashing to the ground whole as they killed each other off?
So what do you get when you take the two absolute brightest, most creative formulators in the industry today and tell them to work as a team in order to come up with the most effective and safe mass/strength building product that can be sold to the mainstream?
We're dubbing this product, Halodrol Liquigels and it has been created to replace what was easily the greatest prohormone success story of all time, that being Halodrol-50 tablets. I�m going to allow Bill and Bruce to tell you about this product and their respective roles in creating it. But I am happy to say, after holding my breath for a long time hoping this did not blow up in my face, I am 100% confident that Bill and Bruce hit the nail on the head and we�ve got another homerun product here at Gaspari Nutrition. Lets see what Halodrol Liquigels contain:
DSHEA Compliant Non-Hormonal Mediated Myotrophy & Myogenesis
By William Llewellyn
Arachidonic acid:
I think the best way to describe arachidonic acid (AA) is to call it a hypertrophic catalyst actually. What I mean is this nutrient sits at the very center of the entire anabolic process. It is core to the bodys natural response to resistance training regulating those early changes in tissue physiology after exercise which facilitates muscle repair and growth. You couldn�t grow without AA, and likewise your sensitivity to growth is partly dictated by how much arachidonic acid you have in your muscles. At the risk of sounding boastful, I will say that enhancing AA levels in the body is one of the most exciting and effective new strategies for supporting muscle growth. I should know. I patented the idea, and have been working more closely with this nutrient than anyone else in the fitness industry for the past several years (Please, don�t get up. I am already patting myself on the back). This stuff works exceedingly well, and if you give me a few minutes to explain, I think I�ll make a believer out of you too.
Before we go any further, let�s first go over the basics. Arachidonic acid is an Omega-6 essential fatty acid. We normally consume it in animal products such as meat, eggs, and milk. Don�t let the label �essential fatty acid� fool you though. Arachidonic acid has a number of very significant roles in the body, the least of which is not the regulation of muscle growth. It is also now commonly added to baby formulas to aid in the neurological and muscular development of infants. It is without question one powerful nutrient. Normally we consume only a couple of hundred milligrams of AA per day, which is enough to get what we need to function. It is not, however, enough for an optimal anabolic response to weightlifting. Old-time bodybuilders, and many bodybuilders today, instinctively know this. When you hear someone extolling the benefits of eating extra red meat, or when some old-school bodybuilder tells you that red meat was the steroid before steroids, it is AA they are unknowingly talking about. And yet, by relying on food sources these people have only brushed the surface of AA's true potential.
That what Arachidonic acid does probably doesn't mean much without the how it does it. Here is the jist of it. AA gets stored in the outer phospholipid layer of muscle cells. As we damage our muscles lifting weights, AA gets released. Its release is followed by its conversion to a number of important bioactive molecules, the most notable of which are prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are responsible for a lot of the localized changes in tissue physiology that will facilitate growth. By increasing the local expression of receptors and anabolic hormones, AA/PG�s direct repair to those tissues that need it. The three main anabolic hormones that AA supports are androgens, IGF-1 (from growth hormone), and insulin. We can start to see why synthetic forms of these very powerful anabolic agents do little when they aren�t combined with training. If Arachidonic acid release is not remodeling local gene expression patters to sensitize damaged tissues and facilitate growth, the hormones never get to fully do their jobs.
I know all this is fine and good, but by now you are probably wondering just how much of a difference supplementing Arachidonic acid in an anabolic formula like Halodrol Liquigels� can really make for you. The answer is, a big one a very big one. Because AA is a central catalyst for the anabolic response cascade, intensifying its levels will have the effect of essentially amplifying the whole cascade. When testosterone drops in to visit the local muscle cells, for example, it will find more available receptors to send its message. More messages will be sent, and more tissue will be built. IGF-1 and insulin reap the benefits of enhanced local sensitivity as well, which are two very powerful hormones involved in nutrient partitioning, the shifting of protein synthesis and breakdown rates, and the activation and strengthening of the satellite cell cycle. These important anabolic events are all downstream from the release of AA, and are all amplified or dampened depending on the amount of AA available for release. Increased AA storage should only result in one thing more muscle size, more muscle strength, and better anaerobic performance.
AA may be myotrophic, but is it safe? That is an obvious and important question, as safety can often be an issue with powerful myotrophic agents. Thankfully, in this case AA can be deemed extremely safe when used by healthy exercising individuals. Many studies have been conducted on the safety of this nutrient, and all have concluded that there is no danger with its use. For example, it has been shown that AA supplementation in doses even much higher than you will get with each serving of Halodrol Liquigels� will have no effect on such things as lipids (Lipids, 1997 Apr; 32(4):427-33), immune function (Lipids, 1997 Apr; 32(4):449-56), or blood platelets/coagulation (Lipids, 1997 Apr;32(4):421-5). Furthermore, a recent study my company, Molecular Nutrition, has funded on Arachidonic acid with Baylor University again confirmed no changes in general markers of health (presented at the International Society of Sports Medicine conference, June 15, 2006). What is even more striking, however, was the effect AA had on a key inflammatory marker (IL-6). Arachidonic acid supplementation, when combined with resistance training, caused a strong reduction in levels of IL-6. This represents a potential protective benefit by lowering systemic inflammation. AA supplementation during resistance training is not only safe, dare I say it may even turn out to be healthy!
I was very excited when Bruce Kneller and Gaspari Nutrition first contacted me about his potential reformulation of the original Halodrol-50. Bruce is a prolific colleague; a sharp guy with a good eye for tweaking the various anabolic systems in the body. As our conversation turned to potential ingredients and AA, I quickly began to see a great opportunity for Gaspari Nutrition to harness the anabolic power of Arachidonic acid. I know Bruce will be explaining the other final ingredients, so I will not bother going into redundancy here. I just request that you take a minute and look at exactly what Halodrol Liquigels represents a truly multi-faceted approach to augmenting the body�s core anabolic systems. The attack comes at several levels, supporting hormone sensitivity on one hand, and proliferation and action on the other. Together, we see a more unified approach to myotrophic/strength augmentation. I am excited to have been part of developing what I know will be deemed a revolutionary anabolic product.
DSHEA Compliant Hormonal Mediated Myotrophy & Myogenesis
By Bruce Kneller
5a-etioallocholanetrione
If this compound looks vaguely familiar to something else then you�re probably smarter than the average guy in reading this. The reason it looks vaguely similar is that it is! This stuff is merely androst-4-ene-3,6,17-trione minus a very critical double bond in the A ring. This is a brand new, patent-pending (United States Patent Application #20050203074 published on 09-15-2005) DSHEA compliant anti-aromatic compound never before seen in the supplement market place! And lemme tell you, this one rocks because there is no way this baby can be aromatized, metabolized or otherwise processed into any type of estrogen (unlike some other, similar products on the market). The reason for the delay in getting it to the market is that it is a real nightmare to have made right. What�s so special about it? Lets compare it to the two best selling anti-aromatases on the market (which are both outstanding products in their own right), those of course being the already mentioned androst-4-ene-3,6,17-trione and what is arguably the gold standard in this segment now, androsta-1,4,6-triene-3,17-dione (aka ATD) which is patent pending to me and was brought to market first by yours truly through the now #1 selling positive testosterone modulating product, Gaspari Novedex XT
COMPOUND Ki Value/Activity Decrease
androst-4-ene-3,6,17-trione
0.43 microM/
4.03 x 10(-3)sec-1
ATD
0.18 microM/
1.10 x 10(-3)sec-1
5a-etioallocholanetrione*
0.36 microM/
1.54 x 10(-3)sec-1
So what does all that mean? Well in a nutshell, of the 3 compounds listed, ATD is clearly the most potent of them in vivo (and we already knew this) and androst-4-ene-3,6,17-trione is the weakest. The new �five alpha� compound falls somewhere in between but closer to ATD than androst-4-ene-3,6,17-trione. So why use this new compound instead of just using ATD like what is found in Novedex XT Good question. Allow me to answer it. The half life of this new compound appears to be quite long (that and its active metabolites). This means you�ll get a much more gradual, tapered effect when you start using this and even when you stop using it, the stuff will stay active in your system longer. This makes this new compound the first, self tapering AI on the market (whereas the effects from Novedex XT are much more instantaneous and return to baseline a lot quicker if you stop using it). The next effect is that this is a kinder, gentler AI that is quite effective in banging down estrogen levels while also increasing testosterone levels.
-(-)3,4-divanillytetrahydrofuran
Now that we have maximized endogenously produced myogenic/trophic steroidal compounds with our new, patent-pending AI,(and with the soon to be noted addition below of DHEA and 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone), we have to admit that we, and all other similar knock-off products�, have a vexing problem. Most steroidal compounds float around in the bloodsteam stuck to something. An example is the vast majority of testosterone in the body is bound to Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) and if it is bound to something it means it absolutely can not interact with a receptor (as in the Anabolic Receptor) to stimulate the nuclei of muscle cells to go into hyperdrive to produce new muscle mass. So what to do about it? For a few years now, we�ve all known that an herb called Stinging Nettle Root (Urtica dioica) contained something called lignans that would competitively bind to SHBG, thereby bumping off the sex hormones (e.g. testosterone, whatever) so they could interact with the Anabolic Receptor of the muscle cells. Good idea in theory but sometimes theories don�t pan out well in the real world (how many times have cancers been cured in mice only to fail when the same compound was tested in man). So whats the problem with this herb, why does not probably not work as claimed or as it could in most supplements The reason is two fold. 1) There are six (6) separate lignans in Stinging Nettle Root that have anywhere from ZERO effect on SHBG to a MAXIMAL effect on SHBG. Of the six found in the herb, -(-)3,4-divanillytetrahydrofuran is CLEARLY the most effective (Plant Med, 1997, Dec(63)6:529-32) and 2) the VAST majority of Stinging Nettle Root is extracted to contain a paltry 1% total lignan content (not just the maximally effective one, 1% total for ALL six of them!) with the occasional, and more expensive 10% extract used by some of the better companies. My thoughts were, �well why not just have the pure, maximally effective -(-)3,4-divanillytetrahydrofuran made and use that instead since it seems to be a �no brainer�.? Duh! Well that is exactly what we did! My brother-in-law over in China had his laboratory synthesize this pure lignan. You may wonder why other companies choose not to do this (and perhaps by the time you read this, some may indeed have followed our lead)? The reason is simple?
M-O-N-E-Y. The good stuff ain�t cheap!
The 1% extract costs 1/70th the price per kg as does pure -(-)3,4-divanillytetrahydrofuran!
And that is not for a full 1% -(-)3,4-divanillytetrahydrofuran because there are five other less effective lignans in the extracted version! To put this into perspective for you a company using typical, commercially available standardized Urtica dioica herbal extract at 1% would need to use almost 1,500mg of the extract per dose (that�s over a full gram folks!) in order to equal the lignan content of pure -(-)3,4-divanillytetrahydrofuran we put into each Halodrol Liquigel� and again, it still would not be equal because 1,500mg of the other stuff has those five other, less effective, grossly inferior lignans in it. Ask yourself this question Why would you buy a product that uses a less effective, lower dosed version of something when the good stuff is readily available and not much more money for the final product? Yeah, I was wondering the same thing.
20-hydroxy-ecdysterone
The easiest way for me to tell you what an ecdysterone does is with an analogy. Ecdysterones are to insects what Testosterone or Dianabol are to humans. There are many types of ecdysterone compounds, and among them, the 20-hydroxy variant is clearly considered the most potent. So why put this compound in a product for humans when it seems to be meant for and found insects? Good question.
The single most important factor in maximizing and maintaining muscle enhancement is you�re your physiological environment. Ecdysterones, especially the 20-hydroxy variant, appear to create a very positive, myotrophic environment in the body human and insect alike. Such conditions for creating an ideal myotrophic environment include maintaining a positive nitrogen balance and increasing protein synthesis along with a solid work out plan and a proper diet high in quality protein. Arachadonic acid supplementation, as my astute colleague Bill Llewellyn has so eloquently pointed out is also a positive factor in creating a near-perfect physiological environment for muscle augmentation to develop.
Maintaining positive nitrogen balance and increased protein synthesis without also incurring hormone-like side effects was the key which was why Eastern European and Soviet era scientists became so excited about ecdysterones when in 1963 a study found that certain ecdysterones enhanced the rate of protein synthesis in some animals other than insects. This was the start of dozens of research trials demonstrating the positive myotrophic effect that (20-hydroxy) ecdysterone could induce while simultaneously showing no clinical side effects (in humans no less!).
Studies conducted in the former Soviet Union in 1980�s showed 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone helps "increase hepatic protein synthesis and subsequently promote positive nitrogen balance!" How does this lead to more myotrophy? Well, the more nitrogen your body maintains and the greater rate of protein synthesis, the more muscle mass you can pack on, period! How, exactly, does 20-hydroxt-ecdysterone do this? A talented scientist by the name of Smetanin, who ran trials at the Smolenk State Medical Institute in Russia concluded that 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone decreases urea concentration in the body and increases hemoglobin levels by increasing a process called erythropoiesis. Erythropoiesis is the genesis of red blood cells. This leads to a stimulation of the anabolic process in protein metabolism, which in turn leads to a positive nitrogen balance in the body.
The most often cited study using 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone in humans was published in Scientific Sports Bulletin by Simakin in 1988. The objective of Simakin's famous study was to determine the effect of 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone on muscle and fat mass, while checking all study subjects thoroughly for any significant, negative hormonal changes. Simakin made sure that for this study, that three cohorts were used: a placebo group, a protein only group, and a 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone with protein group. The results were significantly in favor of the third cohort. Of the close to 80 highly trained male and female athletes in the �protein only group� they showed only a slight increase in muscle mass for the 10 study duration. Those who used a placebo lost a slight amount of lean muscle, while those subjects randomized to the protein plus 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone cohort demonstrated a 6-7% increase in lean muscle tissue with nearly a 10% reduction in fat! Let reiterate this again: A 10% reduction in fat and a 7% increase in lean muscle tissue in just 10 days! Safety testing was conducted during the same time period which showed no real significant difference in hormone levels.
Another study conducted using over 100 athletes performed by B.G. Fadeev in Russia demonstrated some amazing overall results. About 90% of those who ingested 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone versus a placebo reported less fatigue, greater performance, more motivation, greater speed, and improved strength in less than 120 hours after the first dose with no side effects reported!.
20-hydroxy-ecdysterone is a naturally occurring moiety found in the herbs Rhaponticum/Leuzeae and Cyanotis vaga, has been on the market since the late 1980�s and is therefore completely DSHEA compliant. The problem is that most products that contain or claim to contain 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone as extracted from these herbs either really don�t or contain so little of this cool moiety as to be essentially useless. This is where Rich Gaspari decided not to mess around. Gaspari Nutrition is one of a handful (and we admit there are a few others, but �few� is the key word) of American companies to have located a source for clean 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone that manufactures 97%+ pure 20-hydroxy-edysterone through a biochemical reactive synthesis. This insures that you�re getting TIP TOP � TOP NOTCH stuff in our product, the stuff you need to see the results you want and not some 1.5% concentrated plant material that really only contains 1/100th the dose needed to see a tangible result and is on the label so the company can say �well we put it in there too!�. The cheap-o, essentially useless low percentaged plant extract is a few hundred bucks per kg. The clean, pure chemical is closer to $25,000/kg. But the philosophy here is that paying money, even a little bit for something that does essentially nothing is bad business. So we opted to make less profit on this product and went with the clean, 97%+ pure 20-hydroxy-ecdysterone. And we�re pretty confident you�ll notice the difference and be happy we went this route.
DHEA
DHEA is the �original� prohormone even if it is crude and several metabolic steps away from being an effective myotrophic. Without the addition of an aromatase inhibitor while using a good dose of DHEA, there is a risk of aromatizaton of the material to various estrogens and in fact, some of the metabolites of DHEA, in spite of the presence of a good anti-aromatase will cross react with and loosely bind to the estrogen receptor (very slightly). So why put something in a product that might have a potential �estrogen like effect� (albeit very small)? Because building muscle with estrogen, even small amounts of estrogenic material is CLEARLY faster and easier than doing so without. The best anabolic steroids for gaining mad, crazy mass (testosterone, Dianabol, Anadrol-50) all aromatize into some sort of estrogen. The goal here was to minimize the �bad estrogen� with the AI (decrease or eliminate estradiol synthesis) and replace it with a quasi-anabolic that has some very low estrogenic (minimal, but enough to get the job done) cross over. Remember, without an estrogenic effect of some sort, your blood lipid/cholesterol levels will go sky high (dangerous) and it is possible IGF-1 and GH levels will plummet into the grave. So while our cool, new AI helps to prevent your body from producing what we�ll call �toxic estrogen� (estradiol � the potent estrogen responsible for the �bad effects of some things� � like causing gynecomastia and testicular shrinkage), we needed to replace a �bad estrogen� with something that was or had the potential to become very mildly estrogenic and yet myotrophic at the same time. DHEA was the clear and obvious (and legal) choice. This is the reason that while Halodrol Liquigels� is a fantastic product for packing on the pounds as fast as possible and faster than anything else I can think of that is DSHEA compliant and legal; it is the most scientifically well thought out hormonal and non-hormonal combination myotrophic and legal supplement EVER to be sold in the supplement industry, but it is not suggested for post-cycle therapy (Novedex XT� on the other hand, is ideally suited to pick up where Halodrol Liquigels� leaves off. In fact, the suggested and best/safest way to use Halodrol Liquigels� is for 40 days on and then start Novedex XT� for another 20 days. I want to thank Bill Llewellyn for letting me �bounce� some of the ideas for the hormonal side of this product off him, despite his primary responsibility being the non-hormonal, AA side of things. Without Bill�s brilliant insights, this product might have looked quite different or may not have happened at all.
CONCLUSION
By Rich Gaspari
Phew! Well the new Halodrol Liquigels� are done, have been beta tested and the results are pretty darn impressive. Gains of 10-15 pounds of lean muscle mass, increased vascularity and muscle density, thickness and an unexpected benefit, a few pounds of fat loss, were parameters all clearly visible in every member of our beta test group over 40 days use. That�s less than a month and a half! As you know, I was skeptical about Bill and Bruce being able to work together and agree on how to formulate this project without killing each other but it seems my concerns ended up being a waste of time. These two guys, the current reigning, 1-2 punch, best supplement formulators in the industry and perhaps in all history,� cooperated and worked as a cohesive and very methodical team in developing Halodrol Liquigels�. And because of this, all of you who try this new and exciting supplement, destined to be the absolute best non-hormone + hormone combinational mass building supplement of the future are going to be very happy. Very, very happy. Because Halodrol Liquigels absolutely falls within the Gaspari Nutrition Company core value We are the brand that works!
* - Based on data supplied by company that produces 5a-etioallochanetrione. 5a-etioallocholanetrione is a naturally occurring, selective inhibitor of aromatase (estrogen synthetase). The manufacturer of the raw material has found that 5a-etioallocholanetrione is a competitive inhibitor of human placental aromatase with respect to androstenedione, with an apparent ki of 0.36 m/moles and a DIA of 1.54 x 10(-3)sec-1. Aromatase activity was measured by tritium release into water from the 1 beta position of [1(-3)h,4(-14)c]androstenedione in reaction mixtures containing NADPH and the aromatase.
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