Ninety-nine point two percent of all steroid users have reported experiencing at least one side effect.
If you know anything about anabolic steroids, it’s that they can cause serious side effects, and tons of athletes have gotten in trouble for using them.
Steroids can enhance performance, allowing you to run faster, lift heavier weights, and so on.
This can help you to outperform other athletes, which is why it is so enticing, though you are not winning due to your own abilities. This is why it is illegal for sports use.
Now, there are research SARMs that could someday become steroid replacements, preventing you from having to play with fire and potentially risk your life with unsafe methods.
There’s a lot to learn about these, though, and as the research progresses, it’s wise to keep an eye on it. SARMs may provide extreme benefits, so you’ll want to be aware if and when they become available to the public.
Read our guide below to get started.
What Are SARMs?
SARM, or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator, is a type of therapeutic drug that is often compared to anabolic steroids because of their similar chemical makeup.
Their differences are even more important than their similarities, though.
SARMs were originally intended to help those with muscle-wasting diseases. Heart disease, kidney failure, and cancer can all lead to muscle wasting, reducing an individual’s ability to be mobile.
Getting older can also naturally cause muscle wasting, which can cause more frequent falls and broken bones. SARMs were first developed to help reduce these occurrences and treat symptoms.
However, they are not popular today for their potential medicinal benefits. Instead, bodybuilders found interest in SARMs because of their potential muscle-building abilities.
Because the marketers of SARMs say they mimic the effect of testosterone on bone and muscle tissues without affecting cells in other parts of the body, you essentially get all the good things without the bad that traditional steroids come with.
The History Explained
SARMs were first discovered when scientists modified the chemical structure of testosterone. It was considered steroidal because the first compounds were derived from testosterone, but over time it underwent modification and is now classified as nonsteroidal.
Initially, in the 1940s, SARMs research was conducted to look for potential cures for prostate cancer.
Since then, there have been studies done on SARMs to act as a potential treatment option for:
- Hypogonadism
- Osteoporosis
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Urinary Incontinence
- Cachexia
However, it is still most well-known for its muscle-boosting effects.
How SARMS Work
SARMs research products work in the same way that other hormones do in your body. Essentially, hormones work as communication cells, sending instructions to certain parts of your body.
SARMs send similar messages that testosterone does. When you take them, you could experience the lowering of your voice, more facial hair growth, and more muscle mass.
These types of hormones are called androgens. Your body does not require a high amount of androgens, which is why regulating them is so important. When you take anabolic steroids, you are consuming a high amount of androgens very quickly.
Your body won’t be able to regulate this because your hormone receptors will become completely saturated.
While this can cause accelerated muscle growth, it will come with a ton of negative side effects that could be life-threatening or permanent.
Potential Temporary side effects of anabolic steroids include:
- Increased blood pressure
- Low sperm count
- Extreme aggression
- Oily skin
- Testicular atrophy
- Cysts
Potential Permanent side effects include:
- Gynecomastia
- Liver disease
- Heart disease
- Kidney disease
- Male pattern baldness
- Paranoia
The Difference Is Selectivity
SARMs will not explode your body with androgens, and they will also not explode your body with muscle mass. While it will help you build muscle mass much faster, you won’t see results in days like you would with anabolic steroids.
To be clear, this is a good thing. Your body cannot handle such a dramatic change, which is why so much damage can happen.
Instead, using very specific and targeted practices is the way to go.
This is exactly what SARMs provide. They have very selective properties for what part of the body they target. Specifically, they connect with bone and muscle receptors and leave the rest of the body pretty much alone, including the prostate, liver, and brain tissue.
Conversion Is Less Likely
Anabolic steroids can easily get converted into the 5-a reductase enzyme when in the body.
This converts testosterone into DHT, which is often responsible for the negative side effects that come with using these steroids.
SARMs, however, are not easily converted into this enzyme, so these side effects are entirely avoided.
Are SARMs Legal to Purchase?
You may be wondering, beyond research, are SARMs available for purchase? Currently, the answer is no.
If any company tries to sell SARMs strictly as dietary supplements, they are selling an illegal product. The only way that any company can have SARMs for sale is for research purposes only.
The only real use for dietary supplements is human consumption, while research chemicals have a wide variety of use.
If a company sells them as dietary supplements, they could get flagged by the FDA, have all of their products seized, and potentially get their company shut down.
You may be wondering why SARMs are legal at all if they aren’t legal for any type of actual use. Because SARMs were first discovered when doing research for various medical ailments, it makes sense that they should continue to be allowed to be studied.
There are obvious benefits to them, but not enough research has been done to confirm they are safe for human use. Until that day, buying SARMs just to use them as dietary supplements is not illegal and should never be done, especially for your own safety.
Types of SARMs
Because SARMs are not approved for medical use, pharmaceutical companies have not given their products proper names yet. Let’s explore the five most popular types of SARMs.
Andarine (GSX-007 or S-4)
Andarine is a non-steroidal SARM that is mostly used by bodybuilders during the fat-loss stage by helping to reduce water retention while building muscle mass.
Andarine is tissue-selective, stimulating the anabolic organs the most, and not having many effects on the follicle-stimulating hormone or the luteinizing hormone.
Ostarine (MK-2866 or GTx-024)
Ostarine is one of the most popular SARMs because there have been a significant amount of human trials done with it.
Ostarine is nonsteroidal and has shown to be incredibly effective at building muscle mass. It has also been proven to help lose fat and increase strength.
This SARM is best used during the bulking stage.
Cardarine (GW-501516)
Cardarine is known for helping to regulate your metabolism and develop more cells by rejecting specific receptors in your body that prevent gene expression.
This can also help regulate protein molecules, allowing you to increase your endurance and therefore muscle mass.
Side Effects of SARMs
SARM research products do not come entirely without side effects. The side effects are just very minimal in small doses, so they are much less noticeable.
However, bodybuilders that take SARMs are not taking them in small doses, so they will potentially experience some serious side effects. Unfortunately, not enough research has been done on SARMs yet to know all of the side effects that could occur.
The two most significant side effects are the potential for SARMs to cause cancer or liver damage. Again, the research for this is still in the early stages, but there is still a correlation.
Less severe side effects from SARMs include nausea, lethargy, jaundice, weight loss, and pruritus.
Pros of SARMs
There are tons of benefits that SARMs may provide beyond what has already been discussed above.
SARMs can increase bone density, making your bones stronger and less prone to breaking.
They also may contain properties that can help heal joints quicker, getting you back into action faster. This is especially important, as it is easy and common for athletes to tear joints, and the healing process for this can be quite lengthy.
Traditional steroids have a serious negative effect on the libido, which can negatively impact someone’s quality of life. In fact, this is perhaps the most hated side effect that comes with most strength enhancers.
Luckily, SARMs do not have a significant effect on the libido, so that part of your life can remain uninterrupted.
Along with this, SARMs do not cause any type of hair loss, so it’s safe to use without fear of suddenly experiencing male pattern baldness or hair loss on other parts of your body.
While this may not seem as important, hair is often tied to a person’s confidence, so this could be the factor to sway someone away from using traditional steroids, and someday, towards SARMs.
Cons of SARMs
Besides the already discussed potential side effects of SARMs, the other main con that should be discussed is testosterone suppression.
All types of SARMs naturally suppress the creation of testosterone in your body. Some types, like Ostarine, have a much lower suppression level than other SARMs.
When testosterone gets suppressed, your bones can weaken, you can lose muscle mass, and you may see an increase in body fat. When you’re taking SARMs, you are replacing testosterone, so you wouldn’t see any of these side effects until you stop taking them.
However, it’s important to note that while SARMs suppress testosterone, steroids shut it down altogether. This means that the side effects you will experience from testosterone suppression will be much milder than from it being shut down completely.
When you stop taking steroids, you often have to take Post Cycle Therapy to recover from this. This is not necessary with SARMs unless you are taking a type that is stronger.
Beware the Lack of Regulation
Because SARMs are not legal, companies that sell the product for research purposes are often unregulated. This allows them to sell products that don’t actually contain what they say they do, replacing SARMs with harmful chemicals.
This is so dangerous because, while most companies sell SARMs as “research chemicals” only a small amount of them end up in a lab getting studied by scientists.
Instead, the majority are being used by athletes, bodybuilders, and other fitness buffs.
Yet, because of the dishonesty of these companies, most of these people probably aren’t taking what they think they are taking. Some products don’t contain any SARMs at all, while others only contain trace amounts.
This causes all types of adverse and dangerous side effects to occur, which would never happen when taking SARMs otherwise.
The lack of any type of regulation of SARMs is a huge con, so always beware before purchasing these products, unless you are a scientist ready to study them.
Your Guide to Research SARMs
Now you know all about the basics of research SARMs, allowing you to be more prepared if these ever become publicly available, not just for research purposes.
Because more research must be done on how SARMS could affect your body, it makes sense that the legal status makes them quite unavailable.
If you need SARMs for reasons beyond trying to build muscle mass, ask your doctor for alternative treatments. It’s best to wait until you know every part of the process is safe.
Check out more of our lifestyle articles if you’d like to learn a little more!
Read More :Breast Implant Surgery
