DHEA Powder

DHEA as it is more often called, is a steroid hormone produced in the adrenal gland. It is the most abundant steroid in the bloodstream and is present at even higher levels in brain tissue. DHEA levels are known to fall precipitously with age, falling 90% from age 20 to age 90. DHEA is known to be a precursor to the numerous steroid sex hormones (including estrogen and testosterone) which serve well-known refunctions, but the specific biological role of DHEA itself is not so well understood. It is difficult for searchers to separate the effects of DHEA from those of the primary sex steroids into which it is metabolized. The apparent lack of any direct hormone action for DHEA has prompted the suggestion that it may serve the role of a “buffering hormone” which would alter the state-dependency of other steroid hormones. Although the specific mechanisms of action for DHEA are only partially understood, supplemental DHEA has been shown to have anti-aging, anti-obesity and anti-cancer influences. In addition, it is known to stabilize nerve-cell growth and is being tested in Alzheimer’s patients.

DHEA and Cancer

Early reports from England [Bulbrook, 1962, 1971] suggested that DHEA was abnormally low in women who developed breast cancer, even as much as nine years prior to the onset or diagnosis of the disease. Of the 5000 women followed in the study, 27 developed cancer. Most of the 27 had abnormally low levels of DHEA. If low DHEA levels contributed to breast cancer, might the opposite be true? Many years later, Dr. Arthur Schwartz of Temple University found that supplemental DHEA significantly protected cell cultures from the toxicity of carcinogens. Cell cultures usually respond to powerful carcinogens with mutations (changes in DNA), transformations (changes in cell appearance), and a high rate of cell death. But when Schwartz added DHEA along with the carcinogen, all three of these effects were significantly diminished.

Subsequent studies [Schwartz, 1979] identified powerful protective effects of supplemented DHEA for breast-cancer-prone mice. The results of the experiment was clear after 8 months. The control animals were “getting cancer left and right” while the DHEA animals had no tumors. In two later studies with different strains of mice, Schwartz found 75% and 100% reductions in tumor incidence at 8 months of age and 50% and 75% reductions at 15 months of age [Schwartz, 1981; 1984]. DHEA has demonstrated protective effects for cancers of the skin, lungs, bowel, breast and liver. According to William Regelson, “Whenever [DHEA] has been tested in a model of carcinogenesis and tumor induction, DHEA has preventative effects.” Although DHEA is now beginning to be tested in human cancer, it is still to early to know whether the successes achieved in animals will be realized in humans.

The Anti-Obesity Factor

At about the same time that Schwartz was investigating the anti-cancer properties of DHEA, Dr. Terrence T. Yen was studying the effect of DHEA on genetically obese mice. Although the DHEA-treated mice ate normally, they remained thin — and they lived longer than control mice. This “leanness” effect was also conspicuously noted by Dr. Schwartz. In another experiment, Dr. M. P. Cleary found that even middle-aged obese rats lost weight when fed DHEA-supplemented food. Diabetes, a typical complication of obesity, was also dramatically decreased.

DHEA and Glucose Metabolism

Investigators have shown that DHEA inhibits glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), an enzyme that breaks down glucose. There are two glucose-metabolizing pathways in the body, the catabolic, energy-yielding pathway and the anabolic, biosynthetic pathway. G6PDH happens to be the first enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway, the one which results in the synthesis of fatty acids and ribose (the sugar used in making deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA). In simple language, G6PDH turns glucose into fat.  DHEA’s inhibition of G6PDH may redirect glucose from anabolic fat-production into catabolic energy metabolism, thus creating a leaner metabolism.


DHEA and Appetite

In different experiments, DHEA supplementation has resulted in increased, decreased and unchanged food consumption. Dr. Schwartz found that it is the level of dietary fat influences food consumption. DHEA-treated rats on a high-fat diet ate less food than control rats while those on a low-fat diet ate more.

Since DHEA inhibits G6PDH activity and suppresses the body’s ability to synthesize fat from carbohydrate, dietary sources of fat become more important. This can affect changes in appetite. But despite possible increases in food intake, DHEA-treated animals consistently weighed less than control animals. In other words, increases in appetite, when indulged, did not negate the anti-obesity property of DHEA.

DHEA and Aging

The body’s production of DHEA drops from about 30 mg at age 20 to less than 6 mg per day at age 80. According to Dr. William Regelson of the Medical College of Virginia, DHEA is “one of the best biochemical bio-markers for chronologic age.” In some people, DHEA levels decline 95% during their lifetime — the largest decline of an important biochemical yet documented.

In animal studies, DHEA extends rodent lifespans up to 50%. The animals not only lived longer, they looked younger. The graying, course-haired controls could easily be distinguished from the sleek, black-haired, DHEA-treated animals.

DHEA levels are directly related to mortality (the probability of dying) in humans. In a 12-year study of over 240 men aged 50 to 79 years, researchers found that DHEA levels were inversely correlated with mortality, both from heart disease and from all causes. This finding suggests that DHEA level measurements can become a standard diagnostic predictor of disease, mortality and lifespan. Furthermore, if animal results hold true, supplemental DHEA may prevent disease, reduce mortality, and extend lifespan in humans.

Enhancing Brain Function

DHEA may also be intimately involved in protecting brain neurons from senility-associated degenerative conditions, like Alzheimer’s disease. Not only do neuronal degenerative conditions occur most frequently when DHEA levels are lowest, but brain tissue contains many times more DHEA than is found in the bloodstream. One of the scientists at the forefront of this field of research is Dr. Eugene Roberts who found that very low concentrations of DHEA were found to “increase the number of neurons, their ability to establish contacts, and their differentiation” in cell cultures. He also found that DHEA also enhanced long-term memory in mice undergoing avoidance training. It may play a similar role in human brain function.



Packing Information:
These powders are reduced down from kilo sizes. Each powder is put into a 4oz HDPE container, Heat Sealed and then labeled with dosing based off 1/4 tsp. Some items may be hygroscopic and may clump during shipment. This does not effect the efficacy of the product, but just the texture.