DHEA Fails as the Fountain of Youth
Larrian on March 14th, 2008 | Filed under Men's Health, Supplements, Women's Health
There is an anti-aging movement about, claiming to restore our youthful vigor if we restore youthful hormone levels. DHEA (Dihydroepiandrosterone) has been widely promoted as “the fountain of youth“, as low levels are found in “aging” adults. However, when put to the old research test, DHEA supplements came up with nothing more than a yawn.
DHEA in our youth, serves as the building block for our sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. Young whipper snappers have oodles of the stuff, while old foggies are at least 2 quarts low in their hormonal engine. spawning the possibility that restoring drag racing levels would, well…start our older engines! But no checkered flag appeared after several research studies found no difference in muscle mass, oxygen consumption, insulin levels or quality of life. DHEA supplements simply cannot turn back the clock and give us 20 year old smokin’ hot bods at 70. Low levels of DHEA are the result, not the cause, of aging.
To test this further, researchers at UCSD had men and women take 50mg of DHEA daily for a year. The results? DHEA didn’t make a dent in mood, cognition, strength, body composition or sexuality. However, it did have a SMALL effect on bone density in women who didn’t take estrogen therapy. Hmmm…I wonder how that would compare to a few prunes and apricots a day?
In an interview with the LA Times, Von Mühlen was quoted: “People believe that they are buying something that will be useful, but it’s not,” Von Mühlen , lead researcher on these articles says. Much like wrinkles and graying hair, a drop in DHEA is probably just a sign of aging, she says — not a cause. You can’t regain youth and vitality by dyeing your hair. And, Von Mühlen says, you can’t turn back the clock by taking DHEA.
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