The Alternative Pharmacist
by Doug Kalman

As a scientist who’s involved in both patient care and research, not a week goes by that I don’t get asked a decent question by a patient who’s seeking an alternative method of healing or recovery. This got me thinking, how many of us have questions and are interested in knowing about herbals, nutraceuticals or drugs before they become popular or even hit the market? How many doctors are actually up to date when it comes to alternative therapies, new drugs, new uses for old drugs, and the role of supplements and nutrition in health care and optimal living?

Well, that’s what this new column is going to deal with — stuff your doctor and pharmacist either doesn’t know or won’t tell you. Welcome to the cutting edge of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical science.

The "New" Clenbuterol?

Q: I’ve used clenbuterol in the past to shed fat, but I find that it’s getting harder to find. Is there anything else in this category that I should keep my eye out for?

A: It always gives me a charge to find an alternative method, a new way to get the same results or even better results. After all, innovation is one key to progress; just consider it our own T-mag Principle (not yet patented and absorbed Borg-like by the Weider Principles).

For years, athletes have been using many different types of drugs in order to enhance performance. Typically these fall into amphetamine/beta-agonist, beta-blocker and/or anabolic/androgenic steroids categories. The most interesting of these drugs is the class of beta-agonists. Beta-agonists such as clenbuterol have been shown to enhance exercise performance, muscular action (gain and retention of fat free mass), and be of use medically for asthma. Athletes and some people on the rave scene even like to use clenbuterol as a party drug.

A newer drug for Americans is Salbutamol. Salbutamol is chemically very similar to clenbuterol and is heavily used in the European circuit. The good news for some is that Salbutamol is readily available here in the United States. In America, Salbutamol is known as albuterol. It comes in tablet, inhaler and parenteral (injectable) forms.

Although many respectable steroid experts have pooh-poohed albuterol, in a recent head to head study (albuterol versus clenbuterol), albuterol was able to enhance muscle size regardless of age. (So did clen, but not by that much better of a margin.)

The use of steroids (in high doses) may be associated with an unfavorable risk for heart disease; the same isn’t true for our friend albuterol. In fact, one recent study demonstrated that daily ingestion of albuterol improved cardiac disease risk profile (lower cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, while raising HDLs, the good cholesterol). In this particular study a daily dose of 16 milligrams was employed (8 mg twice daily).

Some other benefits observed with albuterol are improved blood ammonia levels during exercise, enhanced leg strength (and overall strength gains when combined with weight training), and elevated resting energy expenditure. Also of interest is that albuterol has been shown to help improve aerobic (running) performance as well as anaerobic metabolism (which is used in weight training). One other "side effect" of Salbutamol/albuterol ingestion is that it can enhance thyroid hormones, especially the active thyroid hormone, T3.

Of interest to athletes who undergo drug testing is that Salbutamol/albuterol isn’t on any banned list, thus it’s considered acceptable for athletes to use (remember it’s traditionally used for treatment of asthma). The dose most commonly used (tablet/capsular form) for both athletic performance enhancement and fat loss is 16 mg per day. The dose is typically divided into 4 mg. taken four times per day. It can also be taken twice daily, often started at half dose and slowly increased as tolerated.

The Truth about Tribulus

Q: I read in one bodybuilding mag (Muscular Development) that Tribulus was much ado about nothing. I personally get great results from Tribex-500, so what’s the deal?

A: I’d have to posit that the author of that article was ill informed. The key to getting the right effects from Tribulus is to tease out the protodioscin in the culturing and manufacturing process. Not all supplement companies do this, and thus they get a ho-hum product. So if you see a mediocre review of Tribulus, make sure you know which product they’re talking about. The top Tribulus product on the market is Tribex-500. Even Vince Andrich over at Muscle Media/EAS gave Tribex-500 two thumbs up.

In fact, to date, not one company has matched the purity and potency of the protodioscin within Tribex-500. Scientifically, it makes sense to try Tribex-500 when using other T-bolstering substances and when coming off of them.

You see, in over ten clinical studies protodioscin was found to have positive effects on a man’s sex drive, impotence, low libido, sperm production, sperm motility, androgen production and it even has a pro-erectile effect. I can see it now, Tribex-500: The Pro-erectile Supplement!

Protodioscin can also positively effect androgen receptors, enhance spermatogenesis, and treat angina (heart pain) with no negative side effects as well as having other positive T-man effects.

While the information in MD wasn’t totally surprising, it’s disturbing that a writer for a moderately circulated magazine did incomplete research and left many of his readers misinformed.

Blood Sugar Blasters

Q: Are there any herbals that truly help control blood sugar? As a weightlifter I like to try to time my insulin spikes.

A: Do you remember a few years back when chromium picolinate was hyped as a fat burner? As we all know, this turned out to be untrue, however there’s an abundance of data that indicates 200 to 400 mcg of chromium picolinate helps with blood sugar control.

Other supplements that might have merit include d-pinnitol (Inzitol™) and bismaltoovavanadium (BMOV). In fact, Inzitol was shown to even promote greater creatine retention when used with dextrose than creatine and dextrose alone.

None of the above is that new to us, but the following most likely is. Recently, scientists from Brazil and Japan have been examining specific herbals for controlling blood sugar in diabetics and animal models of diabetes. The applicability to us stems from the notion that excess blood sugar is tied to insulin resistance (over time) and an increased storage of body fat, something we all have a disdain for.

If I had to rank them in order of excitement, the herbal Catharanthus roseus of the Apocynaceae family tops my list for use in humans. This herbal reduced blood sugar by up to 58% in a single dose! The human dose would be approximately 2.75 grams per day to achieve the same effects as observed in diabetic rats.

The other two herbals that pique my interest are Mordica charantia and Eugenia jambulana. These two herbals are dosed at approximately 1.1 grams per day to keep blood sugar in check and help prevent any damage to the kidneys from elevated blood sugar.

Pretty cool, huh?

Baby Chicken Supplements?

Q: This supplement, Humanofort-A, has been getting a lot of hype lately. Will it stand the test of time?

A: Humanofort-A is a supplement being marketed out of Romania as a medicinal food. To be blunt, it’s an extract of avian embryo (in other words, baby chick extract). This supplement is being marketed as an adaptogenic product much like ginseng used to be. Reportedly this product raised Testosterone in hypogonadic males by 83%, as well as enhancing ejaculate volume. (How would you like to be the person whose job it was to measure this?)

Now this data sounds impressive, but please ask, if all of this was true, don’t you think we would’ve heard of this supplement by now? Besides, I don’t recall seeing too many buff Romanians.

Forget the baby chicken parts.

Let’s recap this installment of The Alternative Pharmacist:

• Salbutamol/albuterol appears to be a good replacement for clenbuterol. It’s also not on any banned list.

• Protodioscin is legitimate and can help increase libido, positively effects androgen receptors and is a must for any Tribulus supplement.

• For blood sugar control, try Catharanthus roseus, Momordica charantia, Eugenia jambulana.

• Humanofort-A? Don’t believe the hype.

Correction

In the last installment of The Alternative Pharmacist, I gave a phone number for Cellegy. They’ve since moved their corporate headquarters, but still want adult males to test their Tostrex™ (Testosterone replacement). If you’re interested, go to Cellegy.com and sign up for your free juice.

About the Author

Doug Kalman MS, RD, FACN is a Director at Miami Research Associates, a pharmaceutical and nutraceutical research company specializing in Phase II through Post Market Studies. He’s a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and a spokesperson for the American College of Sports. He can be reached for consults at DKalman@MiamiResearch.com.

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