Arms Race Nutrition | Stabilize Hers

Magnesium (as Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate TRAACS™)

It is difficult to overstate the biological necessity of magnesium. Magnesium is a co-factor in over 300 enzymatic reactions that regulate essential physiological functions such as protein synthesis, glucose homeostasis, muscle and nerve function, and the maintenance and support of healthy blood pressure levels. Magnesium deficiency in healthy individuals who have a balanced diet can be rare, but needs change with age. Women in particular can be more susceptible to deficiency so monitoring levels can be particularly beneficial.

In addition to these benefits, magnesium (especially Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate) has been studied for its benefits in reducing dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramps) through its ability to relax the smooth muscle of the uterus and reduce the prostaglandins that cause painful cramps. Magnesium levels also tend to fluctuate during a menstrual cycle. During the second half of a cycle when estrogen and progesterone are higher, magnesium levels tend to drop even more. Supplementation with a high-quality magnesium can assist in maintaining an optimal level.

Magnesium’s influence on the thyroid is also of importance. Magnesium is not only for making the inactive T4 (thyroxine) in the thyroid gland but also for converting T4 into the active form of T3 (triiodothyronine). This is important because the metabolism of your body’s cells is enhanced by T3 specifically. These two hormones have a large influence on metabolic rate, heart and digestive function, muscle control, brain development and bone maintenance. Studies have shown that severely low serum magnesium can be associated with an increased risk of anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, which can be a sign of thyroid gland damage caused by the immune system. It has also shown an increased risk of Hashimoto thyroiditis and hypothyroidism, two common autoimmune disorders.

Berberine HCL

There is extensive literature demonstrating berberines primary mechanism of action as a potent AMPk agonist in skeletal muscle. This enzyme, often referred as a “metabolic master switch”, is found in many cells of essential organs and has a major role on regulating metabolism. Based on the pharmacological similarities between berberine and the anti-diabetic medicine metformin (with respect to AMPk activation), it is possible that berberine may promote an anti-catabolic state through increased expression of AMPk.

The human data, both in healthy and disease state populations, demonstrating berberine’s other physiological effects are numerous. A 2012 meta-analysis examined 14 randomized trials, containing 1068 patients, and assessed berberine’s efficacy in numerous biometrics, including resting plasma glucose levels, plasma insulin levels, body weight, body mass index, and reduction in fat mass and serum triglycerides and total cholesterol content. The aggregate data suggests that berberine performs at least as well as oral hypoglycemic agents (such as metformin) in these key metrics.

Another study, looking at berberines benefits on body composition, showed beneficial improvements in key biometrics. Overweight individuals given berberine three times per day showed an average of five pounds lost as well as reductions in body fat. These improvements can also induce benefits on many health markers as a result. These results are studied to be due to berberines ability to improve the function of adipose regulating hormones, such as insulin and leptin, as well as inhibit the growth of adipose cells at the molecular level. 

It is important to note that these are just a few of the benefits of berberine. Other studies have centered around its ability to improve markers of metabolic disorders, heart health, certain types of cancers, as well as PCOS in women. Women with PCOS can benefit from berberine through its ability to improve insulin resistance in theca cells. This improvement can be seen as a result of an increase in the expression of Glut-4 in ovaries with an improvement of the ovulation rate per cycle, which can have a positive effect on fertility and live birth rates in women affected by PCOS. 

Chaste Tree Extract (Vitex agnus-cactus) (fruit) (1.5% agnusides)

Chaste Tree Berry, also known as Vitex agnus castus (VAC), is a shrub that is native to both Mediterranean Europe and Central Asia. Clinical reviews have supported the use of VAC as a remedy for many female conditions, including menstrual disorders (amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea), premenstrual syndrome (PMS), corpus luteum insufficiency, hyperprolactinemia, infertility, acne, menopause, and disrupted lactation. Chaste Berry exhibits a mechanism of action that increases dopamine activity in the brain, which results in a reduction of prolactin release in the body. When there is an increase in prolactin it can cause disturbances in a women’s menstrual cycle as well as deficiency in their levels of estrogen and progesterone. A prospective, multicenter trial in the efficacy of VAC on PMS was investigated in 50 patients. The Moos’ menstrual distress questionnaire (MMDQ) was the primary parameter and self-assessment was the second parameter. The inclusion of VAC showed that PMS-related symptoms were reduced but then gradually returned after cessation of the trial period. Studies such as this one show that using VAC as a remedy for the symptoms associated with PMS can show clear improvements but should mainly be used for symptomatic relief rather than relief for the duration of the syndrome.

Setria® L-Glutathione

PMS is often a high stress event for an individual. The overabundance of estrogen compared to progesterone can increase overall stress. When cortisol is not controlled, it can further lower progesterone, further dividing the needed balance between these two complimentary hormones. Glutathione is an amino acid containing molecule of L-glutamic acid, L-cysteine, and Glycine. It is vital to many different properties and is best known for being a powerful antioxidant. The ‘glutathione system’ comprises the enzymes that synthesize glutathione within a cell as dedicated enzymes that use glutathione for its antioxidant effects. Glutathione supplementation is thought to support this pool of glutathione present in cells and thus maintain the efficacy of the entire system. Free radicals can be a byproduct of many different things such as exercising, eating, and breathing to name a few. When these molecules overcome the body at the cellular level, this constant barrage can have negative impacts on health and overall wellness. This barrage can also include the stresses that one’s body might endure during pre-menstruation. Setria® L-Glutathione provides a potent supply of antioxidants that bind these free radicals, which can help keep them from causing lasting damage. Glutathione not only has the ability to neutralize free radicals, but it also can reactivate other antioxidants, such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Once these vitamins and their antioxidants do their job of neutralizing free radicals, they become unstable radicals themselves. Glutathione can help recycle these unstable molecules back to their antioxidant rich properties.

3,3’ Diindolylmethane (DIM)

What we typically refer to as “Estrogen,” is in fact a group of three biologically distinct hormones – estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), and estriol (E3), each possessing different activities in different cell, tissue, and receptor types. When experts refer to either the benefits or downfalls of “estrogen," they really mean to (but probably cannot) identify a specific estrogen.

These specific estrogens, in turn, metabolize into even more specific estrogen sub-compounds, such as the 2-hydroxyestrogens (2-OHE’s), 2-methoxyestrogens, 16a-hydroxyestrone (16-OHE1), and 4-hydroxyestrogens (4-OHE’s). As their parent estrogens, these estrogen metabolites exert different effects depending upon the tissue and cell one is examining. In fact, two estrogen metabolites in particular, 16-OHE1 and 2-OHE, have such contrasting cellular activities that 2-OHE is an estrogen antagonist. Yes, that is correct: there is an anti-estrogen, estrogen.

In recent years, so-called “phytonutrients” have become the focus of clinical research, as these natural compounds have shown the ability to increase the ratio of good, estrogen decreasing estrogens (such as 2-OHE), to bad, estrogen increasing estrogens (such as 16-OHE1). One of these phytonutrients, a dietary indole known as indole-3-carbinol (I3C), is the bioactive phytochemical and a presumed modulator of reduced cancer risk in areas with high cruciferous vegetable consumption. Unfortunately, despite its potent antiestrogenic activity, I3C is highly molecularly unstable, and therefore unsuitable for use as a therapeutic agent or dietary supplement.

Luckily, however, I3C readily metabolizes into the secondary indole 3,3’ diindolylmethane, or DIM for short. When used in a supplemental fashion in clinical trials, DIM appears to possess all the positive effects of its parent compound with respect to antiestrogenic action – promoting the metabolism of beneficial estrogens that themselves reduce estrogenic activity.

Aside from its healthy-estrogen promoting abilities, DIM also exerts its own direct physiological effects, including:

• Promoting pathways of internal estrogen metabolism that favor the production of anti-estrogen estrogens.
• Adjusting the activity of certain cytochrome enzymes, reducing the activity at the estrogen receptor site.
• Limit the cell division and growth of certain estrogens.

Despite the bodybuilding community’s single-minded crusade to eliminate estrogen wherever it lies in wait, compounds such as DIM show us that estrogen is a very diverse set of compounds – and that we should actively pursue increasing certain estrogens that have beneficial, and ironically, anti-estrogenic effects.

Shoden® Ashwagandha Extract (Withania Somnifera) (root and leaf) (35% withanolide glycosides)

Withania somnifera Dunal, colloquially known as Winter Cherry or Indian Ginseng, is an herb that features prominently in the traditional Indian medicinal system of Ayurveda. Known as Ashwagandha in Ayurveda, Withania somnifera is a critical ingredient in various Ayurvedic tonics and tinctures prepared as a traditional remedy for the treatment of various ailments.

Recently identified as a potent apoptogenic and target for therapeutic applications, Ashwagandha has been the subject of numerous animals, pre-clinical, and clinical trials designed to examine its potential effects as an antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anxiolytic, antibacterial, antifungal, and immunomodulating compound. Ashwagandha’s broad therapeutic potential is hypothesized to be the result of its robust phytochemical profile, including a wide swath of alkaloids, sitoindosides, and the highly biologically active withanolide group. As the principally biologically active compounds within Ashwagandha, withanolides such as withanone, withaferine A, withanolides A, D, and G have been identified, isolated, and extensively studied in the various applications noted above.

Arms Race Nutrition selected the potent Shoden^® Ashwagandha Extract due to these potential physiological benefits of withanolides to include in its Stabilize for women formula. Shoden^® is a full-spectrum Ashwagandha extract, standardized with 35% withanolides. Shoden^® offers a very high bioavailability and demonstrated optimal activity even at low doses. 

The high concentrations of withanolides within Shoden® has resulted in encouraging results in a number of human, clinical trials looking at the benefits on aerobic and anaerobic physical activity. In several randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled studies, Shoden® Ashwagandha showed positive impacts on reduction of stress induced cortisol, power output, rate of perceived exertion, capillary lactate levels, and oxygen intake (VO2 max). Shoden® has also shown increases in DHEA-S and testosterone in men when supplemented. 

Though each of these results is impressive, perhaps the most significant is reduction in cortisol. As detailed above, cortisol possesses a multitude of potentially degradative physiological effects, including: inhibiting glucose uptake, causing a constriction of the vasculature (vasoconstriction), the breakdown of glycogen, and inarguably the result most would desire to avoid, proteolysis (the breakdown of muscle tissue).