2. Steroid Effects and Liver Damage
Liver damage is probably the most sensationalized of all side effects possible from steroid use. The media often focuses on this particular problem as if it occurs with every steroid, and in every person who takes them. Nothing could be further than the truth. Most anabolic steroids which are ingested orally pass through the liver, which functions as the body´s filtration system. When something goes through the liver, it is broken down by various enzymes, and passed along into the bloodstream. Most research on orally administered anabolic steroids focus on the fact that liver enzymes are elevated following ingestion. But does this necessarily mean that the liver is being damaged, does it? Of course not. Commonly, studies that focus on steroid toxicity often use absurd doses, or incorrectly focus on liver activity instead of damage. The liver functions as the filter for the human body.. it´s going to be activated whenever something (not just a steroid) passes through it. Does that show that steroids damage the liver? Let´s see what the scientists say..
There was an eight-week study done in 1999, which looked at the effects of an 8-week cycle of Oral steroids. The steroids examined were Halotestin (Fluoxymesterone), Dianabol (methylandrostanolone), or Winstrol (Stanozolol) on rats at the dose of 2mg/kg-body weight, administered five times a week for 8 weeks. That s almost 200mgs/day of any of those steroids, for a 200lb user. That is, I´ll speculate, much more than the average person would use on a cycle. In fact, I have never, in my years of researching steroids and speaking with athletes, heard of anybody using 200mgs/day of Halotestin, Winstrol, or Dianabol. Ever.
And, at the end of that study, In vivo, each rat still had liver enzyme levels that were within normal range!
(*Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Feb;31(2):243-50, Rat liver lysosomal and mitochondrial activities are modified by anabolic-androgenic steroids. Molano F, Saborido A, Delgado J, Moran M, Megias A.)
In another study, 16 bodybuilders using steroids were compared to 12 bodybuilders who were not. Then the bodybuilders who had used steroids stopped taking them for three months, at which points, the researchers found that liver enzymes had returned to the same levels as the non users. After only 3 months!
(*Int J Sports Med 1996 Aug;17(6):429-33, Body composition, cardiovascular risk factors and liver function in long-term androgenic-anabolic steroids using bodybuilders three months after drug withdrawal. Hartgens F, Kuipers H, Wijnen JA, Keizer HA.)
We can see from the chart below that ex-steroid users have totally normal liver enzymes one year after they stop using& .in fact, for some liver enzymes, even the current users have normal scores!
, but does anything interfere with it being absorbed into my system such as food, protein shakes, etc... I tried searching but came up with nothin, thx in advance
