Extreme Hunger
by Grendel
Bodybuilding is divided into two distinct phases, mass gaining and fat reduction. Traditionally, mass gaining (also known as “bulking”) is usually undertaken during the Winter months. As the days get shorter and the weather turns, many of us are seeking to maximize our bulking period.
It has been well established that food is your most anabolic agent. This article is not about designing a bulking cycle, at least in the way you might think. The problem that most bodybuilders face when trying to get insanely large is food intake, they simply cannot consume enough calories to truly promote an anabolic state in the body. I refer almost everyone to the seminal article on this type of eating, Extreme Eating For Mass. This article covers the basics of extreme eating and can be found in the Anabolic Extreme archives. But it also leads to one of the biggest problems aspiring monsters face; where is their extreme hunger to go with this extreme eating? One of the most commonly asked questions is what can an athlete do to increase their appetite? This question was the genesis for this article, which will focus on pharmaceutical methods to increase your appetite.
It’s hard to believe that a society so crippled with obesity would actually research appetite stimulants. However, the threat of the HIV virus has changed this. A great deal of research has been done on ways to boost the appetite of patients afflicted with HIV induced wasting. Appetite stimulants are also used to help patients recover from or combat cancer. Subsequently, much of the documented research comes from the arena of these terminal diseases. The subjects in the test are not healthy athletes. Therefore, we must use discrimination in adopting these recommendations.
Anabolic Hormones
Anabolic Steroids
Once again we must talk about our favorite topic, anabolic steroids. In the United States anabolic steroids are primarily prescribed to treat AIDS and the accompanying loss of lean body mass. The drugs most commonly used to in this sort of therapy are the bodybuilding classics, testosterone, oxandrolone (anavar), and nandrolone decoanate (deca-durabolin). For people suffering from severe illnesses that are extremely catabolic, these drugs help promote weight gain (no shit!!). But there is also some evidence that these agents also increase appetite. Anyone reading Anabolic Extreme is probably already aware of the increase in appetite that is associated with the use of AAS. Additionally, if you are interested in putting on some serious size, you are probably already on at least one of these drugs. So let us leave behind this familiar territory for uncharted waters.
Insulin
Insulin has powerful appetite stimulating effects because it decreases your blood sugar by driving glucose into liver and muscle cells. Sure, when you eat a lot of sugar (or take 15 IU's of insulin) you get really hungry a short while later. But uncontrolled eating should not be combined with insulin. I know that some people like Paul Borreson insist that they eat complete junk with their shot of insulin. This is the best way I can think of to get obese. Insulin should be used in conjunction with a clean diet, making it a less then ideal appetite stimulant for a mass cycle. This can be a double-edged sword, as insulin is incredibly effective for adding mass. Bodybuilders who use insulin during a mass cycle must take care to eat clean while they exogenous insulin is active in the body; any junk food should be eaten outside this window.
Non-anabolic hormones
Megesterol Acetate (Megace)
This drug is a semi-synthetic derivate of the hormone Progesterone. Side effects that result are those typical with female hormones and include breast development in men (gyno) and water retention.
Megace has demonstrated a great increase in appetite in a short period of time. This drug has two drawbacks. One, it is very expensive. Secondly, as you might expect from a drug that's derived from Progesterone, the weight gain is most commonly fat. However, it is possible that a hard-training athlete might experience more muscle gain with Megace than the average person prescribed the drug. If a normal person suddenly and drastically increases their food intake, we would expect most of the weight gain to be fat. If this drug were used in conjunction with heavy androgen therapy and a strict training program, it is likely that the appetite stimulating effects on the drug would result in an even greater gain of lean body mass (LBM). While the weight gain potential of Megace is dose mediated, it appears the side effects (impotence, fluid retention, nausea and vomiting) are also dependant on the level of drug intake. An effective dosage of 160-400 mg has been shown to have an appetite and weight enhancing effect without manifesting many of these side effects.
Glucocorticosteroids
These commonly available and relatively inexpensive drugs have been found to have appetite-stimulating effects that promote weight gain. The drawback is that they are immunosuppressive and may cause protein wasting and glucose intolerance. Unbelievably, many AIDS patients have been put on high dosages of glucocorticosteroids like prednisone in an attempt to increase their appetite and weight. These patients certainly do gain a bit of weight, that being all water and fat at the expense of even more LBM. That's because the biggest problem with this class of drug is the enhanced catabolism they cause. Granted, a high calorie diet coupled with anabolic agents is going to significantly offset the catabolic effects of these drugs, but the action is still antagonistic. It would be my recommendation to avoid glucocorticosteroids, especially if you are not using AAS.
Non-hormonal agents
Dronabinol (Marinol)
Marinol is derived from sesame seed oil that contains the same active ingredient THC (delta-y-tetrahydrocannabinol) found in marijuana. Marijuana has been a popular appetite stimulant, clinically demonstrated to drastically boost food intake. This drug offers the benefits of this appetite increase. Basically, Marinol has the same kind of side effects has marijuana, including confusion, mood changes, and paranoia.
While significant improvements in appetite and mood have been demonstrated in people with HIV/AIDS, weight gain has been non-significant. The application of this drug to bodybuilders might be more helpful. Hopefully your body is in a state more conducive to weight gain.
I feel the need to comment on marijuana. Yes, this drug does increase your appetite and many bodybuilders use it recreationally and try to justify it by saying it helps them gain weight or cope with the pain of training. This is ridiculous. Marijuana has depressing effects on serum testosterone levels. Besides, who can train hard when stoned! If you are going to smoke dope, then do it. But don’t try to rationalize it to your training partners by telling them it's helping your bodybuilding. Ding, ding, ding, sorry, that's wrong, but thanks for playing!
Cyproheptadine (Periactin)
This is an antihistamine with anti-serotoninergic properties used for the treatment of acute and chronic allergies. This drug is also used as an anti-depressant and weight gain agent for patients with anorexia nervosa. It is also speculated that this drug increases growth hormone levels in the body; perhaps as a function of increased sleep. This drug is extremely potent. It drastically boosts your appetite and food intake. It also makes you extremely sleepy, making it a very useful nighttime drug if you have difficult with insomnia from high levels of circulating testosterone. Athletes can expect to gain weight even without AAS when using this drug.
Catovit (Prolintane hydrochloride plus B group vitamins)
This alternative and inexpensive therapy is promoted as an appetite stimulant. There is little published information to support this. Bodybuilders have been using B vitamins (particularly B-12) as an appetite stimulant for years. Some people find it works very well while others perceive no effects. Some foreign anabolic steroids include B-12 in their formula to boost energy levels. However, it is unlikely that extra B-12 will do all that much for you unless you are suffering from a chronic insufficiency.
Hydrazine Sulphate
Hydrazine sulphate decreases the rate of gluconeogenesis by inhibiting phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Gluconeogenesis is defined as the formation of glucose, especially by the liver, from noncarbohydrate sources, such as amino acids and the glycerol portion of fats. If gluconeogenesis is inappropriately elevated, as may be the case in HIV/AIDS, this agent may restore this pathway decreasing both glucose production and whole body protein breakdown. This might be a very useful for a bodybuilder seeking to use a low carbohydrate diet. If carbohydrate intake is too low, the rate at which protein is converted to glucose will increase (in the absence of dietary fat). This drug might prevent this from occurring. The evidence that this drug is an appetite stimulant comes from AIDS patients; I have not been convinced of its direct application to bodybuilding (as an appetite stimulant). However, its biochemical effects may still be of use. This is a drug that deserves further attention from the bodybuilding community.
Dosage Recommendations
Prednisolone
N/A
Dronabinol (Marinol)
2.5 - 5 mg/day as 1 - 2 tablets
Cyproheptadine (Periactin)
12 - 32mg / day as 3 - 8 tablets
Catovit (prolintane HCL + B group vitamins)
20-30mg /day as a divided dose
Hydrazine sulphate
N/A
If I had to pick one substance that I felt had the most significant effect on appetite, it would have to be testosterone. Beyond that, I feel Periactin can be extremely effective. I'm lucky in that appetite is not a problem for me; shoving that last Big Mac down my throat has never been an issue. However, for many bodybuilders, the inability to eat enough food is probably their biggest obstacle to becoming massive. I personally think that many pro bodybuilders have a genetic advantage that allows them to eat and process food at a faster rate than the average person. For the rest of us, perhaps artificially increasing appetite is the key. Gotta run folks, the kitchen is calling.
Bron: http://www.anabolicextreme.com
by Grendel
Bodybuilding is divided into two distinct phases, mass gaining and fat reduction. Traditionally, mass gaining (also known as “bulking”) is usually undertaken during the Winter months. As the days get shorter and the weather turns, many of us are seeking to maximize our bulking period.
It has been well established that food is your most anabolic agent. This article is not about designing a bulking cycle, at least in the way you might think. The problem that most bodybuilders face when trying to get insanely large is food intake, they simply cannot consume enough calories to truly promote an anabolic state in the body. I refer almost everyone to the seminal article on this type of eating, Extreme Eating For Mass. This article covers the basics of extreme eating and can be found in the Anabolic Extreme archives. But it also leads to one of the biggest problems aspiring monsters face; where is their extreme hunger to go with this extreme eating? One of the most commonly asked questions is what can an athlete do to increase their appetite? This question was the genesis for this article, which will focus on pharmaceutical methods to increase your appetite.
It’s hard to believe that a society so crippled with obesity would actually research appetite stimulants. However, the threat of the HIV virus has changed this. A great deal of research has been done on ways to boost the appetite of patients afflicted with HIV induced wasting. Appetite stimulants are also used to help patients recover from or combat cancer. Subsequently, much of the documented research comes from the arena of these terminal diseases. The subjects in the test are not healthy athletes. Therefore, we must use discrimination in adopting these recommendations.
Anabolic Hormones
Anabolic Steroids
Once again we must talk about our favorite topic, anabolic steroids. In the United States anabolic steroids are primarily prescribed to treat AIDS and the accompanying loss of lean body mass. The drugs most commonly used to in this sort of therapy are the bodybuilding classics, testosterone, oxandrolone (anavar), and nandrolone decoanate (deca-durabolin). For people suffering from severe illnesses that are extremely catabolic, these drugs help promote weight gain (no shit!!). But there is also some evidence that these agents also increase appetite. Anyone reading Anabolic Extreme is probably already aware of the increase in appetite that is associated with the use of AAS. Additionally, if you are interested in putting on some serious size, you are probably already on at least one of these drugs. So let us leave behind this familiar territory for uncharted waters.
Insulin
Insulin has powerful appetite stimulating effects because it decreases your blood sugar by driving glucose into liver and muscle cells. Sure, when you eat a lot of sugar (or take 15 IU's of insulin) you get really hungry a short while later. But uncontrolled eating should not be combined with insulin. I know that some people like Paul Borreson insist that they eat complete junk with their shot of insulin. This is the best way I can think of to get obese. Insulin should be used in conjunction with a clean diet, making it a less then ideal appetite stimulant for a mass cycle. This can be a double-edged sword, as insulin is incredibly effective for adding mass. Bodybuilders who use insulin during a mass cycle must take care to eat clean while they exogenous insulin is active in the body; any junk food should be eaten outside this window.
Non-anabolic hormones
Megesterol Acetate (Megace)
This drug is a semi-synthetic derivate of the hormone Progesterone. Side effects that result are those typical with female hormones and include breast development in men (gyno) and water retention.
Megace has demonstrated a great increase in appetite in a short period of time. This drug has two drawbacks. One, it is very expensive. Secondly, as you might expect from a drug that's derived from Progesterone, the weight gain is most commonly fat. However, it is possible that a hard-training athlete might experience more muscle gain with Megace than the average person prescribed the drug. If a normal person suddenly and drastically increases their food intake, we would expect most of the weight gain to be fat. If this drug were used in conjunction with heavy androgen therapy and a strict training program, it is likely that the appetite stimulating effects on the drug would result in an even greater gain of lean body mass (LBM). While the weight gain potential of Megace is dose mediated, it appears the side effects (impotence, fluid retention, nausea and vomiting) are also dependant on the level of drug intake. An effective dosage of 160-400 mg has been shown to have an appetite and weight enhancing effect without manifesting many of these side effects.
Glucocorticosteroids
These commonly available and relatively inexpensive drugs have been found to have appetite-stimulating effects that promote weight gain. The drawback is that they are immunosuppressive and may cause protein wasting and glucose intolerance. Unbelievably, many AIDS patients have been put on high dosages of glucocorticosteroids like prednisone in an attempt to increase their appetite and weight. These patients certainly do gain a bit of weight, that being all water and fat at the expense of even more LBM. That's because the biggest problem with this class of drug is the enhanced catabolism they cause. Granted, a high calorie diet coupled with anabolic agents is going to significantly offset the catabolic effects of these drugs, but the action is still antagonistic. It would be my recommendation to avoid glucocorticosteroids, especially if you are not using AAS.
Non-hormonal agents
Dronabinol (Marinol)
Marinol is derived from sesame seed oil that contains the same active ingredient THC (delta-y-tetrahydrocannabinol) found in marijuana. Marijuana has been a popular appetite stimulant, clinically demonstrated to drastically boost food intake. This drug offers the benefits of this appetite increase. Basically, Marinol has the same kind of side effects has marijuana, including confusion, mood changes, and paranoia.
While significant improvements in appetite and mood have been demonstrated in people with HIV/AIDS, weight gain has been non-significant. The application of this drug to bodybuilders might be more helpful. Hopefully your body is in a state more conducive to weight gain.
I feel the need to comment on marijuana. Yes, this drug does increase your appetite and many bodybuilders use it recreationally and try to justify it by saying it helps them gain weight or cope with the pain of training. This is ridiculous. Marijuana has depressing effects on serum testosterone levels. Besides, who can train hard when stoned! If you are going to smoke dope, then do it. But don’t try to rationalize it to your training partners by telling them it's helping your bodybuilding. Ding, ding, ding, sorry, that's wrong, but thanks for playing!
Cyproheptadine (Periactin)
This is an antihistamine with anti-serotoninergic properties used for the treatment of acute and chronic allergies. This drug is also used as an anti-depressant and weight gain agent for patients with anorexia nervosa. It is also speculated that this drug increases growth hormone levels in the body; perhaps as a function of increased sleep. This drug is extremely potent. It drastically boosts your appetite and food intake. It also makes you extremely sleepy, making it a very useful nighttime drug if you have difficult with insomnia from high levels of circulating testosterone. Athletes can expect to gain weight even without AAS when using this drug.
Catovit (Prolintane hydrochloride plus B group vitamins)
This alternative and inexpensive therapy is promoted as an appetite stimulant. There is little published information to support this. Bodybuilders have been using B vitamins (particularly B-12) as an appetite stimulant for years. Some people find it works very well while others perceive no effects. Some foreign anabolic steroids include B-12 in their formula to boost energy levels. However, it is unlikely that extra B-12 will do all that much for you unless you are suffering from a chronic insufficiency.
Hydrazine Sulphate
Hydrazine sulphate decreases the rate of gluconeogenesis by inhibiting phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Gluconeogenesis is defined as the formation of glucose, especially by the liver, from noncarbohydrate sources, such as amino acids and the glycerol portion of fats. If gluconeogenesis is inappropriately elevated, as may be the case in HIV/AIDS, this agent may restore this pathway decreasing both glucose production and whole body protein breakdown. This might be a very useful for a bodybuilder seeking to use a low carbohydrate diet. If carbohydrate intake is too low, the rate at which protein is converted to glucose will increase (in the absence of dietary fat). This drug might prevent this from occurring. The evidence that this drug is an appetite stimulant comes from AIDS patients; I have not been convinced of its direct application to bodybuilding (as an appetite stimulant). However, its biochemical effects may still be of use. This is a drug that deserves further attention from the bodybuilding community.
Dosage Recommendations
Prednisolone
N/A
Dronabinol (Marinol)
2.5 - 5 mg/day as 1 - 2 tablets
Cyproheptadine (Periactin)
12 - 32mg / day as 3 - 8 tablets
Catovit (prolintane HCL + B group vitamins)
20-30mg /day as a divided dose
Hydrazine sulphate
N/A
If I had to pick one substance that I felt had the most significant effect on appetite, it would have to be testosterone. Beyond that, I feel Periactin can be extremely effective. I'm lucky in that appetite is not a problem for me; shoving that last Big Mac down my throat has never been an issue. However, for many bodybuilders, the inability to eat enough food is probably their biggest obstacle to becoming massive. I personally think that many pro bodybuilders have a genetic advantage that allows them to eat and process food at a faster rate than the average person. For the rest of us, perhaps artificially increasing appetite is the key. Gotta run folks, the kitchen is calling.
Bron: http://www.anabolicextreme.com
