Arachidonic Acid
The dietary supplement industry is rife with marketing jargon, empty promises, and unsatisfying results from many products. One of the only ingredients to bring with it continuous human study (not random studies on mice, rabbits, or rats) and extremely promising results in numerous studies that have yet to be refuted by additional studies is arachidonic acid.
Long available solely from only one company which still holds the use patent on the ingredient, arachidonic acid or “ArA”, is becoming more widely available and marginally cheaper than when first released. If you are looking for an all natural non-hormonal anabolic, it may not get much better than this.
What it does
Human studies have found arachidonic acid to be able to increase peak and mean power output[1], as well as provide increases in lean body mass and upper body strength[2], all while not modifying hormonal output.
How it works
Arachidonic acid is a primary fatty acid that has been shown to increase inflammation in our muscle tissue. By increasing the amount of arachidonic acid in our diet, we expose our muscle cells to higher amounts than they usually experience which forces them to experience higher levels of inflammation after exercise. This higher level of inflammation translates to increased muscular growth as the body relies on inflammation to signal the repair and growth of damaged muscle tissue (which occurs during exercise).
Dosing
Dosing arachidonic acid is not an exact science yet; however initial human studies show a promising starting point is 1,000mg. Note that arachidonic acid supplements are traditionally 40% pure, so this would equate to 2.5g to receive the full 1,000mg arachidonic acid dosage. Anecdotal reports claim that 1,500-2,000mg produce increased muscle gains.