Tribulus Terrestris and DAA, The Witches Brew!

by: Brandon Lirio

Back in 2007, my shirt size bordered on youth medium and I had never had the pleasure of smelling the inside of the iron palace at high noon in August as 38 guys in sweatshirts destroy themselves in pursuit of the perfect body. Now a-days, the amount of times that heat brought me into the gym instead of left me running out of it is too high to count. But one thing has remained constant from then until now… lean sustainable gains with minimal side effects. Enter a Tribulus and D-Aspartic Acid to the game.

How do they work?

Tribulus Terrestris is made from the extracts of a barbed plant found in several places across the earth. Three phytochemicals cause a plethora of health benefits to the user. Dioscin, protodioscin and diosgenin activate the production of testosterone as well as possibly foster muscle growth and increased protein synthesis.

D-Aspartic Acid is a metabolite of the proteinogenic amino acid L-Aspartic Acid that when broken down and metabolized in the testes and several secretion glands in the body stimulate healthy testosterone production. Its also been shown to possibly increase sexual drive in men as well increase drive and focus.

How should I use it? While positive effects have been noted in both animal and human trials, it is very important to note that effects return to normal after 1.5-3 weeks. That being said, users should stack these compounds for that period of time and then cycle off for 10 to14 days before re-establishing their use in your supplementation plan. Also, dosage of the individual compounds is very important. D-Aspartic Acid recommendations are 3-4G daily, with little proof that timing matters. Tribulus however is a bit more tricky. Tribulus has two aspects on the label that will be very important to you, protodioscin and total saponin content. The sweet spot is greater than 6% protodioscin and 40-50% saponin count. Dosage found most effective in humans is between 2 and 4.5mg per pound of bodyweight per day. Would you recommend it? If you are at any point in your bodybuilding career and can utilize from lean gains with almost no negative aspect to their use (read: every one reading this article!!) adding this simple and effective set of compounds to your stack is not just a smart idea, its also very cost effective! Suggested Products for Optimal Muscle Performance: Sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10861339 http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=8024 http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TRTE http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17118457 http://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics1439.htm