Are Laxogenin Benefits Worth Investing In?
Laxogenin is a naturally occurring steroid that is been linked to bodybuilding benefits. In this quick review, I’m going to talk you through everything you need to know. I’ll explain exactly what it is, and what the exact Laxogenin benefits potentially are.
I’ll talk you through the dosage range that people are using, and the cycle length that seems to be typical.
This is also an opportunity for me to clear up a bit of confusion around this supplement because the natural extract Laxogenin is ironically not the best one to use.
Finally, I will conclude by talking you through the supplements that contain Laxogenin that are pure and reliable to use.
What Exactly Is Laxogenin?
Laxogenin is a naturally occurring steroidal sapogenin, that is extracted from an Asian plant whose Latin name is Smilax sieboldii. It’s a plant that has been found to contain at least six naturally occurring steroidial sapogenins.
Broadly known as “plant hormones”, the formal name for these extracts is brassinosteroids. However, although the name sounds like it’s a naturally occurring steroid, they are not to be thought of in the same way as things like anabolic steroids. These are not hormonal in humans.
The thing I want to clear up here at the start of this review is that Laxogenin gets quite confusing to buy.
The natural extract from the plant is Laxogenin. It’s found in some supplements and has been since the late 1970s.
However, overwhelmingly, Laxogenin is not what you will find in bodybuilding supplements nowadays. A synthetic derivative called 5-Alpha-Hydroxy- Laxogenin is the active ingredient you will mostly find.
What’s weird is that studies done on these chemicals found that the naturally occurring Laxogenin is actually inferior to the synthetic derivative. In terms of any ability to produce potential benefits, it’s the synthetic form of Laxogenin that you should be looking for and using.
How Can 5a Hydroxy Laxogenin Benefit Bodybuilders?
I say that Laxogenin has been in use since the 1970s. However, its first proper supplementation was in something called “Hot Stuff”, which was a bodybuilding supplement from the early 1980s. Hot stuff contained real Laxogenin. It was found to only have minor benefits for bodybuilders.
But what’s been found since is that the synthetic derivative has significantly better chances of delivering the following results:
- Improved protein synthesis
- Better support for rapid muscle growth
- Reduction in blood sugar levels
- Faster muscle recovery
- Higher levels of energy
- Increased vascularity
How pronounced those benefits are will depend on many factors, including the strength of the supplement, and how your body reacts to it. On top of that, how hard you work out, and how you fuel your body will also matter.
Laxogenin actually works not as a steroid but as a substance that enhances protein synthesis.
Protein synthesis delivers better quality fuel to muscle tissue and allows it to develop stronger and faster. Protein synthesis is something that occurs in every cell in the body. Cells express their genes by converting a genetic message into protein, by enhancing this, you enhance the expression which leads to bigger muscle growth.
But overall, the key takeaway is that you should be looking for bodybuilding supplements that contain the hydroxy Laxogenin synthetic derivative, not natural Laxogenin.
However, one bit of good news on that front is that even though the supplements are mostly marketed as containing the natural plant steroid Laxogenin, the truth is when you look at the list of ingredients they don’t contain it at all, they contain the scientific derivative.
So ironically, they are marketing you the wrong thing as the best thing, and it’s not actually what you are getting anyway!
Laxogenin Dosage & Cycle Discussion
Laxogenin is going to have to be one of those bodybuilding supplements that you need to try for yourself to see if you can benefit from using it.
The reason I say that, is because some people don’t get any benefits from it, while others claim that they do. I think it’s really down to the quality of the supplement, and how hard you work as much as anything else.
But crucially, it’s also about the dosage and cycle length that you use.
I’ve seen dosage ranges talked about online from anywhere between 25 mg per day, and 200 mg or higher. The bottom line is that some doses are too low to have an effect, and there will be a plateau where taking more has no effect at all.
One of the most popular supplements out there suggests dosing up to 200 mg per day, with a single dose being 100 mg. I would suggest you go with that middle ground 100 mg per day as a maximum.
Anecdotally, based on my own experience, you won’t see an immediate benefit from this supplement either. It will take a few weeks to build up and develop.
That’s why I would advocate a cycle length of at least 12 weeks.
It’s not going to hurt you, because it’s not really steroidal in nature. It’s not anabolic, and it won’t affect your testosterone levels.
So I would suggest 100 mg per day for a cycle length of 12 weeks. Then take a significant break to see how you feel naturally in comparison to working out using your chosen Laxogenin supplement.
I would also advise that you don’t take this supplement type with anything else. That’s for two reasons. Firstly, you don’t know what interactions different supplements will have. You want to avoid any unwanted side effects created by mixing different supplements.
Secondly, most importantly, you’ll want to get a genuine feeling for how beneficial Laxogenin is for you. You can’t do that if you are stacking supplements.
What Laxogenin Results Can You Realistically Expect?
So there is a caveat here that your results will be quite personal and may differ wildly from somebody else’s. That’s why you can never believe any before and after photos you see online.
However, based on anecdotal evidence, and my own experiences, it will better support muscle growth and can occur naturally, and you will boost your energy levels and recovery times.
I ran a cycle for 12 weeks and then took a 12-week break to see how it felt compared to a natural baseline.
I also wanted to make sure my body got a break because I want to then start a cycle of SARMs.
The important thing to tell you is that this definitely doesn’t mess with your testosterone levels. Although it’s described as steroidal in nature, it works by enhancing protein synthesis, it does not mimic testosterone.
That means it’s not like anabolic steroids, it’s not like most SARMs, and it’s not like prohormones. You won’t need to use post-cycle therapy supplements to lift your testosterone levels after a Laxogenin cycle.
After 12 weeks, I can say with certainty that this was how I felt about my Laxogenin results:
- There was definitely a slight increase in muscle tone and size when compared to how things felt when I worked out naturally. It definitely seemed to help with enhancing my gains.
- I felt more energy after a couple of weeks. I noticed slightly bigger veins, and overall, I feel that my vascularity increased.
- Recovery times were definitely lowered. My muscles didn’t ache for as long, and my energy returned quickly.
Now I don’t know how much of that was a placebo effect, but it definitely seemed to work for me.
I think what’s important here is to understand that you can’t just use Laxogenin in isolation and get benefits from it.
You have to make sure that you work out really hard. It has to be progressive, and really push your limits. That way you’ll definitely get microtears and give Laxogenin the ability to enhance that recovery.
You’ll also need to work on your cardiovascular workouts as well. That way you’ll increase your vascularity faster, and give yourself the capability to push yourself that little bit harder.
And as always, I have to mention diet and nutrition are crucial to your success. Don’t be one of these guys who just throw thousands of rubbish calories and his body just because you want to hit a calorie target. Make sure your diet and nutrition are superb, otherwise you just won’t give your body the fuel to get the maximum out of any type of supplement.
Are There Any Notable Laxogenin Side Effects You Need To Be Aware Of?
I definitely feel there are benefits to taking this supplement, but you should always look out for side effects as well, to protect yourself.
The good news is that there aren’t any really strong reported negative issues with using 5a hydroxy Laxogenin supplementation.
However, I just want to mention to you that protein synthesis allows the faster proliferation of cell development. If you’ve got a condition where cell development is a problem, or you have had something like breast cancer in the past, then you don’t want to be encouraging faster protein synthesis in your cells.
But other than that very rare risk, there’s not really anything to stop you giving a 5 alpha hydroxy Laxogenin supplement tried to see how it works for you.
The only other thing I’ll mention is that some people get nausea and diarrhea using it. I think that will depend on the supplement you are using, what fillers are in there, or other ingredients, and how your body reacts in terms of sensitivity. I certainly didn’t get any of these problems, but I have seen them reported online when people talked about using Laxogenin on sites like Reddit.
Supplements That Contain 5-Alpha-Hydroxy-Laxogenin
I mentioned at the start of this guide that you’re not actually looking for the real naturally occurring Laxogenin in the supplement you use.
The more potent option is the supplements out there that contain the synthetic derivative called 5-Alpha-Hydroxy- Laxogenin.
Thankfully, nowadays, that’s actually most of them. Even if they are marketed as Laxogenin, and tell you that it’s a naturally occurring plant steroid, the truth is that the active ingredient is not naturally occurring at all, it’s a synthetic construction that similar in structure.
For me, I found two places that sell high-quality Laxogenin supplements.
The first place is Huge Supplements. They sell a Laxogenin supplement called “Annihilate”. Forgive the slightly silly name, and focus on the ingredients.
Each capsule contains 100 mg of the synthetic derivative of Laxogenin. For just $64.99 you are getting 60 x 100 mg capsules. That’s a really good deal for the potency and convenience of capsules. The second place I have found, although I haven’t used it myself yet as I used Annihilate for my test cycle, is Science.bio.
Trusted for years, selling hundreds of metabolic and nootropics, they really are a trusted source. You can buy 750 mg of synthetic Laxogenin suspended in a liquid dropper bottle, for just $29.99. Sublingually absorbing the suspended liquid will get you the complete dose more quickly than any other format.
Both of these trusted sources test the quality of the supplements they sell. They use independent third-party analysis to show you the structure of each supplement. Both of these tests at 100% pure, and contain exactly what they say, with no hidden surprises.
When I mean surprises, I’m talking about the fact that some Laxogenin bodybuilding supplements were tested for content a few years back, and most of the ones from dodgy sellers contained SARMs, or even anabolic steroids to produce their results.
So what people were doing was filling their bodies with things they didn’t realize, thinking they were getting great results, when in reality, those supplements contained little or no actual Laxogenin at all.
But the conclusion of my review has to be that this is a low-risk way of experimenting with a natural supplement that could take your natural bodybuilding up another level. Don’t expect miracles, but you’ll certainly see a significant boost against what you can achieve naturally as long as you work hard and use the right diet and nutrition to support your progress.