musclebuildingforum.com

Most of the systems and processes of our bodies are related in one way or another... Slightly altering one can lead to disruptions in many others... This is a fact of which many medical professionals are aware, but many steroid users – even experienced ones – are not... They might have some inkling of the side effects of steroids... They might know what mixes well, and what does not... They may even have semi-advanced understandings of how to create effective steroid stacks. However, on topics such as thyroid function, one of the most important regulatory functions of the body, many bodybuilders are clueless... It’s important to become informed so that you can be aware of changes in the body, their causes, and how they affect your long-term health... If you use anabolic steroids and follow a medium- to low-carbohydrate diet, you run the risk of altering your body’s thyroid conversion rates, which can lead to a breakdown of metabolic function... The thyroid secretes a hormone called T4... It is inactive, and converted to T3, which is then used by the body to regulate the metabolism. Insulin in your body is required for the T4 to T3 conversion to take place... If you follow a medium- to low-carbohydrate diet, you run the risk of altering your body’s insulin levels... Low-carbohydrate diets are ideal for reducing body fat levels... However, they do offset insulin levels which affects metabolism in this way... The solution is simple... A single cheat meal per week – very high in carbohydrates – provides a massive insulin spike which then facilitates adequate T4 to T3 conversion for the next seven days... If you use growth hormone, you also run the risk of unnaturally altering your body’s insulin levels, and causing the T4 to T3 conversion to slow... Without it, your metabolism can go haywire, and result is severe shifts in body composition, and not for the better... In these cases, a once-weekly cheat meal is also adequate for stopping the bleeding, figuratively... High carbs is the goal for that meal, and only that meal... Now that you understand the effects of carbohydrates and GH upon the thyroid, one can only imagine the effects of the use of insulin upon the thyroid... Many bodybuilders don’t consider the effects of the use of steroids upon individual body systems... They may be aware of the physical effects of AAS upon their hairline, waistline, or skin... They may have vague conceptualizations of just how much their prostate or liver will be affected. But many users haven’t a clue how systems and processes like thyroid function will be affected... They might feel run down or sick, and have no clue why, and no ability to self-diagnose, as they’ve never seen thyroid function mentioned in the Steroid FAQs they’ve been reading in websites or magazines... It’s important to be aware of every potential pitfall that comes with using steroids – and have blood screenings done regularly... A blood screen, when compared with a healthy baseline measurement, will deliver an indication of thyroid dysfunction... Self-diagnosing at home will not...