Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an important hormone produced in the adrenal glands and liver1, and in men, the testes. DHEA and its sulfate ester, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), are interconvertible. DHEA-S is the storage form of DHEA.2,3 DHEA can then be metabolized to androstenedione, the major human precursor to androgens and estrogens4,5—although DHEA doesn’t have direct estrogenic or androgenic activity.6 In most individuals, the production of DHEA normally peaks during the mid-’20s and then begins a steady, progressive decrease of up to 90 percent with aging.7 This decrease is associated with a host of age-related syndromes and conditions, including a concurrent reduction in protein formation, a decrease in muscle mass, and an increase in body fat.8 There are no good dietary sources of DHEA other than by way of supplementation.

7-keto DHEA is a metabolite of DHEA and may prove to be a safer alternative. Unlike DHEA, 7-keto-DHEA is not converted to androgens and estrogens.9,10,11 Oral or topical administration of 7-keto-DHEA does not affect plasma levels of steroid hormones.12,13 Similarly to DHEA, 7-keto-DHEA is rapidly converted to the sulfated form, known as 7-keto-DHEAS14.

Areas Of Benefit
Clinical studies have been conducted on supplementation with both DHEA and 7-keto-DHEA. Based upon that research, DHEA offers potential benefits for adrenal support, youthful skin, sexual support, bone mineral density, mood support/ mental function, healthy inflammatory response in body tissues, fatigue reduction, menopause, weight loss, and insulin sensitivity. Clinical studies on 7-keto DHEA have identified three major areas of potential benefit, including weight loss, cognitive function, and immune function. Following is an overview of the research on each of these dietary supplement ingredients.

DHEA: Adrenal Support
In individuals with suboptimal adrenal function, daily supplementation with 20–50 mg DHEA seems to improve feelings of well-being, skin and hair, and sexuality responsiveness.15,16 DHEA also helps support healthy maturation of the adrenal glands in children with sub-optimal adrenal function.17

DHEA: Youthful Skin
As previously discussed. DHEA levels decline with age. In research with individuals 60–79 years old, taking 50 mg DHEA daily helped reverse certain parameters of aging skin. Subjects experienced an increase in epidermal thickness, sebum production, skin hydration, and decrease facial skin pigmentation.18

DHEA: Sexual Support
Aging males supplemented with 50 mg DHEA daily for six months experienced improvements in parameters of male performance, including erection, orgasmic function, sexual desire, and overall sexual satisfaction. DHEA helped improve male performance in men with sub-optimal blood pressure balance or whose performance was sub-optimal for unknown reasons, but did not improve performance in individuals with diabetes or neurological disorders.19,20

In postmenopausal women, clinical evidence has demonstrated that a single 300 mg dose of DHEA improved sexual response, including significantly greater mental and physical sexual arousal.21 Furthermore, vaginal application of DHEA was found to be effective in reducing vaginal atrophy in elderly postmenopausal women.22

DHEA: Bone Mineral Density
Loss of bone mineral density (BMD) is common with aging. Daily supplementation with 50–100 mg DHEA has been shown to improve BMD in older women and men with sub-optimal BMD.23,24 It also helps improve BMD in younger women with eating disorders.25

DHEA: Mood Support / Mental Function
Experiencing moodiness or “the blues” is common during the lifecycle but can increase with age.26 Some clinical research suggests that taking DHEA orally might improve symptoms of moodiness in elderly subjects.27,28,29 Taking DHEA orally seems to improve healthy mental function in individuals with sub-optimal perception or expression of reality.30

DHEA: Healthy Inflammatory Response In Body Tissues
Some individuals experience acute and chronic inflammation of various tissues of the body resulting from an attack by their body’s own immune system. Taking DHEA orally in conjunction with conventional treatment may help support a healthy inflammatory response in various tissues.31,32,33,34,35,36,37 It may also help promote the normalization of symptoms such as muscle ache.38 In addition, DHEA also seems to improve bone mineral density in such individuals whose conventional medications adversely affect bone mineral density.39,40,41

DHEA: Fatigue Reduction
Some individuals, who experience a period of high physical and/or emotional stress, also experience the onset of fatigue of a chronic nature. DHEA may be able to help. In a clinical study, supplementation with DHEA led to a significant reduction in associated pain, fatigue, limitations in activities of daily living, helplessness, anxiety, difficulty thinking, poor memory, and sexual problems over the period of the study.42

DHEA: Menopause
In a clinical study, 25 mg of DHEA daily increased the levels of all the hormones that derive from DHEA metabolism. It also increased neurosteroids and endorphin levels. The results were an improvement of vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes, as well as psychological symptoms throughout 12 months of therapy.43

DHEA: Weight Loss & Insulin Sensitivity
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 56 elderly subjects took 50 mg DHEA daily for six months. Subjects taking the DHEA experienced a significant decrease in abdominal fat, and improvements in insulin sensitivity compared to those using the placebo.44

7-keto: Weight Loss
7-keto-DHEA is thought to be beneficial in weight loss by increasing metabolism and thermogenesis. Early evidence in animals suggests 7-keto-DHEA can increase thermogenesis, possibly by stimulation of thermogenic enzymes in the liver45 ; however this effect has not yet been reported in humans. Clinical evidence suggests 7-keto-DHEA might increase basal metabolism.

In obese patients, 7-keto-DHEA can significantly increase the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3) when used over four weeks.46 This effect on thyroid function may positively influence metabolism47, helping patients reduce body weight and body fat. In fact, one clinical study seems to support the hypothesis that the supplement can enhance weight loss.

Thirty overweight adults were randomized into a prospective, double-blind, placebo controlled eight-week study.48 Fifteen subjects received 100 mg 7-Keto DHEA twice per day whereas the other 15 subjects received a matching placebo. All subjects exercised three times per week, 60 minutes per session of cross-training (aerobic and anaerobic) under the supervision of an exercise physiologist. The exercise plus 7-Keto DHEA group lost a significant amount of body weight as compared with the exercise plus placebo group.

When analyzed per a four-week interval, the 7-Keto DHEA group lost 3.17 lbs per interval, whereas placebo lost 1.09 lbs. In terms of actual body composition changes, the exercise plus 7-Keto DHEA group lost 1.8 percent body fat as compared to 0.57 percent for the placebo group. When viewed as a change in body fat per four-week interval, the 7-Keto DHEA group lost 0.89 percent body fat per interval as compared to 0.29 percent for the placebo.

In a later randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial49, 7-Keto DHEA was tested in overweight adults maintained on a calorie-restricted diet to determine efficacy in increasing the resting metabolic rate (RMR). The results were that RMR increased significantly by 1.4 percent in the 7-Keto DHEA group, whereas RMR decreased by 3.9 percent in the placebo group. In this study, 7-Keto reversed the decrease in RMR normally associated with dieting and was generally well tolerated with no serious adverse events.

7-Keto: Cognitive Function
Research has indicated that that DHEA administration might be beneficial in terms of neuroprotection against age-related loss of brain functions like learning and memory.50 Furthermore, DHEA showed insignificant effects on both learning/memory ability in aging rats.51 Higher DHEA-S levels are also independently and favorably associated with executive function, concentration, and working memory in humans.52 In addition, other research suggests that 7-keto-DHEA improves chemically-induced and age-related memory impairment.53

7-Keto: Immune Function
7-keto DHEA has also been studied for its potential immune-boosting properties. This includes immunomodulatory effects by stimulating interleukin-2 production by human lymphocytes in-vitro.54 Researchers think that it may also stimulate the activity and effectiveness of T-lymphocytes. These T-lymphocytes may in turn stimulate additional immune system functions.55 Studies based on these observations suggest that 7-keto DHEA may have a future as an important immune system enhancer.56,57 Thus, 7-keto DHEA could prove to be therapeutically useful in a wide range of conditions. Studies suggest that DHEA may reduce the replication of certain types of viruses.58

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