Ecdysterone: Definition, Benefits, Side Effects & more (2023)

Ecdysterone - you might have heard of the name - especially if you're familiar with our flagship turkesterone supplement - Turk™.

Well, what exactly is ecdysterone, is it healthy for you and can they improve your muscle, your strength, and your overall performance? Let's find out.

What Is Ecdysterone?

Ecdysteroids are a class of compounds that resemble androgens. They are found as growth factors in plants + insects and are common throughout many things.

Their name (ecdy-) comes from the molting process in insects.

They have a wide array of “healthy” benefits and mostly are hindered by the lack of research around them.

The main hesitance with ecdysterones is 1) their lack of human trials and 2) the fact that their primary comparison has been to actual steroids. For any compound to compare to that extreme of an effect - you'll need to require a larger number of studies in order for certain segments of the fitness community to accept them.

That said, if you’re willing to undertake the risk factors involved - these can be a powerful addition to your workouts.

Pros & Cons of Ecydsterone

If you want the quick run-down on ecdysterone - here's the pros & cons you need to know.

Pros

  • Novel compound that can give you an edge
  • Seemingly anabolic effects on muscle growth
  • Zero androgenic effects
  • Good individual anecdotal data

Cons

  • Brand new compound on the market
  • There's little clinical research on the products themselves.
  • Lots of shady brands doing poor testing and quality control.
  • You have to make sure your sourcing is reliable.

If you want to skip to the best turkesterone supplement on the market - try Turk.

The Molecular Makeup of Ecdysterone

ecdysterone-molecular-structure

Where Ecdysterone is Found

Ecdysterone is found as an ecdysteroid in animals and as a phytoecdysteroid in plants.

You can find this particular ecdysteroid in these plants and insects

Plants (as a phytoecdysteroid)

  • Cyanotis vaga
  • Ajuga turkestanica
  • Rhaponticum carthamoides

Animals (as an ecdysteroid)

  • insects
  • crabs
  • other invertebras

Benefits of Ecdysterone

Ecdysterones seem to have some very promising uses - despite being little studies. While we're waiting on more information to come out, ecdysterones seem to have the following benefits:

    Can help build lean body mass

    Ecdysterone's primary usage to date has been to help increase lean muscle mass. While it's unclear if ecdysterone is adding actual muscle tissue or just improving overall body composition, density and hardness - ecdysterone definitely seems to have *some* type of effect in humans - supposing of course you have some well sourced products.

      Zero androgenic effects

      One of the main benefits of ecdysterone is that it does not seem to have androgenic effects. This is great for anyone concerned about the androgenic effects of steroids - including but not limited to hair loss, having to do PCT or other issues. With ecdysterone, you don't have to worry about any of those.


      Anabolic effects similar to actual steroids

        While it's our opinion that if you're going to do steroids - you're going to do steroids - and nothing is going to quite catch up to that. That said - if you're looking to retain your natty card, ecdysterone does seem to have an anabolic effect - the length to which is hotly debated. However, individual ecdysterone users do report significant changes anecdotally.

        Lowering cholesterol + blood glucose

        There have been some resports of ecdysterone improving these health markers. However, it's not quite apparent if the ecdysterone itself is improving these markers directly or if it's a byproduct of overall incresed muscle mass and overall health improvements.

          Increasing protein synthesis rate (improving liver + intestine health)

          These benefits need more studies but make sense in the broad scheme of what we know about ecdysteroids in their original functions. It's not surprising to see similar outcomes in humans, although - like everything in this space - more research still needs to be done.

            Potential protective neural tissue effects

              There is some evidence that ecdysterones can work to protect neural tissue and improve cognitive outcomes. However, this research is very new and is hard to rely on for this specific benefit. We personally think this is the benefit claim with the least amount of research to back it up.

              Do Ecdysterones Work?

              Ecdysterone's work - maybe too well - to the point that some have recommended WADA ban it entirely.

              With respect to doping prevention the high anabolic potency of ecdysterone justifies its classification as an anabolic agent and therefore needs to be listed in the category “S1 Anabolic Agents” of the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency

              That’s a pretty significant conclusion and while as of this writing - ecdysterones are not yet included on this banned list - the fact that the benefits are so high not only mean that it’s effective, but that you should be very careful with this class of drug.

              Suggested Dosages of Ecdysterone

              Suggested dosage is around 5mg per kg of bodyweight. This means a 200lb man (90kg) would intake 450mg of ecdysterone.

              • Bodybuilders may use ranges up to 1000mg / day of eceysterone.
              • You often see the supplemented dosage from 500mg to 1000mg/day.

              Some users will exceed 1g ecdysterone / day, but it isn't known to what effects these might have.

              Beta Ecdysterone

              Beta Ecdysterone is just sub-set of ecdysterone. It's one type with the others being ecdysterone, ecdysone, 20-hedroxyecdysone and turkesterone." Of these four, Turkesterone seems to be the most anabolic.

              The Best Ecdysterone Supplement

              If you're going to buy this new compound - you need to make sure you're sourcing it from a reputable source. When it comes to that - there's no place better than Turkesterone.com

              You can buy the #1 Turkesterone supplement - Turk™. Turkesterone is the sister compound to ecdysterone is the most anabolic with the least downsides on the market. It's hands-down the best product on the market.

              But you don't have to take our word for it...

              You can also reference this great guide to Turkesterone - which calls Turk™ the best Turkesterone supplement on the market.

              Comparing Ecdysterone and Turkesterone

              Derek from More Plates More Dates has an interesting breakdown video right here.

               

              The video is primarily a response video one by 3D Alpha that we will link to below. Derek's main takeaways include:

              1. When comparing turkesterone and ecdysterone - turkesterone is generally considered more effective than ecdysterone, but turkesterone also seems to be more difficult to source/procure (this fits with what we've seen across the industry).

              2. If you compare either compound to testosterone - neither of them really compare - testosterone blows both of them out of the water but also comes with the fact that it vaults you into "not-natty" territory and can stress some of your other organ systems more than turkesterone or ecdysterone.

              3. One of the primary benefits of ecdysterone is that it seems to have zero effect on HPTA (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Testes-Axis) which is the gland that regulates your grwoth hormone and can shut down or downregulate if you're actively using steroids.

              4. Instead of comparing ecdysterone to testosterone, Derek mentions that it's primarily a better analog to a low dose of "anavar" - moreso than turkesterone. Again, with turkesterone and ecdysterone not effecting the liver.

              5. Above all - this is all still very new and lots more research still needs to be done.

              The original ecdysterone video Derek was responding to:

               

              Controversy with Ecdysterone

              Ecdysterone itself has not garnered the controversy that some of it's sister compounds have, but it does suffer from similar criticisms.

              The primary criticism with ecdysterone is the lack of clinical studies surrounding it - but with the rising notoriety of ecdysterone over the years - we're expecting this to change.

              The other issue is not with ecdysterone itself, but with bottling claims on the sister compound - turkesterone. This has been only noted by one researcher with no one else validating his claims - so there needs to be more studies done here.

              Ecdysteroid Effectiveness: Turkesterone vs. Ecdydsterone

              One of the major issues with ecdysterone is not with itself, but the fact that the sister compound turkesterone is more popular and harder to source.

              As a result, you have tons of companies sourcing poor quality ecdysteroids content and passing all ecdysteroid content off as "turkesterone" or "ecdysterone" without doing individual breakdowns of the compounds actually included.

              As a results, you need to be very careful about what sources you're buying your ecdysterone or turkesterone from and be sure that you're not getting scammed.

              Ecdysterone References & Citations

              Research and journals we consulted for this article include.

              For more resources, see our complete guide to research on Turkesterone.

              Primary Studies

              Other Ecdysterone & Ecdysteroid Guides

              Other In-Depth Supplement Guides

              You might also be interested in reading up on the following in-depth guides: