Posted by Questionmark on December 26, 2004, at 13:24:08
In reply to Pregnenolone Supplementation, posted by jujube on December 22, 2004, at 10:45:09
> Has anyone tried pregnenolone or know anything about it? If tried, how were the effects? Is it a safe supplement to take in low doses on a long-term basis? Are there cautions that should be adhered to when supplementing with pregnenolone?
>
> Any information would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Tamara
Pregnenolone is a steroid-- one of the first (if not the first) in the "pathway" (for lack of a better word) of conversions from cholesterol to steroid molecules. If i remember correctly, i believe pregnenolone is a precursor to DHEA, testosterone, and estradiol, among other steroid molecules. For this reason, and due to the fact that it has a number of biological functions itself, many experts advise against its use, and many others suggest to at least stay below 10mg-15mg per use (although the capsules usually come in doses of 50mg) and to use only intermittently.
Pregnenolone is touted as being a memory enhancer-- specifically in its ability to allow the retaining of new information and the strengthening of new memories, while it is exerting its effects (i.e., it is not, or not merely, a general memory enhancing substance). It is said to do this by way of antagonizing [certain?] GABA receptors. Whether this has been backed by research or not i do not know.
i've tried it several times so far, and there were not any definitively noticeable effects. A couple times i thought that it may have helped me retain some information that i was studying better, but i am not certain about this at all.
poster:Questionmark
thread:432863
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041212/msgs/434312.html