Review: Halodrol Liquigels – International
Note: Halodrol Liquigels International has been discontinued.
“Halodrol Liqugels is the evolution and natural progression of the old (and no longer produced) Halodrol-50™ that was unquestionably the most successful prohormone product of all time in the supplement industry. Due to the current political climate and media pressure, Halodrol-50™ was voluntarily discontinued. At that time, Gaspari Nutrition commissioned two of the brightest minds in the supplement industry to develop a suitable replacement for this very popular product that would NOT be prohormonal in nature but would yield results qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the old, Halodrol-50™. What Bruce Kneller and William Llewellyn have created is quite possibly the most scientifically advanced and well thought out sports nutrition product ever to be seen in the supplement industry – HALODROL LIQUIGELS™.”
Actually, the “suitable replacement” under review here is a replacement for the replacement of the original Halodrol-50. The first, post-PH incarnation of Halodrol Liquigels was a blend of arachidonic acid, 6-OXO, DHEA, 20-hydroxyecdysterone and -(-)3, 4-Divanillyltetrahydrofuran. But as you can see from the label below, the formula has changed considerably.
Serving Size 1 Gelcap
Halodrol International 571mg
Arachidonic Acid (40% In A Proprietary Fatty Acid/oil Blend), PeakATP® Adenosine-5-Triphosphate Disodium Salt, LJ100® Tongkat Ali Extract (Standardized For 22% Eurypeptides®, 40% Glycosaponins), Sodium Alpha Lipoic Acid, -(-)3,4-Divanillytetrahydrofuran, Zinc Monomethionine
The arachidonic acid and -(-)3, 4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran are all that the two “Liquigels” have in common.
So is the new “International” version any better than the formula it replaced? As always, a closer look at the ingredients will tell us more…
Arachidonic Acid (AA): AA is an omega-6 fatty acid that’s been championed as an anabolic supplement by Bill Llewellyn, author of Anabolics 2000–2009 and the founder/CEO of Molecular Nutrition. Not surprisingly, Molecular Nutrition markets X-Factor, a “straight” arachidonic acid supplement.
What’s so great about arachidonic acid?
It just so happens that a particular metabolite of arachidonic acid—a prostaglandin known as PGF2a—plays a role in muscle protein synthesis (MPS).
Theoretically, supplemental arachidonic acid should increase synthesis of PGF2a, and enhance MPS. And more MPS = more muscle = good… right?
In addition, some preliminary research in mice indicates that arachidonic acid may also have anti-obesity effects, due to its role in downregulating stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1)—an enzyme in the liver.
High SCD1 activity has been implicated in the development of metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Thus, suppressing SCD1 activity might help people lose fat, or at least resist fat gains.
Ideally, then, supplemental arachidonic acid could promote lean mass gains while reducing body fat… at least on paper. Whether this actually happens in the “real world” is debatable, however. While X-Factor users frequently report good results, a controlled study found no increase in PGF2a or improvements in body composition in test subjects using the supplement.
It should be noted that X-Factor has been around for several years now. While it appears to be holding its own in the marketplace, it’s pretty obvious by now that it’s not a miracle worker.
PeakATP®: PeakATP is a salt of ATP (adenosine triphosphate)–the energy “currency” our bodies run on. Marketed by TSI Health Sciences, ATP has an obvious appeal to anyone involved in intense exercise.
But can consuming ATP actually improve exercise performance? TSI has assembled a rather impressive-looking list of clinical references to convince doubters, although on closer examination, it’s clear there’s a lot more “smoke” than there is “fire.” Oral ATP may have some therapeutic potential, but there’s little to indicate it can improve strength or stamina in healthy, exercising people. I guess this is why the company also includes a page of “consumer testimonials” on the site — except these aren’t really from “consumers” per se, but from a small number of elite amateur/professional athletes. Since endorsements can be bought, I’m rather hesitant to give these much credence.
Make of it what you will. For what it’s worth, I’ve tried PeakATP (Swanson sells it in gel caps) and noticed absolutely nothing.
LJ100: This is a standardized extract of Tongkat Ali—a medicinal plant native to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. As Paul notes in his review, tongkat ali has a reputation as an aphrodisiac and testosterone booster, although the clinical evidence isn’t very persuasive. Most of the (few) studies available have been a) performed with rats/mice; and/or b) published in obscure journals.
There are similar issues with LJ100, which is the brainchild of HP Ingredients. The company has performed a number of “in house” experiments on this patented extract, but—needless to state—this work has not been independently confirmed or subjected to peer review. I’m unimpressed by the one published study I found, which appears to have had an extremely high drop out rate.
For what it’s worth, the user reviews I’ve seen for LJ100 have been generally favorable, although these are for the standalone product, using known (and potentially higher) doses.
Thus, it’s difficult to make any predictions about the value of this ingredient—if any—in Halodrol, as the dose is unknown.
Sodium Alpha Lipoic Acid: Alpha lipoic acid is a potent antioxidant that can increase insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal in human and animal models.
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is also frequently added to creatine transport formulas, as research has shown it improves creatine uptake.
ALA certainly has therapeutic potential. For example, animal experiments have shown a combination of ALA and acetyl-l-carnitine can mitigate age-related mitochondrial decay. Ultimately, it may prove to be useful for treating the complications of diabetes; as well as other CNS-related diseases (i.e., Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis).
-(-)3,4-Divanillytetrahydrofuran: This is thought to be the active compound in Urtica dioica (Stinging Nettle). In-vitro research has shown it can bind tightly to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), so theoretically, it has the potential to increase bioavailable (free) testosterone. There are no human—or even animal—studies, however, so at this point, the ability of oral -(-)3, 4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran to enhance free testosterone is somewhat speculative.
Zinc Monomethionine: Zinc has important antioxidant, immune and anti-inflammatory activities. More importantly (at least from a bodybuilding perspective), zinc plays a role in normal reproductive and sexual functions for both men and women. Thus, zinc is a critical nutrient, both from a basic health/wellness perspective as well as a bodybuilding one.
Zinc monomethionine is the form used in ZMA—a nutrient combo once heralded as a testosterone booster. It’s allegedly more bioavailable than many other supplemental forms of zinc; a property that would make it useful for correcting any deficiencies in this critical nutrient.
So there we have it!
All told, there are only 6 ingredients in Halodrol, which is a plus… whatever else you can say about it, it’s not a “kitchen sink” type supp. From that perspective, I like it. The formula strikes me as a well-intentioned effort to create a supp that could—ideally—offer some boost to your efforts in the gym.
What are the minuses? Simply put, there’s not a lot of good, supporting data for 4 of those 6 ingredients. (i.e., arachidonic acid, LJ100, PeakATP and 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran), and the other two (alpha lipoic acid and zinc monomethionine) are certainly not big muscle builders. To be blunt, the science is a lot softer than I like to see.
Nonetheless, I think it’s fair to say that a supp like Halodrol Liquigels is probably healthful, or at least benign. And—although the science is sketchy—the ingredients appear to have some potential, at least. While it’s a real stretch to equate the new Halodrol to the original Halodrol-50, it could still be worth experimenting with, provided your expectations are in line with reality.
