Insulin thread.

rAJJIN

Ok guys post up!, Post what you know or dont know, articles you have saved
Questions you may have.Lets all learn about insulin, the most under-rated and dangerous anabolic. Budlite an Bigmike, i know you guys have got some good ones....

heres a good one I "borrowed" from our old buddy BIGKEV and Co. at bolex.
__________________________________________________ ________________WHAT IS INSULIN?

Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas- islet cells/beta cells to be specific. Insulin facilitates the use of sugar, which all calories are ultimately converted to, for the multitude of bodily fuctions which include energy production, brain activity, metabolism regulation- basically all of your body's function either directly or indirectly.

WHERE DO I GET IT AND WHAT TYPE DO I USE?

Humilin R is available OTC just about everywhere and while it is a quick acting insulin, it is not the fastest or most consistent in terms of absorption and effect. Humilin R starts working in about 1/2 hour and the effect can last up to six hours.

Humalog is available OTC in some states/countries while be RX only in many other states. Humalog is a true fast acting insulin which begins activity within 15 minutes and ends activity within 4 hours. Humalog is the preffered insulin to use since it works more predictably and is out of your system faster which makes it easier to control.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

In general, Insulin costs between $20-$30 depending on the type and where you buy it.

WHAT KIND OF NEEDLES DO I USE?

Use 29 guage, 1/2cc insulin syringes. "B-D ultra-fine" is my preference in terms of brand.

WHERE DO I INJECT?

Upper back of arm, abdomen(avoid area too close to belly button), inner and outer upper thigh, butt cheeks.

HOW DO I INJECT?

Rotate injection sites each time you inject. Don't inject into the same area two times in a row. Insulin injections are subcutaneous- not intramuscular.

WHAT DOSE DO I START WITH?

Start with 2-3 units of insulin. There is no need to start higher than this as you will be adjusting your dose gradually to find a tolerable level.

HOW DO I INCREASE MY DOSE?

To move your dose higher in order to find your ideal dose, go up by one unit per day. A very general guide would be to consider between 10 and 15 units as your pre-determined upper limit. If it turns out you want to go higher and don't have any trouble with those doses, then no harm is done and you can go higher. Don't make big leaps up in dose or assume more is better- be safe rather than sorry.

WHAT DO I EAT AND WHEN DO I EAT IT?

For Humilin R, the general start of activity is within a 1/2 hour but the varies ALOT!!!!! Don't assume you have tons of time to wait to eat simple sugars. Pay attention to how you feel and never wait more than 15 minutes(if that) to eat. First consume simple sugars(dextrose preffered but not the only one) in the form of some type of drink as these are most readily absorbed in my experience. A general guideline is 10 grams of carbs for each unit of insulin- MINIMUM! Within a hour or so after your dose you want to eat a mix of simple carbs and high protein- this is the golden hour AFTER your workout when the insulin will shuttle nutrients into your muscles very efficiently. Humilin R will peak at two hours after you take it so you must eat another balanced meal at the hour and a half mark approximately. This meal should include complex carbs, some fats, and protein. Use simple carbs also if you feel any hypoglycemic symptoms. "R" will last up to six hours so be aware of how you feel and eat as needed after the two hour mark. REMEMBER THAT YOU STILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF INSULIN WORKING UP TO SIX HOURS LATER SO DON'T BE COMPLACENT AND ASSUME YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GO HYPOGLYCEMIC.

For Humalog, use the same general rules and type of meal sequence, but begin the process immediately. Simple carbs should be ingested within 10 minutes- NO EXCEPTIONS. Then have the carb/protein meal within the hour. Then have the balanced meal of complex carbs/fats/protein at the hour 1/2 mark. Keep aware of how you feel up to four hours after your dose and eat as needed.

FACTORS AFFECTING INSULIN ABSORPTION/SENSITIVITY

The abdomen is generally the area where insulin is absorbed the most consistently or evenly as it is designed to be.

Injections near a muscle that you have worked out can dramtically increase the absorption rate and effect of your dose of insulin.

GH will make you more insulin INsensitive so your tolerance of insulin will change when on or off of GH.

Highly androgenic steroids also make you more insulin insensitive, however, can also cause very random hypoglycemia aswell.

Supplements such as Chromium, Ginseng, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and Cinnamon (among others) increase insulin sensitivity.

Variations in glycogen levels in your muscles can also affect how severe a hypoglycemic reactions may be or may feel. If you are starting out with low levels of muscle glycogen, the same dose of insulin that didn't affect you before may now be too much.

The glucagon response from everyone's liver will vary. This hormone increases blood sugar when during stresses to the body or in response to hypoglycemia. Some people may get a big response from their liver and hypoglycemia for them won't be as severe. Others will have less of a respense and may be more prone to insulin shock. This response can also vary for each person based on their diet, exercise etc. so don't assume your liver will react the same way to hypoglycemia each time- you may get help from it or you may have to depend mostly on consuming sugar to save your life.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF HYPOGLYCEMIA?

They include: sweating, dizziness, heart palpitations, tremors, drowsiness, sleep distrubances, anxiety, blurred vision, hunger, restelessness, lightheadedness, tingling in extremeties, headache, slurred speech, irritability, unstable movement, personality changes, seizures, DEATH

HOW SHOULD I CYCLE INSULIN?

Insulin should be cycled so that you have less of a chance of permanently affecting your own body's production of insulin. I say 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off as a general rule of thumb with 6 weeks on being the absolute limit in my opinion

rAJJIN

Who has the insulin Primer?
Thats probly the best one Ive ever read!

Big Mike

Monster's Insulin Primer

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Ok, lets have a look at insulin.
Its highly anabolic and non-androgenic, and in case some of you are in the dark (I'd like to think we're all clear on anabolic versus androgenic, but ya never know) I'll briefly touch on the subject before diving in... if youre ok on anabolic/androgenic concepts, skip to the INSULIN part...

ANDROGENIC VERSUS ANABOLIC

ANABOLIC is defined as "The process of constructive metabolism" or of building complex substances out of simple substances.
The way your body processes protien, carbohydrates, and fat (all simple substances) and makes muscle (a complex substance) is ANABOLISM.

ANDROGENIC is basically defined as pertaining to male sex characteristics.

ANDROGENIC/ANABOLIC

"Steroids" are actually called "Anabolic Androgenic Steroids." They accomplish "anabolism" through "anabolic" pathways, some being more androgenic (testosterone esters) and some less (winstrol, anavar, primobolan, ect...).
Most often, with reduced androgenic properties comes reduced anabolic properties, but it isnt always cut and dry. If anyone is interested I'll go into it another time, but lets head toward the insulin topic.

INSULIN: NonAndrogenic but Anabolic

Insulin is NOT a sex hormone. It is not related in any way to testosterone, or to estrogen for that matter. It is a product of the pancreas as opposed to testosterone which is a product of the HPTA, pituitary, gonadal, leydig, mishmash of interconnected glands...

WHY IS INSULIN ANABOLIC

So why is insulin anabolic then? Insulin is a partitioning agent. A "shuttle" if you will.
Picture insulin as a bus. Nutrients board the bus, and insulin pulls away and drops off the nutrients at the proper bus stop. That is basically what it does, and for all intents and purposes that is everything you need to know to understand how it works.
So by insulin shuttling these nutrient where they need to go, it enables anabolism and is therefor anabolic!

WHY NOT JUST TAKE CARBS TO RAISE INSULIN

Well, the amount of carbs you would need to take in to increase natural insulin levels to the degree a 10 i.u. shot would would be far more dangerous than using insuiln (and using insulin is NOT that hard OR dangerous).
Carbs at that level would eventually lead to diabetes and fat gains.
If insulin is a bus taking nutrients where they need to go, then exogenous insulin is a bullet train! It can hold far more nutrients than a normal naturally produced burst of insulin can, and it works quicker. Exogenous insulin is the most efficient way to accomplish glycogen overcompensation, period.

WHAT KIND DO I TAKE

Im a major supporter of fast acting insulin. The faster the better!
Currently he fastest acting insulin available is Humalog. It is active in 15 minutes, peaks in 1 hour and clears the system around 2 hours.
Next would be Humalin-R. It is active in about 30 minutes, peaks at the 2 hour mark, and clears the system at the 4 hour mark.
"Biophasics" are mixtures of fast and slow acting insulins, but are not the best choice in my opinion, due to an active dose being in you throughout the day. The reason you dont want that will be covered in the "HOW DO I USE IT" section.
There are also Humalin-L and Humalin-S, but they are long acting, and are no more use to me than the Biophasics. There are also porccine and bovine derived insulin, but I am against injecting animal derived substances.

WHEN (AND HOW MUCH) TO USE

Im going to assume we want to avoid any fat gains at all. Even bulking I dont like to gain any unneccesary fat, so Im going to disuss it from that stand point.
The ultra conservative time to use insulin is post-workout. Most people who are concerned about fat dont go over 10 i.u. as a total dose.
Some people us it on waking, before breakfast, since your body is in a basically carb depleted state. Its the kind of thng you have to try for yourslef, and if it works for you, do it. If you thnk youre gaining fat, stop. BUT! Dont start it at both times at once. Make sure you get your post workout dosage worked out and that you know it is not causing you any fat gains before you try pre-breakfast shots. That way you can take out all the guess work as to where any fat gains may come from.

DISPELLING A FEW MYTHS

There is a commoly held perception that you MUSt take in 10grams of carbs per I.U. of insulin, some radicals say 5 grams... well, theyre both wrong.
I got curious about this when I discovered that my insulin dependant diabetic friend didnt even keep track of what she ate post injection. She would feel hypoglycemic after a shot and take a Glucose Tablet.
A glucose tablet is only 5 grams of glucose (carbs)! So I started to think, "Hmmm, mabye everyone is off point on this?"
After conducting a few experiments on myself, I found that you can go considerably lower in carbs than people previously believed.
Now it doesnt make sense to go low in carbs, because that defies the purpose of using the insulin in the first place, but it does free us from having to use so much that there might be some "spill over" in carbs that cant be utilized. So it really makes us able to have more freedom in carbs choices and amounts.
The "risk" in insulin use is not as risky as people believe. Any person with an ounce of sense can see the warning signs of a problem coming, and remedy the situation.

HOW DO I DO IT

If you look at the drug store, you can get these little pen cases that hold a loaded insulin syringe. They are great for our need, you load up the syringe, and put it in the case, and throw it in your bag/purse/whatever. After the workout, head to a bathroom stall and inject it under the skin! Pull up a little skin from the abdomen or upper thigh (anywhere will do, but these are easiest) and inject. Do not shoot into a muscle. This rushes the dose and makes it harder to predict when it will spike.
So now you have 15 minutes to get some carbs (actually you have longer, since the initial hit of the dose is mild and easy to cope with, the spike is a little more harsh, but still nothing unbearable. If you use the carbs, you probobly wont notice the initial dose OR the spike.)
(this is based on Humalog at 10 i.u.)
I use a powder with a 20% simple/80% complex ratio (actually its 17% mono, 5% di, 7% tri, 5%tetra, and 66% penta-saccharides). I use about 60grams of carbs to the 10 i.u. of insulin.
This gives me a nice solid stream of carbs to overcompensate my depleted muscles, but not so many that I risk fat accumulation from the excess.
Now you are good to go till around 1 hour after the initial injection. At this 1 hour mark, the majority of the dose hits your system. Now is the time to eat a good balanced (AND FAT FREE!) meal. The fat-free emphasis will be explained in the POTENTIAL PROBLEMS section. This balance meal of carbs and protien and little to know fat can be anything from a protien drink and a crab drink, to a low fat MRP, to some lean chicken and rice... your choice.
After this meal, you dont need to pay anymore consideration to the insulin, it will gradually decrease and will be out of your system at the 2 hour mark.
Till you get accustmed to the use of insulin, start low and slow. Start at 2 i.u. then 5 i.u. then 7 i.u. then 10 i.u. That way you get a better understanding of any hypoglycemia you may encounter. Ive went as high as 35 i.u., just to try it, but at a certain point a higher dosage doesnt yield any better results (except fat!)

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Insulin is relativly safe. If you dont take in any carbs after using it, your body will give you PLENNTY of warning! Youll feel dizzy, tired, achey... hypoglycemic. What is happening is your body has no glycogen to use as fuel. Your muscles re depleted from working out, and often times youve tapped your liver for any remaining glycogen. The insulin does, searching for glycogen to use, takes the rest from your liver, and in the absence of carbs coming in to make more, it heads for the brain.
Your brain uses glucose as its primary fuel source (a little fat, too.) Thats why you get dizzy and light headed, the same with during a ketogenic diet... low glucose equals light headedness.
So if you forget about the carbs, youll get a warning from yuor body, and you can get your ass in gear and get some carbs in you.
If you get to the point where youre nauseated, just drink some sugary beverage and get some carbs in you quickly. Youre still a long long way from any major danger, but dont mess around.
"Fat Free" I said earlier about the 1 hour mark meal. During the 2 hours of the dosage duration, you should avoid fat like it is the plauge! Insulins partitioning properties are as effective at sending fat to the fat stores as it is carbs and protien to muscles!
So till the dose is clear of your system, NO FAT! (Thats another reason why I advocate the fastest acting insulin you can get.)

Big Mike

INSULIN Substance:
Trade Names:

Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas which helps to regulate glucose levels in the body. Medically, it is typically used in the treatment of diabetes. Recently, insulin has become quite popular among bodybuilders due to the anabolic effect it can offer. With well-times injections, insulin will help to bring glycogen and other nutrients to the muscle.

In America, regular human insulin is available without a prescription by the name of Humulin R by Eli Lilly and Company. It costs about $20 for a 10 ml vial with a strength of 100 IU per ml. Eli Lilly and Company also produces 5 other insulin formulations, but none of these should be used by bodybuilders. Humulin R is the safest because it takes effect quickly and has the shortest duration of activity. The other insulin formulations remain active for a longer period and can put the user in an unexpected state of hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia occurs when blood glucose levels are too low. It is a common and potentially fatal reaction experienced by insulin users. Before an athlete begins taking insulin, it is critical that he understands the warning signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia. The following is a list of symptoms which may indicate a mild to moderate hypoglycemia: hunger, drowsiness, blurred vision, depressive mood, dizziness, sweating, palpitation, tremor, restlessness, tingling in the hands, feet, lips, or tongue, lightheadedness, inability to concentrate, headache, sleep disturbances, anxiety, slurred speech, irritability, abnormal behavior, unsteady movement, and personality changes. If any of these warning signs should occur, an athlete should immediately consume a food or drink containing sugar such as a candy bar or carbohydrate drink. This will treat a mild to moderate hypoglycemia and prevent a severe state of hypoglycemia. Severe hypoglycemia is a serious condition that may require medical attention. Symptoms include disorientation, seizure, unconsciousness, and death.

Insulin is used in a wide variety of ways. Most athletes choose to use it immediately after a workout. Dosages used are usually 1 IU per 10-20 pounds of lean bodyweight. First-time users should start at a low dosage and gradually work up. For example, first begin with 2 IU and then increase the dosage by 1 IU every consecutive workout. This will allow the athlete to safely determine a dosage. Insulin dosages can very significantly among athletes and are dependent upon insulin sensitivity and the use of other drugs. Athletes using growth hormone can thyroid will have higher insulin requirements, and therefore, will be able to handle higher dosages.

Humilin R should be injected subcutaneously only with a U-100 insulin syringe. Insulin syringes are available without a prescription in many states. If the athlete cannot purchase the syringes at a pharmacy, he can mail order them or buy them on the black market. Using a syringe other than a U-100 is dangerous since it will be difficult to measure out the correct dosage. Subcutaneous insulin injections are usually given by pinching a fold of skin in the abdomen area. To speed up the effect of insulin, many athletes will inject their dosage into the thighs or triceps.

Most athletes will bring their insulin with them to the gym. Insulin should be refrigerated, but it is all right to keep it in a gym bag as long as it is kept away from excessive heat. Immediately after a workout, the athlete will inject his dosage of insulin. Within the next fifteen minutes, he should have a carbohydrate drink such as Ultra Fuel by Twinlab. The athlete should consume at least 10 grams of carbohydrates for every 1 IU of insulin injected. Most athletes will also take creatine monohydrate with their carbohydrate drink since the insulin will help to force the creatine into the muscles. An hour or so after injecting insulin, most athletes will eat a meal or consume a protein shake. The carbohydrate drink and meal/protein shake are necessary. Without them, blood sugar levels will drop dangerously low and the athlete will most likely go into a state of hypoglycemia.

Many athletes will get sleepy after injecting insulin. This may be a symptom of hypoglycemia, and an athlete should probably consume more carbohydrates. Avoid the temptation to go to bed since the insulin may take its peak effect during sleep and significantly drop glucose levels. Being unaware of the warning signs during this slumber, the athlete is at a high risk of going into a state of severe hypoglycemia without anyone realizing it. Humulin R usually remains active for only 4 hours with a peak at about two hours after injecting. An athlete would be wise to stay up for the 4 hours after injecting.

Rather than waiting to the end of a workout, many athletes prefer to inject their insulin dosage 30 minutes before their training session is over and then consume a carbohydrate drink immediately following the workout. This will make the insulin more efficient at bringing glycogen to the muscles, but it will also increase the danger of hypoglycemia. Some athletes will even inject a few IUs before lifting to improve their pump. This practice is extremely risky and best left to athletes with experience using insulin. After the injection, they will consume a carbohydrate drink and then have breakfast within the next hour. Some athletes find this application of insulin very beneficial for putting on mass, while others will tend to put on excess fat using insulin in this way.

Insulin use cannot be detected during a drug test. For this reason, along with the fact that it is cheap and readily available, insulin has become a popular drug among the competitive athlete. However, before an athlete attempts to use insulin, he should educate himself and make himself aware of the consequences. One mistake in dosage or diet can be potentially fatal.

Big Mike

This is a very good one IMO

THE SKINNY ON INSULIN
There has been increasing popularity, and curiosity, concerning exogenous use of "the most anabolic hormone in the body". This makes it necessary to inform people how to maximise muscle mass acquisition and minimise horrid body fat accumulation when using it. The following is a detailed description of the effects of exogenous insulin use, combined with several other common bodybuilding drugs, from a muscle anabolism and fat catabolism point of view.

*WARNING*
Morons and bodybuilding novices should not consider insulin use, because it has one of the highest potentials for danger of all bodybuilding drugs. Its' use requires complete discipline and control over ones' environment. Insulin misuse should not be taken lightly because death's from it occur almost weekly. If that doesn't scare you, consider this: it can make you very, VERY, fat.
Before we delve in to the insulin alchemy, we should understand why insulin does such a good job of muscle and fat accumulation. Of course insulin is known as "the storage hormone", which means that it stores various macronutrients in different body tissues. Protein storage comes directly from amino acid uptake and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. This is what we want. Fat storage comes from: directly reducing fat release from fat cells (adipocytes), increasing the rate at which the other macronutrients are converted in to fat, and inducing fat storage. This is what we don't want. Carbohydrate storage also occurs, but only significantly in special circumstances (discussed later). Now the fun part.

INSULIN AND ANABOLIC STEROIDS
Of course when everyone thinks of bodybuilding drugs anabolic steroids (AS) are the first things to come to mind, but how do they work with insulin? VERY WELL! AS decrease insulin induced fat accumulation through a number of ways. One is through creatine synthetase, which is an enzyme that goes crazy after workouts trying to store carbohydrates in the muscles (as glycogen, creatine phosphate etc.). For every gram of carbohydrate stored in muscle, roughly four grams of water go along with it (this is how creatine monohydrate achieves such dramatic results). How does this relate to insulin and AS? Well, the "harder" AS (exemplified by oxymethelone) increase creatine synthetase levels dramatically, giving insulin a place to do its' job and store carbohydrates. Okay, this also counts for a combined anabolic effect, but it prevents insulin from converting any "excess" carbohydrate in to fat (which would subsequently be stored)! AS also decrease levels of the main fat storage enzyme that insulin increases (called lipoprotein lipase). A big effect is through glucocorticoid antagonism, which means that AS indirectly increase insulin sensitivity (as well as act anti-catabolically). This allows insulin to bind to its' receptors more easily and accomplish its' job rather, than converting more macronutrients in to fat. Finally, the demand for nutrients by muscles is so high, in an AS enhanced state, that there is rarely any excess of nutrients to actually be stored as fat! A mere 400 mgs of enanthate didn't allow me to accumulate fat whether I was using insulin or not.

From a muscular anabolic perspective, there is a synergistic effect between AS and insulin. This is because they both directly stimulate protein synthesis as well as other mechanisms. One such mechanism involves AS hepatic mediated somatomedin release. Simply put: IGF-1 production in the liver. Again, the more powerful the AS, the more IGF-1 release, with orals having a much greater effect than injectables. Insulin increases the duration of time that IGF-1 is active in the bloodstream, and enhances receptor mediated IGF-1 activity (all through enhancing specific IGF-1 binding proteins). Another great combined effect is that insulin reduces the amount of Sex Hormone Binding Proteins (SHBP) in the blood stream. This allows more AS to be active and do their job of making you grow! Great effects were seen while using 10 units of insulin only three times a week, with AS. For the first few weeks of my next cycle I'm not going off the stuff, and I expect the effects to be scary!

INSULIN AND THE C/A/E STACK
In case you've been living on Mars for the past few years, CAE stands for Caffeine, Aspirin, and Ephedrine. This stack has been shown to synergistically strip off fat, while preserving muscle mass. It is considered here because it is the minimum requirement, while using insulin, to prevent you from looking like the StayPuft marshmallow man. Also of benefit is that it is cheap and easily accessible. Using three times a day helps slow the fat accumulation, but strict dietary control is also necessary. The ephedrine: suppresses appetite, stimulates thermogenesis, and promotes and fat release from cells (beta receptor, and catecholamine, mediated), while the other two components of the stack increase thermogenesis by inhibiting certain enzymes and transmitters that try to slow down the thermic effect. Ultimately the appetite suppression effectiveness of ephedrine wears off, but this is replaced by a greater thermogenic effect (5-deiodinase, or Beta-3, mediated). The CAE stack does nothing for muscle anabolism in a hyper caloric situation, but that's what the insulin is for.

INSULIN AND CLENBUTEROL
This "soon to be classic" post-cycle stack not only increases muscle mass, but keeps fat off at the same time. Fat loss from clen is legendary for the first two weeks. After that time, the beta-2 receptors that it activates, attenuate (because of the extremely high binding specificity), dropping the fat burning effects to minimal levels. There should still be beta-1 receptor activation (which stimulates fat release from adipocytes) and beta-3 stimulation (the big thermogenic wonders), because they attenuate slower or not at all (respectively) compared to beta-2 receptors. Clen is a much better fat burner than ephedrine, due not only to its' higher receptor specificity, but also due to it's extremely long half life (the exact reason it's not approved for use in humans). This means that the drug is constantly burning fat, especially at night when serum glucose, and insulin, are low. Using aspirin and caffeine might slow the receptor attenuation, or at least increase the thermogenesis while its there (I can certainly attest to this!). Why hasn't anyone done this sooner? Clen, like AS, directly combats the fat storing enzyme that insulin promotes (lipoprotein lipase again) in white fat. However it actually increases this enzymatic activity in brown fat (hence the thermogenesis) and muscle. The latter event could promote muscle anabolism through a similar mechanism to HMB, or at least increases muscular fat storage (merely increasing muscle size). This may not seem significant, but the way that people are going nuts over synthol, you never know! The mechanism of action of clens' muscle building effect is not known, but it appears to be anti-catabolic rather than directly anabolic. It should be noted that this anticatabolism is not beta receptor mediated , and therefore does not attenuate. At any rate, the combined effect of the two drugs can be noticeable muscle gain while keeping fat off for the first two weeks. Can fat accumulation be slowed with this stack continue past this time? I'll let you know!

THE SKINNY ON INSULIN: PART II
There has been increasing popularity, and curiosity, concerning exogenous use of "the most anabolic hormone in the body". This makes it necessary to inform people how to maximize muscle mass acquisition and minimize nasty body fat accumulation when using it. The following is the second article dealing with the effects of exogenous insulin use, combined with several other bodybuilding drugs and supplements, from a muscle anabolism and fat catabolism point of view. Part I outlined insulin use combined with: anabolic steroids, the C/A/E stack, and clenbuterol.

*WARNING*
Insulin has one of the highest potentials for danger of all bodybuilding drugs. It shouldn't be screwed around with.
INSULIN AND GROWTH HORMONE
Growth hormone (GH) is one of the most sought after bodybuilding drugs due to its' legendary abilities to strip off body fat and increase muscle mass. The former is accomplished through direct lipolysis (fat release from adipocytes), which GH does to an incredible degree. Muscle mass acquisition is accomplished through: the direct stimulation of protein synthesis, increasing amino acid uptake by muscle cells, and by greatly stimulating IGF-1 synthesis in the liver. It is this last point that is of interest to us because it is the main anabolic mechanism for GH, and it is also where insulin comes in to play. More than half of GHs' anabolic effect is due to IGF-1 production, but unfortunately this is quite often wasted. This is because IGF-1 has an extremely short half life in the bloodstream, so it usually doesn't reach many target tissues (muscles for our interest) to exert maximum anabolic effect. To rectify this situation, insulin can be used to increase the amount of an IGF-1 binding protein (specifically IGF1-BP3) that actually helps IGF-1 to reach the muscles and exert its' extreme anabolism. Insulin also reduces the amount of "bad" IGF1 BP's, (BP's 2 and 4) that would normally interfere with IGF-1 uptake and use by muscle. To say that there is a synergistic effect between insulin and GH doesn't do the combination justice. It makes me shudder to think of the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on GH, without using it to the maximum anabolic potential. From a fat loss perspective, GH is incredible. It should directly negate the lipogenic effect of insulin, leaving you with one KICK ASS combination.

INSULIN AND THYROID HORMONES
With the huge increases in fat mass often accompanying insulin use, it seems like a simple solution to use thyroid hormone. Unfortunately, this doesn't work out very well. The reason is that thyroid hormone (specifically T3 and possibly T4) increases the amount of the "bad" IGF1-BP's mentioned earlier;IGFBP2 and IGFBP4. This may not seem like a big deal if one is not using drugs to stimulate IGF-1 synthesis, but IGF-1 levels are naturally stimulated through acts like stretching, and even natural testosterone/GH increases. All of these things normally accompany workouts (if you know what you're doing), which is the best time to take insulin. So by having all of the free IGF-1 bound by IGFBP3s' evil siblings, much of the anabolic effect of insulin is lost! Since T3 (triiodothyronine) is the main culprit, does that mean that T4 (tetraiodothyronine) can be used with no detrimental effect? NO, because T4 is mostly effective by converting to T3, which leaves you with the same problem. In fact, T4 could very well do the same thing. So if you want to maximize the anabolic effectiveness of insulin while minimizing bodyfat accumulation, use another