Lowering hematocrit in bodybuilders

Cheapshot

Well-known member
Trusted Member
This is dante (Doggcrapp)s post from facebook, I want to hear some of your thoughts on this

Lowering hematocrit in bodybuilders.

1) One of the most frequent questions i get in PM's is about how to lower hematocrit. I mean its a daily question. Ok let me state my opinion on this and also state some facts. I’m seeing guys freak out at hematocrits in the low 50's and I feel that’s absolutely ridiculous. The average hematocrit in some places in Colorado for males is 51-52 and they aren’t even using steroids. Now if someone is walking around at 55 plus hematocrit, which alot of people are yes they DEFINITELY need to do something about that. How many bodybuilders are there in Colorado? Hundreds of thousands? Many of them are using steroids...their hematocrit is already high from the altitude. Couple that with high protein, hard training and other things that cause dehydration...along with contest prep which involves alot of times....diuretics and water deprivation...nobody is clotting out. There would be a boatload of dead bodybuilders using steroids in high altitude places if 49-54 was inherently dangerous. With that said, 55 plus you have to do something about it. What is pretty alarming is the TRT guys (because they are required to get bloodwork), there is a high percentage of them in the 50's with hematocrit. THATS TRT GUYS! Now just think where the juicers are hematocrit wise if the TRT guys are fighting to keep their hematocrit down. But again like Ive said previously the juicers dont ever get bloodwork until they clean out so its out of sight out of mind for them. Some of these heavy juicers using heavy androgens and RBC producing compounds are no doubt in my mind at all...running around at 55-64 hematocrit constantly. This is a blood clot and potential heart attack waiting to happen. Dammit im running out of space again. CONTINUED BELOW IN POST 2)

2) Arggh space limits....I really wanted to go into the 37 cyclists who died of heart attacks and in their sleep because they used EPO and brought their hematocrits up to 58-64. I wanted to talk about hepcidin and all that involves. I wanted to talk about people at elevation/RBC's, also people with polycythemia, and why testosteone replacement differs slightly, I wanted to talk about clotting disorders like Factor V Leiden, and a host of other stuff regarding this topic. Man i got to get a website up because its hard to help people on limited space. So what im going to do is I am going to tell you what you can do to lower your hematocrit. (Probably doesnt need to be said but Hematocrit is roundabout 3x hemoglobin for the layperson out there). Allright, do not miss post 3-5 that i put up because thats probably the most important one for all of you.....things that will reduce hematocrit: a) Chelating Iron will and you can chelate iron with IP6 prebed or middle of the nite or you can do it with high dose tumeric or a good dose of curcumin. Also EGCG will chelate iron. These compounds will lessen hematocrit slightly over time. b) Lowering heme iron in your diet and supplements c) staying eternally hydrated is a very important factor in preventing blood clots and keeping hematocrit lower CONTINUED BELOW IN POST 3)

3) Phlebotimzing will lower hematocrit by 2-3 points but here is the problem! Repeated phlebotomizing has shown to compound the very problem you are trying to fix (in studies). There is literature in studies showing repeated phlebotomizing cause the body to produce Red blood cells which goes against the very thing (blood letting) that your doing to try to keep hematocrit down. In fact i remember a study showing people coming back in to phlebotomize where their hematocrit was higher than the previous time they came in to phlebotomize. The whole grapefruit/naringen study everyone loves to quote? MALARKEY! Has never been replicated since 1988 and so many people have tried it with NO POSITIVE RESULTS WHATSOEVER...its hogwash. Alot of you have seen me write on a certain forum for the last 15 years regarding this very subject, hell im the guy who brought forward most of this information on this subject to the bodybuilding culture over the last couple decades....so here we go....what also has been proven to lower hematocrit without a shadow of a doubt? Certain Ace Inhibitors will absolutely lower your hematocrit. CONTINUED IN POST 4)

4) A large majority of bodybuilders have high blood pressure and alot of them take blood pressure medicine. A boatload of bodybuilders and TRT guys have high hematocrit. So here is a way you can kill two birds with one stone essentially. Ace inhibitors thru the inhibition of Angiotensin-II production decrease EPO production and will absolutely result in lower hemoglobin and hematocrit output across the board. This has been proven in both kidney transplant patients, other diseased states and most importantly in healthy people. Two ACE inhibitors have been shown to be very proficient at this Captopril and Enalapril. The studies have shown this....I do nott have studies on the most common ACE inhibitors (Benazepril and Lisinopril) but they "should" lower hematocrit but I am not sure if they lower hematocrit as well as Captopril and Enalapril which have shown it time and time again. And im talking low dosages here, like minimal dosage or either of these compounds will work. Lower hematocrit has been shown with just 5 mg of Enalapril a day and 6.5 mg of Captopril a day and alot of people use higher doses than that to reduce blood pressure. CONTINUED IN POST 5)

5) I have been trying my hardest to come up with a natural alternative to Captopril and Enalapril for the bodybuilding genre, because I am of the mindset that if you can do it from nature you are 100 steps ahead of the game. Thats how i introduced astragalus and citrus bergamot and all these other compounds that directly change bloodwork to be dramatically healthier and bodybuilders now see as a staple. So I have been working on this pet project for awhile and Ive narrowed it down to Bonito Fish peptides or certain types of seaweed powders also but mostly Bonito Fish peptides....it has been shown to act as a strong natural Ace Inhibitor. The mechanism of whether it also can reduce EPO production eludes me though, I have been unable to prove whether it can or cannot...so that is going to involve experimentation...but its the path ive been on. (Sidenote: Ive seen this time and time again..bodybuilder comes to me with high hematocrit and we try to figure out the reason why...thru many questions I find out he is taking a boatload of Vitamin C in some sort of form. You do not want a high intake of vitamin C if you have high hematocrit. Vitamin C greatly enhances iron absorption.
 
I'm always dubious about solving a drug induced problem with another drug.

He is correct however.

What he didnt mention is SINGLE bloodletting or donation is helpful.

Multiple is detrimental (As he mentioned)

One of the many reasons why we can only donate at a particular interval

I really enjoyed his portion about natural remedies (Section 5)

Good read.

Thanks @Cheapshot
 
Top