SARMs are man-made chemicals that look like testosterone to the body and bind to receptors responsible for muscle growth.
They were designed for people with muscle-wasting diseases and to be less toxic than steroids.
How do they work?
Like steroids, SARMs bind to the androgen receptors, causing changes to DNA which allow muscles to grow bigger and quicker.
Steroids are a blunt tool that also impact other parts of the body, leading to side effects such as prostate issues, liver damage, hair loss and acne.
SARMs were designed to be ’tissue selective’ – targeting the muscles without setting off this same chain of reactions.
But similar issues have also been seen in SARMs users.
What are the side effects?
They cause significant hormonal imbalances in men and women – particularly at high doses.
In men, they shut down the body’s natural production of testosterone when they come off the drugs, which can shrink their testicles, crash their sex drive, trigger mental health problems and even make them infertile.
While taking SARMS, women will experience virilisation – the process of physically turning into a man – which causes them to grow facial hair and develop a deep voice.
SARMs are also extremely toxic to the body.
Because they are taken orally in pill form, rather than injected like most steroids, they have to be processed by the digestive system and the liver.
The liver responds by overproducing certain enzymes that can leak into the blood stream and cause inflammation, which leads to heart, blood pressure and other organ damage issues.
Are SARMs legal?
Yes, in the US and UK SARMs are currently legal to buy due to a loophole.
They can be bought and sold as ‘research chemicals’ but are not allowed to be used on people.
Many products rely on legal disclaimers to get round the law, warning customers: ‘Under no circumstances are these products sold for human consumption.’
They are not allowed to be marketed as supplements.
