cardarine for women

Cardarine for Women: Effects, Legal Implications, and Risks

In the landscape of performance enhancement, it often appears that most products are targeted towards men, with fewer products being marketed towards and addressing the concerns of women who are also hoping to achieve more physically. The best known and most outwardly obvious side effects associated with performance-enhancing drugs are generally those that enhance the masculine appearance, but not all performance-enhancing drugs come with these side effects.

Women who are considering taking something that will give them a boost without the extra hair growth may be wondering what they can choose from. This article will go over one such drug, Cardarine, and help you to understand what it is, the benefits it may offer, and the potential risks of using it.

How is Cardarine Different From SARMs?

Although Cardarine (also known as GW501516) is commonly grouped with SARMs, it actually belongs to a class of compounds called PPARD (Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Delta) agonists. These chemicals are involved in the regulation of lipids, glucose, and energy. SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators), on the other hand, activate androgen receptors in certain tissues. The activation of androgen receptors gives rise to:

  • Increased muscle growth
  • Better bone health
  • The development of masculine features

The fact that Cardarine may enhance performance without activating androgen receptors is one of the main reasons this drug would stand out as an ideal choice for women. We will cover the potential benefits of Cardarine further down, but first, we need to understand a bit about where it came from and how it works.

How Cardarine Works

PPARD agonists such as Cardarine were originally developed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in the hopes that they could be used to treat conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. They work by activating PPARD.

PPARD are receptors that are found mainly in muscle tissue, the heart, the liver, and neurons. When these receptors are activated, for example, by an agonist such as Cardarine, the way that the body metabolises energy changes, giving rise to several performance-boosting effects.

Why Women Might Be Interested in Cardarine

Although we have very few human studies to go off, in vitro tests and tests in animals have helped us to understand some of the potential benefits this drug could offer women:

  • Enhanced Fat Loss Without Muscle Loss: Cardarine promotes fatty acid oxidation [1], which helps to speed up fat burning. The body will burn fat as its primary source of fuel instead of carbohydrates. This increase in fat burning happens even without any significant exercise [2]. As you can imagine, this could reduce fat storage, giving a leaner body mass. For this reason, Cardarine may also assist with weight loss.
  • Improved endurance/athletic performance: Since Cardarine shifts metabolism to favour the use of fat as energy, glycogen stores are left untapped until needed [3]. This means that stamina and endurance could be increased during prolonged physical activity.
  • Better Cardiovascular Health: Research has found that Cardarine may improve blood lipid profile by increasing “good” HDL cholesterol and reducing triglycerides [4].
  • Improved Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels: Cardarine can reverse certain metabolic problems associated with obesity, such as insulin resistance, while improving blood glucose levels [5]
  • Regulation of Inflammation: Cardarine may help to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, offering a protective effect [6][7].
  • Aid in Diabetes Management: Since Cardarine has demonstrated its ability to improve blood sugar and insulin levels as well as help with fat burning, it could also help in the management of diabetes [8].
  • No virilising side effects: We know that some performance-enhancing drugs are capable of bringing about physical changes. For some men, this may not seem so bad since the changes only enhance masculine traits, but not all men want this. For women, the idea of excessive hair growth, a deeper voice, acne, and enlargement of the clitoris may be particularly off-putting. Rest assured, Cardarine does not activate androgen receptors, so it does not promote the development of masculine characteristics.

Potential Risks

With all of these wonderful benefits, it may surprise you to learn that this drug is not approved for use by humans. Although initial tests in mice did yield promising results, further research found that Cardarine treatment led to the development of cancers in mice and rats. Because the cancer cell proliferation was rapid and widespread, all human trials were stopped.

There are currently studies that suggest PPARD agonists have anticancer activity [9–11] as well as those that would suggest it promotes cancer [12–15].

Since human trials ceased before completion, we do not have any long-term safety data on Cardarine use in humans.

Cardarine is unregulated, making it difficult to find trustworthy products. Many products claiming to contain Cardarine are commonly found to have impurities or contaminants [16]. The dosage provided may vary dramatically from what is advertised, leading to unpredictable effects. 

Legal Implications

It is legal to buy and possess Cardarine for research purposes, but care must be taken to purchase from a reputable source to ensure the product is exactly what it claims to be.

For those intending to compete professionally, due to its performance-enhancing abilities, Cardarine is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). 

Additional Practices to Improve Performance

Whether you choose to boost your training with performance-enhancing drugs or not, it is always a good idea to implement a number of good habits into your routine, such as:

  • Carefully consider your nutritional and calorie intake to ensure you are supporting your body with all the right foods it needs and not consuming too few or too many calories for your level of activity.
  • Adopting a reliable exercise program that has preferably been looked over by a professional to ensure you will achieve the gains you want while avoiding injury.
  • Sticking to a disciplined sleep routine. A great deal of your muscle repair and building will occur while you are sleeping. Poor sleep hygiene can significantly affect your recovery and gains.
  • Managing stress. Taking a moment to meditate or walk without distractions can reduce muscle tension, increase endurance, and help make your workouts feel easier.
  • Taking supplements. There are so many to choose from it may feel overwhelming. If you are just starting out, it is a good idea to get advice from a professional when selecting your supplements. Some common choices are creatine, caffeine, and protein. 

Cardarine appears to be an ideal choice for women who are looking for a performance enhancer that does not come with masculinising side effects. It has been found to alter metabolism in several ways that benefit fat loss, diabetes management, endurance, and cardiovascular health; however, the risks of taking it should be weighed carefully against the potential gains.

Researchers can find Cardarine for sale at UK SARMs. All of our products are tested for purity by third-party laboratories. You can view our certificates of analysis and find out more information regarding our testing here.

References

  1. Tanaka T, Yamamoto J, Iwasaki S, et al. Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Induces Fatty Acid-Oxidation in Skeletal Muscle and Attenuates Metabolic Syndrome.; 2003. www.pnas.orgcgidoi10.1073pnas.0306981100
  2. Narkar VA, Downes M, Yu RT, et al. AMPK and PPARδ Agonists Are Exercise Mimetics. Cell. 2008;134(3):405-415. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.06.051
  3. Fan W, Waizenegger W, Lin CS, et al. PPARδ Promotes Running Endurance by Preserving Glucose. Cell Metab. 2017;25(5):1186-1193.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2017.04.006
  4. Oliver WR, Shenk JL, Snaith MR, et al. A Selective Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Agonist Promotes Reverse Cholesterol Transport. www.pnas.orgcgidoi10.1073pnas.091021198
  5. Cohen G, Riahi Y, Shamni O, et al. Role of lipid peroxidation and PPAR-δ in amplifying glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Diabetes. 2011;60(11):2830-2842. doi:10.2337/db11-0347
  6. Álvarez-Guardia D, Palomer X, Coll T, et al. PPARβ/δ activation blocks lipid-induced inflammatory pathways in mouse heart and human cardiac cells. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. 2011;1811(2):59-67. doi:10.1016/J.BBALIP.2010.11.002
  7. Tang X, Yan K, Wang Y, et al. Activation of PPAR-β/δ Attenuates Brain Injury by Suppressing Inflammation and Apoptosis in a Collagenase-Induced Intracerebral Hemorrhage Mouse Model. Neurochem Res. 2020;45(4):837-850. doi:10.1007/s11064-020-02956-w
  8. Zhou J, Zhe R, Guo X, et al. The role of PPARδ agosnist GW501516 in rats with gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity. 2020;13:2307-2316. doi:10.2147/DMSO.S251491
  9. Ji Y, Li H, Wang F, Gu L. PPARβ/δ Agonist GW501516 Inhibits Tumorigenicity of Undifferentiated Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in C666-1 Cells by Promoting Apoptosis. Front Pharmacol. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fphar.2018.00648
  10. Hollingshead HE, Killins RL, Borland MG, et al. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-β/δ (PPARβ/δ) ligands do not potentiate growth of human cancer cell lines. Carcinogenesis. 2007;28(12):2641-2649. doi:10.1093/carcin/bgm183
  11. Girroir EE, Hollingshead HE, Billin AN, et al. Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-β/δ (PPARβ/δ) Ligands Inhibit Growth of UACC903 and MCF7 Human Cancer Cell Lines.
  12. Wang D, Fu L, Wei J, Xiong Y, DuBois RN. PPARD mediates the effect of dietary fat in promoting colorectal cancer metastasis. Cancer Res. 2019;79(17):4480-4490. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-0384
  13. Liu Y, Deguchi Y, Tian R, et al. Pleiotropic effects of PPARD accelerate colorectal tumorigenesis, progression, and invasion. Cancer Res. 2019;79(5):954-969. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-1790
  14. Stephen RL, Gustafsson MCU, Jarvis M, et al. Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Stimulates the Proliferation of Human Breast and Prostate Cancer Cell Lines. Vol 64.; 2004. http://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article-pdf/64/9/3162/2530407/zch00904003162.pdf
  15. Glazer RI, Pollock CB, Rodriguez O, et al. Induction of metastatic gastric cancer by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorδ activation. PPAR Res. Published online 2010. doi:10.1155/2010/571783
  16. 16. Gaudiano MC, Aureli F, Manna L, et al. Illegal products containing selective androgen receptor modulators purchased online from Italy: Health risks for consumers. Sex Med. 2024;12(2). doi:10.1093/sexmed/qfae018
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