[Lotus]

Understanding Free testosterone,

Testosterone is a type of hormone (a steroid hormone). It travels around the body in the blood. Some of it floats about in the blood freely without being attached to anything else. This is 'free' testosterone. Some testosterone is attached/bound to a protein called SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). Some testosterone is attached to a protein called albumin. So 'total' testosterone is the sum of all the testosterone in the blood, no matter what it is bound to. Free testosterone is just the free stuff floating by itself. Only a few percent of testosterone is free.

It is traditionally thought that only free testosterone is biologically active, i.e. free testosterone does all the things testosterone is supposed to do, while the bound testosterone just sits there and stays attached to SHBG or albumin and doesn't do anything. It's kind a reserve of testosterone. Some people disagree with this and think that the testosterone bound to albumin is also active. Anyway, if someone has a normal amount of total testosterone, but a low amount of SHBG, then you can figure out that there must be more of the free testosterone, i.e. more testosterone free to have an effect on the body. Alternatively, someone might have a high amount of SHBG which would mop up the testosterone and leave very little free testosterone. So it can be useful to know roughly how much free testosterone there is, rather than just measuring total testosterone, which is what most tests do.

There are several calculations that estimate the amount of free testosterone, based on how much SHBG and total testosterone there is. It is possible to measure free testosterone directly, but it's complicated and is rarely done.

Keeping that in mind, consider this!

As a standalone herb, Nettle Root work intelligently to optimize sex hormones. For men, Nettle Root works primarily to keep testosterone active in the body for longer. On average, only 2% of total serum testosterone is free, and only free testosterone is active. The other 98% is bound testosterone and is no longer active. The glycoprotein sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) binds to free testosterone rendering it useless (and setting the stage for a dangerous series of chemical processes). Nettle Root works to bind to SHBG, so that testosterone does not. This dramatically increases levels of free testosterone, the kind of testosterone that works positively on the body, the mind, the soul. As Lee Myer, the popular men's health author, states, free testosterone is the type of testosterone "that will supercharge our brains, blood, muscles, sex lives and all the other things we associate with testosterone."

For women, Nettle Root works similarly, by blocking SHBG. SHBG has an affinity for all sex hormones, and keeping levels of free estrogen is important in women as is keeping levels of free testosterone is important in men. For most healthy individuals, High levels of estrogen and testosterone are damaging only after they have become bound to SHBG. Once estrogen or testosterone have become bound to SHBG, they begin the process of being converted into harmful estrogen metabolites, like esterdiol. By keeping these sex hormones free, the rates of conversion to harmful metabolites are decreased.

For men, Nettle Root even works to unbind testosterone which has already become bound by SHBG, further increasing levels of important free testosterone and further decreasing the conversion to estrogen metabolites.

So basically NR is considered a androgen, right?......well, it's stated that nettle root reverses BPH and androgenic alopecia (hair loss), Although it's stated elsewhere it's an anti-androgen. Here's where I'm going with this. Say that NR does it's job, and that it has an affinity also to effect that what we are dominate in at the given time, which would be estrogen,(mimics of PM?), and now would be unbound free testosterone and begins the aromatase process. Pine Pollen is suggested as an androgen to prevent the aromatase into estradiol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estradiol

Why is it important to saturate both receptors to the best of your abilities? I'd think that should be pretty obvious - we're trying to emulate early puberty here. Tell our bodies it's still time to grow. What happens during early puberty? We're absolutely flooded with hormones. Which hit both receptors.

Abi was talking about alpha and beta receptors, and that BO and PM be taken at the same time, as taboo as it was or seemed, but who hasn't thought about that combo before?....with moderation of course.

Again I'm talking about free testosterone uncorked by Nettle Root, combined with PM and whatever else the current program is!

Estrogen receptors are a group of proteins found inside cells. They are receptors that are activated by the hormone estrogen (17β-estradiol).[1] Two classes of estrogen receptor exist: ER, which is a member of the nuclear hormone family of intracellular receptors, and GPER, which is a member of the rhodopsin-like family of G protein-coupled receptors. This article refers to the former (ER).
Once activated by estrogen, the ER is able to translocate into the nucleus and bind to DNA to regulate the activity of different genes (i.e. it is a DNA-binding transcription factor). However, it also has additional functions independent of DNA binding.[2]

Here's a video explaining NR/T/E connection, again I have nothing too do with or selling of this product.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RdnFlW8OArM

Ok, out there? Maybe

But reports of between .07 to 2-5 % free Testosterone for men, what's the truth?