I don't have the scientific knowledge or gift to understand all of the above, but I can tell you my experience with fenugreek.
It was suggested to me by a guy on another site who has huge breasts and said that he did it with sole use of fenugreek over 10 years.
I used 2 610 mg capsules, 3 times a day for a little over a year and a half. With this I used a single dose of about 1100mg daily of saw palmetto, and 1 tablespoon of flax seed oil in a morning protein shake.
In that time, my breasts became fuller, adding close to an inch to my bust. There was no difference in the aerolae or nipples. I had no other side effects other than what might have been an increased libido.
Currently I am back on 2 mg of estradiol a day along with the saw palmetto and "prostate health" capsules to help lower DHT.
I will probably go back on the fenugreek after 6 months on the estradiol.
Any suggestions for faster or better results? More growth of the aereolae?
Thanks!
Joey
Seiya Wrote: [/url]
Could you please apprise us about the dosage of fennel, spearmint, and flaxseeds consumed by you along with fenugreek seeds6g/60 kg/day)?
Also, please suggest how to cycle the intake of fenugreek seeds to achieve feminization-tyoe body fat.
Thanks so much for sharing for this study! I've had accelerated breast growth with fenugreek (6g/60kg/day) so far in combination with fennel, spearmint and flaxseed (I'm doing an experiment with commonly found grocery store items) and was experimenting with smaller doses to find the minimum dosage and was wondering why my libido was flaring up so much. Now I see it's not a good idea to use such a low dose!
It's important to be aware when herbs can have biphasic or even triphasic effects, having completely different or opposite effects in small, medium and large doses or when mixed with other herbs. The endocrine system and our metabolism is quite complex!
A study done on male and female rabbits found that replacing 30% of their food intake with fenugreek lowered testosterone by 60% in the males at three months and increased progesterone by 110% in the females at 20 days in the experiment.[1] Another experiment on female rats given 900mg/kg/day exerted strong progestogenic activity on the vagina,[2] roughly a 9g/60kg/day human equivalent dose. Another study on male mice found fenugreek at 610 mg/kg/day increased estradiol levels by 40%, lowered testosterone by 20% and increased prolactin by 20%,[3] which is roughly a 3g/60kg/day human equivalent dose.
To me this seems to suggest fenugreek's effects are coming from stimulating hormone production somehow, which results in elevated levels of progesterone in higher doses that is converting testosterone into estradiol, since progesterone stimulates prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production,[4] which stimulates aromatase.[5] This lead me to think it could be acting on 3β-HSD activity that converts pregnenolone to progesterone and androstenediol into testosterone, which I then found a study that showed fenugreek does exactly that to enhance hormone production by upregulating 3β-HSD activity and HMG-CoA reductase activity (that aids in the production of cholesterol, a precursor to pregnenolone), at least in male diabetic rats which almost returned to normal hormone levels with 50mg of hydroalcoholic extract/kg/day.[6] (Note: although fenugreek may upregulate HMG-CoA reductase activity, it actually lowers cholesterol,[9][10] possibly by metabolizing it into pregnenolone via upregulating P450scc but I haven't confirmed this yet. I'll research into this more sometime.)
Progesterone is important for areolae and breast growth, as it also indirectly stimulates epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) from PGE2 potently stimulating production of amphiregulin,[5] which stimulates EGFR and also activates COX-2 and produces even more PGE2 in a positive feedback loop.[5][7] People with breast hypertrophy often present with extremely large areolae from EGF stimuation. The vitamin D receptor inhibits this feedback loop,[8] but this pathway is not the only one involved in breast growth.
However, progesterone is also well-known to be an estrogen receptor alpha (ER-a) antagonist and it may inhibit full feminization of the rest of the body when there are elevated levels of testosterone. Anecdotally, from my own experience seeing people who take fenugreek without cycling in combination with pueraria mirifica, they develop large areolae and beautiful breasts but not as much feminization in their body fat as those not taking fenugreek, which perplexed me for sometime until I learned about progesterone's ER-a antagonism. Women only have elevated progesterone levels for two weeks of their cycle, so fenugreek should probably be cycled every two weeks and taken in a dosage of at least 3g/60kg/day to maximize breast growth and feminization. And when women get pregnant their progesterone and estradiol levels significantly rise for nine months to mature and complete the breasts, something also to keep in mind.
Also fenugreek might not be as effective on people who have diabetes or reduced gonad function from age, ill health or interactions with other herbs. They may need to take more with precaution of possible interactions and adverse effects such as hypoglycemia or hypocholesterolemia. Fenugreek has many protective effects and health benefits on the body but dosages should not exceed 21g/60kg/day in healthy adults.[9]
tl;dr if fenugreek is making you feel frisky, up your dose or discontinue, and remember to cycle on-off every two weeks!
References
- [url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.517.5755&rep=rep1&type=pdf]Evaluation of the potential antifertility effect of fenugreek seeds in male and female rabbits.
- Fenugreek seeds estrogenic activity in ovariectomized female rats.
- Reproductive, cytological and biochemical toxicity of fenugreek in male Swiss albino mice.
- Effects of sex hormones on production of prostaglandin E2 by human peripheral monocytes.
- The prostaglandin E2 receptor EP2 is required for cyclooxygenase 2–mediated mammary hyperplasia.
- Potential protective effect on key steroidogenesis and metabolic enzymes and sperm abnormalities by fenugreek steroids in testis and epididymis of surviving diabetic rats.
- Cyclooxygenase-2 transactivates the epidermal growth factor receptor through specific E-prostanoid receptors and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α converting enzyme.
- Vitamin D and the mammary gland: a review on its role in normal development and breast cancer.
- Fenugreek Uses, Benefits & Dosage.
- Steroid saponins from fenugreek seeds: Extraction, purification, and pharmacological investigation on feeding behavior and plasma cholesterol.
There are much useful information on this website.
I share a new research about fenugreek:
Effect of fenugreek extract supplement on testosterone levels in male: A meta‐analysis of clinical trials
Different types of glycosides extract of fenugreek have shown androgenic and anabolic effect in male. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of fenugreek extract on total testosterone levels in male. Medline via PubMed, Scopus databases, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched up to November 2018 for randomized clinical trials comparing intake of fenugreek extract with control group. Data on change in serum total testosterone were pooled using random‐effects models. A total of four trials were included. Fenugreek extract has a significant effect on total serum testosterone. Results from clinical trials suggest that fenugreek extract supplement has an effect on serum total testosterone levels in male.
" In comparison with placebo group, the mean total testosterone levels in the subjects receiving fenugreek extract was higher (WMD = 0.85 95% CI [0.10, 1.60]; p = .026; Figure 2)."
It might be not a good idea for NBE and AA users
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Awesome!