DHEA 25mg

What Is DHEA?

DHEA is short for dehydroepiandrosterone, a steroid molecule the human body makes for itself. This supplement holds it as a single active, at 25 mg per serving.

How It Works in the Body

The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys, and their innermost band of tissue, the zona reticularis, is where most DHEA is assembled — from cholesterol by way of pregnenolone. Smaller amounts come from the ovaries, the testes and the brain.

Most of it is then sulfated and travels as DHEA-S, which circulates in larger amounts than any other steroid in the blood. In the body's steroid pathway DHEA sits upstream of both the androgens and the estrogens, and that position is what the word precursor describes. The material in a capsule is made in a laboratory from plant sterols such as diosgenin.

What It Supports

• Hormone synthesis: As a precursor to the androgens and estrogens, DHEA supports normal hormone synthesis.
• Stress response: The adrenal cortex makes DHEA alongside cortisol, so it supports a healthy stress response.
• Adrenal origin: The body makes its own in the zona reticularis, the innermost layer of the adrenal cortex.
• How it travels: Most circulates as DHEA-S, a sulfated form that tissues can convert back.

Who It May Suit

A hormone precursor belongs in a plan a practitioner is directing, for adults only. The capsule is hypromellose and the filler is rice flour, both plant-derived.

Good To Know

Talk with your healthcare provider before use, and do not use it in pregnancy or while nursing. Tell your provider about a hormone-sensitive cancer, liver disease, heart disease or a mood disorder, and about hormone therapy, hormonal birth control or psychiatric medicine. Reported effects include acne, oily skin and facial hair growth in women. DHEA is prohibited in sport at all times, and several countries regulate it as a prescription medicine rather than a supplement.