In this article we will dive into
- What Sarms Are
- What Are Benefits and Side Effects of Sarms
- If Sarms are safe?
- My Experience with Sarms and More
What Are Sarms?
Sarms otherwise known as selective androgen receptor modulators are a new class of compounds designed to improve on old anabolic steroids.
Typically prescribed to people for things such as muscle wasting disease, bone density issues, and other medical conditions SARMs aim to give people the anabolic effects, but in a more selective way then steroids.
How Sarms Work In the Body?
Sarms work by agonizing or activating the androgen receptor. Sarms are selective, meaning that they on paper at least only bind to favorable androgen receptors found in places like the muscle and bone.
This binding to AR at the muscle and bone leads to an increase in things like protein synthesis and muscle growth.
Traditional Anabolic Steroids tend to not be very selective, meaning that they agonize the androgen receptors, but do not just agonize the androgen receptors in muscle tissue.
The perfect androgen would agonize the androgen receptors in the muscle tissue, but not agonize at places like the prostate or hair (which is what leads to things like hair loss).
Understanding Sarms Safety, the goal of Sarms is to create new drugs that get closer to this goal of perfect selectivity so that they can be used by people like women and children and not have to worry about the masculinizing side effects of them.
Benefits of Sarms?
While sarms have tons of benefits for the sake of this article I will primarily focus on their effects in the context of muscle building.
Increase in Muscle Mass
Sarms are able to help you build muscle faster and more efficiently. Many of them can help you pack on some serious gains in a short period of time.
They definitely allow you to build muscle faster than if you were not using them or even just using natural supplements like creatine.
Fat Loss
While SARMs do not directly lead to fat loss they can lead to a higher metabolic rate which will put you in a better spot to lose fat.
Again I want to make it very clear that sarms are not fat burners but they will put you in a more optimal spot to burn fat, by increasing your energy, performance, and metabolic rate.
More Optimal Side Effect Profile Than Traditionally Steroids
This may be controversial but sarms when dosed at a low dose typically have less side effects then standard steroids.
This is not true for every situation as some powerful sarms like S23 or LGD-3033 do have as many side effects as steroids.
More mild sarms though like ostarine and S4 tend to have much less side effects then standard steroids and make for a much easier cycle.
Female Friendly
Sarms due to their selectivity are very friendly for females.
Of course this makes sense as Sarms were designed specifically for populations like women.
Sarms tend to carry less virilizing side effects than typical androgens. Virilization being the developments of male characteristics.
So with sarms females can have less worry and fear of developing certain manly features.
Side Effects of Sarms
The side effect profile sarms are still not fully known as they are still new compounds, so when viewing these please keep that in mind. The dose, sarm you choose, and other factors like health supplements will also impact how bad or mild the side effects are.
Skewed Lipids
Sarms tend to skew lipids meaning that they raise bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower good cholesterol (HDL)
Liver Toxicity
Some sarms especially the more powerful ones like S23 can raise liver values. These can be easily brought down though by introducing supplements like NAC and or TUDCA.
Read also about How To Look Young Again With Peptides
Hormone Suppression
Sarms will suppress hormones like testosterone and estrogen.
If you are already on TRT then you do not have to worry about this, but if you are not then you need to make sure you have a test base to account for this suppression like Enclomiphene.
Hair Loss
Some sarms are some of the easiest androgens on the hairline, but some like S23 or RAD-140 can wreak havoc on the hair.
If you do have issues with hair you want to lean into a sarm like Ostarine or S4 to help protect your hair.
If you are still worried about this then you can transition into using something like RU-58841 for your hair.
Mood Issues
Again some sarms are very good for your mood and can actually put you into a good mood. Many people report Ostarine putting them into a good mood.
Others tend to cause some anger and or agitation like RAD-140, which is where the term “RAD Rage” comes from.
Are Sarms Safe?
Now for the big reveal of the article Are Sarms Safe?
This is a common question asked, and now that you have background I will answer! Thank you Kunal for participating in our facebook group.
First it is essential to touch on the fact that we can not answer this question forsure due to the lack of long term research on sarms.
Is it possible that sarms have some insane side effect that we did not know about that pops up down the line of course! Is it likely?
Probably not as we have a pretty good grasp on how androgens work in the body and at the end of the day sarms are androgens.
In the clinical literature we do have though sarms have performed VERY well and have come with minimal side effects.
The reason they have not been approved just yet is because in some cases they were not strong enough at treating the disease they were meant to treat, and not because of any insane side effects.
In user communities too we have seen that sarms tend to have a similar side effect profile to gear, and in some cases less side effects of gear.
When used correctly though with proper ancillaries, sarms tend to carry a very minimal side effect profile. Of course when they are abused though they can have some side effects and risks.
Again the most important part of being safe with a sarm is having the knowledge to know how to do them properly.
I would say the risk of sarms is no greater than something like drinking alcohol which is very commonly accepted in our society. In fact, sarms are probably safer than something like alcohol.
So are sarms safe? Safety is all contextual. The reality is that nothing is perfectly safe in this world, but when used properly SARMs can definitely carry much less risks then an activity like drinking alcohol.
My Experience with Sarms and More!
Now as someone who has used SARMs extensively I feel like I can give decent insight onto their safety.
I would say based on my bloodwork and my side effect profile, when I ran proper SARM cycles that were moderate and done with proper ancillaries I had less side effects and cleaner bloodwork then when I used standard androgens.
In Fact my bloodwork came back nearly perfect and I suffered from virtually 0 side effects.
Now some crazier sarm cycles I did like injectable LGD definitely did come with side effects and hurt my bloodwork, but for normal sarm cycles like AC-262 and S4 I had very minimal side effects.
Conclusion
In conclusion safety is all contextual.
Many people make unsafe choices everyday like being obese or drinking or smoking.
So in the grand scheme of things are SARMs much more dangerous then something like drinking or smoking? In my opinion based on my experience, my clients experience, and the clinical literature, sarms are likely safer then things like drinking and smoking.
Now the two many caveats are.
- You run the sarm cycle properly and use correct dosing
- There is not enough data to say forsure the long term safety of Sarms, although based on previous androgen literature it is safe to say there likely are not some long term unknown side effects.
Studies Referenced
- Efimenko IV, Valancy D, Dubin JM, Ramasamy R. Adverse effects and potential benefits among selective androgen receptor modulators users: a cross-sectional survey. Int J Impot Res. 2022 Dec;34(8):757-761. doi: 10.1038/s41443-021-00465-0. Epub 2021 Sep 1. PMID: 34471228.
- Vignali JD, Pak KC, Beverley HR, DeLuca JP, Downs JW, Kress AT, Sadowski BW, Selig DJ. Systematic Review of Safety of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators in Healthy Adults: Implications for Recreational Users. J Xenobiot. 2023 May 10;13(2):218-236. doi: 10.3390/jox13020017. PMID: 37218811; PMCID: PMC10204391.
- Fonseca GWPD, Dworatzek E, Ebner N, Von Haehling S. Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) as pharmacological treatment for muscle wasting in ongoing clinical trials. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2020 Aug;29(8):881-891. doi: 10.1080/13543784.2020.1777275. Epub 2020 Jun 18. PMID: 32476495.
- Dobs AS, Boccia RV, Croot CC, Gabrail NY, Dalton JT, Hancock ML, Johnston MA, Steiner MS. Effects of enobosarm on muscle wasting and physical function in patients with cancer: a double-blind, randomised controlled phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2013 Apr;14(4):335-45. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70055-X. Epub 2013 Mar 14. PMID: 23499390; PMCID: PMC4898053.
- Efimenko IV, Valancy D, Dubin JM, Ramasamy R. Adverse effects and potential benefits among selective androgen receptor modulators users: a cross-sectional survey. Int J Impot Res. 2022 Dec;34(8):757-761. doi: 10.1038/s41443-021-00465-0. Epub 2021 Sep 1. PMID: 34471228.
