12-10-2011, 08:25 PM
The last sentence in this old thread finally told me how fenugreek increases insulin:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=8274
"Fenugreek contains 4-Hydroxyisoleucine, which assists the pancreas in the production of insulin."
The rest of the thread is also useful for my experiment with flax. I take my fenugreek at noon. Fenugreek increases insulin. Insulin binds to SHBG. SHBG has to let go of some testosterone to make room for the insulin. I should feel free testosterone as libido, that is, if the testosterone becomes DHT. But it doesn't, because my 5α-reductase is blocked by the xanthohumol in the hops of last night.
At night, I take hops again, with flax now. In the morning, my libido is highest, even before maca. It was this morning, I'll check again tomorrow morning. The 5α-reductase is blocked more efficiently by the hops, so the free testosterone cannot become DHT. If the insulin is released from the SHBG by now, the SHBG will bind to the free testosterone. If the flax can increase SHBG in one or two days, the extra SHBG will certainly bind to the testosterone too.
So the only thing that could have happened during the night, is that 100 g flax indeed inhibits aromatase, and that inhibition lasts longer than the block of 5α-reductase. I took less flax than yesterday, I'll check tomorrow.
I was never too worried about the inhibition of aromatase by flax, because of this publication:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...609390022O
"The inhibition is competitive with respect to testosterone and androstenedione, and the lignan affinity is 1/75 - 1/300 that of these natural substrates."
But apparently, if I take 100 g flax, the inhibition is noticeable
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=8274
"Fenugreek contains 4-Hydroxyisoleucine, which assists the pancreas in the production of insulin."
The rest of the thread is also useful for my experiment with flax. I take my fenugreek at noon. Fenugreek increases insulin. Insulin binds to SHBG. SHBG has to let go of some testosterone to make room for the insulin. I should feel free testosterone as libido, that is, if the testosterone becomes DHT. But it doesn't, because my 5α-reductase is blocked by the xanthohumol in the hops of last night.
At night, I take hops again, with flax now. In the morning, my libido is highest, even before maca. It was this morning, I'll check again tomorrow morning. The 5α-reductase is blocked more efficiently by the hops, so the free testosterone cannot become DHT. If the insulin is released from the SHBG by now, the SHBG will bind to the free testosterone. If the flax can increase SHBG in one or two days, the extra SHBG will certainly bind to the testosterone too.
So the only thing that could have happened during the night, is that 100 g flax indeed inhibits aromatase, and that inhibition lasts longer than the block of 5α-reductase. I took less flax than yesterday, I'll check tomorrow.
I was never too worried about the inhibition of aromatase by flax, because of this publication:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...609390022O
"The inhibition is competitive with respect to testosterone and androstenedione, and the lignan affinity is 1/75 - 1/300 that of these natural substrates."
But apparently, if I take 100 g flax, the inhibition is noticeable