Post-Workout Anabolic Jello Recipe for Androgen Receptors
By Ali Kuoppala | Last reviewed Tue 25 September 2018
Medical Review by Dr. Vlad Belghiru, MD
This is a recipe I came up with after I stumbled upon some studies about glycine, fructose, and carnitine. According to a bunch of scientific literature, combining those three into something ridiculously delicious (read: jelly) should yield some impressive hormonal returns, especially after training (seriously).
- 1 cup water
- 2 packets (14g) gelatin
- 4 grams L-Carnitine L-Tartrate powder
- 1 cup pure squeezed orange juice
Those 4 ingredients above and some time are all you need to prepare this anabolic post-workout jello. You simply boil water, dissolve the gelatin in it, add the mixture into a small bowl and stir in the OJ with 4 grams of carnitine powder. Then you let the creation sit in your fridge for few hours and what you have as a result is an awesome gelatin jello desert that fits your post-workout meal like a nose to the head.
Why would this dessert have any hormonal effect you ask?
- Gelatin, aka. the connective tissue protein often derived from the skin, bones, or brain of animals, is loaded with glycine (amino acid/neurotransmitter we get too little from our diets due to only consuming muscle-meats). Consumption of glycine has been noted to effectively improve sleep quality as well as joint health. However, the reason why its included in the recipe is its ability to increase the enzyme 5a reductase activity, resulting in higher DHT conversion.
- Carnitine is included in the mixture because it works by boosting androgen receptor density and activity, the mechanism being that carnitine improves the transportation of lipid molecules (fats) into the mitochondria of cells, wherein the fat is used as a “fuel” to “feed” – among other things – androgen receptors. There are human studies showing that L-carnitine can significantly increase AR density and activity in muscle tissues at rest and even more effectively post-workout (mind you this has been shown even with actual muscle biopsies).
- Orange juice is in the recipe because of two reasons: firstly because of the taste and secondly because of the effect that fructose has on SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin). Since fructose is one of the most potent naturally occurring compounds that can reduce Sex Hormone Binding Globulin levels, and SHBG is a hormone-binding protein that binds into free-testosterone making it unavailable for the receptors. The idea is simply to have some OJ reducing SHBG post-workout so more testosterone and DHT can remain bioavailable and enter the receptor sites already upregulated by the carnitine and exercise.
We want to strategically use gelatin and carnitine to promote DHT conversion and bodily uptake of all androgens, while throwing some orange juice into the mix helps to reduce SHBG, leaving more bioavalaible androgens to the blood for the body to use. Simple. Scientifically sound. Low in calories. And most importantly; ridiculously delicious and good for your hormonal health.