Dr. Mike Jansen
Dr. Mike JansenCurious… what is turkesterone?
Have you been wondering about what benefits this supplement has, or how you can determine a proper turkesterone dose?
The you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, we detail exactly what this over-the-counter supplement is, and why bodybuilders are so excited about it.
We also answer your most important questions, including:
- Is turkesterone safe?
- What are the benefits of turkesterone?
- What’s the optimal turkesterone dosage?
- Where should I purchase turkesterone?
…And much more!
We’ve analyzed all the latest studies on turkesterone, so you know you are getting nothing but science-based information.
Our team has put together a detailed collection of facts about turkesterone and the class of substances it’s derived from, how people use it, and more importantly, why you should consider buying it soon in order to conduct your own research.
Now let’s get started!
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What is Turkesterone?
You might have heard rumors circulating in the fitness and bodybuilding community about a potent, naturally-occurring compound boasting steroid-like gains and minimal side effects.
That would be turkesterone, which is part of a greater family of naturally-occurring plant hormones called ecdysteroids [1].
Turkesterone is mainly found in plants growing throughout central Asia, such as Ajuga Turkestanica, as well as Leuzea Carthamoides, Rhaponticum, and Stemmacantha Uniflora [1, 2].
In fact, many cultures in this region have used these plants and their extracts for centuries due to their anabolic, adaptogenic, hepatoprotective and hypoglycemic activity, as well as their beneficial effects on muscle strength and stomach aches.
Arthropod insects, such as scorpions and butterflies, also produce ecdysteroids in order to facilitate molting.
In fact, more than 200 different ecdysteroids have been isolated from animal and plant sources [3].
Turkesterone Vs Steroids
Now, you might be wondering… is turkesterone a steroid?
Not exactly.
Turkesterone is different from the anabolic androgenic steroids normally used in bodybuilding, such as dianabol or trenbolone, since it doesn’t actually cause hormonal fluctuation [1, 4]. As a result, ecdysteroids like turkesterone do not cause testosterone levels to crash after cycling off the supplement.
What’s interesting to note, however, is that Russian scientists first isolated turkesterone in 1975 to determine its effects, with some intriguing results [1].
They found that turkesterone and closely related ecdysteroids like ecdysterone have nearly the same level of potency as the oral steroid, dianabol.
Turkesterone has been marketed as a safe alternative to anabolic steroids, as it is a naturally occuring plant compound. In fact, studies have shown that the muscle gains from turkesterone were actually greater than those achieved from using many common anabolic steroids [5].
Turkesterone Human Studies
Due to mainstream attention that turkesterone and other ecdysteroids have received lately, such as a report on CNN, a lot of people both in the fitness community and in the public at large are curious as to what benefits turkesterone can have for humans [6].
Turkesterone is primarily taken by athletes who want to see a major boost in the gym or on the court, minus the risk of taking anabolic steroids.
For this reason, it’s considered a ‘natural’ alternative, and also marketed as such.
When people take turkesterone, they can expect to see several benefits that have been proven to exist according to multiple studies. These benefits include increased muscle mass, greater strength, faster recovery times, and enhanced endurance and stamina [1, 7].
Is Turkesterone Legal?
As with many supplements that spark controversy and promise huge benefits, there are people who believe turkesterone might not be legally available for much longer. We think this is an overreaction, but let’s take a look at the evidence.
Ecdysterone came under major scrutiny a major German study that was funded by WADA, or the World Anti-Doping Agency, and published in 2019.
Researchers found that the performance enhancing effects of ecdysterone were so substantial, that they recommended it be added to WADA’s list of banned substances [8]. Although that hasn’t happened yet, the results of the study were enough to convince WADA to add both ecdysterone and turkesterone to their Monitoring Program in 2020.
We think the odds are very low that ecdysterone and turkesterone will be banned from professional sports in the future.
After all, these naturally occurring compounds are found in many plant foods such as spinach.
What are they going to do – ban athletes from eating spinach, quinoa and other foods? That would be ridiculous.
Ultimately, there remains little doubt that ecdysteroids like turkesterone do have anabolic effects on mammals.
What are the Benefits of Turkesterone?
Over the past few years, a growing number of voices in the fitness community has praised the benefits of taking turkesterone.
But could it be that this substance is being pedestalized?
Could this be just another short-lived trend in the supplement industry?
Or, is turkesterone truly a naturally-occurring substance that can actually produce the same, or even greater anabolic benefits of normal steroids?
Improved Muscle Mass And Strength
Of the many benefits that can come from taking ecdysteroids like turkesterone, one of the most noticeable is improvements in both lean muscle mass and strength [1]. Part of the reason why this happens is because turkesterone plays a major role in stimulating protein synthesis – studies show that it can raise muscle protein synthesis by as much as 20%!
One study on mammals showed incredible results, such as a 115% increase in body mass in just a matter of weeks.
As if that weren’t enough, turkesterone has also been found to cause increases in both skeletal muscle mass and muscle protein [9, 10].
Others have compared the muscle gains from turkesterone to what one could expect from taking a cycle of dianabol – one of the more popular oral anabolic steroids [8].
Improved Muscular Endurance
Burning body fat is another prominent benefit that ecdysteroids like turkesterone can confer.
A Russian study found that while subjects did both resistance and endurance training for three weeks, their body fat levels fell drastically, with an average reduction of up to 14% [11].
Increases in stamina and endurance are also a powerful benefit of turkesterone. This is done by increasing ATP synthesis, which stimulates muscles to work with greater force.
Research has shown adaptogenic properties in swimmers as a result of taking ecdysteroids like turkesterone and ecdysterone, which increased the amount of time they could remain moving in the water by up to 22%. It was also found to improve the ability of mice to run for up to 32% longer before reaching a point of fatigue [7].
In addition, turkesterone usage can also improve people’s ability to recover from intense exercise.
Studies have shown that an improvement in appetite, sleep, and the general physical and mental state of human subjects have been documented, without any negative side effects [1].
Lastly, turkesterone also lowers lipid absorption, improves nitrogen retention, and contributes to a better protein metabolism profile with reduced protein catabolism and increased anabolism.
Is Turkesterone a Steroid?
If you hear about a bodybuilding supplement being discussed in the mainstream, it’s vital that you get a clear picture on what’s going on, and that you can distinguish myth from reality.
In the case of turkesterone, once the facts are laid out in the open, there’s actually little room for misinterpretation.
Turkesterone is often marketed as a ‘legal steroid alternative’ or ‘natural plant steroid.’
While marketers may exaggerate certain claims, it’s important to understand that turkesterone is not legally considered to be an anabolic steroid.
The confusion surrounding turkesterone is understandable – especially when you consider that several studies have proven that turkesterone induces anabolic effects in human subjects, such as improved strength, increases in muscle mass, heightened stamina, and rapid recovery.
These benefits come about as a result of increasing the activity of polyribosomes – the cytoplasmic parts in cells where protein synthesis occurs [7].
One of the most noticeable distinguishing factors between ecdysteroids, like turkesterone, and other anabolic steroids is that it doesn’t increase blood pressure [12].
In fact, studies have shown that turkesterone and the plants it’s derived from, like Ajuga Turkestana, can provide relief from high blood pressure, and prevent dilated cardiac hypertrophy [1, 12].
Also, unlike steroids, ecdysteroids like ecdysterone and turkesterone have been shown to produce miniscule levels of liver toxicity [7].
This is because, while the structure of turkesterone is similar to other anabolic compounds, it does not bind to vertebrate steroid receptors.
Is Turkesterone Safe?
The choice to start taking any sort of bodybuilding supplement often comes with many factors to consider. Namely, is this compound safe to take?
It’s common knowledge by now that anabolic steroids come with the risk of adverse side effects – even when they are used responsibly. Steroids can bring about a variety of unpleasant conditions, depending on what kind of steroid is used, for how long, and what the dosage is.
Irritability, or an increased appetite are some of the less harmful effects, while skin rashes, shrinking of the gonads, high blood pressure, and gynecomastia are some of the more severe effects that users may experience [13].
Fortunately, turkesterone is not an anabolic steroid, and it has almost no side effects in humans when used responsbily.
To illustrate the point that ecdysteroids like turkesterone pose little health risks, a study was conducted in 2006 involving researchers seeking to analyze the effects of ecdysterone and select other compounds on training adaptations.
45 fairly active and athletic male participants were selected to take part.
One of those groups took just 30 milligrams of ecdysterone once per day. In the end, the data showed that the men were significantly stronger on mainly two lifts – the bench press, and the leg press, while no adverse side effects were reported [14].
As briefly mentioned earlier, one of the primary benefits to taking turkesterone over anabolic steroids is that it does not disrupt the endocrine system in mammals.
The main takeaway from this, is that cycling turkesterone will not cause testosterone levels to plummet once a cycle is over, which therefore also eliminates the need for a post-cycle therapy, or PCT [12].
Overall, neither ecdysterone nor turkesterone cause the side effects normally seen with anabolic steroid use.
One of the main reasons for this is because of the molecular structure of ecdysteroids. Even though they possess a similar structure to anabolic steroids, they don’t actually bind to the steroid receptors in vertebrates [4].
This means that turkesterone won’t cause hormones like testosterone and estrogen to fluctuate.
Is Turkesterone Legal?
Considering all the hype around turkesterone, it’s understandable that there are plenty of people who are unsure about whether or not this natural supplement is legal to buy and use.
As of early 2023, when this article was written, turkesterone is completely legal and available to buy as an over-the-counter supplement. This is a crucial difference to take into account between turkesterone and traditional anabolic and androgenic steroids.
As mentioned in this guide, turkesterone is not classified as an anabolic steroid, and is therefore completely legal to purchase, possess, or consume in the United States [13].
Should turkesterone be added to the list of banned substances by WADA, the result would be that only athletes competing in professional sports would be prohibited from using turkesterone.
If used for any other purpose, arrest or legal prosecution would not be warranted if someone is found selling, buying, possessing, or consuming turkesterone, since WADA’s ruling would not directly result in turkesterone being added to the list of controlled substances in the United States.
Is Turkesterone a Banned Substance?
Even though turkesterone isn’t listed as a Controlled Drug in a number of countries, there are some people who think it might be banned soon in professional sports.
The governing body responsible for deciding which substances can be allowed to be consumed in professional competitive sports, WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, sponsored a German study in 2019 on how ecdysteroids affect athletic performance.
The researchers concluded that ecdysteroids like ecdysterone and turkesterone ought to be placed on the list of prohibited substances due to their potency [8].
While that hasn’t yet become a reality, they did, however, decide to put it on their watchlist of monitored substances.
This means that it may be banned from professional sports in the future. Whether they’ll actually ban it or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, turkesterone is perfectly legal and has almost no adverse side effects.
This makes sense, as ecdysteroids naturally occurring plant compounds found in spinach and other foods.
Turkesterone and Bodybuilding
In bodybuilding, ecdysteroids like turkesterone are looked at as a convenient and safe alternative to traditional anabolic steroids, pro-hormones, and SARMS.
Turkesterone is currently available in capsules and powders, which makes it easy to take with food or mixed into a beverage. While there are a few exceptions, such as the oral steroid dianabol, most of these performance enhancing drugs must be injected into the body using a syringe.
For athletes who want to take their physiques to the next level, but don’t want to use a drug that has to be injected into their body, turkesterone can be a great choice.
When it comes to the optimal dosing protocol for turkesterone, there isn’t a clear-cut answer. This is mainly because, as mentioned earlier, data from human trials involving turkesterone is not available.
The human studies referenced in this article have mainly focused on ecdysteroid cycles between 8-12 weeks, with no adverse effects being noticed.
We also recommend keeping turkesterone cycles within this range, and not performing more than two cycles per year.
The ecdysterone studies referenced here also have analyzed the effects of daily ecdysteroid dosages ranging from 30 milligrams per day, to 2 grams per day [1, 10]. For safety purposes, we recommend that you We would suggest not exceeding 500 mg of turkesterone per day.
A safe bet for most individuals is to take 500 mg of turkesterone per day for 8-12 weeks, and to perform no more than 2 of these 8-12 week cycles per year.
Best Turkesterone Supplements | 2023 Edition
With the wide selection of turkesterone supplements on the market, it can be difficult to determine which vendor to trust when it comes to making a purchase.
Hence, we set about researching the myriad of turkesterone supplements available online.
Ultimately, our team discovered a reputable source for buying turkesterone supplements from, according to certain parameters.
- How’s their shipping?
- What is their manufacturing process like?
- Do their products have positive, verified reviews?
We’ve answered all these questions and more.
Gorilla Mind is our number one recommendation for a vetted and reputable source to buy turkesterone capsules from. Here’s why:
- Fast shipping. Their shipping is world class, as they can send your purchase to any country in the world., you can even enjoy free shipping if you place a domestic order within the United States and your order exceeds $99.
- Positive customer reviews. Gorilla Mind Turkesterone has over 130 positive reviews from verified customers at the time this article was written in early 2023. This is a trustworthy sign that their product actually works as advertised.
- Optimal turkesterone dosing. You’ll find that each capsule of Gorilla Mind Turkesterone contains 500 mg of turkesterone extracted from Ajuga Turkestanica.
- Superior ingredients. Gorilla Mind turkesterone also includes hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, which speeds up and facilitates its absorption into the body.
- Flexible payment options. In addition, besides using a credit card, you can pay for Gorilla Mind Turkesterone in a number of ways, such as Venmo, Google Pay, Apply Pay, and PayPal.
- Bulk product discounts. Our recommendation is to take advantage of their competitive pricing, such as their 3 bottle discount on Gorilla Mind Turkesterone, so that you’ll have enough to run a proper 3 month cycle.
As you can see, there’s a number of reasons why Gorilla Mind Turkesterone is our #1 recommended turkesterone supplement.
You can learn more and buy pure turkesterone capsules here:
What is Turkesterone? | Verdict
In conclusion…
The answer is no – turkesterone is not a steroid.
It’s true that turkesterone has been proven in multiple research studies to have anabolic and androgenic effects at the level of or even greater than dianabol. However, that is where the similarities between turkesterone and steroids end.
In terms of its biology, turkesterone is part of a larger family of naturally-occurring plant and insect hormones called ecdysteroids.
Turkesterone is a generally safe supplement to use, and it can provide a number of benefits for dedicated bodybuilders and athletes.
It is legal to buy, sell, possess, and consume, as opposed to traditional anabolic steroids, which are regulated as part of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Are you ready to get started with turkesterone? If so, then we suggest picking up some bottles of Gorilla Mind Turkesterone.
They have over 130 positive reviews from verified customers on their website, which tells us their product produces results where it counts – in the real world.
So what are you waiting for?
Pick up a bottle of Gorilla Mind turkesterone today and take your training to the next level!