DHEA

DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) is made into several different active substances by the body, including testosterone and estradiol (estrogen). It strengthens muscles, keeps mucous membranes soft and moist, promotes hair growth under the arm and in the pubic area, stimulates immunity, boosts energy levels, fights anxiety and depression, improves mood, increases libido (in women), enhances memory, and (at least in animal studies) fights cancer, diabetes and heart disease. It also relieves joint pain.

Over a lifetime, you'll secrete more DHEA than any other hormone. In young adults, its concentration in the blood is almost twenty times higher than any other hormone. Tissues, including the brain, may also have high levels. Just the production of DHEA would keep the adrenal glands plenty busy.

A great part of what DHEA does, however, is achieved after it is converted into a variety of different substances. These derivatives, or active metabolites, include several androgens, including testosterone and estrogen. As powerful as DHEA can be, its derivatives pack an even bigger wallop. For example, the metabolite androstenediol stimulates immunity one hundred times more than the original DHEA - and androstenetriol three hundred times.

One final important benefit to DHEA is its ability to control some of the negative effects of excess cortisol.

Without sufficient DHEA, your face will look strained, your eyes will be dry and lackluster and your hair dry and lifeless. You'll have a tendency to a pot belly, cellulite on the thighs, and even a flattened pubic mound. You'll tend to feel insecure, anxious, gloomy and sad. If you are female, your libido will flag. You won't have enough energy; one idiosyncratic way a lack of DHEA may manifest itself in people over sixty-five is in difficulty climbing stairs.