Evidence: Very High Possible Benefits: High Safety: High
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is DHEA?
Dehydroepiandrosterone, also known as DHEA, is a hormone that has some key mechanisms in the body on its own but it can also convert into other hormones, mainly testosterone and estrogen. It is often used as a dietary supplement for improving exercise performance, hormonal health, and general health. This article is about the main benefits of DHEA, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.
Possible benefits
All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with most other supplements, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.
Major benefits
Increased testosterone levels – DHEA can notably and reliably increase testosterone levels in menopausal and postmenopausal women. In other demographics, this benefit is unreliable. Young men often take high doses of DHEA (about 200 mg) for this purpose. Unfortunately, not many studies on young people and athletes have been done so we don’t know how effective the supplement is for increasing testosterone in these groups of people. From what we know so far, DHEA is promising but shouldn’t be relied on.
Minor benefits
Increased estrogen levels – DHEA can convert into estrogen and increase estrogen levels in menopausal women and other groups of people with low estrogen. The supplement is unlikely to increase estrogen beyond healthy levels.
Reduced symptoms of menopause – The supplement reliably reduces the symptoms of menopause by improving the hormonal profile of menopausal women.
Reduced SHBG – Reductions in sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were found in older people where estrogen was elevated.
Increased blood flow – The supplement may slightly improve blood flow by increasing nitric oxide concentrations in serum.
Reduced cognitive decline – DHEA can be helpful in people with a high rate of cognitive decline.
Increased fertility – A small increase in fertility was found in human studies.
Improved cholesterol levels – This benefit only applies to people with elevated cholesterol levels.
Reduced LDL oxidation – One study found protective effects against the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
Possible side effects
The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.
Allergic reaction – An allergy to this supplement is rare but possible.
Acne – This side effect is rare and was only reported by postmenopausal women.
Nausea – This side effect is most common when people take the supplement on an empty stomach.
Diarrhea – You can usually prevent diarrhea or stomach discomfort by taking this supplement with a meal.
Toxicity – While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this supplement could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. Regularly taking high doses can also cause the body to develop a tolerance to the supplement. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 200 mg in a day is best unless you have a great reason to take more.
Contamination – Contaminated supplements are uncommon in the USA and other well-regulated countries. However, if you wish to buy products from China, India, or other countries without strict regulations, beware that the supplements may be contaminated. Either way, you need to choose the brand you order from wisely. Always read through some reviews for the specific product before you buy it. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the power to regulate dietary supplements but can only do so after they have been on the market for a while. That’s because supplement companies are not obligated to announce to the FDA when releasing a new product. The FDA has to discover the product and test it for potential impurities, which can take a lot of time. During that time, the supplement can be sold on the market even if it’s impure. Also, supplement companies can change their manufacturers without announcing it to the FDA.
Who should not take DHEA?
You should probably avoid taking DHEA if you:
are allergic to this supplement
experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the supplement
are pregnant or breastfeeding (while it can be safe to take this supplement during pregnancy or breastfeeding, it can put some unnecessary risk to the child)
Who will benefit the most?
You should consider taking the supplement if you:
are older (people in their 70s often have less than 20% of DHEA concentrations that they had when they were younger)
have unnaturally low testosterone or estrogen levels
are a menopausal or a postmenopausal woman
have hypercholesterolemia
have a high budget for supplements and are willing to experiment with a variety of them (assuming you don’t fall into any of the categories that should avoid this supplement, DHEA appears relatively safe and is unlikely to do more harm than good for most people)
How much DHEA should you take?
The sweet spot dose typically ranges between 25-100 mg daily for most people. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.
The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take this supplement for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since it is safer, and you would develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.
Young people taking DHEA to increase their testosterone levels may benefit from doses of up to 200 mg.
The upper safety limit for this supplement is not well-established. To stay on the safe side, don’t take more than the recommended dose unless you have a great reason to do so. Higher amounts may cause problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.
Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle DHEA and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance. That will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.
Best time to take DHEA
The best time to take DHEA is about 30 minutes before a workout or an exercise session.
Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.
DHEA is fat-soluble, so you should take it with food to absorb it well.
Where to buy DHEA?
In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering DHEA supplements. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the Internet.
Some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.
FAQ
Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle DHEA and take a break from it for about two days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. That will keep your body sensitive to the supplement and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.
All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes time which can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they are often made of bovine gelatine, which rarely comes from ethical sources.
While you could take the supplement at night, the best time to take it is before or during an exercise session.
This supplement should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date. However, it can lose potency over time. Keep this supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place so it remains as potent for many months or even years.
While acute toxicity is rare, taking very high amounts of this supplement could lead to various problems over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses.
While you could safely take higher doses, there is usually no point in taking more than 200 mg daily. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.
The half-life of DHEA in the body is 15-38 minutes. This supplement gets metabolized within 2-3 hours after you consume it.
Some benefits related to exercise performance happen right after the supplement kicks in. In the long term, you must take the supplement for about 2-4 weeks to begin noticing most of the benefits.
You can easily find vegan-friendly DHEA pills and powders but always check the label to be sure. If you buy the supplement in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.
No, it does not. The supplement should not interfere with fasting in any significant way. However, you still want to take the supplement with food as it will absorb better.
References
Most of the information in this guide is based on scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything you read in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.
