tankasnowgod
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- Joined
- Jan 25, 2014
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Urea is one of the more interesting supplements in the Peat world. I am constantly turned off (or outright disgusted) by the taste, always intrigued by the promise, and see some benefits from taking larger doses.
Over the past week, I decided to do a course of Urea, averaging about 60g a day (sometimes a little more, up to 70g) and do that for at least a week, maybe going up to 10 days. Courses of urea are very common in the studies I've seen, with people using higher doses (60 or 90g a day) only doing about 5-7 days at a time. Well, I have finished day 7, and I decided the course is over, but wanted to detail some of the positives (and negatives), and maybe help others figure out how best to use this bizarre substance that Peat speaks very highly of.
First, the positives.... It really seemed to help in healing minor long term issues. I had a feeling that one of my gums had been receding for about a month or so, and within a couple days of the Urea course, it seemed to be totally better. Also, many minor aches and pains have gone away in the past week. My muscles feel fuller, and more "jacked." I had noticed previously that taking Urea after a workout that would normally lead to DOMS would either completely prevent it, or improve any soreness within hours if it had already set in (this seemed achievable with 30g).
Next, the negatives...... over the course of the week, it seems to get harder and harder to stomach. Part of the reason that I ended the course today is that a feeling of nausea was starting to set in. To be fair, I have heard that the same can happen when taking in a similar amount of gelatin over a similar time frame. I also seem to be getting minor headaches. Plus, I will sometimes get the smell of ammonia after drinking about 10-15 grams. I don't know if it's getting converted to ammonia (maybe because of H Pylori or something), or is causing a buildup of ammonia from taking it.
One thing it seems to be great for is providing "bulk nitrogen." In studies where they try to determine "minimum" amount of "essential" amino acids, they will often use Urea as a way to provide nitrogen that would normally come from protein. The other substances I have seen suggested for this purpose are glycine, glutamine, and even diammonium citrate (the last one doesn't sound like a good idea).
This study used Urea supplementation on a low protein diet-
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Since only 13.7g of Urea was able to get the body back to "Nitrogen Balance" that otherwise took 40g of protein, it would seem that Urea has 2.9 times the Nitrogen Value of protein. Maybe the Urea is even providing some of the "high protein" benefits directly, as BUN will be higher in anyone consuming a high protein diet. This could be very useful if you were thinking a high protein diet may be beneficial..... 120g protein plus 30g Urea could have the same effect as 200g protein, and that without extra calories, fat, or what have you. It may be more "cost effective" too..... 30g Urea is going to way cheaper than a Porterhouse with 80g of Protein (though seriously less tasty).
Although, could some of the other "bulk nitrogen" substances earlier have similar effects? Urea is a simple compound with 2 NH2 groups. Glutamine also has 2 NH2 groups, but also four more Carbons. Glycine is also a very simple molecule, but only has one NH2 group, and still has an extra carbon.
Peat speaks favorably of glycine, even as an isolated amino acid. Glutamine seems to be generally frowned upon here, but does seem to have a lot of beneficial studies behind it. Hans spoke favorably in this article-
men-elite.com
I am going to take some ceylon cinnamon. I think it's possible my ammonia levels could be higher, and maybe that's a good thing to do anyway after a course. Curious as to others thoughts, and if glycine or glutamine could potentially fill some of the "bulk nitrogen" benefits.
@Hans @ecstatichamster @haidut @yerrag @fever257 @Blossom
Over the past week, I decided to do a course of Urea, averaging about 60g a day (sometimes a little more, up to 70g) and do that for at least a week, maybe going up to 10 days. Courses of urea are very common in the studies I've seen, with people using higher doses (60 or 90g a day) only doing about 5-7 days at a time. Well, I have finished day 7, and I decided the course is over, but wanted to detail some of the positives (and negatives), and maybe help others figure out how best to use this bizarre substance that Peat speaks very highly of.
First, the positives.... It really seemed to help in healing minor long term issues. I had a feeling that one of my gums had been receding for about a month or so, and within a couple days of the Urea course, it seemed to be totally better. Also, many minor aches and pains have gone away in the past week. My muscles feel fuller, and more "jacked." I had noticed previously that taking Urea after a workout that would normally lead to DOMS would either completely prevent it, or improve any soreness within hours if it had already set in (this seemed achievable with 30g).
Next, the negatives...... over the course of the week, it seems to get harder and harder to stomach. Part of the reason that I ended the course today is that a feeling of nausea was starting to set in. To be fair, I have heard that the same can happen when taking in a similar amount of gelatin over a similar time frame. I also seem to be getting minor headaches. Plus, I will sometimes get the smell of ammonia after drinking about 10-15 grams. I don't know if it's getting converted to ammonia (maybe because of H Pylori or something), or is causing a buildup of ammonia from taking it.
One thing it seems to be great for is providing "bulk nitrogen." In studies where they try to determine "minimum" amount of "essential" amino acids, they will often use Urea as a way to provide nitrogen that would normally come from protein. The other substances I have seen suggested for this purpose are glycine, glutamine, and even diammonium citrate (the last one doesn't sound like a good idea).
This study used Urea supplementation on a low protein diet-
Salvage of exogenous urea nitrogen enhances nitrogen balance in normal men consuming marginally inadequate protein diets - PubMed
1. Urea kinetics were measured in six healthy men using prime/intermittent oral doses of [15N15N] urea, after five days consuming one of four diets which varied in their nitrogen content: a reference diet (REF, 70 g of protein and 11.2 g of N); a low-protein diet (LP, 30 g of protein and 4.8 g...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Since only 13.7g of Urea was able to get the body back to "Nitrogen Balance" that otherwise took 40g of protein, it would seem that Urea has 2.9 times the Nitrogen Value of protein. Maybe the Urea is even providing some of the "high protein" benefits directly, as BUN will be higher in anyone consuming a high protein diet. This could be very useful if you were thinking a high protein diet may be beneficial..... 120g protein plus 30g Urea could have the same effect as 200g protein, and that without extra calories, fat, or what have you. It may be more "cost effective" too..... 30g Urea is going to way cheaper than a Porterhouse with 80g of Protein (though seriously less tasty).
Although, could some of the other "bulk nitrogen" substances earlier have similar effects? Urea is a simple compound with 2 NH2 groups. Glutamine also has 2 NH2 groups, but also four more Carbons. Glycine is also a very simple molecule, but only has one NH2 group, and still has an extra carbon.
Peat speaks favorably of glycine, even as an isolated amino acid. Glutamine seems to be generally frowned upon here, but does seem to have a lot of beneficial studies behind it. Hans spoke favorably in this article-
8 great benefits of Glutamine. #2 boosts muscle growth » MENELITE
Glutamine, one of the most abundant non-essential amino acids present in the body, are mostly found in the muscle (35%). Glutamine appears to be a unique amino acid, serving as … Continue reading 8 great benefits of Glutamine. #2 boosts muscle growth
men-elite.com
I am going to take some ceylon cinnamon. I think it's possible my ammonia levels could be higher, and maybe that's a good thing to do anyway after a course. Curious as to others thoughts, and if glycine or glutamine could potentially fill some of the "bulk nitrogen" benefits.
@Hans @ecstatichamster @haidut @yerrag @fever257 @Blossom
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