What is your opinion of GHB for athletes? Some people make it out to be the best thing since human growth hormone while others say it’s worthless. What do you think Will? Art Fish Washington DC,

Dear Art, I can fully understand your confusion over GHB. I will attempt to clear it all up for you and MMI readers.

First things first. What is it? GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) is found naturally in every cell in the human body. It is in fact considered a nutrient not a drug. Of course the FDA and other government agencies have now listed it as a drug and banned its sale, but that is as much politically motivated as anything.

Truth be known GHB is a safer, less expensive, and very effective alternative to the multi billion dollar sleeping pills industry as L-tryptophan was, another safe and effective nutrient banned by the FDA.

To date, not one single study has found any toxic effects from GHB on either humans or animals. GHB is completely metabolized into carbon dioxide and water, leaving absolutely no residue or toxic metabolites. In fact metabolism is so efficient that GHB can no longer be detected in urine only five hours after it’s taken.

What there has been are a handful of people winding up in emergency rooms after taking large doses of GHB and combining it with other drugs (most notably alcohol) and this is where GHB gets its bad rap and gave the FDA the excuse it needed to ban the sale of GHB (and its chemical cousin GBL).

As with all compounds both natural (i.e. booz, GHB, etc) and synthetic (various drugs, etc), the use of GHB requires it be used in the correct dose and with some common sense and respect for it’s potential problems.

GHB has many potential therapeutic uses and is considered to have a very low toxicity profile. In some European countries, it’s used as a general anesthetic, for sleep disorders, an aid to childbirth and a treatment for alcoholism. It also is reported to be a great aphrodisiac.

However, GHB does have a potential for abuse because it gives the user a feeling of euphoria not unlike having a few strong glasses of booz. Unlike booz however, it does not leave the person with a hangover the next day and does not appear to be toxic to the liver or any other organ.

Is it 100% safe? Of course not!

At very high doses, it can cause a rapid, rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles similar to muscle spasm or seizure. GHB can also cause intense drowsiness and deep sleep often mistaken as a coma due to the unarrousability of the person.

Other possible minor side effects are drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. At very high doses, there can be a rapid loss of consciousness and possible cardiac and respiratory depression can occur.

Back when GHB was legal, I had a medical doctor friend of mine take a huge dose by mistake only to wake up on the floor the next day feeling no worse for wear other than a slight headache!

It is not something a person should take, and go drive a car for example or ever mix with other tranquilizers (e.g. barbiturates, opiates, Valium, Xanax, Thorazine, ), or alcohol. Only a moron would do that right?

What does it do?

It appears to act as both a metabolite and precursor of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid, or gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA). GHB temporarily inhibits the release of dopamine in the brain which appears to cause increased dopamine storage.

When the effect of GHB wears off, there is a release of dopamine, which is why some people pop awake in the middle of the night after taking it for sleep.

Does it build muscle?

Bodybuilders and other athletes have used GHB because of its ability to stimulate the pituitary to release growth hormone (GH). One study found a nine to sixteen-fold increases in growth hormone 30 to 60 minutes after intravenous administration in men between twenty-five and forty years old.

But would that big spike in GH cause increased muscle growth? No one has looked at that issue directly with GHB, but if we go by other studies looking at drugs and nutrients that cause a large short lived spike in GH, the answer would appear to be no.

Short lived spikes of GH appear to have no effects on muscle mass, especially in young healthy athletes with normal GH production. For older people with sub normal GH production, it might have some uses but again, that has not been looked at in the research.

So what’s the bottom line on GHB?

It is a safe and effective nutrient for uses such as insomnia and general relaxation, but it has abuse potential to the addictive personality and should be treated with caution, common sense, and respect.

It probably will not build any muscle on people, especially healthy athletes. In the US, GHB is not approved and has been banned from over-the-counter sale by the FDA as mentioned above for political and financial motivated reasons. GHB continues to be sold for research purposes, but selling it specifically for human consumption, is not legal, so I recommend staying away from GHB and GBL if you live in the US.

A lot of bodybuilders get it from the “gray market” but I don’t recommend it due to the legality and questionable purity of such products. In other countries the laws vary so it may not be an issue.

That should answer all your major questions about GHB/GBL Art.