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A Pharmacological Approach to Manipulating Atrial Natriuretic
Peptide for Ultimate Fat Loss
by Lyle McDonald
This book is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an
alternative to medical advice. It is a review of scientific evidence presented for information purposes only. Use of the
guidelines herein is at the sole choice and risk of the reader.
Copyright: First Edition 2015 All Rights Reserved
This book or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or recorded in any form without permission in writing from the
publisher, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
For information contact:
Lyle McDonald Publishing
1200 Hatteras Drive
Austin, Tx 78753
Email: lylemcdonald@bodyrecomposition.com
Table of Contents|
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Fat Cell Physiology
Chapter 2: Natriuretic Peptides and Lipolysis
Chapter 3: Natriuretic Peptides and Brown/Beige Fat
Chapter 4: Natriuretic Peptides and Appetite/Hunger
Chapter 5: Beta-Blockers for Fat Loss
Chapter 6: Beta-blocker Effects Chapter
7: Putting it All Together
Selected References
My Other Books
Foreword
As everyone was taught in high school, history has a tendency to repeat itself. My writing career certainly seems to work
this way. Way back in 1996, I finished my first book, a tediously technical book called The Ketogenic Diet that was THE
comprehensive be-all, end-all book on low-carbohydrate diets. While many people raved about it, I was never really happy
with it. That's not relevant but what few know is that finishing that book nearly killed me, it was not the right project to start
my career and it was a nightmare at the end to actually complete.
Over the next two years, I would attempt to start new projects but anxiety over the nightmare that was finishing the first
book would stop me in my tracks. I'd get 75% of the way through the new project and start to have issues and go start
something else. I have folders of partially finished stuff from that time period.
Finally, in 1998, I published an odd little booklet called Bromocriptine: A New Use for an Old Drug. Probably my least
well-known and least successful project, it was a weird little drug booklet that mostly dealt with the topic of body weight
regulation; it just turned out that this 30 year old drug seemed to fix a certain problem that I had been working on. But given
that I'm known for training and nutrition, a drug solution to anything just wasn't really consistent with 99% of what I wrote
about.
Time passed and I wrote more books but, apparently at the 10 year mark it was time for my next nightmare project. Around
2006, I was working on another monstrously tedious technical book called The Protein Book. It was THE comprehensive
be-all, end-all book on the topic of dietary protein for athletes. As with The Ketogenic Diet, it was a horror to finish,
months of writers block and a complete inability to complete the damn thing were just another horrible chapter in my
writing career; finally, I finished it.
In 2008, I published The Stubborn Fat Solution. And going by my rough history, I should have started my next little drug
booklet shortly thereafter. And I actually did. But, as I'll talk about in the introduction below, I sort of abandoned it for a
while (about 6 years) only coming back to it as part of research for another recent project. No, it is not the Super Secret
Project (TM) I've been talking about for about the same amount of time. As the title suggests, it sort of follows up on The
Stubborn Fat Solution and a topic that I discussed but couldn't elaborate on at the time.
This is another weird little side project for me, another drug booklet that is really outside of what I usually write about. But
it's just so damn cool. Enjoy.
Introduction
If you're at all interested in the topic of fat loss (and outside of that small percentage who stay perpetually lean without
much effort, everyone is), odds are you've read my other books on the topic. In all likelihood, this includes my last book
The Stubborn Fat Solution (or SFS as it's usually abbreviated).
The SFS was the culmination of a decade long project examining the topic of stubborn body fat loss. Men's abs and low
back and especially women's thighs are more stubborn than other areas to get rid of. There are a myriad number of reasons
for this and, as is my way, I covered all of them in SFS. I spent chapters detailing everything there is to know about body fat
including what makes certain fat cells more stubborn than others to empty and get rid of.
Of course, I provided solutions in the form of the SFS protocols, 4 different targeted protocols that can be integrated with
other diets to get rid of stubborn body fat. Some specific supplements were mentioned as well. Although I didn't talk about
specific diets, I did discuss how the protocols would best fit with certain types of diets (e.g. low- vs. high- carbohydrate).
In that book, I had a chapter discussing the impact of hormones on body fat and such and in that chapter, almost as an
afterthought, I mentioned a relatively 'new' fat mobilizing hormone called Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) that might have
promise in terms of fixing the stubborn fat problem in a bit less effort intensive way than than the SFS protocols.
At the time I had some of the data on what ANP did and it certainly looked promising; I'll discuss that in a later chapter. But
there was no meaningful way to manipulate it that I had come across. The only things I was aware of just wasn't terribly
applicable. It was interesting but ultimately a dead end.
But, as is so often the case, a few months later I came across some fascinating research, a pharmaceutical way of
manipulating ANP in a useful fashion. Yes, a drug. I guess I could have revised SFS with that new information but, frankly,
it tends to be a losing battle.
Not only do I kind of not like to revisit projects (I'd rather learn about/write about something new), drug discussion is
polarizing. The people who are interested in such topics (either intellectually or practically) are generally far overwhelmed
by the people for whom drug discussion turns them away. Whether it's the general public (who are often selectively antidrug) or athletes who compete drug-free, it's just often a problem.
In my experience, when you talk about drugs in a non-drug oriented book, you tend to lose a lot of readers; this is just
reality. The guys willing to use any and all drugs aren't happy because there isn't more drug information and the anti-drug
people aren't interested at all. By trying to be all things to all people, you end up making everybody unhappy. So even if I
had been aware of what this book talks about, I wouldn't have included it in SFS.
Admittedly, what I'm going to talk about in this book really isn't anything that problematic from a legality standpoint. You
will need to combine it with some other compounds but with the exception of a couple, they are all either mostly legal
(depending on where you live) or at least in that gray-market area.
Now, I originally started this book when I found the original research, probably in 2009. Then for reasons I am not entirely
clear on, I got distracted. I don't know if I lost interest or had more problems to solve but I just put it away, partially written.
But then, in 2015, I started researching a new book project. And in doing so came across more literature relating to Atrial
Natriuretic Peptide. Exciting literature that simply did not exist when I started the project in 2009 or whenever I gave up. So
here was a place where my disorganization and probably laziness benefitted me. Basically I'm glad that I didn't finish this
back when I did.
And on with the show.
Burning Fat
The process of "burning fat" can get as complicated as you want to make it but I tend to focus on three primary steps:
mobilization, transport and oxidation (burning). I discussed all three in some detail in The Stubborn Fat Solution but will
only focus on mobilization in this book.
Mobilization is the step we're concerned with here. When HSL is activated, stored TG in the fat cell is broken down and the
fatty acids are released into the bloodstream as is the glycerol backbone (sometimes scientists just measure glycerol release
with the assumption that fatty acids are being released in a ratio of 3:1). This process is called lipolysis ("lipo" = fat, "lysis"
= breakdown).
These fatty acids can actually then just be stored again (a process called re-esterification) but if blood flow is sufficient, they
get carried away (transported) elsewhere in the body. Eventually they run into a tissue such as skeletal muscle or liver or
heart where they are oxidized (burned) for energy. That's ultimately what the process of losing fat is:
mobilize the fatty acids, transport them away from the fat cell, burn them off for energy. I discuss the above in excruciating
detail in The Stubborn Fat Solution but for now that's all you really need to know.
And as I mentioned above, the hormone HSL is the key to fat mobilization and HSL activity is increased when cellular
cAMP goes up. So we want to raise cAMP. Some readers may remember the supplement forskolin that was popular years
ago. It was shown to raise cAMP in cells (at least when done in a petri dish or infused) but it more or less crapped out as an
oral supplement.
So what, you ask, controls cAMP in the fat cell?
In any case, ANP levels often go up when blood pressure or what have you occur and in addition to its other effects, ANP
stimulates fat mobilization. But of far more interest to this book and the issue of stubborn body fat, not only does ANP
mobilize fat, it works through a completely different pathway than insulin and the catecholamines. Like those other
hormones, ANP has it's own receptor on the fat cell but when ANP binds, it does something different.
Because while insulin and the catecholamines work by modulating cAMP, atrial natriuretic peptide works through a cGMP
mechanism (cGMP stands for cyclical guanadine monophosphate which those of you who remember high school or college
chemistry may be familiar with). In the same way that cAMP is a downstream signalling molecule, cGMP is too.
This has a number of consequences not the least of which is that ANP's effects are not impacted directly by insulin or
catecholamine levels. They are working completely separately. Let me say that again: ANP mediated effects on fat
mobilization are not impacted by insulin or the catecholamines; they don't actually interact at all. So while insulin and the
catecholamines may be "fighting it out" for the control of fat cell metabolism (with insulin usually winning), ANP just does
an end-run and works through a completely different pathway.
Quite in fact, ANP is even more interesting in that it can simulate lipolysis even when insulin is high which is something
that the catecholamines can't do. I'll come back to this later in the book in terms of practical applications.
As I mentioned above, like all hormones, ANP has it's own specific receptor to bind to and very preliminary research (not
much has been done) suggests that ANP doesn't show the same density differences in different areas of the body. So in
addition to working when insulin is high, ANP may get around the whole alpha/beta receptor issue that makes some types of
fat so damn hard to get rid of.
On that note, however, it has been shown that fat mobilization in females may be mediated more by ANP levels than in men,
in premise, some of what I'm going to discuss in this book may help women more than men in terms of getting rid of
stubborn body fat. It's really about time; women are screwed in terms every other aspect of fat loss. Finally, something may
be going their way.
So now you're thinking, I'm sold, bring on the ANP and I'll watch the fat (stubborn and otherwise) melt right off. As usual
there is a catch.
One study found that performing two bouts of exercise an hour apart saw a big increase in ANP levels during the second
bout. Perhaps this lends some credibility to the idea that cardio morning and evening is better than a single session; I don't
know if the effect is still seen with 12 hours between sessions but maybe the bodybuilders weren't nuts to do it this way.
But for the most part, none of this was really as useful as I wanted it to be. It's generally bad idea to do high-intensity
exercise daily (your legs tend to fall off) especially on a diet. The hyper-hydration thing is interesting but there's still no real
indication that anything but the most extreme levels reliably impact on ANP levels. And raising blood pressure deliberately
doesn't seem like a good idea.
Again, I knew all of the above when I wrote The Stubborn Fat Solution but just sort of left it sitting there. As I mentioned
in the foreword I found another approach and started writing this book before getting bored and doing something else. And
in hindsight I'm glad I did because as it turns out, there's way more interesting stuff coming out of the ANP literature now
and this book gets to be a lot cooler because of my inability to get it finished in the first place.
So before I tell you about the method I'm going to suggest to jack up ANP and take advantage of the fat mobilizing effect,
let me tell you about some other things ANP (in conjunction with other things) appear to be able to accomplish.
value being a pretty enormous estimation and probably way too high. It would tend to require constant cold exposure (and
it's interesting to note that lumberjacks who do undergo chronic cold exposure had been found to have more BAT than
others) and you have to compensate for the hunger that occurs.
In one study for example cold exposure did increase energy expenditure by like 150 calories per day. But the folks, allowed
to eat without control, ate more than that. So it's a double edged sword. Certainly if food intake is controlled, cold exposure
has potential to burn some extra calories and certainly there has been some interest on the Internet for using cold packs or
cold exposure for this. But it only works if calories are controlled.
In any case, BAT is back and appears ready to stay. And interest in finding ways to increase and/or activate BAT has been
equally renewed. Preferably pharmaceutical means given that most will simply not put up with the inconvenience and
discomfort or being cold all the time.
But even more recently, the whole BAT thing has become more complicated. By another tissue that should also be called
BAT.
Early on it looked like a compound released by muscle, called irisin, might play a role in all of this. But the significant
results in mice/rats were rather inconsistently replicated in humans. Most studies in humans showed no increase in irisin
with exercise (and the ones that did found only a small increase). Of some interest, one study of sprint training (4-8 sets of
30" all out) for 3 weeks found that women saw an increase in irisin but men a decrease. The reason for this gender
difference is unknown as are the real world effects.
Related to this, an early study found that sprint training caused a significant increase in ANP at the end of 10 maximal
sprints and that the effects were also greater in women. I might suggest that the high-intensity protocols in my own
Stubborn Fat Solution are working partially through this mechanism.
Another compound called BAIBA (beta-amino butyric acid), released from skeletal muscle may hold more promise. It not
only appears to be involved in the "browning" of white fat but the single study done to date shows that 20 weeks of
endurance training increases BAIBA levels by 17% but at the current time no more is known about what regulates BAIBA.
What role this actually plays in terms of the acute stimulus of beige-fat recruitment/activation is unknown but, going
forwards this may represent another pathway of interest to "turn on" or "make more" beige fat". I include it only for
completeness.
Thyroid hormone is also key here. Not only does it increase energy expenditure and thermogenesis but may be involved in
the overall recruitment and cell program that produces beige cells. There are a few other activators of beige fat but I won't
get into them: for now they aren't modifiable in any way I am aware of. But it turns out that there are other compounds that
appear to not only activate beige fat but possibly increase the amount of it. Compounds that we can actually control. Can
you guess why I'm talking about this?
both do it. But what about ANP? I need to talk about one last interesting thing.
But let's follow that train of logic and think about what a beta-antagonist (also called a beta-blocker) would do. So first,
recall that beta-agonist drugs like clenbuterol and ephedrine tend to increase fat mobilization, etc. and they do this by acting
as agonists at the beta-receptor (they raise heart rate and blood pressure as well).
But what if you wanted to lower blood pressure, as in someone with hypertension? You might guess that you could use a
drug that was an antagonist to the beta-receptor. That is, if beta-agonism raises blood pressure, beta-antagonism would
lower it. And this class of drugs exists and does exactly that, they are called beta-blockers.
Beta-blockers reduce heart rate and blood pressure and are often used by people before a big performance or speech to help
folks keep from spazzing out. Athletes such as archers and pistol shooters use beta-blockers too to slow their heart rate; they
actually try to fire between heart beats so that their aim is less twitchy.
But what else might a beta-blocker do in the body? If we know that beta-activation stimulates lipolysis, we'd expect a betaantagonist/blocker to shut down lipolysis. Which should be a distinctly bad thing. So why am I talking about this at such
length?
Beta-Adrenoceptor Redux
As I mentioned earlier in the book, there are actually three primary subtypes of beta-receptors, beta-1, beta-2, and beta-3.
Beta-3 aren't that relevant in humans, we don't have many and the ones we do seem to go away quickly when stimulated.
Now, from a physiological standpoint, part of the reason the body has different types of receptors is so that the same
hormone (or hormones) can do different things in different places in the body. A good example is the brain chemical
serotonin as there are about 15 different types of serotonin receptors. So serotonin can have vastly different effects in
different parts of the body depending which receptor type (or types) is present, in what ratios they are present, etc. This is
really just an efficiency thing for the body: rather than having 15 different hormones, it has one hormone and 15 different
kinds of receptors.
Beta-receptors are the same way, by having different types in different parts of the body, it allows a chemical (or in this case
two related chemicals: adrenaline and noradrenaline) to have different effects at different places. I already mentioned how
the ratio of beta-2 to alpha-2 receptors impact enormously on whether or not fat is easy or difficult to mobilize and the same
thing is seen elsewhere in the body.
Thankfully, compared to serotonin receptor subtypes, beta receptors aren't nearly as complicated as there are really only two
we need to worry about: beta-1 and beta-2 receptors (as above, the beta-3 receptor isn't that relevant to human physiology).
And although they have nothing to do with beta-receptor agonism or antagonism, we only have to worry about alpha-2
receptors in terms of fat cell metabolism.
I'd note that both general beta-receptor blockers and beta-1 receptor blocker drugs reliably raise ANP at rest and during
exercise and they do this in both hypertension/heart disease patients AND healthy individuals. The latter is key, some drugs
that do wonderful things in disease states don't do the same in healthy folks but three different studies show that betablockers raise ANP in healthy folks.
Beta-Blocker Choice
As per the last chapter, I recommend picking a beta-1 specific blocker as this will have it's primary impact at the heart in
terms of raising ANP and BNP. Some drugs to consider are one of the following:
Atenolol (trade name Tenormin)
Betaxolol (trade name Kerlone)
Bisoprolol (trade name Zebeta)
Celiprolol
Esmolo (trade name Brevibloc)
Metoprolol tartrate (trade name Lopressor)
You can use the links above to get specifics about dosing, how long they stay in the body, etc. for the different drugs. For
example's sake, I'll focus on metoprolol since it's one of the oldest, the side effects and dosing is exceedingly well
established and has been shown to reliably raise ANP in healthy individuals, etc. Metoprolol comes in both a short and longacting form and the choice of one versus the other depends on what else you intend to take with it. It's also inexpensive and
can be ordered online.
Dosing can range from 100-450 mg/day (remember that this is for heart failure patients) and 100-200 mg is probably plenty
for the application in this book. The beta-blocking effects of the drug will be seen within an hour of taking it. Depending on
how quickly an individual metabolizes the drug, it can stay active from 3 to 6.5 hours in the body and this is dose dependent
as well (a 100 mg dose was still 50% active after 6.5 hours). In heart failure or for hypertension treatment, the drug is
typically dosed twice daily due to it's fairly short effects but that's not what we're using it for.
There is also a long acting form of metoprolol called Metoprolol ER (extended release) or Toprol XL. This form releases the
drug into the body over a slower time course (dosing is typically once/day) but also results in lower levels of the drug. Beta1 activation is still roughly the same. Given the lower levels achieved compared to metoprolol, taking about twice as much
(200-400 mg) of the extended release would be a good rue of thumb. But you only take it the once per day.
Recall from a previous chapter that while effects such as fat mobilization are relatively rapid, any of the long-term effects
on things like beige fat probably take longer. So choice of metoprolol versus the ER version will be related to that. It will
also depend on the type of thermogenic chosen to accompany it.
Ephedrine/Caffeine
Ephedrine has been around for decades and despite some deaths (invariably related to excessive intake), is extremely safe.
Ephedrine is combined with caffeine in ratios of 20mg ephedrine to 200mg caffeine and taken anywhere from 1-3 times per
day (generally first thing in the morning, at lunchtime and perhaps at 4pm; some people have trouble sleeping when they
take the third dose). It stays active in the body for about 4 hours and has a small (about 5%) thermogenic effect in addition
to it's appetite blunting and fat mobilizing effects.
Green Tea/Nicotine
Of late, it's been harder to get ephedrine and there are other potential compounds that are at least similar in terms of their
effect and could be substituted. One is green tea although technically the active ingredient is epicatechin gallate.
Recommended doses are 300 mg and it should be taken with caffeine for maximum effect.
Another compound to consider is nicotine. Combined with caffeine, it also has thermogenic effects and helps to mobilize
fat. It also tends to suppress appetite via a brain mechanism. A patch or nicotine gum would be suggested with a 2mg dose
being sufficient. Clearly I'm not recommending smoking as a source of nicotine. Note that the majority of negative effects
are due to the other chemicals in cigarettes, nicotine in and of itself does not carry the same risks (and may actually be
protective against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Clenbuterol
Clenbuterol started life as a livestock drug but athletes quickly got ahold of it when they found out about its amazing effects
in animals. A very specific beta-2 agonist it is known for some pretty amazing transformations, seeming to cause fat loss
while muscle is gained. This is especially true if it's combined with thyroid and the combination has profound effects
on the body, at least for as long as it works. The problem is that it stops working very quickly. Clenbuterol stays in the body
for a solid 36 hours and that, along with it's high binding affinity for beta-2 receptors, causes the effects to be rapidly lost.
Clenbuterol typically comes in 20 mcg pills and the effective dose is 100-140 mcg (5-7 pills) per day for men and 80- 100
mcg (4-5 pills) per day for women. Some suggest starting with 1-2 pills and ramping up slowly to check for side effects. But
they tend to be so much lower than ephedrine in the first place, along with the fact that their use with a beta- blocker should
eliminate any small effects that I see no reason to ramp up like this.
Many have suggested taking an anti-histamine such as ketotifen at 1mg/day starting in the second week of regular clen use.
Yohimbine
While not a true thermogenic, yohimbine is still important for fat loss since it's blocks those pesky alpha-2 receptors in
stubborn fat. Yohimbine tends to raise heart rate and blood pressure and combining it with ephedrine can cause a double
whammy (but see below). Many still think that yohimbine affects testosterone because it gives people boners but this is just
a blood flow thing.
Yohimbine is dosed at 0.2 mg/kg so a 180 pound/81 kg lifter would need 16 mg. Yohimbine HCL (the drug version which
has less side effects than the herbal) comes in 2.5 mg pills so that would be 7 pills for our 180 pound lifter. Caffeine helps of
course but yohimbine is completely inactivated by insulin and must be used fasted (ideally before cardio to help burn off the
calories). Yohimbine should NOT be used by anyone with a propensity to anxiety attacks as, in high doses especially, it can
trigger them (researchers actually use yohimbine to research anxiety attacks).
Thyroid
Unlike the previous entries, thyroid is made within the body and comes in two primary forms: T4 and T3 with the thyroid
gland releasing them in roughly an 80:20 ratio. T4 is essentially a storage form of thyroid and it's conversion to T3 in places
like the liver is really the key. T3 increases metabolism, affects protein synthesis, and is involved in gene expression for a
lot of things.
When folks diet, the conversion of T4 to T3 goes down in the liver, this is called Euthyroid Stress Syndrome (ESS). Despite
tons of literature on this, some doctors don't believe that it exists and will only give T4 for people suffering from "low
thyroid". True hypothyroid and ESS actually show distinctly different patterns in the body when you get blood work done.
True hypothyroid is marked by low T4 and T3 and high TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). The body is trying to produce
enough thyroid but since the gland isn't responding, it jacks TSH to try to compensate. In ESS, you see normal TSH, normal
T4 and low T3. This indicates that the gland is working just fine, it's the conversion from T4 to T3 that is impaired.
Certainly T4 helps for someone who is truly hypothyroid, when the thyroid gland isn't doing it's job. But for ESS T4 doesn't
help much at all. For that folks need to use straight T3 (a common trade name is Cytomel). Some people have also gotten
good success with Armour thyroid, a natural form of (pig) thyroid that is a mixture of T4 and T3.
T3 used to be used for weight loss back in the day but it sort of crapped out. In high amounts it causes a racing heart and a
lot of muscle loss. There is even a small chance of something called thyroid storm. It's use was fairly rapidly discontinued.
However, T3 is interesting for our purposes for a number of reasons. The first is that thyroid and things like ephedrine and
clenbuterol interact synergistically. Beta-agonist drugs like ephedrine and clen increase thyroid conversion and activity and
thyroid sensitizes the beta-receptors such that beta-agonist drugs work that much better. Clen plus thyroid has profound fat
loss effects and this is likely the cause.
As above, too much thyroid is as bad as too little and some folks get a little bit nuts. 25-50 mcg of thyroid is a full
replacement dose and there's little to no reason to take more. Even 12.5 mcg has been shown to have positive effects. More
is not better. Most will be fine with 25 mcg if they use it all, bigger boys may want to use 50mcg but without anabolic
steroids, more than that just causes muscle loss.
DNP
And that brings us to the king of all thermogenics, DNP which is an abbreviation for di-nitro-phenol (to help the organic
chem nerds visualize it). While a thermogenic, DNP works through a completely different mechanism than everything I've
talked about before.
You may recall my mention of mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) in previous chapters. Well rather than impacting
on beta-receptors like the above compounds, DNP works on the mitochondria. Specifically it does something called
uncoupling. Now, normally mitochondria take glucose and fatty acids and burn them for energy (also generating heat).
DNP blocks this process, it uncouples mitochondrial function from energy production. That is, the normal energy
production from burning glucose and fat can't happen when DNP is in the system. So the mitochondria just keeps burning
more and more fuel in its futile attempt to provide the cell with energy. Again, the consequence of this is the generation of a
lot of heat.
Even low doses of DNP ramp up metabolic rate drastically, a small 100mg dose will raise metabolic rate by about 10%. So
someone with a daily energy expenditure of 2700 calories might burn 270 more from DNP alone. That's nearly 30 minutes
on the treadmill. Higher doses have an even bigger impact and it's possible to get a 50% boost in metabolism. Big boys with
high metabolic rates can get enormous fat losses at higher doses.
Fantastic, right? Well, yes and no. The end result of this is the generation of a lot of heat. At even moderate doses, DNP
users feel like they are running a fever. Unlike most drugs, DNP has no upper limit of activity, the more you take the more
of an effect you get in terms of both metabolic rate increase and temperature increase. Beyond a certain point, body
temperature goes up above a critical point and you cook yourself and your brain from the inside out. Overdose on DNP and
you can very readily kill yourself and this is no exaggeration.
And if this happens, there is no help to be had. DNP stays in the body for a solid 36 hours and if you take too much you just
have to wait it out. The hospital will give you an ice water enema and stick you in an ice bath in an attempt to keep you
from poaching from the inside out and there have been a few nasty cases recently where bodybuilders took way too much
and ended up cooking their brains.
To say that DNP is THE most dangerous compound (insulin is close) that people could consider using is an understatement.
Most things give you some wiggle room with dosing but one massive DNP screwup leaves you dead or wishing you were.
DNP was insanely popular in the early part of the 20th century and found it's way into the, then unregulated, diet industry.
Unfortunately, this caused people to take too much and there was unpleasantness. There was a slight increase in cataracts
and between that and side effects, DNP was pulled and regulated.
Later on, DNP made a comeback by a weight loss doctor who combined it with thyroid hormone for a potent fat loss
combination for obesity treatment. He was eventually discovered by notorious drug guru Dan Duchaine who re-popularized
it in the bodybuilding subculture in the late 90's.
Thankfully, given that high doses make people feel miserable and have some potential risks, the current trend for DNP use
is lower doses for long periods. Even 100-200 mg/day can ramp metabolic rate by 10-20% (and given DNP's half-life the
amounts sort of build up) without causing folks to feel like they want to die.
I honestly don't expect many people to even consider using DNP. It's hard and expensive to get (if you don't know how, you
don't need to be using it) since it's not actually thought to be for human consumption. It's actually used as a bug poison
(burns them up from the inside) and researchers use it to study and/or kill yeast.
It can be sourced online, usually someone gets ahold of a bottle, caps it and sells it at exorbitant prices (like $1 per pill). If
you can find a bottle of it, $20 worth will last pretty much your entire life but you have to know how to cap it yourself. It's
messy, stains your hands orange and is a big hassle. But it works like nothing else.
Everything else, ephedrine, clenbuterol, thyroid and even beta-blockers can all be ordered far more easily from online
pharmacies (I won't give you sources in this book).
Diet
Readers may note that I didn't talk much about diet in this booklet which is kind of rare for me. Surprisingly, there is simply
not a lot of work on how diet or nutrition impacts on ANP or any of these processes. What little exists is invariably in heart
failure patients or rats (who have a very different system for the NP's).
I would point out that none of this stuff in terms of fat mobilization, etc. will work unless you are in a caloric deficit. The
only way to ultimately burn fat off the body is a deficit and mobilization is only part of that equation. You need to burn the
fatty acids by reducing total food intake below maintenance, by increasing exercise (see below) or both. At least a 15- 20%
caloric deficit should be used and you can see articles on my site about how to set up a basic fat loss diet.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-fundamentals-of-fat-loss-diets-part-1.html/
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-fundamentals-of-fat-loss-diets-part-2.html/
I would offer that due to it's tendency to lower blood pressure in and of itself, a very-low carbohydrate diet will be a
mistake. Beta-blockers can reduce BP and there is real concern over dropping it too low (of course folks who already have
high BP don't have to worry about this much). Certainly carbs can be moderated to reduce calories and insulin and such but
don't go to ketogenic (less than 100-120 grams of carbs per day) or very low carb levels.
Beta-blockers can have an effect on protein synthesis but this can be overcome with sufficient dietary protein and resistance
training (which should be part and parcel of any diet anyhow).
Lean athletes won't have any problem with getting enough protein but many general dieters simply don't eat enough protein.
Leaner individuals should get at least 1 gram of protein per pound and sometimes even 1.5 g per pound is needed.
Fatter individuals can get away with less, perhaps 0.75 g/lb of protein per day. Given that protein helps to blunt hunger,
eating more than that won't hurt and may help on a diet even if it's not absolutely required.
Exercise
I should probably mention aerobic exercise here. Because while all of the above is incredible in terms of thermogenic
effects and fat mobilization, we still need to optimally burn off the fatty acids being mobilized. With the exception of DNP,
which more or less makes exercise superfluous, I'd recommend anybody trying the stacks I'm going to describe combine it
with some form of aerobic exercise. Low intensity is fine, some research shows that higher intensity raises ANP more but
you shouldn't need that.
Just pick an intensity that is challenging but not impossible and put in your 30-60 minutes. You could even try one of the
higher intensity stubborn fat protocols, just realize that your heart rate may not go as high as you think it should due to the
beta blocker. You should generally wait at least an hour after taking whatever stack you end up taking to do your cardio.
None of these drugs are immediately acting and you want to wait for fatty acids to build up before burning them off.
And while fasted cardio has recently gotten crapped on in a literature review, at least some of the compounds above work
best when insulin is low. Certainly it's nice that ANP sidesteps the insulin issue but most of the above will still work
optimally in a low insulin state. So wake up, take what you're taking, wait an hour and get to the gym or outside.
I'd also add that heavy resistance training should be included for anyone dieting to spare muscle loss (remember that
resistance training appears to do nothing for ANP but there is almost no research on the topic). A minimum of twice per
week is recommended and I imagine most athletes will do more than that. You can read my suggestions for weight training
on a diet in the following articles.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html/
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-2.html/
So let's look at potential stacks from simple to insane.
If ephedrine is unavailable, consider using 300 mg of ECGC/green tea or 1-2 mg of nicotine (patch or gum) with a200mg of
caffeine.
Stack 6: Long-Acting Beta Blocker plus Clen plus DNP plus Thyroid
At this point we're going all in for what will either be the most amazing or most lethal combination. We've got a long- acting
beta-blocker (i.e. Metoprolol ER) to keep ANP elevated and trigger lipolysis. To that add clenbuterol for some nice beta-2
agonism for all of the effects described in this book (lipolysis, thermogenesis, beige fat activation/recruitment, and appetite
suppression). Throw in some DNP at 100-200 mg/day (tops), the mother of all thermogenics to burn off all of those fatty
acids.
This won't help with anything but burning off the fatty acids being mobilized from the fat cells but you pretty much won't
need cardio if you do it this way. Throw in a bit of thyroid at 25-50mcg per day to potentiate the clen and plan on ketotifen
at 1 mg/day if you even need to diet longer than 2-3 weeks. To say this will make you a fat burning machine would be an
understatement.
Variations on a Theme
And I imagine creative readers can come up on other variations on this theme. Just keep the primary goal of all of this in
mind. Raising ANP with a beta-blocker either acutely (for fat mobilization effects) or longer term to activate/hopefully
create more beige fat.
Add to that a beta-agonist such as EC or clen for exactly the same reason. Small amounts of thyroid can have it's place,
yohimbine helps with fat mobilization (less so with the other effects), DNP is the mother of all thermogenics that most
people are probably better off not messing around with.
Selected References
Since the reality is that most don't care about full reference lists (and the ones who do can generally look up what they need
themselves, especially if you give them a place to start), I'm not going to provide a complete reference list for this booklet.
Rather, I'm going to give some selected references, focusing on some of the major points I addressed in this book. I'll make
short commentary on them so you know what they are dealing with.
The paper showing that ANP increases fat oxidation and mobilization with the consumption of a high-fat meal.
Bouissou P et. al. Effects of propranolol and pindolol on plasma ANP levels in humans at rest and during exercise. Am J
Physiol. 1989 Aug;257(2 Pt 2):R259-64.
Another paper showing that beta-blockers raise ANP in humans at rest and during exercise.
Brown/Beige Fat
van Marken Lichtenbelt Brown adipose tissue and the regulation of nonshivering thermogenesis. W Curr Opin Clin Nutr
Metab Care. 2012 Nov;15(6):547-52.
One of the papers discussing the rediscovery of human brown adipose tissue (before the realization that it was beige).
Wu J et. al. Genes Dev. 2013 Feb 1;27(3):234-50. Adaptive thermogenesis in adipocytes: is beige the new brown?
A recent paper looking at the shift in concept for brown adipose and beige adipose tissue in humans.
Schlueter N Metabolic actions of natriuretic peptides and therapeutic potential in the metabolic syndrome. Pharmacol Ther.
2014 Oct;144(1):12-27.
A paper suggesting that the NP's may be useful for combating obesity, etc. by increasing lipolysis, fat burning and
mitochondrial function.
Whittle AJ1, Vidal-Puig A. NPs -- heart hormones that regulate brown fat? J Clin Invest. 2012 Mar;122(3):804-7.
One of several papers suggesting that the NP's regulate brown function and activity (now beige) fat.
Bordicchia M Cardiac natriuretic peptides act via p38 MAPK to induce the brown fat thermogenic program in mouse and
human adipocytes. J Clin Invest. 2012 Mar;122(3):1022-36.
The paper showing that NP's both by themselves and in conjunction with beta-2 receptor activation can induce
mitochondrial density, oxygen consumption and the gene program that activates/makes more beige fat.
Elsen M Browning of white fat: does irisin play a role in humans? J Endocrinol. 2014 Jul;222(1):R25-38.
One of many papers examining the role of irisin in humans and beige fat.
Scalzo RL et. al. Regulators of human white adipose browning: evidence for sympathetic control and sexual dimorphic
responses to sprint interval training. PLoS One. 2014 Mar 6;9(6):e90696.
A paper looking at sprint training which found that women but not men increased irisin in response to sprint training which
might play a role in making more beige fat.
Brooks S et. al. The hormonal responses to repetitive brief maximal exercise in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol.
1990;60(2):144-8.
The paper showing that sprint training raises ANP, more in women than men, at the very end of the sprinting.
Roberts LD et. al. -Aminoisobutyric acid induces browning of white fat and hepatic -oxidation and is inversely correlated
with cardiometabolic risk factors. Cell Metab. 2014 Jan 7;19(1):96-108.
The paper showing that BAIBA is involved in the browning of white fat and that a 20 week exercise program raises BAIBA
to similar levels as seen in mouse/rat models.
Obregon MJ. Adipose tissues and thyroid hormones. Front Physiol. 2014 Dec 11;5:479.
A nice review of the role of thyroid on fat cells including it's role in inducing beige fat.
Beta-Blocker Effects
Sharma AM et. al. Hypothesis: Beta-adrenergic receptor blockers and weight gain: A systematic analysis. Hypertension.
2001 Feb;37(2):250-4. Meta-analysis of studies on the topic showing a slight weight gain with chronic beta-blocker use.
Buemann B A 24-h energy expenditure study on reduced-obese and nonobese women: effect of beta-blockade. J Clin Nutr.
1992 Oct;56(4):662-70.
The study showing a 2.7% reduction in metabolic rate with beta-blockers. Other studies have shown a greater impact.
Luchner A Augmentation of the cardiac natriuretic peptides by beta-receptor antagonism: evidence from a populationbased study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1998 Dec;32(7):1839-44.
Paper showing that beta-blocker drugs reliably raise NP levels.
Gordon RD et. al.Effects of felodipine, metoprolol and their combination on blood pressure at rest and during exercise and
on volume regulatory hormones in hypertensive patients. Blood Press. 1995 Sep;4(5):300-6.
One of a few papers in non-hypertensive, non-heart failure patients showing that beta-blockers affect natriuretic peptides.
Tsai RC et. al.Effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide during exercise in humans. J
Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1988 May;11(5):614-8.
An early paper showing that beta-blockers led to an increase in ANP both during and after exercise.
Deray G et. al. Beta-adrenoceptor blockade potentiates exercise-induced release of atrial natriuretic peptide. Eur J Clin
Pharmacol. 1990;38(4):363-6.
An early study in healthy individuals showing that beta-blockers, both generic and specific, increased the ANP release
during exercise.
Berlin I Beta-adrenoceptor blockade potentiates acute exercise-induced release of atrial natriuretic peptide by increasing
atrial diameter in normotensive healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1993;44(2):127-33.
Another paper showing that beta-blockers raise ANP in conjunction with exercise.
Berlin I Tertatolol potentiates exercise-induced atrial natriuretic peptide release by increasing atrial diameter in healthy
subjects. Cardiology. 1993;83 Suppl 1:16-24.
A paper by the same group showing that beta-blockers increase exercise related ANP release.
Stacks
Lanfontan M et. al. Alpha-2 adrenoceptors in lipolysis: alpha2 antagonists and lipid-mobilizing strategies. Am J Clin Nutr
(1992) 55: 219s-227s.
An early paper looking at the role of alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist (such as yohimbe) and how they might help with fat
loss.
Astrup A.Thermogenic drugs as a strategy for treatment of obesity. Endocrine. 2000 Oct;13(2):207-12. Review.
One of many reviews on the ephedrine/caffeine stack.
Harper JA et. al. Mitochondrial uncoupling as a target for drug development for the treatment of obesity. Obes Rev. 2001
Nov;2(4):255-65.
A great paper comparing thyroid hormone and DNP on metabolic uncoupling and raising metabolic rate. Concluding that
DNP is safer than thyroid in many ways.
MY OTHER BOOKS
Depending on what your typical reading materials are, you may or may not be familiar with my other books (I mean beyond
my endless mentioning of them in the text of this booklet) so I thought Id bring them to your attention in case you are at all
interested in what else I have written. All of them can be ordered through my website at http://www.bodyrecomposition.com
THE STUBBORN FAT SOLUTION (PUBLISHED 2008)
The book that this booklet adds a little bit to, The Stubborn Fat Solution was a decade long project, this expands on some of
the information found in The Ultimate Diet 2.0 with a focus on the physiological reasons that men and women both suffer
from stubborn body fat areas (specifically the abs/low back in men and hips/thighs in women).
Along with a complete discussion of all the reasons that cause stubborn fat to be stubborn, the book provides 4 distinct
training protocols along with diet and supplement recommendations to help folks strip stubborn fat from their body. Like
The Ultimate Diet 2.0, The Stubborn Fat solution is aimed at people who are already lean; unlike The Ultimate Diet 2.0, The
Stubborn Fat Solution Protocols do not require that training and diet be completely overhauled; rather the protocols can be
used within the diet and training program that the reader is already on.
THE RAPID FAT LOSS HANDBOOK (COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED IN 2008)
The Rapid Fat Loss handbook describes a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie crash diet capable of causing total weight losses of
10-20 pounds and actual fat losses of 4-7 pounds in only two weeks. How to set up the diet, how optimally to train, in
addition to many chapters dealing with coming off the diet present an integrated system of training and nutrition for the
most rapid fat losses possible.
THE PROTEIN BOOK: A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR THE ATHLETE AND COACH (PUBLISHED 2007)
Similar to my first book on the ketogenic diet, The Protein Book is a comprehensive look at the topic of dietary protein for
athletes. Every topic from basic protein metabolism, protein requirements, nutrient timing around training and supplements
is discussed. As well, each whole food protein and protein powder is examine in terms of its pros and cons for athletes. Of
course, how to put all of the information together for different kinds of athletes (strength/power, endurance, physique) is
included. The book is over 200 pages and includes over 500 scientific references.
A GUIDE TO FLEXIBLE DIETING (PUBLISHED 2005)
The Guide to Flexible Dieting is not a diet or diet book per se, rather it deals with the behavioral issues behind dieting
failures. Addressing in some detail how bodyweight is regulated, along with how diets can fail dieters and dieters can fail on
their diets, it deals with the idea that being more flexible with ones diet, by allowing free meals, refeeds and even full diet
breaks can make them work better in the long-run.
BROMOCRIPTINE: AN OLD DRUG WITH A NEW USE (PUBLISHED 2002)
My second booklet is sort of incorrectly named. Ostensibly its about a drug called Bromocriptine (which has been used for
the treatment of Parkinsons disease for about 30 years) but it really delves into the details of body weight regulation in
some detail. I dont even mention the titular drug until about chapter 6, the first 5 chapters are all about body weight
regulation. This booklet is fully referenced and written in a more conversational and readable style than my first. It is
available only as an e-book.
THE KETOGENIC DIET: A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR THE DIETER AND PRACTITIONER (PUBLISHED
1998)
This was my first project and its a monster. Its 325 pages of information dense text with over 600 scientific references. To
say that it is the be-all, end-all guidebook for low-carbohydrate/ketogenic diets is an understatement. Theres really no other
book in its category. I should note that it is written in a very different style than this booklet or my others; its somewhat dry
and very technical. It covers nutritional and exercise physiology and gives recommendations for three different types of
low-carbohydrate diets, as well as sample exercise programs from beginner to advanced. It is really for the hardcore lowcarbohydrate dieter who truly wants to know everything that is going on in their body when they are in ketosis.