Myostatin is a protein found in muscle tissue that literally puts the brakes on muscle growth. In simple terms, the higher the amount of the myostatin gene, the less muscle you will have. Everyone has myostatin, the amount you have is dictated by genetics. It is vital for survival, if you didn't have it, you would literally grow muscle without limits, although this sounds exciting, you would end up being so muscle bound, normal movements such as walking and running, etc… would become very hard.
Myostatin is all the rage at present, after researchers were able to knock out the myostatin gene in lab mice. The ones that had the gene knocked out at birth had at least 3 times the bodyweight, size, muscle and strength than any other mice and no more calories were required . Researchers from the University of Liege at Belgium showed that an extremely muscular breed of cows known as the Belgian Blue bull has a genetic mutation in the myostatin gene, causing the cow to be literally double the muscle of an average cow! You can understand why unscrupulous supplement companies are falling over themselves to produce myostatin blocking supplements.
Here's a little bit of background. First the myostatin gene and the myostatin protein are different. It’s the gene that produces the protein, which in turn “shuts down” muscle growth. These so called myostatin inhibitor supplements contain CSP-3, a compound extracted from a rare form of marine algae, known as Cystoseira canariensis. This CSP-3 is supposed to “deactivate” the myostatin protein. So, does it work? Firstly, it’s important to understand there have been absolutely no studies published to show that this stuff is effective at promoting muscle growth or blocking myostatin. Not one. Unlike Creatine, HMB, or whey protein, there is no evidence showing that CSP-3 is a safe or effective way to build muscle faster, it is all theory and hype, with some big (but dubious) sports nutrition brands trying to capitalise on the buzz surrounding the myostatin research.
Moreover, the scientists who have been able to block the myostatin gene in animals didn’t achieve this by giving the animals a supplement, capsule, pill or injecting them. Instead, they used the latest, state-of-the-art genetic engineering methods. Cell cloning and gene manipulation were used to produce animals without the myostatin gene. This is cutting-edge, multi-million dollar genetic research. In the next decade, huge pharmaceutical companies could make myostatin “blockers” available on prescription for extreme wasting conditions.
If blocking myostatin was as easy as taking a few pills, these scientists wouldn’t even be bothering to carry on with their research! They’d all be buying the frigging supplements! At present there are 3 U.S brands producing 'myostatin blocking' supplements with no research at all, just hype. They all claim to have found the holy grail of oral myostatin blockers, yet have no patents, can't provide the evidence, as it's too secret, etc… it's just another scam to remove money from your wallet. Please understand one thing, if I could offer you a product that could block myostatin, I'd sell it to you tomorrow, but at present there is nothing proven to work and conning you doesn't do well for happy satisfied customers. If you come across this, leave it on the shelf or ask for your money back if you bought it in good faith.
