[Lotus]

Hi everyone, just wanted to share this post on BO I made over on the ladies forum a couple of years ago. One of many concerns about using BO is you have no idea what hormones you might be getting. Harder to say what stage of the estrous ovarian cycle each cow is in. If indeed there's more progesterone in BO and less pituitary then one has to be concerned with the back door pathway conversion of progesterone to DHT via the androgen 3α-Androstanediol Glucuronide. Which can be verified by a blood test to see if progesterone is increasing DHT. Or, a simple sign might be increased shaving, or a more aggressive mood. This takes away from the idea of using BO as a pituitary supplement in my opinion. It also shouldn't be combined with PM or HRT because the fact it may have uncertain amounts of estrogen, which will undoubtedly compete with anyone's HRT program. Friends, please don't muck up your program with too much crosstalk between receptors, you'll stall breast growth. 

A primary feature of the androgen backdoor pathway is that 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) can be 5α-reduced and finally converted to 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) via an alternative route that bypasses the conventional[3] intermediates androstenedione and testosterone.[1][6]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen...or_pathway

Hi Nefertiddy, 

I'm not a fan of BO (i had horrible side effects). Here's one of many issues I have with BO, (and I posted on this 5-6 years ago) we don't know when cattle are harvested. Meaning cows (heifers) have (roughly) a 21 day estrous cycle. 


Each cycle consists of a long luteal phase (days 1-17) where the cycle is under the influence of progesterone and a shorter follicular phase (days 18-21) where the cycle is under the influence of estrogen. The cycle begins with standing heat, or estrus. This time of peak estrogen secretion can last from 6 to 24 hours, with ovulation occurring 24 to 32 hours after the beginning of estrus.
https://beef.unl.edu/learning/estrous.shtml

Here's questions we should ask:

1)Is the BO from 100% grass fed/grass finished, free of antibiotics, pesticides, hormones, and GMO. 2) When was livestock harvested?, meaning when in an estrous cycle (this is most likely unobtainable). 
3) How long did the BO sit around before being frozen and dissected. 
4) Is the livestock subjected to synchronization?. This process shortens the breeding period to less than 5 days, instead of females being bred over a 21-day period, depending on the treatment regimen.

Ovaries from non-pregnant cows and heifers, obtained shortly after slaughter, were extracted with ethyl acetate and then defatted in cold 70% methanol.

4.33 μg. of progesterone  
0.79 μg- of Δ4-pregnene-20β-ol-3-one per gram of ovarian tissue. 
A trace of Δ4-androstene-3,17-dione or Δ4-pregnene-20α-ol-3-one and a very polar material were also detected.

I know BO has 17 β-estradiol (E2), it's difficult to quantify how much based on cell cultures though. Rather, we can say Testosterone is being synthesized (converted) to Estrogen by way of aromatase, which raises estrogen. 

But...seeing how short of time estrogen is stimulated in BO it's safe to say BO consists of more progesterone than estrogen. 

But when to supplement w/BO?. I'm gonna say in Luteal. 

The decision is up to you to Nefertiddy, try and see how it works. Though don't follow the old tired mantra of taking massive amounts. 2 per day to start works ok. 

wow...

The timing of slaughter is a very good point, I highly doubt that there is any consideration taken to the cycle of the cows... I can imagine that would complicate production and if they did the big brands would definitely advertise it. Maybe this could explain why some end up with androgenic effects (acne seems to be common) while others are greatly successful with it.

It seems to be sold out everywhere so I have some time to consider it. This was great insight, thank you so much!