Hydrapharm : Elixir Natural Muscle Builder

Hydrapharm Elixir and Body Composition 

Hydrapharm is a brand known for its innovation and its constant pursuit to provide the highest quality upcoming products that take your performance to the next level.

A Succession of Stellar Products

Products like Hydrazine, the current market-leading pre-workout, raised the bar for the quality and effectiveness of the ingredients to give the users the mental and physical boost required for optimal performance in the gym. Similarly, the likes of Alchemy not only introduced new ingredients not seen before in the testosterone enhancement category, it rapidly gained the type of user feedback that led to it becoming the best-selling product of its kind on Predator Nutrition. We could carry on but quite simply, nobody does innovation and game-changing ingredients like Hydrapharm.

When word reached us that Hydrapharm were about to create their first ever glucose disposal agent, a type of supplement class concerned with optimising the regulation of blood sugar, and insulin levels to maximise muscle growth, carbohydrate storage and reduce bodyfat, to say the least there was some excitement at Predator HQ. Named Elixir, will this prove to be another hit supplement?

One Supplement to Rule Them All

Hydrapharm Elixir combines a range of innovative ingredients which aims to improve muscle insulin sensitivity and optimise nutrient handling leading to more amino acids and glycogen being directed to muscle cells. By better harnessing the power of insulin you not only effect greater gains in muscle recovery and muscle fullness but also a reduction in bodyfat. As such, Elixir is a supplement which stands out as one of a rare type which is equally effective regardless of if your primary goal is to build muscle and strength or if it is to boost fat loss while retaining the maximum amount of muscle.

Breaking Down the Elixir Formula

Consistent with the brand's heritage, Hydrapharm have sprung some surprises in the Elixir formula. While berberine and cinnamon extract are staples of GDA's for some time, with each ingredient having a wide body of research supporting its efficacy in improving the management of carbohydrate, the other two ingredients within Elixir are undoubtedly a rarer breed - Ecklonia Cava and Oxymatrine.

Ecklonia Cava is a type of brown algae which has an array of effects of note to both those interested in both enhancing fitness as well as health which includes its ability to modulate blood glucose levels [1] but much more besides with applications that make this an ingredient of interest due to its antioxidant effects, ability to lower bloody pressure [2] as well as its potential to reduce bodyfat [3] [4] and optimise insulin secretion. [5]

What this means for you as the user is that Ecklonia Cava will optimise both glucose management and insulin such that you see almost immediate improvements in such measures as lean body mass, glycogen storage and fat loss. As if all that wasn’t enough, one research focus for this ingredient is in a metabolite of it being used a way to promote hair growth as a means to combat androgenetic alopecia [6]. We can’t promise Elixir will deliver on that front but it does serve as a barometer for this ingredient’s potential. Fans of Black Lion Research’s Follidrone are already raving about this ingredient’s results so there is nothing if not a good track record behind Ecklonia Cava.

The other new ingredient in Elixir is one we have not seen anywhere else – Oxymatrine. Hydrapharm though have clearly been scouring a lot of journals in the far east as it is in that region where it has been the subject of a number of clinical trials which indicate that it is beneficial from a couple of angles of interest in a GDA.

First, Oxymatrine will further support the goal of reducing blood glucose levels and the associated improvements in glycogen strorage and fat loss associated with this. However, it goes beyond this by also having an innate anti-obesogenic effect by reducing not only blood glucose but also triglyceride and LDL cholesterol (often referred to as bad cholesterol) while at the same time increasing levels of serum insulin and glycogen levels while boosting HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) and muscle glucose transporter-4 levels. [7] [8]

While this is a lot to take in the takeaway is pretty simple in that Oxymatrine is a powerful tool and all the moreso when used in conjunction with the other ingredients found in Elixir.

What to Expect From Elixir

Insulin is often feared by dieters due to its tendency to promote fat gain but by using Elixir when dieting you will find that your are able to handle carbohydrates more efficiently so that instead of them causing you to become bloated or fat, you instead will find that your muscles soak up carbohydrates like a sponge leading to greater muscle fullness, vascularity and a trimmer, harder physique.

It stands apart from previous GDA supplements by including the 1-2 punch of Ecklonia Cava and Oxymatrine that have each not only the ability to optimise blood glucose and insulin management, thus enhancing fat loss, but also help increase the rate at which you can build muscle and strength via the downstream effects of hormones and fatty acid/glcuose transporters which each of these ingredients is capable of modulating in a fashion to support improvements in body composition.

[1] Effects of 12-week oral supplementation of Ecklonia cava polyphenols on anthropometric and blood lipid parameters in overweight Korean individuals: a double-blind randomized clinical trial (2011). Shin HC, Kim SH, Park Y, Lee BH, Hwang HJ.

[2] Effect of phlorotannins isolated from Ecklonia cava on angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity (2011). Wijesinghe WA, Ko SC, Jeon YJ.

[3] Mice lacking angiotensin-converting enzyme have increased energy expenditure, with reduced fat mass and improved glucose clearance (2008). Jayasooriya AP, Mathai ML, Walker LL, Begg DP, Denton DA, Cameron-Smith D, Egan GF, McKinley MJ, Rodger PD, Sinclair AJ, Wark JD, Weisinger HS, Jois M, Weisinger RS.

[4] Anti-adipogenic effect of dioxinodehydroeckol via AMPK activation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes (2010). Kim SK, Kong CS.

[5] Ecklonia cava Inhibits Glucose Absorption and Stimulates Insulin Secretion in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice (2012). Hye Kyung Kim

[6] Effect of Dieckol, a Component of Ecklonia cava, on the Promotion of Hair Growth (2012). Jung-Il Kang et al.

[7] Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of oxymatrine in high-fat diet and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (2014). Guo C et al.

[8] Protective effects of oxymatrine on experimental diabetic nephropathy, Planta Med. 80 (2014) 269–276. C. Guo, F. Han, C. Zhang, W. Xiao, Z. Yang,