DecaVol RD: Does it Live Up to the Hype?

DecaVol RD (rapid dissolve) is a diet supplement designed by Advanced Muscle Science to boost muscle performance through hormone control. As far as hype goes, the company is really the only one sounding the horn here as there are dozens of similar diet supplements.  At first, androstene supplements garnered a lot of interest because of their ability to increase testosterone levels, but in terms of weight loss or even muscle gain there isn’t a lot of evidence to get excited about.

How Does DecaVol RD Work?

The primary ingredient in DecaVol RD is called “NorAndrostene-3b-ol, 17-one”, which we can only assume is their “tweaked” version of 4-Androstene-3,6,17-trione, also known as 6-OXO. This is an irreversible aromatase inhibitor, which basically keeps free testosterone from being converted into estrogen/estradiol.  By shutting off the degradation pathway of testosterone, its levels increase in your body and theoretically help you build muscle faster.

An in-depth clinical study at Baylor University on the effects of the chemical “indicate that eight weeks of 6-OXO supplementation had no effect on body composition or clinical safety markers, but incompletely inhibited aromatase activity and significantly increased endogenous DHT levels that were attenuated after a three-week washout period.” So basically, it may increase your testosterone levels, but is not the kind of diet supplement that will help you lose weight or make you look different.

DecaVol RD Side Effects

The most common side effects are oily skin, acne, and increased sun-sensitivity in the skin but you should not take DecaVol RD if you have any history or risk of high blood pressure, heart problems, kidney disease, thyroid disorder, or psychiatric disease. If you have difficulty urinating,  experience prostate enlargement, anxiety, depression, or have a seizure disorder you should not take DecaVol RD.

DecaVol RD Ingredient Highlights

While a typical dosage regimen for androstene type products is between 200–600 mg each day and for a 4-6 week cycle, the DecaVol RD formula offers a much lower dose:

DecaVol RD Proprietary Blend – 60 mg -

• NorAndrostene-3b-ol, 17-one
• Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrine – accounting for an unknown amount of the 60 mg blend, HPBC is a chemical that is meant to improve the delivery and absorption of the NorAndrostene by serving as a carrier for the hydrophobic molecule to reach the bloodstream. HPBC has also been claimed to bind fat, but there is no evidence that it has any use for weight loss.

Rapid Dissolve Agent – 400 mg

• F-Melt: A formula designed to help the tablet dissolve quickly in your mouth so that you get the ingredients in your bloodstream more quickly. Other than increasing the speed of delivery it isn’t clear that this improves the quality of effect.

Honestly its pretty disappointing that the vast majority of the DecaVol RD formula is just the delivery system. It’s kind of like getting a huge, beautifully wrapped present for your birthday and finding only a small gift certificate inside for a week at the local gym.

Should You Try DecaVol RD?

Based on the evidence available on androstene products, we probably wouldn’t even recommend DecaVol RD even if it had the recommended dose (over 200 mg). As nifty as their chemical delivery system may be (and we’re not convinced of that either) there just isn’t anything in here to qualify it as a legitimate diet supplement for weight loss or even muscle gain.  It sells for the not-so-low price of $60 on the official AMS website but doesn’t even come with a satisfaction guarantee. For all of these reasons, we’d say don’t bother with a diet supplement like DecaVol RD.  There are plenty of better diet supplements out there.