1,3 DMAA and High Blood Pressure

I recently moved jobs to a company that sells medical devices, one of those being blood pressure monitors. As a result I’ve been taking my blood pressure daily at work. I’ve noticed that while I’m not on 1,3 DMAA + caffeine my blood pressure is in the normal range (120/80) but while I’m regularly taking 1,3 DMAA + caffeine, it enters the “pre-hypertension” range (130/90). A couple of times it’s gotten as high as 140/93 but I think that was a result of stress.

My question is, although I’m in my mid-20’s, not overweight, should I worry since I have a family history of heart disease?

I generally lift weights sometime between 9pm-11:30pm and take my blood pressure at work aroudn 10am-11am. I only do about 30min/cardio of week, should I do more?

This is a way loaded question.

First, before I give my extremely uninformed opinion, I am in my 20’s, not overweight, regularly take 1.3 and find no deviation in blood pressure measurings when I’m consistently taking it or not.

That being said, I think it’s probably in your best interest to make an honest assessment if you believe the juice to be worth the squeeze. As much as I’d like to assert 1.3 is perfectly fine and safe, it has recently been banned for a reason (all other merits of the FDA are side-barred here,) because it has not been proven safe -or- anything otherwise in a long-term study. So - if you are noticing negative health effects from taking the substance, only you can ultimately decide if it’s worth it.

Does 130/90 sound like a radical number worth being concerned over? I wouldn’t think so. Do I have the same body as you? Certainly not. I’m also not a medical professional.

That being said, there are many compounds much more beneficial to a physique and its progress (I’m guessing you can surmise what I’m referring to) that also have health risks associated with them. Again - Is the juice worth the squeeze? There are plenty of pre-workout supplements without 1.3 these days that many enjoy.

The time of working out vs when you take your blood pressure have so many X factors. Is it mild White Coat Hypertension? How could your food choices be affecting this number? Stress? So on and so forth.

And lastly, yes, 30 minutes of cardio seems pretty lame if you have any interest in overall health. I know a lot of Really Big people who do cumulative hours of cardio (weekly) even when off-season. Why would you not be good to your heart in this regard? It also won’t hurt the bodyfat levels, either.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I think I should ditch it, I have a family history of heart disease on both my mother’s and father’s side. I skimp on Cardio because I’d rather not be in the gym 2 hours a day… it generally takes me 60-75min to finish my weight training session.

No I don’t think it’s white coat hypertension because the high blood pressure goes away once I’m off the stuff.

First off - that’s an excellent, thorough post from SSC.

rajraj - while your parents have almost certainly passed down predispositions, are you already showing markers for increased risk of heart disease? (low HDL, high total chol:HDL ratio, high triglycerides etc)

If even remotely so, get lean asap. (no, cardio isn’t required for that but you should embrace it anyway, as SSC advised. it really does make everything better)

I haven’t had a physical in years, so I’m going get one very soon to find out if I am showing any signs. I will book it in 2 weeks or so after being off 1,3 DMAA for a little bit just so none of my readings are artificially elevated.

Even if I’m not showing any signs, I think I’m going to spend the next couple of months getting leaner just in case.

On the cardio part - I don’t generally do it more than once a week while bulking/maintaining weight but I have done it regularly while all out dieting.

So I have reluctance to do cardio only when my goal isn’t to get leaner.

[quote]SSC wrote:
And lastly, yes, 30 minutes of cardio seems pretty lame if you have any interest in overall health. I know a lot of Really Big people who do cumulative hours of cardio (weekly) even when off-season. Why would you not be good to your heart in this regard? It also won’t hurt the bodyfat levels, either.[/quote]

I also own 3 Poliquin books where he spends an inordinate amount of time bashing cardio and it’s relation to heart health :stuck_out_tongue:

Train your heart for a stronger heart? What a wild idea!

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]SSC wrote:
And lastly, yes, 30 minutes of cardio seems pretty lame if you have any interest in overall health. I know a lot of Really Big people who do cumulative hours of cardio (weekly) even when off-season. Why would you not be good to your heart in this regard? It also won’t hurt the bodyfat levels, either.[/quote]

I also own 3 Poliquin books where he spends an inordinate amount of time bashing cardio and it’s relation to heart health :P[/quote]

I love Poliquin for his irreverence as much as his wealth of hands-on experience, but let’s set aside the cardioprotective aspect and instead focus on the vascular benefits to be gained as well.

On that view, the entire body obviously benefits (and yep, that means better sex as well)

Raj, stop lifting heavy immediately and spend at least 1-2 hours a day on the stair master. I don’t want you having a heart attack before the Lakers beat the Heat in the NBA finals this year.

:wink:

Does anyone know why DMAA was banned? Is it because it raises blood pressure to unsafe levels or did some people die from it? Supplements with DMAA in them are cheap right now because they are being discontinued.

[quote]Grimlorn wrote:
Does anyone know why DMAA was banned? Is it because it raises blood pressure to unsafe levels or did some people die from it? Supplements with DMAA in them are cheap right now because they are being discontinued.[/quote]

It was banned because the FDA can’t prove that it is or is not harmful on a long-term basis.

Which is absolutely asinine, considering the crap “foods” they allow stores to sell.