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Research compound — not a dietary supplement
Boldenone (Equipoise) is a research compound, not a regulated dietary supplement. It is sold for research or off-label use. The evidence below is largely preclinical (animal and in-vitro) or early-stage, so no evidence score is assigned. This page is provided for transparency and education — it is not a recommendation to use. Consult a qualified healthcare provider, and be aware that purity, dosing, and legal status vary by jurisdiction.
What the evidence says
Most Boldenone (Equipoise) studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from mixed-quality studies published 2016–2022.
Based on 6 studies
Confidence
LowBy outcome
Boldenone (Equipoise) has an evidence score of 3/10 — emerging evidence based on 6 indexed studies. A VETERINARY anabolic-androgenic steroid — boldenone undecylenate, brand Equipoise ('EQ') — licensed for horses, NOT humans, and a DEA Schedule III controlled substance. There are ZERO human efficacy trials and no human approval: the entire evidence base is animal toxicology, livestock growth-promoter studies, and forensic residue/anti-doping detection work, none of which shows a human benefit. What that animal literature does show is harm: testicular degeneration and androgen-receptor down-regulation with suppressed LH/FSH/testosterone, liver and kidney oxidative damage, cardiac toxicity, and a rise in red-cell mass — and because boldenone aromatizes to estrogen, illicit users report gynecomastia on top of the shared AAS harms (HPTA suppression, adverse lipids, virilization). It is NOT a dietary supplement, NOT a longevity drug, and illegal to possess or use without authorization. Informational, harm-reduction entry only — not a recommendation, and there is no legitimate human use to recommend. Representative study: PMID 33126548.
Yohimbine
Mostly mechanism / observationalThe purified alkaloid (not crude yohimbe bark) — an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist with modest evidence for erectile dysfunction and fasted fat loss, but real anxiety and cardiovascular risks and notoriously mislabeled supplement potency.
Ephedrine
Mostly mechanism / observationalLast reviewed June 2026 · evidence from 6 studies · how we score
This information is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting, stopping, or changing any supplement or medication.
Boldenone undecylenate (Equipoise, 'EQ') — an injectable veterinary anabolic-androgenic steroid; DEA Schedule III controlled substance with NO human approval and NO human efficacy trials
A VETERINARY anabolic-androgenic steroid — boldenone undecylenate, brand Equipoise ('EQ') — licensed for horses, NOT humans, and a DEA Schedule III controlled substance. There are ZERO human efficacy trials and no human approval: the entire evidence base is animal toxicology, livestock growth-promoter studies, and forensic residue/anti-doping detection work, none of which shows a human benefit. What that animal literature does show is harm: testicular degeneration and androgen-receptor down-regulation with suppressed LH/FSH/testosterone, liver and kidney oxidative damage, cardiac toxicity, and a rise in red-cell mass — and because boldenone aromatizes to estrogen, illicit users report gynecomastia on top of the shared AAS harms (HPTA suppression, adverse lipids, virilization). It is NOT a dietary supplement, NOT a longevity drug, and illegal to possess or use without authorization. Informational, harm-reduction entry only — not a recommendation, and there is no legitimate human use to recommend.
Boldenone (Equipoise/'EQ') is a VETERINARY anabolic-androgenic steroid with NO human approval, NO human efficacy trials, and Schedule III controlled-substance status. Its entire evidence base is animal toxicology, livestock growth-promoter studies, and forensic residue/detection work — none of which demonstrates a human benefit, and most of which documents harm: testicular degeneration with androgen-receptor down-regulation and suppressed LH/FSH/testosterone (Behairy 2020), liver and kidney oxidative damage (Dornelles 2017), cardiac toxicity (Tousson 2018), and a rise in red-cell mass alongside hepatorenal damage in livestock (Elmajdoub 2016). It aromatizes to estrogen (gynecomastia in illicit users), suppresses the HPTA, and carries the shared AAS risks. There is no human use to weigh in its favor, so the score sits low — reflecting an animal-only harm literature, not a supported benefit.
Boldenone is a synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) — 1-dehydrotestosterone, a testosterone analogue with a double bond at the 1,2 position — almost always encountered as the long-acting undecylenate ester sold under the veterinary brand Equipoise and known in gyms as 'EQ'.
Its only legitimate market is veterinary: it is licensed for use in horses (and has been studied as an illicit growth promoter in cattle and poultry).
It has NEVER been approved for humans, there are NO human efficacy trials, and in the United States it is a Schedule III controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act — possession or distribution without authorization is a federal crime.
Unlike a handful of the other steroids in this collection (e.g. nandrolone, oxandrolone) that carry real randomized human evidence in narrow supervised indications, boldenone has none.
The honest description of its evidence base is that it consists entirely of (1) animal toxicology — predominantly rodent studies of testicular, hepatic, renal, cardiac and neurobehavioral harm; (2) livestock studies evaluating it as an illegal growth promoter and characterizing the organ damage and residues that follow; and (3) forensic and anti-doping work on detecting boldenone and its metabolites in animal tissue and urine.
There is no body of work showing it helps a human do anything. What the animal literature does establish is the harm profile.
In adult male rats, boldenone undecylenate produces testicular oxidative damage with reduced sperm count and motility, falls in luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and intratesticular testosterone, and down-regulation of the androgen receptor in testicular tissue (Behairy 2020) — direct evidence of hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular-axis suppression and impaired fertility.
A dose-and-time study of boldenone (with stanozolol) found degenerative changes in the seminiferous epithelium compatible with infertility at longer exposures (Bueno 2017).
Boldenone undecylenate raises liver enzymes and drives oxidative stress in liver and kidney tissue in rats (Dornelles 2017), and induces cardiac toxicity via NADPH-oxidase-driven reactive-oxygen-species generation with raised cardiac-injury markers and an adverse lipid shift (Tousson 2018).
As an androgen, boldenone also stimulates erythropoiesis — in broilers it significantly raised erythrocyte count, hemoglobin and hematocrit while damaging the liver and kidney, which is exactly why authorities discourage it as a growth promoter (Elmajdoub 2016).
And because boldenone aromatizes to estrogen (it is structurally a ready substrate for aromatase), illicit human users commonly report estrogenic effects including gynecomastia — on top of the class harms shared by all AAS: HPTA/testosterone suppression, lowered HDL, virilization in women, and the cardiovascular risk of supraphysiologic androgen use.
The score reflects the reality squarely: a veterinary steroid with ZERO human efficacy trials and no human approval, an evidence base that is animal toxicology and forensic residue detection rather than benefit, documented organ toxicity (testis, liver, kidney, heart) and HPTA suppression in animals, aromatization to estrogen, and Schedule III legal status.
It is not a dietary supplement, not a longevity drug, and there is no medical or performance use this library endorses.
Boldenone is 1-dehydrotestosterone, a testosterone analogue that binds and activates the androgen receptor, driving anabolic (protein-building) signalling — the basis of its use as an illicit muscle-building and livestock growth-promoting agent. Paradoxically, chronic high-dose exposure in rats DOWN-regulates the androgen receptor in testicular tissue, part of the picture of testicular dysfunction it produces.
Boldenone is a substrate for aromatase and converts to estrogenic metabolites. This estrogenic activity is why illicit human users commonly report gynecomastia and estrogen-related side effects, distinguishing it from non-aromatizing steroids and adding an estrogenic harm on top of its androgenic ones.
Like other androgens, boldenone stimulates erythropoiesis, raising red-cell mass (hemoglobin/hematocrit) — shown in livestock alongside liver and kidney damage. Exogenous androgen also suppresses the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis (lowered LH, FSH and endogenous testosterone), and the animal literature documents oxidative damage to the testes, liver, kidney and heart, the dominant signal in boldenone's evidence base.
How Boldenone (Equipoise) works — from molecular targets to health outcomes. Click an edge to see supporting research.This visualization is in beta — pathways are being refined and expanded.
Tap node to isolate • Pinch to zoom • Tap edge for research
There is no legitimate human dose. Boldenone is a VETERINARY anabolic-androgenic steroid and a DEA Schedule III controlled substance with no human approval and no human efficacy trials; this library does NOT provide a human dosing protocol of any kind. For context only, the animal toxicology studies typically dosed boldenone undecylenate at roughly 5 mg/kg intramuscularly once weekly in rats — a research dose used to characterize harm, not a human recommendation. Illicit bodybuilding 'EQ' dosing (commonly hundreds of mg per week intramuscularly) is unstudied in humans, unmonitored, and illegal without authorization.
Can be taken without food
| Form | Type |
|---|---|
| 💊Veterinary intramuscular boldenone undecylenate (Equipoise) — for veterinary use in horses only; no human form is endorsed | Recommended |
There is no legitimate over-the-counter, supplement or human-prescription form. It is a Schedule III controlled substance; non-veterinary material ('EQ') is illegal to possess without authorization and frequently counterfeit.
Minimum: 4 weeks
Optimal: 8 weeks
Cycling: Not required
Note: No human timing is endorsed. Boldenone is a veterinary controlled-substance steroid with no human approval, animal organ-toxicity and HPTA-suppression signals, and aromatization to estrogen. This library does not schedule its use.
Dose-response data unavailable. The current published research for Boldenone (Equipoise) does not provide sufficient dose-specific outcome data to generate reliable dose-response curves.
Refer to the Dosage & Timing section above for recommended dose ranges based on available evidence.
There are no human approval, no human efficacy trials, and no demonstrated human benefit for boldenone of any kind. It is a veterinary steroid; everything known comes from animal toxicology, livestock growth-promoter studies, and forensic residue/anti-doping detection. Any 'benefit' attributed to it in bodybuilding is extrapolated from animal androgen effects, not from human evidence.
In adult male rats, boldenone undecylenate causes testicular oxidative damage, reduced sperm count and motility, lowered LH/FSH/testosterone and androgen-receptor down-regulation, with seminiferous-epithelium degeneration compatible with infertility at longer exposures — direct evidence of HPTA suppression and impaired fertility.
Rat studies show hepatic and renal oxidative damage with raised liver enzymes, and NADPH-oxidase-driven cardiac toxicity with raised cardiac-injury markers and an adverse lipid shift. In broilers it damaged liver and kidney tissue. No protective human data offsets these signals.
Boldenone aromatizes to estrogen, and illicit human users commonly report gynecomastia and other estrogen-related effects — an estrogenic harm layered on top of the androgenic ones, distinguishing it from non-aromatizing AAS.
As an androgen, boldenone stimulates erythropoiesis — in livestock it significantly raised erythrocyte count, hemoglobin and hematocrit. In humans, an androgen-driven rise in hematocrit increases blood viscosity and thrombotic risk; here it is documented only in animals, alongside organ damage.
Boldenone is androgen-receptor-active and was evaluated as a livestock growth promoter — the basis of its illicit bodybuilding use. But the only anabolic evidence is in animals, it came bundled with organ toxicity in those same studies, and there is no human efficacy trial demonstrating safe or effective muscle gain.
Avoid — a veterinary controlled-substance steroid with no human evidence of benefit, a documented animal harm profile (testis/liver/kidney/heart), aromatization to estrogen, and illegal to use without authorization. Not a supplement.
Avoid — boldenone suppressed the gonadal axis and damaged the testes in animal studies; non-medical use risks impaired fertility with no monitoring.
Avoid — androgenic and aromatizable; virilizing effects can be permanent.
Avoid entirely — androgenic with fetal-virilization risk.
Anabolic steroids as a class can potentiate warfarin and raise bleeding risk; boldenone's interactions are uncharacterised in humans, so any concurrent use would be unmonitored and unpredictable.
Stacking androgenic agents compounds HPTA suppression, the adverse lipid shift, the rise in hematocrit and estrogenic effects; the combined harm is additive and entirely uncharacterised in non-medical use.
Tip: In rats, boldenone undecylenate lowered LH, FSH and testosterone, down-regulated the testicular androgen receptor, and degraded sperm count/motility with seminiferous-epithelium degeneration. As an exogenous androgen it suppresses the human HPTA too; recovery after non-medical use is variable and unmonitored.
Tip: Rat studies show raised liver enzymes and hepatic/renal oxidative stress; AAS abuse is associated with hepatocellular adenomas in human case reports. Liver injury can be silent — there is no safe self-monitoring framework for non-medical use.
Tip: Boldenone undecylenate caused NADPH-oxidase-driven cardiac toxicity with raised cardiac-injury markers and an adverse lipid shift in rats. AAS as a class lower HDL and are linked to cardiomyopathy/atherosclerosis at supraphysiologic doses; report chest pain, breathlessness or palpitations.
Tip: Boldenone aromatizes to estrogen; illicit users commonly report gynecomastia and estrogen-related effects. There is no monitored way to manage this in non-medical use.
The commonly studied dose of Boldenone (Equipoise) is There is no legitimate human dose. Boldenone is a VETERINARY anabolic-androgenic steroid and a DEA Schedule III controlled substance with no human approval and no human efficacy trials; this library does NOT provide a human dosing protocol of any kind. For context only, the animal toxicology studies typically dosed boldenone undecylenate at roughly 5 mg/kg intramuscularly once weekly in rats — a research dose used to characterize harm, not a human recommendation. Illicit bodybuilding 'EQ' dosing (commonly hundreds of mg per week intramuscularly) is unstudied in humans, unmonitored, and illegal without authorization.. Individual needs vary — start at the lower end of the range and adjust based on how you respond.
Timing is flexible for Boldenone (Equipoise) — consistent daily use matters more than the time of day. Boldenone undecylenate is a long-acting intramuscular veterinary ester.
Boldenone (Equipoise) should be used with caution — talk to a healthcare provider before taking it. The most commonly reported side effects are HPTA suppression & impaired fertility (animal), liver & kidney oxidative damage (animal), cardiac toxicity / adverse lipids. Use caution if any of these apply to you: Any human use — a VETERINARY DEA Schedule III controlled substance with no human approval and no human efficacy trials; possession/use without authorization is illegal, and it is not a dietary supplement; Anyone seeking it for body composition, performance or anti-aging — there is no human evidence of benefit and a documented animal harm profile; Pregnancy and breastfeeding — androgenic and aromatizable, with fetal-virilization risk.
A sympathomimetic stimulant — the 'E' in the ECA (ephedrine/caffeine/aspirin) fat-loss stack. Ephedrine plus caffeine genuinely produces MODEST fat loss in 6-month RCTs (~0.9 kg/month more than placebo, ~3 kg over a controlled diet trial). But that is the whole upside: ephedra alkaloids were BANNED from US dietary supplements in 2004 after the FDA tied them to cardiovascular and psychiatric harms and deaths (the JAMA meta-analysis found a 2.2–3.6× increase in psychiatric/autonomic/GI symptoms and palpitations). Pharmaceutical ephedrine survives only as a restricted behind-the-counter decongestant/vasopressor. NOT a dietary supplement, NOT a longevity drug — a gated harm-reduction entry.
Illicit users co-administer aromatase inhibitors to blunt boldenone's estrogenic (gynecomastia) effects; this is an unmonitored attempt to manage a harm of an unapproved drug, not a sanctioned regimen, and crashing estrogen has its own risks.
Boldenone undecylenate raised liver enzymes and drove hepatic oxidative stress in rats; combining it with other hepatotoxic agents or heavy alcohol adds avoidable liver risk.
Tip: Androgen-driven erythropoiesis raises red-cell mass (shown in livestock); in humans a rising hematocrit increases blood viscosity and clot risk. Unmonitored in non-medical use.
Tip: As an androgen, boldenone can cause deepened voice, hirsutism and other virilizing changes that may be irreversible in women. Avoid entirely.