Arms Race Nutrition Stabilize Updated to HIS and HERS Formulas

April 2022 Update: Arms Race Stabilize has been reformulated into two gender-specific Stabilize His and Stabilize Hers formulas!

The original Arms Race Stabilize formula – a whole-body hormone optimization formula – was a great success, but many customers wanted some specific benefits for themselves. So it’s been split into His and Hers formulas, with a few same base ingredients, but a few changes that are uniquely beneficial to men and women!

This article details the His formula below, but you can first comapre the updated labels:

His vs. Hers formulas

What we love about these formulas is that they both focus on three hormones that affect both men and women — cortisol, insulin, and estrogen. To help control them, both formulas utilize ashwagandha, berberine, and DIM (respectively), which are effective ingredients in both men and women.

However, women will get some extra menstrual (and menopause) support in chaste tree extract, alongside critical minerals like iodine and magnesium. Men get the feel-good, libido-boosting ingredients like maca and longjack, which will near definitely put some pep in their step.

You can see the availability using PricePlow, and sign up for alerts:

If you’re a woman, check out the Stabilize Hers formula, on a separate post. Below you can read about the Stabilize His formula, which now comes in a 168 capsule bottle size:

Stabilize His Ingredients

In a single, 6 capsule total daily serving of Arms Race Stabilize His, you get the following:

• Maca Powder (Lepidium meyenii) (root) – 2100 mg

  Maca is often thought of as a testosterone booster, but that isn’t exactly what it does. It’s more like an antioxidant energy booster. It has knock-on improvements for libido and fertility, as well as mood and cognition.

  

  Stabilize your insulin, cortisol, testosterone, estrogen, and more!

  The only drawback to maca is that you need pretty big doses in order to achieve clinical efficacy. However, that’s not a concern here, as Arms Race has opted for a fairly large dose of 2.1 grams, necessitating six capsules taken throughout the day. Not a problem — especially if splitting them into AM and PM doses — and if you want to feel virule, it’s well worth it.

  Research indicates that people who supplement with maca may see:

  • Increased sex drive in both men^[1,2] and women^[3]
  • Improved prostate health in men^[4]
  • Increased sperm count and fertility in men^[5,6]
  • Elevated mood and reduced anxiety symptoms in women^[7]

  Additionally, maca supplementation can potentially:

  • Enhance cognition in both human^[8] and animal^[9] models

  In one animal study, researchers gave rats a preparation of maca powder and then measured their athletic performance with a series of tests. Compared to a placebo group, the rats who got the active ingredient had a longer time-to-exhaustion, and showed fewer signs of oxidative stress.^[10] They also had lower levels of lactic acid,^[10] which is the substance that produces muscular fatigue, indicating maca’s potential as an endurance booster.

  Maca probably boosts endurance, at least in part, through its positive effect on mitochondrial health.^[11] Mitochondrial health is sort of the “holy grail” of supplement science, given the fundamental importance of cellular energy sufficiency to pretty much every metabolic process in the human body.

• Berberine HCl – 1200 mg

  We at PricePlow love berberine for its awesome power as a glucose disposal agent: a substance that helps optimize glucose metabolism, keeping insulin production and blood glucose levels under control.

  

  A huge 1200 milligram dose if you take all six capsules throughout the day!

  Berberine is an ammonium that occurs naturally in the Berberis family of shrubs, and has been used for a long time in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic medicine to treat a wide range of medical problems.

  It works by accelerating your cells’ uptake of glucose, meaning that glucose gets pulled out of your blood faster, after which it is deposited in tissues where it can be put to useful work. The ultimate effect of this is to lower your postprandial peak blood sugar level, and boost insulin sensitivity.^[12-15]

  Berberine’s main mechanism of action is activation of adenosine monophosphate kinase (AMPK). It’s an enzyme that helps move nutrients into cells in response to increased energy demand.^[16]

  Studies also show that the supplement has several positive effects on the body, including reduced insulin resistance, increased insulin sensitivity in muscle, inhibition of gluconeogenesis in the liver, decreased intestinal absorption of glucose, beneficial effects on gut microbiota, and even helps regulate lipid metabolism.^[12-17]

  Finally, berberine has potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capabilities.^[17]

  Stabilize more than just sex hormones

  

  It’s not called a “glucose disposal agent” for nothing! Berberine improves the overall glucose disposal rate!^[13]

  The point here is that Stabilize isn’t just for sex hormone stabilization. We can argue that a hormone that’s more important than any other is insulin, because if your metabolism isn’t stabilized, nearly everything else will eventually get wrecked. This has been demonstrated with numerous studies showing how “metabolic syndrome” is an underlying, devastating condition for numerous disease states.^[18,19]

  By combating insulin resistance with the de-facto supplement ingredient to boost AMPK and improve insulin sensitivity, Stabilize can play a strong role in helping your body regulate blood sugar levels and insulin.

  If you want to read more about berberine, check out our long-form article, Berberine: The Best Glucose Disposal Ingredient.

• 3,3′-Diindolylmethane (DIM) – 200 mg

  Now we get back to hormone stabilization, and this time, we’re talking about estrogen control.

  

  Don’t eliminate it outright, but do get estrogen in check

  Diindolylmethane (DIM) is a compound that is in cruciferous vegetables, a category that includes American dietary mainstays like broccoli, kale, and cauliflower.^[20] It’s also produced in the human gut from the precursor indole-3-carbinol (IC3),^[21,22] which occurs naturally in cruciferous veggies, too.

  This compound—DIM—is famous for its ability to inhibit the enzyme aromatase,^[21] which converts various forms of androgens to various forms of estrogens. Mainly, aromatase converts testosterone to estradiol. DIM’s aromatase-inhibiting properties are probably the result of its affinity for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR),^[23] the activation of which has an antagonistic effect on estrogen receptors.

  Besides effectively raising testosterone levels and lowering estrogen levels, DIM also promotes beneficial forms of estrogen over more harmful ones. Specifically, it increases the proportion of 2-hydroxylated estrogens over 16-hydroxylated and 4-hydroxylated estrogens,^[24-27] which is good since the 2-hydroxylated forms are linked to a wide variety of positive health effects.^[28,29] On the other hand, the 4- and 16-hydroxylated estrogens are linked to negative health effects.

  One of the most important distinctions of the 2-hydroxylated forms, especially in this day and age, is their association with lower levels of body fat and higher levels of muscle mass.^[30]

• Eurycoma longifolia extract (root) – 200 mg

  Also known as tongkat ali, or longjack, Eurycoma longifolia extract has long been a mainstay of testosterone-boosting supplement formulas. It was originally used in folk medicine as an aphrodisiac, which has ultimately prompted rigorous scientific investigations of its effects on human biology.

  

  One study measured cortisol also measured salivary testosterone. It went up significantly in longjack users (32 men, 31 women).

  In 2012, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study had 109 healthy men take either 300 milligrams of longjack or a placebo for 12 weeks. Over the course of the study, researchers used questionnaires to quantify changes to libido among subjects in both groups.

  Ultimately, those who received longjack were found to have approximately a 14% increase in libido,^[31] and further analysis revealed that this group also experienced a 44% increase in sperm motility.^[31] Other research indicates that longjack’s mechanism of action might be increasing testosterone levels.^[32]

  But all of this this is far from certain, according to a 2017 meta-analysis, which concluded that the evidence for longjack’s alleged libido and testosterone-boosting effects is open to interpretation.^[33] But don’t despair — although the authors of this meta-analysis note that current evidence is not conclusive, they also point out that further research could end up confirming longjack’s status as a T booster.

  A smaller body of evidence suggests longjack might be effective as an antioxidant and, interestingly, anti-anxiety compound.^[34]

• Shoden Ashwagandha Extract (std. Min. 35% withanolide glycosides) – 120 mg

  Next hormone up? Cortisol.

  Ashwagandha’s use in traditional medicine across the globe dates back thousands of years. Because it has significant, non-specific effects on the human body, it has been used to treat an incredibly wide range of ailments. This general action of ashwagandha was later identified to be a normalization of the stress response (whether too high or too low), earning it a place in the “adaptogen” category. And indeed, the latest scientific research continues to bear out the fact that ashwagandha is an incredibly useful supplement for managing both physical and mental stress.^[35-38]

  

  Ashwagandha probably helps regulate hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA) functioning,^[35] the metabolic pathway that produces stress and adrenal hormones.^[35] Through its effects on the HPA, ashwagandha can lower cortisol levels and, in men, raise testosterone levels.^[35]

  From this, you would expect people who take ashwagandha to have a lower subjective feeling of stress – and that is exactly what double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies on the ingredient continually bear out.^[36-38]

  High cortisol levels and HPA dysregulation are associated with obesity,^[39] so if you’re trying to stay in shape – especially as you age – ashwagandha can potentially go a long way in helping you achieve that goal.^[39]

  We’ve written about ashwagandha a lot at PricePlow, and of the many extracts we’ve reviewed, the Shoden extract is probably our favorite. That’s because it has the highest concentration of withanolides that can be found in any ashwagandha extract on the market, clocking in at a whopping 35% withanolides by weight.^[35]

  Just for context, the most popular ashwagandha preparation in the supplement industry—the KSM-66 extract — only has 2.5% to 5% withanolides.

  In a 2019 study that tested the Shoden extract, people who took 240 milligrams per day had much lower levels of cortisol and much higher levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA), a steroid hormone and testosterone precursor that declines sharply as we age.^[35] Compared to the placebo group, the Shoden group experienced improved mood,less anxiety and stress.^[35]

• Boron – 5 mg

  Time for a bit of free testosterone support.

  

  Get the Stabilize His and Hers combo for you and your loved one on the ARN website!

  Boron is a mineral that plays an important role in producing testosterone and vitamin D.^[40] Since vitamin D is itself a testosterone booster,^[41] this means that in addition to directly increasing the production of testosterone, boron can also indirectly boost testosterone by raising vitamin D blood levels.

  One mechanism of action by which boron keeps vitamin D levels high is by increasing the half-life of the vitamin, meaning that it takes longer for existing vitamin D to be inactivated.^[42]

  A 2011 study showed that boron supplementation increases levels of free testosterone—the testosterone we want—since it’s not bound to anything and is thus biologically active while it also decreases estrogen levels.^[42]

  However, this study was pretty small, with a sample size of only eight subjects. So take that result with a grain of salt.

  

  Read the dosage instructions and take 3 caps of Stabilize just before two of your meals!

  But given boron’s observed effect on vitamin D, and also its ability to increase magnesium uptake,^[43] another mineral that’s required for optimal testosterone production,^[44] we think boron’s status as a T booster is looking pretty good.

Dosage Instructions

The Stabilize Men’s bottle hits it on the head – take three capsules with your morning meal, and three capsules with your afternoon meal.

If you fast in the morning, you can just consider it your “first and second meal”.

Pre-meal or meal-time dosing is due to the inclusion of berberine, which is best taken just before eating carbohydrates.

Conclusion

Rather than focusing on just one dimension of a man’s experience, the Arms Race Nutrition Stabilize His formula manages to provide comprehensive support for male well-being. From increasing energy with maca to helping improve body composition with berberine and bolster vitamin D and magnesium status with boron, this really is a successful tonic for overall male health.

The inclusion of the Shoden ashwagandha extract is particularly notable since it’s a very powerful adaptogenic ingredient that has significant effects for most who supplement it on its own.

You can also read about the Stabilize Hers formula on the PricePlow Blog.