In a recent video, popular YouTuber and PED expert More Plates More Dates (real name Derek) analyzes the positive PED test of boxer Ryan Garcia for the banned substance ostarine and the nandrolone metabolite 19-norandosterone.
While acknowledging that Garcia did test positive for prohibited PEDs, Derek explains why he believes Garcia likely did not intentionally take the substances for performance enhancement. Instead, Derek theorizes the positive tests were more likely caused by contaminated supplements.
“So my guess is it’s going to come back with an amount that was essentially nonperformance enhancing, like a dose that would not impart performance enhancing properties, and it was probably a contamination similar to the ostarine. That’s my guess. I I don’t think that he intentionally cheated. I think he probably just made stupid decisions with what he was taking.”
For the ostarine positive, Derek notes that ostarine is a non-FDA approved SARM (selective androgen receptor modulator) that builds muscle but is highly detectable even in tiny microgram doses. He argues it makes little sense for Garcia to have intentionally taken ostarine so close to the event at an ineffective non-performance enhancing dose that would only increase his risk of testing positive.
Regarding the 19-norandosterone finding, Derek explains this is a metabolite of the anabolic nandrolone. However, nandrolone is also produced naturally in tiny amounts as part of the testosterone to estrogen conversion process. Positive nandrolone metabolite tests require additional analysis to determine if the source was external (a banned product) or just natural endogenous production.
Derek speculates that Garcia’s extremely low levels were likely due to supplement contamination, perhaps from legal prohormone supplements that can lead to small nandrolone traces. He believes it’s improbable Garcia would have attempted to cheat by micro-dosing an easily detectable substance like nandrolone.
“This is something that does build muscle, but is it as effective as you know, ster*ids It could be in certain dosages depending on what you’re comparing it to, but it’s highly detectable. This is something that when assessed pharmacokinetically, even when they apply microdoses. Literally, 1 microgram can be detected for up to 9 days.”
While finding Garcia’s defense of taking a proprietary ashwagandha supplement concerning, Derek overall leans towards Garcia’s positive tests being due to unfortunate supplement contamination rather than intentional cheating, based on the specific compounds and dosage levels detected.
Derek recommends only NSF Certified for Sport supplements for elite athletes in tested competitions if the athletes are seeking to avoid tarnished reputation among fans and peers.