Introduction
Often when looking for a new supplement to build muscle, aid recovery and stimulate muscle growth, people turn to creatine monohydrate or amino acids such as glutamine, the more “known” supplements. However, there is a less hyped but just as effective supplement, Mega Cissus, a high-potency source of Cissus Quadrangularis (a perennial plant in the grape family found in India and Sri Lanka). Here we discuss the health benefits and reasons why you should consider adding Cissus Quadrangularis to your fitness regimen and the science behind it as an effective sports supplement.
Cissus and muscle mass
Cissus Quadrangularis is an ancient medicinal plant that was prescribed in ancient Ayurvedic texts as a general tonic and pain reliever, with specific healing properties for bone fractures. More recently, more research papers have been published on its antiglucocorticoid, anticatabolic, antilipase, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties, where it has been praised for aiding in everything from fat loss to bone and tendon.
More recently, it has been reported that Cissus Quadrangularis could also be of great help in increasing muscle mass. When you are looking to increase muscle mass (muscle hypertrophy) in the gym, you want to load your muscles above their usual level by lifting a weight and creating the right hormonal and chemical conditions that cause your muscle cells to grow. When you lift weights, your endocrine system releases anabolic hormones (i.e. testosterone and growth hormone), but due to the stress your body is under, it can also release cortisol, which is bad for building muscle because it can inhibit protein synthesis and stimulate amino acid degradation. .
So:
Increase anabolic hormones (testosterone and growth hormone) + reduce excessive levels of catabolic hormones (cortisol) = build muscle
Studies show that Cissus is able to interact with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) by binding to it and acting as a GR antagonist, ensuring that cortisol does not bind to the receptor and thus reducing the negative effects of cortisol and helping the development of muscle mass.
How Cissus Quadrangularis can help your bones and tendons
If you train at a high level with regular, intense exercise, you know that constantly training the body to become stronger, faster and fitter can sometimes lead to small injuries where the body has just been overworked (the fine line between ‘stimulation ‘ and ‘annihilation’). For those of you suffering from a minor injury, Cissus can help with your recovery.
Studies have shown that injured athletes using the Cissus saw have a significant influence on the healing rate of fractures. Cissus influences early regeneration of all connective tissues of mesenchymal origin (namely fibroblasts), chondroblasts and osteoblasts involved in healing and more rapid callus mineralization. It also provides nutrients to injured tissue, and unlike pain relief products, it not only relieves pain from connective tissue injury, it also works to repair it.
With regard to bone fractures, it is theorized that Cissus causes a lesser amount of tissue reaction in the fractured area, leading to optimal early stage decalcification with minimal callus formation. So, the calcium deposition is enough to unite the two broken segments of the bone so that your recovery is much faster. Cissus has also been shown to cause an early gain in tensile strength of fractured bones by increasing the chemical composition of fractured bone, i.e. its mucopolysaccharides, collagen, calcium, and phosphorus, as well as its functional efficiency.