Understanding Melanotan as a Bodybuilder

In order to understand what Melanotan is, its history and uses and side effects, you should first familiarize yourself with terms such as melanin, melanocytes, melanoma and freckles. To start off, melanin is that compound naturally found in the human body which is responsible for the skin pigmentation. The more the melanin in your body the darker your skin is.

It has long been known that people with very light skins are at a higher risk of getting skin diseases such as skin cancer especially when they get exposed to the harmful UV rays. The sun contains a good amount of such rays. However, with more exposure to the sun, melanocytes, which produce melanin go into action.  The more you sit in the sun, the more melanin your skin gets.

History of Melanotan

A group of scientists from the University of Arizona, USA conducted studies in the 1980s on how a person can get a better tan so as to prevent skin cancer and other related diseases. They discovered that the naturally occurring Melanotan also going by the short form a-MSH had a very short half-life effectively making it not ideal when it comes to giving a person a fast desirable tan. After several studies and experiments, the team came up with a more potent synthesized Melanotan which is thought to be 1,000 more effective than the naturally occurring a-MSH.

Its use in bodybuilding

Bodybuilding especially the competitive part of it is made more exciting by the additional synthetics. It is more likely that a dark skinned bodybuilder will take the crown than the one who has no tan at all. This is why Melanotan comes in. With a well-toned skin, a bodybuilder’s muscles get more conspicuous. Moreover, a bodybuilder will have more protection from the harmful UV sun rays.

Types of Melanotan (MT)

Scientifically, this compound is defined as a peptide hormone base. Both MT and MT-II are analogs to the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (a-MSH) which happens to be produced in the human body’s pituitary gland. Both of these hormones work together with melanocortins to give the body, skin and hair pigmentation. In addition to this, these hormones have been found to help increase libido as well as physical sexual arousal. However, this is a more pronounced effect of the MT-II.

The benefits and the side effects

The obvious benefit of using Melanotan is that you get to gain a darker skin. Because of the increased amount of melanin in the body, the chance of getting affected adversely by UV rays becomes lesser. For a person who is in bodybuilding which is more of an aesthetic sport, a well-tanned skin serves to improve not only their skin tone but also accentuate their muscles. Like any other drug or hormone, there are some side effects that come with MT and MT-II. Some of the most common ones include vomiting, feeling fatigued, nausea, and facial flushing. There is the obvious effect of erection for men. Depending on your anticipated gains from using Melanotan, such an effect can either be good or bad.