Of one special note - the bit about the bulk of testerone production
coming from stored precursors in the testes - I'd like to read more
about this. I've never bought Thomas Fine's hypotheses that the
positive resulted from Landis bonking and reloading on food with an
altered carbon isotopic ration - it's a real stretch of the
imagination, and contrary to most science I've read on the subject.
I'm sure the flaming is about to begin.
No flaming here...and I'm sure the guys a good chemist (something I'm
most decidedly not), BUT, I did have a bit of a problem with this
statement:
"Testosterone and the other steroids are produced from cholesterol. The
testes and other steroidogenic tissues have a stockpile of cholesteryl
esters ready to be used for steroid synthesis, so it's going to be an
uphill fight to alter things by any route, given that reserve."
Obviously, that statement is true for "normal" people. However, is
that statement true for an elite athlete 2.5 weeks into a grand tour?
If it is so, why are T levels typically lowered due to the stress of
the efforts? Do we know if that "reserve" is present in that case, or
are the testes basically "scrambling to get any building materials they
can get their hands on"?
Also, how does that statement jive with WADA's own study (as mentioned
by Mr. Fine) which found that C12/C13 ratios could be altered quickly
just from diet alone?
There are lots of unanswered questions about the applicability and
reliability of both tests under the conditions they are being used....