What is it?
What is being compared?
3Ajuga turkestanica is a plant source of several ecdysteroids. Extract weight, turkesterone content and total ecdysteroids describe different quantities. A product name alone does not establish concentration or equivalence of two extracts.
What the small human experiment measured
4Eleven healthy men received placebo or a commercial turkesterone-labelled supplement in a crossover experiment. IGF-1 (a growth-related blood marker), resting energy expenditure and fuel use did not differ significantly between conditions. The sample and acute design cannot settle longer-term efficacy.
Names, aliases and forms
Mechanisms of action
Why ecdysteroids attract interest
3Ecdysteroids are steroid-like compounds involved in insect development and present in some plants. Proposed muscle-signalling mechanisms remain research hypotheses for human Ajuga supplementation; structural similarity does not make them equivalent to human anabolic hormones.
Potential effects and evidence map
A small placebo-controlled crossover study in 11 healthy men tested a commercial turkesterone supplement acutely and found no significant effect on IGF-1, resting metabolic rate or fuel use. It did not test muscle gain or cognition. Ecdysterone trials concern a different molecule and cannot establish efficacy for Ajuga extracts. Human safety and longer-term efficacy remain insufficiently characterized.
A meaningful endurance or performance benefit from Ajuga extract has not been established.
Typical dosages and timing
The acute experiment administered 1,000 mg or 2,000 mg of a commercial turkesterone-labelled supplement on separate visits. Those are study product amounts, not independently established pure-turkesterone doses and not a validated daily regimen for Ajuga extract.
Timing & effect horizon
Measurements extended to 24 hours after dosing. That observation window does not establish onset, The time for blood levels to fall by half during the final elimination phase.Source, duration of benefit or a useful cycle. Human Ajuga-specific pharmacokinetic and repeated-use data are insufficient to populate those timing values.
Safety, side effects and risk profile
Under WADA rules as of October 2026, ecdysterone is monitored, not prohibited by that designation. Other ingredients can change a product's status.
Endocrine and reproductive safety of Ajuga extracts is not established in humans. Mechanistic findings do not demonstrate hormone disruption.
A conference case report described suspected liver injury after turkesterone supplement use in a liver-transplant recipient. The report cannot establish risk frequency in healthy adults.
Human interaction studies are insufficient; compatibility with medicines or multi-ingredient stacks cannot be assumed.
Available human evidence is too limited to quantify ordinary-use harm reliably.
Human data are insufficient to estimate a typical-use base risk for Ajuga turkestanica extracts. The limited acute experiment used a commercial turkesterone-labelled product and cannot establish longer-term extract safety. An unknown, unscored rating is neither evidence of high toxicity nor assurance of safety. Batch composition is a separate product-quality concern.
An ACG 2025 conference report described suspected liver injury with autoimmune features in a 39-year-old liver-transplant recipient after two months of a turkesterone supplement. Liver tests recovered after medical care. A single medically complex case cannot prove causality, identify the responsible ingredient or quantify risk in healthy adults, but it is a reason not to assume liver safety from limited short-term research.
Legal and regulatory status
As of 18 October 2026, WADA's 2026 Monitoring Program names ecdysterone in and out of competition. Monitoring concerns substances outside the Prohibited List; it is not itself a ban. This entry does not name turkesterone, and does not certify the composition or status of any finished product.
As of 18 October 2026, United States Operation Supplement Safety states that ecdysterone, turkesterone and their plant sources are not on the DoD Prohibited Dietary Supplement Ingredients List. It separately flags hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, found in some formulations, as prohibited. This is a U.S. military policy distinction, not a global market authorization.
How it compares
These are different ecdysteroids. The 2019 ecdysterone training trial is indirect context, not proof that a turkesterone-labelled Ajuga product improves strength or body composition.
Practical buying and quality notes
- Ask for botanical identity and a batch-specific assay distinguishing turkesterone from ecdysterone. For illustration, 500 mg of extract with a verified 10% turkesterone content contains 50 mg turkesterone; 500 mg of unspecified extract gives no such answer. This is label arithmetic, not an efficacy threshold.9
- Compare package price per verified gram of the same extract type, including delivery costs. A title, pack weight and serving size must agree before a normalized price is useful. A zero calculated price or conflicting bulk-pack units should be checked at the merchant; neither establishes a bargain or a dose. Ingredient assays do not substitute for banned-substance certification.6
FAQ
Does Ajuga Turkest improve focus?
3No credible human cognitive benefit was identified in the literature reviewed. Its sports-supplement positioning is not evidence for attention or memory.
Is there an evidence-based daily Ajuga dose?
4No daily amount has been validated for a defined Ajuga extract and meaningful human benefit. The amount of botanical material on a label should not be interpreted as the amount of isolated turkesterone.
How long should an Ajuga cycle last?
4There is no established evidence-based cycle or washout schedule for consumer Ajuga extracts. A laboratory observation period cannot be converted into a recommended course.
Can a tested athlete rely on the ingredient name?
6An ingredient-level status check cannot rule out other declared or undeclared ingredients. USADA recommends third-party certified supplements for athletes who choose to use supplements; certification does not establish efficacy.
References
- NCBI Taxonomy. Ajuga turkestanica, Taxonomy ID 3014252. Accessed 2026-06-30.
- PubChem. Turkesterone, CID 14376672. Accessed 2026-06-30.
- Ecdysterone and Turkesterone-Compounds with Prominent Potential in Sport and Healthy Nutrition. Nutrients. 2024;16(9):1382.
- The Effects of Multiple Acute Turkesterone Doses on Indirect Measures of Hypertrophy and Metabolic Measures: A Preliminary Investigation. Muscles. 2024;3(4):31.
- Isenmann E, Ambrosio G, Joseph JF, et al. Ecdysteroids as non-conventional anabolic agent: performance enhancement by ecdysterone supplementation in humans. Archives of Toxicology. 2019;93(7):1807-1816.
- U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. What Athletes Need to Know about Ecdysteroids. Accessed 2026-10-18.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. 2026 Monitoring Program. Accessed 2026-10-18.
- Operation Supplement Safety. Ecdysterone and Turkesterone Dietary Supplements.
- Todorova V et al. Development and Validation of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography for Identification and Quantification of Phytoecdysteroids Ecdysterone and Turkesterone in Dietary Supplements. Processes. 2023;11:1786.
- Tan AJN, Case S, Tokunaga A, Wong L, Sempokuya T. P3920: Not All That's Herbal Is Healthy: A Case of Drug-Induced Liver Injury With Autoimmune Features from Turkesterone. ACG 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.