D-Aspartic Acid (DAA) has been getting a lot of press lately, mostly due to a swarm of emerging nutritional supplements that contain it, and an article published by Muscular Development (that was published simultaneously as an advertiser began carrying the ingredient). It’s being heavily marketed by several people, including the owner of SDI-Labs (Daniel Amato), a scam company that sells steroid-sound-a-like products…only this time he’s marketing it under a the banner of another company called “Muscle Warfare” in a product called NMDA. 
D-aspartic acid is an amino acid present in neuroendocrine tissues of humans, playing a role in the synthesis of both LH and testosterone. LH, of course, is secreted in a pulsatile fashion, thereby signaling the release of testosterone from the testes. D-aspartic acid is synthesized when aspartate racemase converts L-aspartic acid into D-aspartic acid. This conversion occurs in the testes as well as other tissues throughout the human body.
Supplementation with 3 grams (3,000mgs) per day, orally, resulted in a 33% testosterone elevation. The amount of DAA in Muscle Warfare’s product is less than 35 milligrams, or, roughly 1/100th of the effective dose. TST PowerCell is another supplement that contains this ingredient, this time at less than 600mgs/capsule, roughly 1/5th of an effective dose.
But the real problem is that even an effective dose of this stuff only raises testosterone by 33% – hardly enough to feel a real boost in training or see any results in the mirror. And from a practical point of view, most products that we’re about to see flooding the market with this ingredient, aren’t going to be using an effective dose. Do you know how big a 1,000mg capsule is? It’s huge. And you can’t fit too many other ingredients in there – so most people, like our friend Daniel Amato, are going to use a dose that has no effect.
And because you need so much of the stuff, we’re not going to see it being used as a worthwhile ingredient in any commercially available product. It just takes up too much space in the capsule, or necessitates taking 6-12 caps per day. In practical terms, it’s just unusable.
As far as testosterone boosters go, DAA is a real loser – you need to take a ton and it hardly elevates testosterone. As a testosterone booster, it really, really sucks. I can’t recommend it too highly, but a month’s supply is only going to run you about $25. If you’re dead set on trying it, TrueProtein.com carries it for about $25 for 100g, while Nutriplanet.com carries it at the same price for 80g.
There may be some potential for this stuff in (maybe) some kind of post-workout beverage, I guess – maybe it could be combined with Pepto-Pro and whey, or included in some kind of glutamine/creatine/NO concoction, or whatever. It may not be the worst idea in the world to dump a few hundred grams into a container of SuperPump or something like that….I don’t know.
Maybe it’s good for something. Maybe. Have I mentioned that it really sucks as a test booster? Just making sure.
Anthony Roberts is the author of numerous books and articles, both online and off, dealing with all areas of performance enhancing drugs. Additionally he has worked as a coach, trainer, consultant, and nutritional supplement designer. His forthcoming book is Generation S, and slated for release in the Fall of 2009. 