Insects on the other hand do. Let's take a look. The fact that ecdysteroids act as antioxidants has been well established. Fine, but in many of the studies, scientists often compare the actions of ecdysteroids to those of anabolic steroids. Think about this for a moment.
Oxidative stress can cause damage to tissue and organs.
If you simply reduce oxidative damage in these rats with the administration of antioxidants to prevent any further oxidative stress, then of course the number will increase. In fact, when you look at the study that claims to support the anabolic effect of ecdysteroids, you're in for a treat. What they did was give the mice 5 mg of ecdysteroid per 1 kg of body weight and measured protein synthesis. In the liver. But wait a minute, oxidative stress can cause cellular protein degradation.