mustard is an anabolic?

Well that is how the Daily Mail reported it.  It is not quite that simple.  The study looked at whether a plant-derived steroid (28-homobrassinolide [HB]) that promotes plant growth could stimulate protein synthesis and muscle growth.

The abstract is here is you are interested:  Anabolic effect of plant brassinosteroid


It is an interesting study.  It is in rats, so as usual be careful with it, but the researchers  suggest that:

"HB has a different mode of action from anabolic steroids in that it doesn’t seem to have an effect on male hormones; this may suggest to readers that plant-derived steroids could be considered acceptable for use where anabolic steroids are not."

Very interesting.

There is more discussion at the NHS choices site which disects health stories in the news.