DADA | The Underrated Performance Enhancer

Happy Friday!

I just released a brand new video breaking down DADA (diisopropylamine dichloroacetate), and it’s now live on Spotify and all the usual podcast platforms.

This is actually an update to a video I made a couple years ago, but I wanted to revisit the topic because a lot has changed since then.

First, there are thousands of new people following my content who probably have never heard me talk about it.

Second, I’ve now been using DADA personally for about two years, and I’ve had enough real-world experience with it to feel comfortable giving a much deeper analysis.

It’s one of those compounds that most people overlook, but once you understand the mechanism and actually use it, you realize it can have some really interesting effects on training performance, energy production, and metabolic flexibility.

I personally think of it as a very interesting alternative to MOTS-c. When I use it, I feel extremely similar to how I feel on MOTS-c, and in some cases I actually feel a slightly stronger performance edge.

Let’s walk through what it is, how it works, and why I think it’s such an underrated tool!

History and Background

DADA stands for diisopropylamine dichloroacetate, which is a salt composed of two components:

• Dichloroacetate (DCA)

• Diisopropylamine

When this compound enters the body, it dissociates into these components. Most of the biological activity is believed to come from the dichloroacetate portion, which has been studied for decades as a metabolic modulator.

Where DADA actually shows up in legitimate clinical contexts is Asia, particularly Japan and China.

In Japan, DADA has been used clinically as a liver-support medication, typically prescribed at 20–60 mg per day orally for chronic liver conditions.

In China, injectable versions have been used as regulated pharmaceuticals, though more recently regulators have required stronger safety labeling after post-marketing adverse event reports.

Personally, I didn’t get interested in DADA because of the liver angle.

I got interested in it because of its metabolic and performance effects.

Over the last two years, I’ve used it regularly in my pre-workout injection stack, usually alongside things like L-carnitine and injectable amino acids, and it consistently produces a noticeable training benefit.

Mechanisms

The main mechanism behind DADA comes down to its effect on something called pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK).

PDK normally acts like a brake on the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH).

When PDK is active, it reduces the amount of pyruvate entering the mitochondria for energy production. That means more glucose is diverted toward lactate production rather than mitochondrial oxidation.

DADA inhibits PDK4, which releases that brake.

When that happens, several things occur:

In simpler terms, it makes the mitochondria better at converting glucose into usable energy.

This is why I say it feels similar to MOTS-c in practice. They work through different mechanisms, but the end result is similar.

DADA creates better mitochondrial energy production and metabolic efficiency.

What you end up with is:

There’s also an interesting component of metabolic flexibility.

PDK4 expression increases during fasting, endurance adaptation, and low-carb states.

By inhibiting PDK4, DADA can shift metabolism toward greater carbohydrate oxidation, which can be extremely helpful during intense training where carbohydrates are the primary fuel.

Benefits

The strongest human evidence around DADA actually comes from liver health research.

Clinical studies in Japan and China have shown improvements in liver enzyme levels and lipid markers in people with chronic liver disease or fatty liver.

One study in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease compared 60 mg vs 120 mg per day for eight weeks and found improvements in liver enzymes and metabolic markers.

But honestly, that’s not why most people in my world care about this compound.

Where I personally notice the biggest benefit is exercise performance.

One of the most interesting effects is reduced lactate accumulation during intense training.

I actually talked about this in the video using an example from my own life.

Back in high school, my football coach made me run track to improve my speed, and he had me run the 400-meter dash, which is basically torture if you’re not a track athlete.

The 400 is essentially the longest sprint event. When you run it all out, your legs fill with lactate and feel like concrete.

What DADA seems to do is push that threshold back.

You can train harder before you hit that point where your muscles completely lock up.

That translates into:

But there’s an important caveat.

Lactate isn’t purely bad. It’s also a signaling molecule and fuel source. If you suppress it too aggressively, you could theoretically alter training adaptations.

That’s why dosing matters.

Dosing and Side Effects

In Japan, clinical dosing for DADA has historically been 20–60 mg per day orally.

In the Chinese NAFLD trial, dosing was 60–120 mg per day.

Personally, I’ve experimented with both oral and injectable versions.

In my experience, oral dosing doesn’t produce the same noticeable performance effect.

For training purposes, I prefer injectable dosing.

My typical range:

• Start: 50 mg per day

• Standard performance dose: 100 mg per day

I usually take it pre-workout or pre-cardio.

I’ve gone as high as 200 mg, and it absolutely works, but I actually think that’s too much.

At that level you start feeling like you can train forever, which sounds great in theory but can actually be dangerous.

If the metabolic “governor” is removed too much, you might push your body beyond what your joints or connective tissue can handle, which increases injury risk.

Side effects reported in clinical literature include:

At extremely high exposures of the related compound DCA, peripheral neuropathy has been reported in clinical trials. However, those studies used much higher doses than what we’re discussing here.

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, DADA is best understood as a metabolic modulator that enhances mitochondrial energy production by inhibiting PDK and activating the PDH complex.

The strongest clinical evidence exists in liver disease research, where it has been shown to improve liver enzymes and lipid markers.

However, most people are interested in it today because of its performance-enhancing potential.

That’s why it has quietly become one of the staples in my own pre-workout injection stack.

It’s not something I talk about constantly, but it’s something I use regularly.

And after two years of experimenting with it, I think it’s one of the more interesting metabolic tools out there!

Best,

Hunter Williams

P.S. BLL doesn’t carry DADA, but you can get it from Parabolic Peptides in oral, transdermal, or injectable forms (use code TaylorW for 10% off).

Further Reading