OK. I am going to have to keep this short as I am currently in a state of induced slavery visiting my parents.
I wanted to throw this out there with all the recent buzz on cortisol and see what our old T-Nation thought/had to say.
I was just reading the new July Issue of LEF’s magazine and it has an article on cortisol, it’s effects, and how to ward them off/prevent them.
While not being focused on bodybuilding/weight training in general, many of the studies used excersize as a major contributing factor.
Anyway, they go on to talk about the use of Phosphatidylserine, and how when even orally perscribed in the right dose it lowered post excersize cortisol an average of 20% and it stopped the normal reduction in T levels postexercise .
Also, they go into the benefits, as they always seem to, of DHEA. Then wrap it up with Ginko Biloba and it’s positive effects.
Sorry I was so breif on this, and I can go into further detail later if needed. I will check in when I can sneek away. I just wanted to get others thoughts on this article/topic in general.
Please use the search engine as I’ve personally posted info regarding cortisol within the last 2 weeks (one yestereday). Did you have a particular ?
LEF info is frequently correct. However they sell supplements and are not unbiased. Unlike info posted on t-mag/nation, sometimes they stretch things or slant things to sell more supplements.
Enough sleep, relaxation exercises, vitamin C, DHEA*, ginko, PS can all be useful in dealing with elevated cortisol.
if you are taking DHEA it is wise (as LEF suggests) to at least once after you start taking it and perhaps yearly to have a hormone panel (bloodwork) performed to make sure DHEA is not resulting in unwanted changes in hormone levels.
The effects of cortisol are not all bad and there are problems if you lower cortisol too much.
Why bother with DHEA,ginko or PS. Why not just use Tribex/Alpha Male. In the article “Putting Tribex 500 to the test” by John Berardi Tribex was shown to reduce cortisol by 28% while increasing T-levels.
[quote]michael boren wrote:
Why bother with DHEA,ginko or PS. Why not just use Tribex/Alpha Male. In the article “Putting Tribex 500 to the test” by John Berardi Tribex was shown to reduce cortisol by 28% while increasing T-levels.[/quote]
Because the remedy needs to be tailored to the particular person in question, rather then a one size fits all approach. DHEA, ginko and PS have other beneficial properties which may or may not be useful for any given person. Because tribex while (I gather) is a good supplement, it needs to be cycled and cannot be taken forever. It also cannot be taken by women.
Thank you for the response and such. I was simply trying to raise some intellegent conversation on a topic that has been going nuts around here lately,as I stated.
I do know the effects of cortisol good and bad, also not presently taking the supps. they list.I’m taking Alpha Male. Not to say the study is not of interest.
I just figured that this article in particular might be of interest to others as well and might spark up some interesting Thinking/Conversing amongst us.
Oh and I guess I lied, I am currently taking Ginko Biloba, in the form of my two glasses of green tea Power Drive a day.
I guess I’d like to know 1) how much of an effect cortisol has with respect to supression of recovery, 2) how common it is for people to have excess cortisol levels and 3) if it is actually possible to lower it more than may be appropriate.
Point three has to do with whether or not the body will maintain a high enough level of cortisol no matter which non-drug control strategies are utilized. Simple research always leads to discussion of how important and necessary it is.