De-Stress, Control Cortisol, Sleep Better
One supplement helps you reduce stress and control excess cortisol, making it easier to sleep, lose fat, and build muscle.
Most people wanting to reduce stress are worried about cortisol. But remember, cortisol is essential to life. By raising blood glucose levels, cortisol provides the resources to combat the stress from illness, trauma, fright, and infection.
Cortisol deserves a high-five, but it's a situational ally. There are times when you want higher cortisol levels in your bloodstream and times you don't. When it gets out of hand, cortisol negatively affects growth hormone and testosterone output. It also reduces muscle growth and increases abdominal fat.
Luckily, there's an easy way to thwart high cortisol levels: high-DHA fish oil (Buy at Amazon).
When is Cortisol the Highest?
Cortisol levels are highest in the morning and generally taper off throughout the day. That's good, provided the levels are within healthy ranges. However, cortisol spikes during and after tough workouts, which negatively affects muscle protein synthesis. And sometimes, because of physical overtraining or mental stress, cortisol levels remain elevated throughout the day and night. You don't want that.
Sure, post-workout spikes of cortisol are controlled by proper workout nutrition (Buy at Amazon), but sometimes, particularly during bouts of heavy or intense training, your body needs extra help. Fish oil beats down excess cortisol, particularly if taken at bedtime.
Study: Fish Oil Reduces Cortisol, Lowers Stress and Anxiety
Researchers recruited 31 alcoholics to see if fish oil could lower cortisol levels. When alcoholics stop drinking, their cortisol rises, adding to their feelings of stress and anxiety.
Ten were given a placebo, and 21 were given a 1,000 mg. capsule of fish oil containing a paltry 252 mg. of DHA and 60 mg. of EPA. The researchers monitored the subjects' saliva cortisol concentrations for 24-hour periods on the first and last days of the study. While the placebo had no effect, the fish oil group had much lower cortisol levels throughout the day. They also reported less stress.
Granted, these effects were seen in alcoholics, but the cortisol-lowering effects of fish oil are no different in non-alcoholics. Note, too, that the amounts of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) used in this study are much lower than those found in highly concentrated fish oils like Flameout (Buy at Amazon).
Take Your Fish Oil at Night
Taking fish oil at dinner or even bedtime is best if you need to reduce nighttime levels of cortisol to help you sleep. This nighttime fish oil protocol also helps during times of overtraining. It tempers the highest-of-the-day morning cortisol spike so it doesn't hamper muscle protein synthesis or sacrifice muscle tissue to raise glucose levels.
Take all your fish oil capsules at night, or take a couple during the day and at least one at bedtime. Make sure your fish oil contains the most potent and purest DHA and EPA triglycerides. Flameout (Buy at Amazon) has double or triple the potency of most fish oil, and 2000mg of DHA, which is superior to EPA for extinguishing inflammation.
Reference
- Barbadoro P et al. "Fish oil supplementation reduces cortisol basal levels and perceived stress: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial in abstinent alcoholics." Mol Nutr Food Res. 2013 Jun;57(6):1110-4. PubMed 23390041.
