Vitamin D, C, and Phosphatidylserine?

Diet and Nutrition
1

so i don’t really take any supplements except creatine and protein powder but in order to increase my test and lower my cortisol to improve my health and muscle building endeavours i have decided to buy some

in order to increase testosterone i am starting to take vitamin D 2000 mg a day from carlson labs
to reduce cortisol i am going to take vitamin c 1000 mg a day also from carlson labs

i already take omega 3 for brain health

i am also thinking of taking phosphatidylserine( 300 mg) to reduce cortisol, compared to the others this one is a bit pricey so i will only be taking it for a limited period of time while the others i keep taking every day. not 100% about buying this

and last i will take zma before bed to get more quality sleep,

now i have read up on these and gained an understanding, still i would like to hear peoples personal experiences if there is anyone on here who has taken these supplements in order to get the results that i am looking for.

2

The vitamin D-3 works wonders for me and my lifestyle, and especially fishoil (I use Flameout myself because I hate taking so many costco or walgreens capsules). Takes about two weeks each to notice each so it’s important I don’t forget to take them.

I had purchased Z-12 for sleep myself, but in all honesty I rarely use it now once my diet improved. Since I cut out wheat and processed foods for the most part I typically wake up energized now.

3

the Phosphatidylserine certainly works. I have tried it, but you are right, it is very expensive.

If you cant afford it everyday, then i suggest taking 300-600mg immediately after an extremely difficult training session.

depending on your training style you might only want to take it 1-4 times/week.

if your not super stressed out or hitting the gym REALLY hard its probably a waste of money. just be aware, that the first time i took 600mg PWO, i nearly passed out because it seemed to drop my cortisol super far. almost fell asleep on the way home.

4

I know that absorption may be an issue here, but white beans are very rich in phosphatidylserine. I know Ive had extremely good results ever since I take a large serving of white beans with my solid meals, esp post WO

5

Do you have a hormonal issue that you are aware of and that you got blood tests for?

just so you know…
None of these things unless you are incredibly deficit will probably have much of an effect on your natural T production. (maybe a small change) But hey it’s okay to do this stuff anyways most people are deficit in zinc and vit D if you don’t get a lot of sun on a regular basis. (ie. winter time)

The lowering your cortisol thing…

If you have fucked up sleep patterns, or have a super hard time waking up in the morning despite awesome sleep schedules and are overly stressed more often than not. Then maybe you have some cortisol issues, but otherwise unless you really suspect you have cortisol issues lowing cortisol shouldn’t be a concern of yours.

You need cortisol and when the adrenal glands are functioning properly Cortisol is not catabolic. It may even be essential to the building of muscle. Every low is followed by a high my friend.

High cortisol right after a workout is not going to kill your gains. High cortisol 24/7 is where the most damage is going to come from.
So relax, have fun, surround yourself with loved ones, watch funny movies, eat well, sleep well and let your body do it’s thang.

6

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
Do you have a hormonal issue that you are aware of and that you got blood tests for?

just so you know…
None of these things unless you are incredibly deficit will probably have much of an effect on your natural T production. (maybe a small change) But hey it’s okay to do this stuff anyways most people are deficit in zinc and vit D if you don’t get a lot of sun on a regular basis. (ie. winter time)

The lowering your cortisol thing…

If you have fucked up sleep patterns, or have a super hard time waking up in the morning despite awesome sleep schedules and are overly stressed more often than not. Then maybe you have some cortisol issues, but otherwise unless you really suspect you have cortisol issues lowing cortisol shouldn’t be a concern of yours.

You need cortisol and when the adrenal glands are functioning properly Cortisol is not catabolic. It may even be essential to the building of muscle. Every low is followed by a high my friend.

High cortisol right after a workout is not going to kill your gains. High cortisol 24/7 is where the most damage is going to come from.
So relax, have fun, surround yourself with loved ones, watch funny movies, eat well, sleep well and let your body do it’s thang.[/quote]

you sure about cortisol reduction not being worth it? i was thinking of taking it so that i can train longer than 60 minutes without cortisol making it counter productive.

7

[quote]buildsomemuscle wrote:

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
Do you have a hormonal issue that you are aware of and that you got blood tests for?

just so you know…
None of these things unless you are incredibly deficit will probably have much of an effect on your natural T production. (maybe a small change) But hey it’s okay to do this stuff anyways most people are deficit in zinc and vit D if you don’t get a lot of sun on a regular basis. (ie. winter time)

The lowering your cortisol thing…

If you have fucked up sleep patterns, or have a super hard time waking up in the morning despite awesome sleep schedules and are overly stressed more often than not. Then maybe you have some cortisol issues, but otherwise unless you really suspect you have cortisol issues lowing cortisol shouldn’t be a concern of yours.

You need cortisol and when the adrenal glands are functioning properly Cortisol is not catabolic. It may even be essential to the building of muscle. Every low is followed by a high my friend.

High cortisol right after a workout is not going to kill your gains. High cortisol 24/7 is where the most damage is going to come from.
So relax, have fun, surround yourself with loved ones, watch funny movies, eat well, sleep well and let your body do it’s thang.[/quote]

you sure about cortisol reduction not being worth it? i was thinking of taking it so that i can train longer than 60 minutes without cortisol making it counter productive.
[/quote]

Yeah, I’m not a professional or anything but In My Opinion its just NOT necessary to blunt short temporary burst of cortisol due to having a GOOD workout. Train as long as you need whether that is 30 minutes or 120 minutes.

What you should spend your money on is optimizing your nutrition around your workouts to keep protein synthesis positive.

This can be done with protein/carbs pre-workout with a bigger emphasis on carbs. My understanding is that insulin spikes save your muscle during exercise + glycogen stores are full providing you with energy to use
…
Also BCAAs/Leucine which can be used before during or after training (I’m leaning more towards during or after rather than before)

Another big thing is you actually do need to eat some protein atleast every 4 to 5 hours to maximize protein synthesis, but also don’t take this to an extreme by eating protein every 1 or 2 hours…that kind of frequency shouldn’t have any ADDED benefit towards protein synthesis and may actually be a huge complete waste of protein when it comes to building muscle.