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Re-Set AD and Cort-Inhibitors Antagonistic?

Whacked

Whacked

Well-known member
Little help. Perhaps Im not thinking about this correctly.

When you're Adrenals are working sub-optimally from stress, over-use of stims, etc....your cortisol output is also decreased.

Re-Set AD helps to restore adrenal function, so indirectly, it must have some cortisol upregulating propertries.....no?

If true, wouldn't this be antagonistic when taking cort-controlling products like LeanXtreme?
 
Whacked said:
Little help. Perhaps Im not thinking about this correctly.

When you're Adrenals are working sub-optimally from stress, over-use of stims, etc....your cortisol output is also decreased.

Re-Set AD helps to restore adrenal function, so indirectly, it must have some cortisol upregulating propertries.....no?

If true, wouldn't this be antagonistic when taking cort-controlling products like LeanXtreme?
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I don't think that it is counterproductive using Reset-AD with a Invalid Link Removed, but that's just my opinion and others may feel differently.

~Rosie~
 
Thanks Rosie

Anyone else have any thoughts?
 
Bump, I'd be interested to hear some more thoughts on this. I've been doing some reading myself, from what I understand you need some cortisol to be able to handle the stress on your adrenals, and if you lack sufficient cortisol to handle it, it can put you INTO adrenal fatigue.

On the other side of the spectrum, too much cortisol also is obviously bad for all the reasons we all know.

But when you look at it that way, if you are trying to recover from adrenal fatigue with something like reset ad, wouldn't you want or need your body to increase its cortisol level a bit to adequately handle the stress and help pull you out of adrenal fatigue? It would seem that taking cort inhibitors would make the problem worse or at the very least slow down recovery from it

I'm not an MD, so the exact intricasies are a bit over my head. Just thinking out loud, anyone have more solid info/thoughts?
 
I see you share my sentiment. ;)

Interesting subject to say the least.
 
I am not 100% sure I am going to answer the question you are asking but I will do my best.

A certain amount of cortisol is healthy
Cortisol lowering products are not always a good thing
Extended high cortisol output can result in decreased adrenal function and sub-optimal cortisol output
Some herbs are described as adaptogens and increase cortisol in low cortisol conditions and decrease in high cortisol conditions
A good example is licorice root. It increases cortisol output in low cortisol conditions and is absolutely fantastic for people who feel tired in the morning. I went through a period of very heavy stress and used to sleep up to 12 hours per day and still feel tired. Licorice root when I wake up and within a couple of weeks I wake up after 8 hours without a problem. It is easy to find studies that show licorice root lowers testosterone. If it upregulates cortisol then it makes perfect sense.

I hope the last couple of points answered your question.
 
ummm...it was interesting info, but still didnt really answer my question fully, lol. I guess in my case speciifcally I wonder if cortisol lowering supps hinder the healing of adrenal fatigue. That's really specifically what I wanna know to be honest.
 
Adrenal fatigue is not a recognised medical condition and as far as I have experienced doctors don't diagnose it. Adrenal 'fatigue' is lower than normal output of cortisol. The recognised condition of complete adrenal insufficiency is Addisons disease.

Functional medical doctors tend to look at it like a spectrum, you can have decreased output but still have output. I have seen many medical doctors argue about the diagnosis of 'adrenal fatigue'.

If you go through a period of high stress your cortisol levels will increase for more extended periods of time. Imagine alarm clocks and early mornings, late nights, insufficient sleep duration etc. You will have the pregnenolone steal effect where cortisol levels rise. After a while your adrenal glands lower their output of cortisol hence the term adrenal fatigue.

So, to answer your question. Adrenal fatigue is simply a term for lower than normal output of cortisol. If you take cortisol lowering (not adaptogens) then your output will become worse and your symptoms will become worse.

I have seen people on here advise on someone who says they are tired all the time and struggling with adrenal fatigue who recommend something to lower cortisol. This would be a bad idea.

I hope this answers your question as well.
 
bdcc said:
I am not 100% sure I am going to answer the question you are asking but I will do my best.

A certain amount of cortisol is healthy
Cortisol lowering products are not always a good thing
Extended high cortisol output can result in decreased adrenal function and sub-optimal cortisol output
Some herbs are described as adaptogens and increase cortisol in low cortisol conditions and decrease in high cortisol conditions
A good example is licorice root. It increases cortisol output in low cortisol conditions and is absolutely fantastic for people who feel tired in the morning. I went through a period of very heavy stress and used to sleep up to 12 hours per day and still feel tired. Licorice root when I wake up and within a couple of weeks I wake up after 8 hours without a problem. It is easy to find studies that show licorice root lowers testosterone. If it upregulates cortisol then it makes perfect sense.

I hope the last couple of points answered your question.
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What dosage did you use upon waking with the licorice root?
 
I use Metagenics Licorice Plus/Poliquin Licorice Supreme and take two tablets with breakfast and two with lunch. I have used a few bottles of it on different occasions and it takes about 3-4 days for me to really notice the difference.

It is now my go to product whenever I feel I have overdone it and start feeling lethargic in the mornings.
 
Good info!
 
bdcc said:
I use Metagenics Licorice Plus/Poliquin Licorice Supreme and take two tablets with breakfast and two with lunch. I have used a few bottles of it on different occasions and it takes about 3-4 days for me to really notice the difference.

It is now my go to product whenever I feel I have overdone it and start feeling lethargic in the mornings.
Click to expand...

When recovering from something like that, any advice on how to MAINTAIN a balanced cortisol level?

It seems like one of the added benefits of almost every supp out there is that it reduces cortisol. So by the time you have 12 different supps you are stacking together that all in some form or fashion help reduce cortisol, combine that with some overtraining, you can get yourself pretty messed up. I will attest to that. So what is the secret to being able to take the supps that will keep your cortisol at what is considered an optimally low level that we bodybuilders like, while not pushing it too low and really messing up the endocrine system?

Licorice root in the AM as a permanent in the supp regimen? Though I would be a bit nervous of developing high blood pressure if doing that.
 
You are correct, licorice root can raise blood pressure. I use it in short cycles.

It is very hard to give generalised advice because everyone has different factors. Circadian rhythms, training regimes, supplement regimes, nutrition, emotional stress etc.

If you are concerned about it I would do a periodic ASI test (Adrenal Stress Index). Although the salivary method definitely has faults, it is easy to do and cheap (I don't know what is covered in American insurance etc but they can be purchased privately). You will take saliva at different times during the day.

The thing with cortisol is that people say "lower cortisol" as if it is that simple. It is supposed to be high in the morning and lower as the day goes on to wake you up and let you sleep.

Someone gets a fat stomach, find cortisol is catabolic and jumps on supplements to lower cortisol without paying attention to what is normal. It would be the same as jumping on prescription aromatase inhibitors because you are taking a herbal test booster- overkill.

Not the most straight forward answer but it is not a straight forward problem. It is no surprise so many people struggle with fatigue, this is only one very small piece of the puzzle.
 
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