Cortisol

Hey everyone,

I was trying to find an article that gave me all of the details, but I couldn’t find anything that said the exact mechanisms behind the decrease in cortisol following a high carbohydrate/protein shake following a workout.

I’d like to know all of the minute details, if anyone has them.

Thanks much!

I think these may be what you are looking for.

Solving the Post w/o Puzzel I&II
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460833
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=462147

By JB.

Should answer your questions,

Hope that helps,

Phill

I no longer believe that PWO feeding affects cortisol. Of the 4 published studies I have found on this topic, only Kraemer’s group has shown a change. That change was an increase in cortisol following PWO drink consumption on the first day, followed by a non significant trend of decrease on 2 subsequent days. To reiterate, the other 3 studies showed no change.

We all thought that the drinks affected cortisol, but it doesn’t appear that they do. Really, who cares? It’s purely an academic point.

I’ll be addressing this idea in more detail in an upcoming article.

Cheers

[quote]the MaxX wrote:
Hey everyone,

…I couldn’t find anything that said the exact mechanisms behind the decrease in cortisol following a high carbohydrate/protein shake following a workout.[/quote]

[quote]David Barr wrote:
I no longer believe that PWO feeding affects cortisol. Of the 4 published studies I have found on this topic, only Kraemer’s group has shown a change. That change was an increase in cortisol following PWO drink consumption on the first day, followed by a non significant trend of decrease on 2 subsequent days. To reiterate, the other 3 studies showed no change.

We all thought that the drinks affected cortisol, but it doesn’t appear that they do. Really, who cares? It’s purely an academic point.

I’ll be addressing this idea in more detail in an upcoming article.

Cheers

[/quote]

The reasoning behind this is I have a friend with a condition in which her cortisol production is sporadic. She has recently gained weight from her medication (cortef) and tried to lose weight through exercise. She asked me about ways that would combat cortisol production since an excess was leading to her weight gain.

My initial thoughts were a post-workout shake following intense exercise and maybe the use of phosphatidyl serine.

I later found out that this is the opposite of what she needed because she has adrenal insufficiency syndrome.

Now I’m not sure what to do with her. We are getting her diet perfect and exercise in order, but that is going very slowly.

I no longer believe that PWO feeding affects cortisol.

David Barr, I’m having trouble wrapping my “dogmatic” brain around that statement. (grin) I need a rough draft of that article you’re working on, otherwise I’m going to think it’s that JB/DB thing again.

the MaxX, it sounds like your friend needs to have the dosage of her medication adjusted. If the doc isn’t willing to fine-tune the dosage of Cortef, she needs to find a doc who will. Check with a compounding pharmacy to find the good docs in town.

I know she wants to lose weight, but please don’t be trying to lower cortisol levels when the medication she is taking is supposed to provide additional hydrocortisone (cortisol) because she is (sporadically) deficient.

This is definitely something that should be fine-tuned by her doctor. A lot of people who supplement with hydrocortisone do so at a very low dosage and then take a slightly higher amount when they are under extreme stress (travel, professional, emotional, illness, etc.)

Good luck!!! It’s hard to find the right doc, one who will work with you and make adjustments based on how you feel and how you’re functioning vs being ruled by blood test numbers, but it is well worth the effort.

Thanks much for the info on that Tampa-Terry! I would like to see you and David Barr discuss this PWO cortisol issue further!