Tip Cortisol Control for the Natural Bodybuilder Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness EatingSupplements Tip Cortisol Control for the Natural Bodybuilder Out of control cortisol can make building muscle harder and lead to muscle atrophy when dieting Here' s how to keep it in check by Christian Thibaudeau November 28, 2017September 12, 2022 Tags Cortisol Control, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips, Workout Nutrition Cortisol and Muscle Loss The main culprit for muscle loss while dieting is chronically elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol has many functions, but two important ones are: mobilizing stored energy to provide fuel, and increasing blood glucose levels. Your body wants to maintain a stable blood glucose levels. Around 4.0 - 5.0mmol/L and up to 7.0mmol/L after a meal. If it dips down below that (hypoglycemia) you normally get cravings, which compel you to eat and elevate blood sugar, or you'll release stored glucose into the bloodstream. The hormones that increase blood glucose levels are cortisol, glucagon, and (to some extent) growth hormone. All three of these will tend to be more elevated during periods of caloric restriction. Things can get even more problematic when you're on a low-carb diet because you could increase protein breakdown (breakdown of muscle tissue) into amino acids to produce glucose (gluconeogenesis) from these aminos to maintain stable blood sugar levels. This means that the more restrictive your diet, and the longer the dieting period is, the more likely you are to have chronically elevated cortisol levels because you constantly need to mobilize more fuel and elevate blood glucose levels. This is especially true when carbs are very low and fats aren't high enough to compensate. And since chronically elevated cortisol levels can be destructive for natural individuals, it makes it almost impossible to build more muscle, and even harder to prevent muscle loss. When you're using steroids you're inhibiting the negative action that cortisol can have on muscle – both by reducing its action at the cellular level and by increasing the protein synthesis rate to compensate for the increased rate of protein breakdown. If someone is using growth hormone, the need to produce cortisol might be reduced because GH also increases blood glucose levels and mobilizes stored energy. If growth hormone is taking care of that, there's less need to release cortisol. Because of that, enhanced athletes have much less risk of losing muscle while dieting and can use a much stricter diet. They can even build muscle while losing fat. Natural lifters need to minimize excess cortisol if they want to grow. Ingesting some fast absorbed carbs like highly-branched cyclic dextrins before and during workouts will go a long way in preventing excessive cortisol output. If you have carbs readily available for fuel while you train there's less need to mobilize your reserves. If you don't need to mobilize as much fuel, you don't release as much cortisol. Surge Workout Fuel is the best product for that purpose. You can also use other strategies like using vitamin C pre or post workout (around 2000mg) as well as glycine post workout. Something like magnesium in the evening can keep your cortisol levels low at night, which will help you sleep better, recover, and grow. Rhodiola is a great adaptogen that improves your overall capacity to handle stress and might reduce your daily average cortisol output, which will improve your immune system and muscle growth. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Eating Tip The Ridiculous Truth about Salt Is there really a link between sodium and hypertension? Here are the facts. Dietary Myth Busting, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips TC Luoma March 3 Diet & Fat Loss A Beginner s Guide to Carb Cycling The inside secrets to getting ripped and shredded, simply by manipulating carb intake. Carbohydrate Control, Diet Strategy, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Matt McGorry April 15 Diet & Fat Loss Tip This Marble Cake Will Blow Your Dang Mind Raspberries and vanilla? High protein? No added sugar? Heck yeah. Eat this dessert without derailing your diet. Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Protein, Recipes, Tips Chelsie Lysenchuk February 8 Eating 11 Fat-Loss Mistakes Women Make Sometimes, it's the things you don't think about that are the biggest problems when it comes to losing fat. Are you making these mistakes? Diet Strategy, Dietary Myth Busting, For Women, Losing Fat, Nutrition & Supplements TC Luoma June 21