Vitamin C and Cortisol

[term]

I heard Vitamin C helps curb the hormone Cortisol (responsible for catabolism) in your body's system. Guy said to take one when you wake up, after you workout, and before you go to bed, so your body isn't in a catabolic state eating away at your muscles. What's the deal guys?

[Steve]

Some studies printed in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research have shown that taking Vitamin C in doses of 1000 mg per day reduced the secretion of cortisol, allowing one’s muscles to grow and lift better.

[gator]

(going to local walgreens)!
lol

[Lee J B]

I take 5000mg Vit C a day....not because I knew this info though..but I guess this is now a bonous I never knew about - good find guys.

[term]

Lee J B - I hope you mean 500mg... because at 5000mg, you're pissing away at least 3000mg of Vitamin C.

After reading up on it some more, I realized that I'm not gonna f-ck around with my cortisol levels. I care more about losing fat than protecting my muscle tissue.

[Lee J B]

No I meant 5000mg ..... ..... Not like it costs me any more or less to do this much so may as well lol

[aberry33]

Originally Posted by term

Lee J B - I hope you mean 500mg... because at 5000mg, you're pissing away at least 3000mg of Vitamin C.

After reading up on it some more, I realized that I'm not gonna f-ck around with my cortisol levels. I care more about losing fat than protecting my muscle tissue.

Sorry about bringing up an old thread but i've been doing some research on Vitamin C since i've heard good things about it for muscle growth. But does Cortisol help block fat storage? And if so, would taking alot of Vitamin C hurt your bodys chances of maintaning or losing fat?

[Maxgain]

5000mg a day seems an extreme since the body can only hold 1.5g of vit c at a time.

[armorforsleep]

im not sure if cortisol actually helps block fat storage, but it does promote the use of fats/proteins as an energy source, especially for your body parts that are not critical for stress response (ie during lifting weights, your immune system and digestive system are not too important - your muscles need all the energy, so sugars are utilized by the muscles while your stomach must use fat/protein to maintain minimum function)

id recommend taking a bit of vitamin c after you workout. as you workout, the number of free radicals in your body increases (remember, your immune system is not working to its max!) after you workout and cortisol levels decrease, vitamin c helps neutralize these free radicals.


i dont know where you guys are getting these values of "your body can only handle x vitamin c at a time". is it the same place you are getting the info "your body can only use 30g or protein in one meal"?

[Lift2Live]

Edit...........

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by Josephina

i dont know where you guys are getting these values of "your body can only handle x vitamin c at a time". is it the same place you are getting the info "your body can only use 30g or protein in one meal"?

Vit C is a water soluble vitamin and the body will only hold so much in the blood supply and the rest is excreted. From my pharmacology lectures on vit c we were told the average person can only hold 1.5g at a time.

[Gooseneck]

I take 1000 mg in the morning with my multi-vitamin, and then I take 1500-2000 mgs right before I work out. Then I take another 500 mg at night before bed. This is what I do when I can remember to do it.
I also take 400 iu of vitamin E along with my C before workout. This is just as important as taking C, however it is not water soluable so only take 400-800 iu max.