The Low Cortisol Lifestyle

written by Ali Kuoppala (

AnabolicMen.com
) & Christopher Walker (
TestShock.com
)

Table of Contents
Section 1:
Introduction from Ali and Chris
Section 2:
The Basics
What is Cortisol and Why Lower it?
How Stress Chokeholds The Endocrine System
Section 3:
The Low Cortisol Lifestyle, aka. Lifestyle Optimization for Stress-Free Living
40% Higher Testosterone and -24% Lower Cortisol After 4 Weeks of Resistance
Training
How Listening to Music Can Alter your Hormones and Productivity
How to Optimize your Sleep for Balanced Cortisol Levels
The Surprising Hormonal Effects of Fixing your Posture
Relaxation Exercises and Walking
Alcohol and Marijuana: Two Relaxing Substances that Actually Increase

Cortisol
Are you Drinking Enough Water?
The Quick Action Guide to Low Cortisol Nutrition

Section 4:
Supplementation

Why Multivitamin is The Most Important Supplement for Balancing High

Cortisol
Phosphatidylserine
Adaptogenic Herbs

Section 5:
The Cortisol Solution

The Endogenous Limitation Paradox

The Power Of Cortisol Regulation
The Dire Reality
The Cortisol Solution
The Power Of Nootropics For Physical and Cognitive Enhancement
The Ultimate Formula

Section 1: Introduction from Ali and

Chris
Hello everyone,
Ali and Chris here. Before we dive into this book, we just want to take a minute and say
hello.
Over our adult lives, weve both developed a passion not just for self-experimentation
and research around testosterone optimization in our own personal lives, but also for
teaching other people - like yourself - how to do the same.
In a world full of nonsense and crappy, misleading information, we strive to provide
the most top-notch quality information to our readers.
This book is a compilation of information available on our websites. It is packaged
here for your convenience. You can go to
http://anabolicmen.com
and
http://testshock.com
to read more from both of us.
Cortisol is an important topic.
The book youre about to read may just change the way you think about the way you
react to the world around you.
By the time youre finished consuming, and processing, this information, you will
have armed yourself with a vast amount of knowledge about an incredibly important
topic. It is imperative that you use this knowledge to avoid developing chronically
elevated cortisol levels over your lifetime.
Stress is the silent killer.

While cortisol is not an inherently bad hormone (it is necessary for many important
processes in your body) chronically high cortisol levels will wreak havoc on your body,
your brain, and your testosterone levels.
From this point on, when faced with certain decisions and behavioral choices in your
daily life, remember...
Low Cortisol Lifestyle
Make choices that help keep your body in a state of balance and youll be rewarded
with lifelong health and mental clarity.

Section 2: The Basics

What is Cortisol and Why Lower

it?
Cortisol is the principal stress hormone of the human body, released from the
adrenal cortex under times of short or long-term stress.
It also gets A LOT of attention in the fitness world.
Thats because its a catabolic (breaking) hormone, one that induces
muscle
breakdown and visceral fat gain
,
slows down the immune system
, and
lowers
testosterone levels in the process
.

Its basically the opposite of testosterone, the other side of the coin, and
somewhat of an enemy when youre interested in keeping your
testosterone levels high.
Hence, why everyones telling you to keep your cortisol levels as low as possible.
A statement which is somewhat true, but we also have to remember that cortisol
is not completely useless

Its also the hormone that wakes you up in the morning, its deeply involved in
the muscle glycogen storage/release process, and without cortisol, we would still
be crawling instead of walking.
So a certain baseline is needed for some of the most basic functions of the
human body, and in that manner, cortisol is not that bad, and your body is pretty
good at protecting itself from the negative effects when the levels stay within a
reasonable range.
The problems start when your cortisol levels are elevated for prolonged periods of
time
, a situation not that uncommon for a modern male who eats processed junk,
is deficient in multiple nutrients, and suffers from chronic stress.
In other words, I believe that most of the men on this very planet have got too
much cortisol circulating in their bloodstreams
And those are not good news for your testosterone molecules:

According to a
few studies conducted by an endocrinologist Matthew Hardy
, our
testicles produce this enzyme called 11HSD-1, which protects testosterone from
the destructive effects of cortisol
However, when cortisol is too high, there simply isnt enough of the enzyme
11HSD-1 to counteract the stress hormone, and as a result a lions share of your
freshly produced testosterone molecules will be destroyed before they even leave
the sack.
Not only that, but cortisol and testosterone are both made from pregnenolone
(which the body synthesizes from cholesterol), when cortisol is elevated, it

basically robs the raw building material of T into making a stress hormone,
rather than male sex hormone.

How Stress Chokeholds The

Endocrine System
Its hard to pinpoint exactly what the term stress means, but an explanation
that comes rather close, goes something like this:
stress is the bodys principal
method of reacting to a challenge
. To open up the term a bit more, this
reaction to challenge
can be divided into two categories.

Short-term stress
, where a quick challenge (a fight for example) arises
and the body reacts to that with a burst of stress hormones
(glucocorticoids), which makes you more alert and focused to tackle the
stressor. This kind of stress is often not detrimental to health and has no
long-term effects in the body. Many experts believe that short bouts of
manageable stress (ie: small daily challenges) can in fact be a healthy
thing to have.
Long-term stress
, where the challenge is something that goes on for a
long period of time (for example: a demanding boss that gives you work
related tasks that feel unbearable, or a debt that you simply cant pay, etc).
Its this kind of chronic stress that keeps stress hormone levels high for
extended periods of time, often leading to detrimental effects on health of

the body and mind. Its also this kind of stress that wreaks havoc in the
endocrine system, and the kind we will be covering in this article.

So, short-term stress can be a good thing to have

Long-term stress on the other hand, why its so unhealthy? And how does it
affect your hormonal health?

-- Long-Term Stress and Testosterone

There are two major reasons as to why chronic long-term stress hammers
testosterone production.
Firstly,
the principal stress steroid hormone; cortisol, which is released from the
adrenal cortex during times of prolonged stress, has a direct testosterone
suppressing effect inside the hypothalamus and testicular leydig cells.
Secondly,
the synthesis of cortisol requires cholesterol, a molecule that is also
needed in the biosynthesis of testosterone. When cortisol levels skyrocket during
stress, more of this essential building block goes towards creating cortisol.

Obviously those are not the only reasons that can cause fucked-up T levels
during prolonged stress. As a guy who battled with some serious
work-related stress few years ago, I can guarantee you that increased
alcohol consumption, messed up sleep quality, poor diet, lack of exercise,
and depression can (and more than likely will) contribute to the stress
induced reduction in testosterone.

The research on how long-term stress (both physical and mental) alters
testosterone levels is rather cruel:

Science Behind Stress and Testosterone:

a)
In multiple animal studies, it has been noted that nearly all kinds of long-term
stressors (surgical stress, noise stress, immobilization stress, oxidative stress,
chronic stress, etc) can significantly lower testosterone levels in various species
(
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
).
In pretty much all of these studies, the suppression of testosterone goes
hand-in-hand with the increase in cortisol, and the reduction in testosterone is
not caused by increased excertion, but through decreased production.
b)
In military studies, psychological stressors (such as the fear of combat or
death) have been linked to
significant reductions in testosterone
. Same goes for
stressful military training courses, such as: the officer school, ranger school, and
survival training (
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
). One study also
showed that
refugees who experience physiological stress
, have low testosterone
and luteinizing hormone levels, coupled with very high cortisol levels.

c)
In non-military men, chronic stress, and stress-related depression has been
linked to low testosterone production and elevated cortisol levels (
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
).
d)
Surgical stress is no different (be this physical or psychological), it lowers
testosterone levels too, usually the magnitude of the suppression is directly
correlated with the severity of the surgery (
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
).

Bottom line:
Chronic stress (be it physical or psychological) has a tendency to
lower testosterone levels, and this suppressive effect is nearly always
caused by
elevated cortisol production
.

Use this daily to balance cortisol production naturally (link) >>

Section 3: The Low Cortisol Lifestyle,

aka. Lifestyle Optimization for
Stress-Free Living

40% Higher Testosterone and -24% Lower Cortisol

After 4 Weeks of Resistance Training
If you are a regular reader of TestShock or AnabolicMen.com, you are more
than likely already aware that strength training increases testosterone
levels. However, theres always a group of people who claim that the
increases in testosterone and/or reductions in the stress hormone cortisol,
would be short-lived, and that exercise wouldnt change your resting levels of
the hormones by any significance.
Its normal to assume that, since in many studies, the effects are usually
monitored for a day or two, and in these kinds of studies theres usually an
increase or decrease in testosterone (depending bit on the type of exercise and
subjects), and then after sometime the levels fall back close to the baseline
So no matter how much you train, your hormonal baseline stays put, and
the exercise induced hormonal changes are just acute, right?

Well, thats a big no at least if you ask the Spanish researchers, who found
out that in newbie trainees, 4 weeks of strength training results in a
significant 40% boost in RESTING testosterone, and -24% drop in RESTING
cortisol.
Here are the details:
In 2006, Andrada et al. from the University of Extremadura
, had 20 male
volunteers (average age 22) with no prior experience with strength training. All
of the subjects were tested and medically examined, so that there was no
possibility of performance enhancing drug use to screw up the results.
After the medical examination, each of the volunteers were given a 4-week sub
maximal strength training routine, which was to be conducted on three days of
the week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). All the sessions were to be
conducted at 12pm, and the use of any nutritional supplement during the
4-week period was forbidden.

The resistance training routine itself consisted of 7 basic exercises in the

following order:

10-15 minute warm-up

bench press
seated-pulley
knee extension

 behind-neck press
leg press
bicep curls
tricep pull-downs

NOTE:
All of the exercises were done in 3 sets of 10 reps, with 3 min recovery

in-between the sets, and with a weight that was 70-75% of the trainees one-rep
max (1-RM).
After a month with the program above, the results speak for themselves:
even
though right after the exercise there was acute reductions in T (likely because
resistance training makes muscle cells absorb more androgens from the blood,
and as a result the testosterone level goes down for a while), there was a
statistically significant 40% increase in resting testosterone, and a -24%
decrease in resting cortisol (the primary stress hormone).

How Listening to Music Can

Alter your Cortisol and
Productivity
We are exposed to music on a daily basis, but did you know that it can have a
serious positive and/or negative impact for your hormones and productivity?
There are multiple studies which show very clearly, how listening to various
kinds of music can significantly alter the levels of anabolic hormones, stress
hormones, productivity, mood, and even immune system functions.
Allow me to explain
... Both of us are drummers from childhood, ever since, playing and listening
to music has played a huge part in our lives
Needless to say, we was not very positively surprised when we stumbled upon
this study
some years ago, where it was concluded that listening to various kinds
of music styles, caused an acute drop in the subjects testosterone levels. These
effects were noted even when the subjects had the choice to listen to their
favorite bands/artists
(to be fair, this study was conducted in Japan, so the music might not be that T
friendly anyway, haha).

Did those findings have any impact on the amount of music I consume?

Hell no. In fact, Im writing this chapter with music playing on the background. I
do most of my work while listening to music

And theres a good reason for that:

In a
study from England
, it was found out that listening to background
music significantly raised efficiency in a series of experiments involving
repetitive-work.

According to Dr. Teresa Lesiuk

, IT specialists who listen to music complete
their tasks more quickly and come up with better ideas than those who
dont, because the music improves their mood and greatly reduces anxiety.

Multiple other studies on the subject have shown that background music
can be used to improve cognitive functions and productivity (
study
,
study
,
study
).

Aside from being a good tool for increased productivity, listening to music
can greatly reduce the stress hormone; cortisol
(
study
,
study
,
study
).
A
large review study investigating over 400 studies on music
, led by Professor
Daniel J. Levitin, found out that music can be so strong stress-reliever that it

reduces cortisol levels in subjects undergoing a surgery, more so than any

prescription medicine used for such purposes.
What about workout music then?
Aside from the fact that lifting weights with huge ear muffs looks tad bit
ridiculous, the acute reductions in testosterone noted by Fukui et al. could
actually cause a small drop in your workout performance. This however, could be
easily negated by the reduced stress and improved mood that comes by when
listening to music, so I wouldnt worry about that. I have personally had a good
amount of gains and high T levels for a long time now, and the gym where I
workout plays music from the speakers all the time.

Few tips:
If the music is too loud, productivity will suffer, keep it as background noise
when working.
During work involving writing or speaking, instrumental music is
recommended (lyrics distract the process).
Heavy-metal music and heavy ass weight lifting go hand-in-hand.
The best stress-relieving music is something that includes sounds from nature.
Video game music is awesome for productivity, since its designed to enhance
the experience without distracting the player (I often write with
this as
background noise
).

How to Optimize your Sleep for

Balanced Cortisol Levels
It goes without saying that sleep is a great way to reduce stress
And obviously this means that its also a great way to reduce the principal
stress hormone, cortisol (
study
,
study
,
study
).

Sleeping more is not only good for stress reduction, as its also one of the best
ways to increase your natural testosterone production

You can double your testosterone levels by sleeping more (

seriously
).
How does one improve his sleep quality and duration for higher T and lower C
you might ask?
Well check these tips out:

Sleep in complete darkness. By this I mean that there should be not a

single led light visible in the room where youre sleeping in. As even a
single dot of light in your night clock or mobile phone is enough to disturb
the pineal glands ability to secrete the sleep hormone melatonin.

Close all the mobile-networks and wi-fi hotspots.

This Saudi-Arabian study
found out that the electromagnetic frequencies decrease sleep quality.

 Exercise during the day, as

research has shown
that just a simple exercise
session incorporated in your daily life, can dramatically improve sleep
quality.

Melatonin. This is the hormone that your pineal gland secretes to make
you sleep, thus its called the sleep hormone.
You can supplement with it
,
and few studies also show that it may boost testosterone levels via
inhibiting the aromatase enzyme.

Sleep in a cold room and be naked if you can. Firstly because cold room
will mimic the natural sleeping habitat of the human body (we were meant
to sleep outside), and secondly because the testicles need to be a tad bit
colder than the basal body temperature is, for optimal functioning (thats
why they hang in a pouch outside the body and thats also why cold
showers and loose boxers increase testosterone).

Dont watch bright electronic displays before you hit the sack, as the blue
light in most electronic screens will impair pineal glands ability to
produce melatonin (I use a software called
f.lux
, which automatically dims
the screen and reduces blue light when its getting close to bedtime).

Supplement with Ashwagandha

, as several studies have found that it
positively influences sleep quality, which is likely due to the fact that it
lowers the stress hormone cortisol (
its also a potent testosterone booster
).

Consume some simple carbs hour or two before hitting the bed, as this will
increase your insulin production, making you energetic for a brief moment,
but then your insulin will crash which makes you fall into sleep more
easily.

 Consume some high quality protein before hitting the bed, as certain
amino acids such as L-tryptophan will increase melatonin production in
the brain, thus also improves sleep quality.

The Surprising Hormonal Effect

of Fixing your Posture
Most of the communication we do is non-verbal, meaning that we speak more
with our bodies and expressions than we do with our mouth
Its also a known fact that confident humans and animals both have a habit of
showing alpha body language

For example a baboon might express his power by holding his breath which
causes his chest to expand. Whereas a successful business man or a boss can

cross his fingers behind his head and lean back on a chair to open up showing
that he isnt afraid of taking space and is in control.
Insecurity and weakness can also be seen through body language. Actions such
as restless legs and fingers, closing up to a small space, crossing arms, not
making eye contact, and hunched up posture all show that youre scared, weak,
and not in control.
Its all in our evolution, these models are somewhat hard coded into our brains,
and we often do these things without noticing it ourselves.

But could showing powerful alpha body language actually make us more
powerful and confident? And could weak body language really make you more
weaker and inferior?
Thats what
this study
from Cuddy et al. examined:
They had 24 test subjects who gave their baseline saliva hormones to the
researchers and then were randomly assigned to groups where they would do
either power-poses or low-power-poses. (poses used in the study shown
below).

Each subject held the pose for 2 minutes and then the researchers again tested
their salivary hormones to see if there was anything different going on

Remarkably the results showed that only a mere 2 minutes of holding a

power-pose was enough to increase testosterone levels by 20%, whereas the
stress hormone cortisol also decreased by -25%!
However the low-power group saw a -10% reduction in salivary testosterone
levels and a 15% increase in the stress hormone cortisol.
These results show that when you express power and leadership through your
body language, your brain and hormones will pick up and follow, actually
making you more powerful, confident, and relaxed.
Whereas when youre expressing weakness and insecurity through closed up
and hunched postures, then your brain and hormones will again pick up, but this
time they make you weaker and more stressed up.

Relaxation Exercises and

Walking
Meditation and relaxation exercises should by all means of common sense be
super-great at lowering cortisol levels. Walking in nature on the other hand
has been known for decades as a potent stress-reliever.
How do these play out in studies?
a)
This study
found out that both, mediation and relaxation exercises, improve
the cortisol to testosterone ratio (more testosterone, less cortisol), and thats not
all, growth hormone levels increased quite significantly too, most likely this was
due to the decline in cortisol.
b) In 1995, a researcher by the name of Frank Perna, concluded a study on
Olympic cyclists and rowers, just to see that the athletes
produced more cortisol
when they were under stress
. He continued the research in 1998 with
this study
,
where he found out that when the athletes are assigned to a course which
consists of 45-minute sessions of various relaxation techniques, their cortisol
levels plummet. In fact the control group (which didnt go to the sessions) had 2x
more cortisol in their morning sample when compared to the test group!
c) In
this study
, the researchers put their 40 test subjects to do some
Abbreviated
Progressive Relaxation Training
(APRT), to see if it would impact their cortisol

secretion. It did, just 15 minutes of ARPT nearly halved salivary cortisol levels.

d) In
this Japanese study
, 280 subjects were assigned to walk in either a city, or a
forest. Surprisingly, the participants who walked in the forest & nature, had

significantly lower salivary cortisol levels than their peers who did the same
amount of walking in a city.

Alcohol and Marijuana: Two

Relaxing Substances that May
Actually Increase Cortisol
Alcohol and marijuana are both naturally occurring depressants that have a
tendency of causing lack of inhibitions and inducing a great sense of relaxation.
Because of that, one might think that they both drive down cortisol levels?
Actually quite the opposite is true.
Science has shown that
marijuana
, as well as
alcohol
, both cause dose-dependent
increases in cortisol.

So even though you might feel relaxed, your body is actually responding to these
substances with a stress-response.

Are you Drinking Enough

Water?
Would you think that something as simple as drinking enough fluids, can
have a MASSIVE effect on your stress hormone levels?
a)
Even mild (1-2% of body mass) dehydration before and during exercise has
been shown to significantly raise the levels of the stress hormone cortisol (
study
,
study
). Since cortisol tends to reduce testosterone levels and is made from the
same raw building material (
pregnenolone
), even mild dehydration at rest
and/or during exercise likely has a testosterone suppressing effect.
b)
In
this 2008 study
, the subjects all completed three identical resistance
training bouts in different hydration states (hydrated, dehydrated by ~2,5% body
mass, and dehydrated by ~5% body mass), while the researchers investigated
various endocrine hormones at rest, during training, immediately post-exercise,
and 60 minutes after the exercise. The results showed that dehydration
increased cortisol levels significantly, while it also attenuated the normal
exercise-induced rise in testosterone.

c)
Theres also some evidence that growth hormone levels get suppressed in the
state of dehydration (
study
,
study
), which is just another reason to drink plenty
of water during exercise!
Heres a simple and cheap long-term solution for you to get the most out of
your exercise sessions with nothing less than W-A-T-E-R
Get yourself a plastic-free bottle (I use two of
these
myself). Why not
plastic? Because soft plastics leak xenoestrogens to the water.
Preferably also get some sort of
tap-water filtration system
to filter out
chlorine
and
fluoride
from the godly liquid that is, water.
Go exercise and remember to drink a lot. When someone asks whats in
your fancy metal bottle, tell them its your secret anabolic liquid.
Enjoy your slightly increased anabolism, and watch with pride as your
fellow gym rats try to figure out what kind of anabolic fusion matrix is
hidden in your gym bottle.

The Quick Action Guide to Low

Cortisol Nutrition
In this subheading, youll get the incredibly quick, actionable, bullet pointed list of
things that HAVE to be in check on your diet if you wish to have balanced cortisol
levels.
Eat Enough Calories (or if youre dieting, dont have a too aggressive deficit):

This is simply because when you lower your calories, you make your body
deprived of energy, aka. starved. This causes bodily stress in various ways, and
results in increased cortisol secretion.Lowering calories is A MUST if your goal
is to lose weight, so yes, your cortisol levels will increase when dieting, you can
however keep this increase minimal with a deficit that is not more than
-10-20%

Do NOT Follow the Low-Carb Dogma:

Getting an adequate intake of fats and

protein is necessary for optimal cortisol balance. However, getting plenty of

carbohydrates is even more beneficial if one seeks to remain at low-cortisol
state. Yes that is correct. Carbohydrates are your friend, and they do suppress
cortisol
(
study
,
study
,
study
)

Thats about it for low-cortisol nutrition, really, its that stupidly simple.

Section 4: Supplementation

Why Multivitamin is The Most

Important Supplement for
Balancing High Cortisol
There isnt a supplement that can magically fix high cortisol levels, but one
that can actually do that (in cases of micronutrient deficiencies), is a
multivitamin
.
Why is that? Well allow me to give you few examples:
1. Magnesium deficiency (
which is what roughly 46% of the Americans have
)
has been shown to
cause significantly elevated cortisol levels
. Whereas,
supplementation with magnesium has
shown to lower cortisol levels in
healthy human subjects with no known deficiencies
...

2. Vitamin C is well-known for its cortisol lowering effects (

study
,
study
,
study
,
study
)...

3. Iron deficiency has been shown to cause high cortisol levels...

4. Vitamin E deficiency as well...
5. Its also worth mentioning that stress and high cortisol deplete the body
from multiple micronutrients, which is again, why everyone seeking to
lower their cortisol levels should be taking a multivitamin

So, eat micronutrient dense foods, and

supplement with a multi
. This is a
stupidly simple low-cost trick that helps significantly in most cases.

Phosphatidylserine
Phosphatidylserine
(PS) is a naturally occurring phospholipid that exists in
the cell membranes of all species. In simple words, its a type of fat that can
be found in every cell membrane of the human body that also contains the
mineral phosphorus.
Roughly 60 grams of phosphatidylserine can be found in human brain, testes,
lungs, muscle tissue, kidneys, liver, and blood plasma. About 50% of the PS in
the body exists in neural tissue.

The Functions of PS in the Body Include:

a) Transports molecules in and out of the cell
b) Delivers signals to the interior of the cell membrane
c) Improves signaling between the cells
d) Protects cell membranes from oxidative stress

Because nearly 50% of the phosphatidylserine exists in neural tissue, its also
believed that the phospholipid has a brain function improving effect. In other
words, its believed to be a nootropic (smart drug)
And research supports this belief, as several human studies have found out
that phosphatidylserine improves cognitive function, attention, working
memory, processing speed, processing accuracy, and general memory
(
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
)
Not to mention that PS is also known for reducing stress, fatigue, ADHD
symptoms, and cognitive decline (
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
,
study
).
So, phosphatidylserine clearly has some benefits as a brain booster and I
guess we can easily call it a well researched nootropic

However cognitive stuff is not all that this lipid has been researched for:
There are two very interesting facts about phosphatidylserine that could
make it a potential testosterone booster

Firstly, its a message sender between the cells, which means that it could
also improve the signals that come from hormones.

Secondly, it protects cells (think leydig) from oxidative damage (brains and
testicles contain the most of phosphatidylserine in the body).

So in paper, there could be some testosterone boosting effects in

phosphatidylserine supplementation due to its ability to act as a secondary
message sender and a potential cortisol/oxidative damage blocker.

Fortunately we dont even have to speculate, as few studies have examined

the above already:

Phosphatidylserine and Testosterone Research:

a) Few studies have found that phosphatidylserine supplementation lowers
cortisol secretion in stressed subjects (
study
,
study
), and
this study
found out
that 800 mgs of daily PS reduced exercise induced rise in cortisol by 30%.
b)
This peer-reviewed study from Starks et al
. found out that 600 mgs of
daily PS in combination with resistance training produced a staggering 180%
improvement in testosterone to cortisol ratio of healthy human subjects
when compared to placebo.

At this point, phosphatidylserine becomes a very interesting supplement.

Not only is great for the brain, it seems to also be great for guys who exercise
after all scientist often use the testosterone to cortisol ratio as a measure
to see how effectively the body can build lean muscle mass.

Are there any food sources for phosphatidylserine?

Answer: Bovine brain, chicken heart, pig spleen, pig liver, and certain
lecithins (sunflower and soy mainly) are all good sources of PS. However to
reach the dosages used in the studies above supplementation is easier, but
not required (
see a chart of foods highest in PS here
).

What are the phosphatidylserine supplements made of?

Answer: Originally PS supplements were all derived from bovine brains, but
when the mad cows disease panic started in the US, manufacturers pussied
out and started deriving their supplements from plants. Thats why most of
the phosphatidylserine on the market is now derived from soy lecithin. Make
sure you use
a supplement with non-GMO lecithin PS (link).

Adaptogenic Herbs
There are few herbal compounds that have been shown in studies to be
particularly effective against high cortisol levels.
One of these is Ashwagandha:
c)
This human study

from the C.S.M. Medical University in Lucknow, India, had

60 subject males who were given 5 grams of Ashwagandha along with skimmed
milk for 90 days, and after those 3 months had passed the researches looked at
their hormonal profiles. What they found out was that their subjects had
increased testosterone levels by 16% on average and that their stress hormone
(cortisol) levels had dropped by 30%.

d)
This double-blind, randomized, controlled, placebo study

gave both, men and

women, a 250-500 mg dose of Ashwagandha for mixed durations (1-6 months)

and found out that on average their subjects cortisol levels dropped by 14% and
that their HDL cholesterol levels increased by 17,3%.

Another good one is called Rhodiola Rosea:

a)
Rhodiola Rosea has multiple studies backing up the fact that it significantly
reduces the feelings of fatigue in humans. This in theory means that it should
also lower the stress hormone cortisol, which is known for suppressing
testosterone. And the theory is supported by these studies, which all found out
that Rhodiola Rosea supplementation reduced high cortisol levels (
study
,
study
,
study
).

Those two above are not the only adaptogenic, stress-reducing herbs, a simple
Googling will give you plenty of more, with a lot of potent supplements backed
up by science.

Use this daily to balance cortisol production naturally (link) >>

Section 5: The Cortisol Solution

THE ENDOGENOUS LIMITATION
PARADOX:
I want to take a few minutes to introduce you to a radical truth. By the end of this
chapter, youll understand why youve felt so limited for much of your life, and what
you can do to eliminate these limitations overnight...
Picture this...
Your physical limitations are gone.
And your cognitive limitations are gone.
That might sound like hyperbole - like it would be too good to be true - so I'll take a
second to explain what I mean...
Scientists use the term "endogenous" to indicate when something originates "inside"
your body. For example, "endogenous testosterone" would be testosterone that your
body produces naturally. "Exogenous" (or outside the body) testosterone would
indicate a testosterone gel, that you get a prescription for from the doctor and apply
to your skin.
See the difference? Cool.

Now I'll clarify:

Imagine your
endogenous
physical and cognitive limitations are gone.
Imagine you are no longer limited by the internal shortcomings of your body. You
now exist in a state of optimal human performance. The only limitations upon you are
external - things outside of your control.
You are a superior being to your former self. The self that was limited by endogenous
shortcomings.
We exist in a limited state.
Thats a radical truth.
We're limited by our food choices.
By our sleeping habits.
By our exercise habits.
By our hormones, our neurotransmitter levels, vitamin & mineral levels...

All of these things are within our everyday control to manipulate and optimize,
however we seldom take the time to learn how, or actually execute on what we learn.
So we're limited.
Today I'm going to propose a novel way to eliminate certain limitations, to unlock a
higher level of performance in your life. I am going to shed some light on an effective
way to synthetically and/or naturally (yes, you can do this all with herbs and
vitamins/minerals) "upgrade" your cognitive and physical performance - increase
memory capacity, focus, energy, muscular strength, endurance, and muscular power.

THE POWER OF CORTISOL

REGULATION:
Cortisol isnt good or bad. It is a natural hormonal element of your bodys homeostatic
processes.
Cortisol is your main stress hormone.
On a good note, it plays a key role in helping you acutely avoid danger by aiding in the
activation of other hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline.
For example, it can help you get out of the way of a speeding taxi!
However, by its nature, cortisol is a catabolic hormone, meaning it aids in the
breakdown of available resources in the body. Cortisol helps the body use these
existing resources to supercharge in acute scenarios (like avoiding that taxi) so you
can survive.

So in acutely stressful survival scenarios, cortisol can be a very good thing!

But in
chronic
scenarios, over long periods of time, elevated cortisol levels can KILL
you.

You ever hear about that 35 year old Wall Street Banker who has a heart attack?
Yep,
chronically elevated cortisol.
How about the seemingly super healthy 40 year old marathoner who suddenly goes
into cardiac arrest and dies during a race?
Again,
chronically elevated cortisol levels
over years.
Cortisol can save you.
Or cortisol can kill you.
And its incredibly important that you understand that simple truth - controlling your
cortisol levels is paramount to living a healthy, thriving life!

THE DIRE REALITY:

Reality can sometimes hurt...
Most of us - at one point or another in our lives - suffer from chronically elevated
cortisol levels.
We may be working a stressful job.
Family life may cause us to lay awake at night.
Financial stress.
Relationships.
Commuting.
Politics.
Poor diet.
Lack of physical fitness.
Or too much of the wrong type of fitness training (over training).
All of these things can cause horrible cortisol issues. If youre wondering what
elevated cortisol feels like, some of these symptoms might be familiar:
Depression
Anxiety
Low Testosterone

 Tingling in the extremities

Irritability
Insomnia
Inability to focus
Trouble recalling simple information or doing simple arithmetic
Uncharacteristic anger outbursts
Low libido
Low energy
Low well-being and a negative general outlook on life

Your body manifests these symptoms with elevated cortisol levels for a reason.
Cortisol is catabolic.
When it is elevated over time, it will consistently allocate bodily resources away from
higher level processes like cognition, sexual health, and vitality and well-being over
to base level processes like storing body fat and breaking down muscle tissue.
Remember, your body doesnt understand that your stress is coming from your
commute or your boss.
To it,
stress is stress
.
It reacts the same way it did to truly important threats thousands of years ago, only in
our modern age, the threats that trigger cortisol elevation are different...
They are mostly psychological and environmental.
Youre not being chased down by a lion, youre instead having to deal with that
horrible 2 hour commute to and from work every day.
So over years and years, your cortisol levels stay high, eventually breaking down your
ability to function at a higher level with cognitive, physical, and psychological
processes.

So you experience the symptoms of a poorly functioning endocrine system.

Symptoms that keep you from operating at your highest potential - cognitively,
physically, and emotionally.

THE CORTISOL SOLUTION:

Luckily, you CAN control your cortisol with the right behaviors over time...
Behavioral cortisol control is very effective. It just takes a lot of deliberate hard work
and the ability to change environmental stressors.
The first step to take is to identify the main cause(s) of your elevated cortisol levels.
These could be (but not limited to):
Job-related
Commuting
Family
Relationships
Lack of sleep
Toxic environment (big city smog for example)
Financial Issues
Low testosterone
Sex life problems

Once you identify the main issue(s), you need to come up with a plan to alleviate the
effect that issue is having on your life.

This plan might be a simple fix, and it may be a long process. Either way, you need to
do it.
But heres the problem: most of us suffer from nearly ALL of these issues, and many of
them can be very difficult to get rid of.
For example, we cannot just quit our job.
We cannot just leave a troubled marriage.
We cannot just wish we had higher testosterone levels.
We cannot get rid of all the smog in our city, or all the crazy drivers on our commute.
So
what are we supposed to do in these kinds of scenarios
??

THE POWER OF NOOTROPICS

FOR PHYSICAL AND
COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT:
Luckily there are all-natural supplements that will help you get rid of your
endogenous limitations and quickly mitigate elevated cortisol levels almost overnight...
This Might Come As A Bit Of A Surprise. Your Body And Brain Were NOT Built To
Function Under Massive Limitations.
In fact, believe it or not, you were designed to function at max capacity in every
moment, and without feeling like youre going to fall apart.
But we live in an extreme world. Toxins, strange and unnatural distractions, and
low-quality foods are coming at you from all directions, leaving you in a constant
fight or flight mode with high cortisol and low performance.
And dealing with an extreme world sometimes takes extreme solutions.
Fortunately,
extreme doesnt have to mean unnatural or harmful.
So whats the answer?
All-Natural nootropics
.
Nootropics are brain-enhancing substances.
They can be herbs. They can be amino acids. They can be vitamin blends or synthetic
compounds.
There are TONS of super effective natural nootropics.
So why on Gods green earth would you want to use a natural brain enhancing
ingredient - or stack of ingredients - to get rid of your major chronic cortisol issue??
You might be thinking...

Because, like everything else, cortisol is directly controlled by your brain.

So instead of fighting the symptoms, you must go to the source! The brain.
Make your brain healthy, and your endocrine system will function properly.
And all-natural nootropics are the answer.
Plus, they work quickly - you can feel their effect within minutes. AND you can take
them daily without any side effects (most of them are actually created inside your
body or in common safe plants).
Weve developed an incredible stack of all-natural nootropic ingredients designed
specifically to keep your cortisol levels superlow called
CORTIGON
.

Well look deeper into the exact ingredients in a minute, but first I want to talk about
the specific benefits of supplementing with the right nootropics...

Here Are Just Some Of The Benefits You Can Get By Adding A Powerful Nootropic
Supplement Stack To Your Regular Health Regimen:

Develop More Lucid Thought Patterns

No more fuzzy thinking. Ingredients in CORTIGON have been shown to improve
cognitive function while reducing stress and increasing performance in a variety of
athletes.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22017963

Increase Your Powers of Focus

A sharpened focus is perhaps the main thing that separates winners from losers. You
can be the smartest person in the room, but if you dont have the power to hold your
attention on one thing for an extended length of time, youre never going to get
anywhere in life.

Phosphatidylserine
, one of the main components in CORTIGON, is even
shown to
lessen symptoms connected to ADHD and has become the safe choice of many parents
who dont want to subject their children to unnatural alternatives.
http://nootriment.com/phosphatidylserine-for-adhd/

Improve Your Memory Recall

Have you bought into that tired old belief that declining memory is a given with age?
Stop making excuses and start choosing solutions. CORTIGON can make your
memories clearer and longer-lasting, and the compounds within have even been
shown to decrease forgetfulness in elderly people with memory problems.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2966935/

Bring Down Your Stress Levels

You have no bigger enemy than stress. Technology was meant to make your life easier
and more comfortable; instead, weve created a chaotic environment that upsets your
hormonal balance and leads to life-threatening illnesses. Phosphatidylserine (a key
ingredient in CORTIGON) has been shown to create anti-stress effects in otherwise
healthy people with symptoms of high stress there really is nothing more powerful
you can do for your health.
http://examine.com/supplements/Phosphatidylserine/#summary2-1

Lower Exercise-Induced Cortisol Levels

Cortisol levels can also be raised by exercise. CORTIGON is designed to make you
rebound better from your workouts and other taxing activities. Imagine being able to
bounce back the way you did when you were younger!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2170852


Enjoy Better Moods
Theres a lot of talk these days about your mood being a choice, and in many cases
mindset is the key to your problems. But another big factor is your bodys chemical
activity. You can tell yourself you want to feel better all day, but its hard to feel good
when your physiology is suffering. CORTIGON can help.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11842886

Sleep Better at Night

When you dont get the high-quality sleep you need, you can be sure your waking
hours will suffer, along with your health and sanity. Poor sleep is also tied to higher
stress, lower testosterone, higher risk of obesity, and increased cortisol. CORTIGON
ensures you get the sleep you need so your body can do what it needs to recharge.
http://nootriment.com/phosphatidylserine-for-sleep/

Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity

Not only does that mean avoiding some of the more common Western diseases, like
diabetes, but improving insulin sensitivity will help you lose body fat (and keep it off)
more effortlessly.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1148624/

What is it About
Cortigon
That Can Do So Much to Make You More Prepared for
Anything the World Throws At You?
CORTIGON is All-natural
The way we see it, it makes little sense to enhance your mental and physical
functioning and combat modern threats by depending on some harsh, unnatural
compound.
Too many nootropics leave you worse than they find you. That is not a sustainable
long-term solution.
The natural ingredients in this supplement work extremely well together and provide
a solution that can be taken every single day (unlike most other nootropics) without
burning you out.
CORTIGON Helps You Think Better
There are many studies showing the nutrients packed into
CORTIGON
can improve
the way you think.

Phosphatidylserine offers benefits for a number of cognitive processes. It is

particularly noted for having a positive influence on memory and learning capacity
along with speeding up memory recall. Many users report that it provides them with
increased vigilance and attention, sometimes even lengthening attention spans.
It is also useful for boosting focus, concentration, and mental clarity. Studies have
shown that it moderately relieves stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression.
Choline is a chemical precursor or "building block" needed to produce acetylcholine
(one of the brains main neurotransmitters), and research suggests that memory,
intelligence, and mood are mediated at least in part by acetylcholine metabolism in
the brain.
Choline and inositol both help keep your brains natural choline levels high.
(Choline-depletion can be a common issue with other nootropics.)
CORTIGON is an Appetite Suppressant
Lets face it, most people eat way too much, and ironically, theres no better way to
impede your physiological functioning and destroy your body than to give it too much
of a good thing.
Your body wasnt designed to have food all the time.
On top of that, most people are addicted to foods like sugar and simple carbohydrates
that upset their hormonal balance, drain their energy, and lead to all sorts of Western
diseases.
CORTIGON helps you curb your appetite naturally so that you only eat when it makes
sense, and because youre not slave to your cravings youre more likely to make the
right food choices.
Youll be more alert, have more energy, and be more likely to maintain the body you
want.
Just this one change can have radical impacts on your overall health and cortisol
levels.
CORTIGON is a Cortisol Moderator

In the stress-filled modern lifestyle, one of the most common causes and indicators of
hormonal imbalance is high cortisol. Cortisol and testosterone act antithetically,
therefore a lower cortisol level often means a higher testosterone level.
As you can see, natural nootropics can be a super-effective, and safe, way to eliminate
cortisol stress quickly along with a myriad other potent benefits.
All-natural nootropics really are the holy grail of human supplementation for
performance enhancement.
They help you get rid of those limitations by solving the problem right at the source:
your brain.
So at this point youre probably curious about this stack of nootropics weve
developed for
CORTIGON
.
Id love to show you under the hood so to speak...
This is one of the most incredible ingredient combinations to hit the market in
decades...

THE ULTIMATE FORMULA:

We made the ultimate nootropic POWERHOUSE stack...
The Main Thing That Makes Cortigon Stand Out From Other Nootropics On the
Market is a Combination of 6 Cognitive-Enhancing Nutrients.
A lot of nootropics and superfoods pinpoint one promising nutrient and try to present
it as the answer to all your problems. The truth is that no one compound can give your
body everything it needs.
CORTIGON is a unique blend of
six different elements
that are shown to give amazing
cognitive results, creating a well-rounded brain-boosting supplement that will be
more likely to create the effect you need.
And the six ingredients are more powerful as complementary supplements than they
could ever be on their own.
It all starts with phosphatidylserine.
Weve been searching for a healthy and reliable solution for enhancing cognition,
focus, memory, and mood for quite a few years, and after experimenting with
countless natural and synthetic nootropics, we found that out of everything we put
under the microscope, phosphatidylserine had the most noticeable effects on
cognitive enhancement.
It also has research-backed cortisol-modulating capabilities
,
helping keep
testosterone levels high and stress low.
Weve included Inositol, an effective anxiolytic (anti-anxiety/stress) substance thats
very effective at improving insulin sensitivity.
And using Inositol and Choline together not only ensures that your cell membranes
are healthy and prevents premature cell death but also improves the fluidity of these
membranes so your cells can better absorb necessary nutrients.
This can increase the responsiveness of your cells especially in the brain so that
your cognitive function operates at the highest levels possible.

Oh, and
dont forget that phosphatidylserine has an FDA approved health claim.
This
is very rare among nootropics or any other supplements you buy online.
And on top of this extremely potent PS + Choline + Inositol, w
e added three additional
supplemental POWERHOUSE ingredients
to
amplify
the effectiveness of every serving.
1. Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract
is an all-natural nootropic and adaptogenic herbal
compound that has been shown to decrease cortisol levels, decrease prolactin
levels (prolactin is a pesky hormone that inhibits testosterone production and
lowers libido), and enhance cognitive functioning.
2. DHA
is an omega 3 fatty acid that is a primary structural component of the
human brain, cerebral cortex, sperm, skin, testicles, and retina. Regular DHA
supplementation supports optimized brain development and protects
neurological function. Omega 3 supplementation in combination with
nootropics like PS and Choline has been shown to reliably amplify the cognitive
enhancing effect!
3. L-Carnitine
is a natural compound (made in the human body and safe for
supplementation) that is able to alleviate the effects of aging and disease on
mitochondria, while increasing the mitochondrias ability to burn fat.
Taken together,
CORTIGON
s custom blend of incredible ingredients becomes a SUPER
SUPPLEMENT.
And best of all its made up of 100% all-natural ingredients, so there are ZERO
negative side effects.
If this sounds like something youre interested in learning more about, please click
here to continue reading about CORTIGON and where you can order a bottle today...

*LowCortisolLifestyleReadersOnly*
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http://cortigon.com