Cortisol, vitamin C, etc...

[EagleEye75]

As I stated in a few other threads, I found that Cortislim is nothing more than overpriced vitamin C (as far as weight loss goes, anyway...)

It may be an appetite suppressant. Fine.
It may be a mood stabalizer, or stress reducer. Fine.

But the ingredient in it that actually promotes cortisol reduction, as I have found, is Vitamin C. You will notice that some of the "non-special" ingredients in Cortislim is Vitamin C.

Here's Cortislim's ingredients label:
http://www.cortisol.com/ingredients.htm

Notice that they not only have "Vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate), they also have CALCIUM as calcium ascorbate... wait a minute... isn't that the same thing? Hmmm... sounds like they're trying to "dilute" their apparent amount of Vitamin C in their product, so you don't see how much you're really getting.

According to this web site:
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magazine/13weekstohardcorefatburningdiet.htm

You should be taking THREE GRAMS (that's 3000 miligrams) of Vitamin C per day! As I mentioned in my replies to other threads, I have been taking 3 or 4 500mg Vitamin C tablets per day (and lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks, my first real weight loss in over a year!)

So we have Cortislim with basically 250 MG of Vitamin C/Calcium per tablet, and you're supposed to take 2 per day, or up to 6 per day. 6 per day would net you 1.5 Grams of C per day.

What about Relacore? Each tablet of Relacore has 333mg of Vitamin C! And you're supposed to take 3 per day! That's 1 gram of Vitamin C...

So how much Vitamin C is good for you? From http://www.prigen.net/Newsletter/Articles/coldremedies.html

Vitamin C - Studies show that vitamin C may not prevent a cold, but it can lessen the misery and shorten the duration so take at onset and take it often. 1 to 6 grams a day is the recommended dose. Vitamin C can upset your stomach so it is best to work up to higher doses. The body can absorb better in 1000mg doses so it is best to space out your doses throughout the day.

I know, I know... Cold remedies, not weight loss... but it's a resource for dosage. :)

So how do we know that Vitamin C actually reduces Cortisol production?

http://health.yahoo.com/health/centers/stress/2303

So here we have a study to show the link between Vitamin C and reduced cortisol. How many clinical studies have been done to prove that the 'special compounds' and proprietary mixtures in Relacore and Cortislim do ANYTHING of the sort?

I suspect you'd find none...

SURE you'd find a bunch of anecdotal evidence. People saying "I took Cortislim and lost X number of inches (and/or pounds)"... There'd be a lot of people pointing to the success they had taking Cortislim...

But what they're REALLY pointing to is the Vitamin C! They're pointing THROUGH the Cortislim, and right at the Vitamin C!!! They don't REALIZE that they're being charged $110 for 3 months worth of vitamin C. I personally bought 1000 count 500mg Vitamin C pills for $11.99 at my local grocery store, and I'm actually taking MORE vitamin C than I'd be getting if I took even the MAXIMUM dosage of Cortislim!

So let's summarize this...

Vitamin C helps to regulate cortosol.
Cortosol helps to keep you fat, so reducing it promotes weight loss... clinical studies DO say this...
Cortislim claims to block cortosol production, and contains a bunch of Vitamin C... but they claim it's their "proprietary compounds" that do it, and try to HIDE how much Vitamin C is actually in their product.

So to bring it down to 4 little words...

Cortislim... is... a... scam!

Go take your Vitamin C folks... it can't really hurt you.

Do your research, and don't let these snake-oil salesmen take advantage of you or your desperation to lose weight.

To me, it's very low to prey on people that are emotionally distraught over their weight. Don't let it happen to you!

I wish everyone luck in achieving their goals... here's to 180lbs for me. :)

265 to 255... only 75 lbs to go! LOL

[dreis1]

Thanks for all the info on Vita C. I firmly believe that stress triggers Cortisol production as I have a 15lb weight gain that settled only in the DUNLOP area which is never how I normally gain weight. AND it seems to be the hardest to get rid of, I'm losing everyplace else but there (YUK!)

So I will try extra Vitamin C and CEE what happens,

Thanks Again

[musicmama]

I read all the stuff about cortislim, bought it anyway. I have been taking it for a week now, have much more energy, no jitters, and have lost inches in the tummy area. My daughter is taking it and her first week went from a tight size 14 to a loose 11-12. Dont care whats causing it, I like what I feel and see. Also< I am much more focused during the day, and I was having a REAL problem with that. Maybe it doesnt work for everyone, but its working for us. Thats good enough.

[bevbme]

Keep trying EagleEye a little sanity never hurt anyone.

[LondonIan]

There seems to be a rush for Relacore on the forum at the moment.
I'm not sure about the effects of C on cortisol, but I'd be wary of taking Vitamin C in 1g doses.
The problem is that the body learns to cope with this amount and excretes most of the C. When you drop the dosage you can quickly get Vitamin C deficiency.

A couple of years ago a nutritionist told me that almost all the cases of scurvy they came across at her hospital were the result of Vitamin C 'bounceback' from people who been taking the megadoses.

[Built]

There seems to be a rush for Relacore on the forum at the moment.
I'm not sure about the effects of C on cortisol, but I'd be wary of taking Vitamin C in 1g doses.
The problem is that the body learns to cope with this amount and excretes most of the C. When you drop the dosage you can quickly get Vitamin C deficiency.

A couple of years ago a nutritionist told me that almost all the cases of scurvy they came across at her hospital were the result of Vitamin C 'bounceback' from people who been taking the megadoses.
I take a gram of time release vitamin C every day. I have for many, many years. No problems at all, but the one time I ran out, I must admit, I did notice that I started bruising a lot - sure enough, initial stages of scurvy.

Fortunately, it's such a cheap supplement, I just make sure I never run out. And I haven't had a cold in years, but that might be the fish oil, cod liver oil, and glutamine.

(I belong to about 200 different religions, too, just in case.)

Belt and suspenders - that's me!

;)

[musicmama]

Update on the cortislim....today I had two comments on the fact that I had lost weight in my stomach area , and one said, looking good! My clothes are definitely loser too, since Monday.
Also, I may add, I was not distraught about my weight , I just wanted something to help move these inches. When you are a 57 year old female its hard to get the inches to move, especailly when you have been on every diet in the country.
Also, I have had little appetite and plenty of energy. Personally, I am very pleased.

[cbcb]

For anyone who does want to take high doses of C, some kinds can cause diarrhea (sorry to mention that!) in high doses but there are other types that many people say do not cause that problem. (I think the effervescent drink mixes tend to have the type that don't cause problems.)

There's a good discussion of the different types at this link... basically the "(name of some mineral here) ascorbates" of vitamin C are the ones less upsetting to the digestive tract.

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss01/bioavailability.html

"Mineral salts of ascorbic acid (mineral ascorbates) are buffered and therefore less acidic. Thus, mineral ascorbates are often recommended to people who experience gastrointestinal problems (abdominal pain or diarrhea) with plain ascorbic acid. There appears to be little scientific research to support or refute the claim that mineral ascorbates are less irritating to the gastrointestinal tract."

[cbcb]

I'm not sure about the effects of C on cortisol, but I'd be wary of taking Vitamin C in 1g doses.
The problem is that the body learns to cope with this amount and excretes most of the C. When you drop the dosage you can quickly get Vitamin C deficiency.

Would be interested in reading up on this if you or anyone else runs across links to further details online, thanks.

[Iwilldoit]

There seems to be a rush for Relacore on the forum at the moment.
I'm not sure about the effects of C on cortisol, but I'd be wary of taking Vitamin C in 1g doses.
The problem is that the body learns to cope with this amount and excretes most of the C. When you drop the dosage you can quickly get Vitamin C deficiency.

A couple of years ago a nutritionist told me that almost all the cases of scurvy they came across at her hospital were the result of Vitamin C 'bounceback' from people who been taking the megadoses.


I'm really curious as to how exactly this would occur. Humans don't produce ANY Vitamin C, we have to consume it in foods etc. It isn't like say, cortisol, which we produce in our own adrenal glands and if a person takes exogenous cortisol the hypothalamus will enter a feedback loop, which basically shuts down or drastically reduces the stimulation to your own adrenals to produce your own cortisol. When such people stop taking their exogenous cortisol they certainly can get into trouble. With Vitamin C however there is no such internal synthesis of the vitamin, and as far as I know it isn't something that gets stored in tissue (ie like drugs in fat tissue for example). Did the nutritionist comment on how this works?

I find this interesting, because a lot of times the medical establishment will also say that if you take more than the RDA it's simply excreted in the urine anyway and has no impact on the body systems. These two assertions could not both be true as far as I can see.

[cs_carver]

I take 12g a day and that's just when I'm feeling good. Have been to 35 g in one day; my doctor has taken patients to 50 or 100 g when they're under massive stress.

You do need to step up and down; rebound scurvy is a real problem. Something about the body getting used to having that much available all the time and then expecting to find it. Not sure of the mechanism.

"Bowel tolerance" is the term that matters, and it will happen with any orally administered C. Idea is to keep taking C until you get a one-time rush of loose stool, and then back off by a gram or two and that's what your body really needs on a daily basis.

Didn't used to be a believer but then I started bruising unexpectedly; the C stopped that in its tracks.

If these diet products (haven't tried them myself) are mostly working because of their vitamin C content, then the point is you can get the same benefit MUCH more cheaply by just taking the C. No-one's saying they're not working; someone's just figured out how to make a bundle.

[LondonIan]

I've been trying to find information about the 'rebound' effect. There doesn't seem to be much information out there.
As far as I can tell it is based on clinical observance and a hypothesis that the metabolic processes involving C adapt to high levels, so that when the high intake drops they take time to adapt and use up all the supply quickly.
However, http://www.flavex.co.uk/research/2004-04-19 seems to indicate that research fails to back the hypothesis up.

Taking very high doses of vitamin C - 5000 mg a day and up - and then suddenly stopping the supplementation has been thought to possibly cause "rebound scurvy". However a recent review has shown there is no real basis for this belief. Nevertheless it is perhaps advisable to come off high level vitamin C slowly.


The link I found most interesting was http://www.serpentine.org.uk/advice/coach/fh50.php
http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/faq.html Has this to say -


Q., What is the rebound effect?
A., It is our understanding that most humans are in a state of sub clinical scurvy (vitamin C deprivation).
In this state "non critical " body functions (enzyme systems) that use up vitamin C (vitamin C acts as a co-enzyme) are 'switched off' - for survival.
Pauling explained that these enzymes reactions, in the presence of adequate vitamin C, have beneficial effects, including possible anti-cancer effects.
When you begin taking adequate amounts of vitamin C (amounts that approach normal serum levels in animals) the blood concentration reaches a level where these "normal" enzyme reactions are turned back on, and the body begins using the vitamin C in the blood for other metabolic functions. This is the normal nonscorbutic state for most animals.
The rebound effect is then when you suddenly discontinue vitamin C after a high sustained dosage.
The enzyme reactions continue for 24-48 hours, and use up what little vitamin C there is in the blood, tehreby lowering the concentration for a few hours, and depriving cells of vitamin C. This is the rebound effect.
Soon the enzyme systems, lacking vitamin C, "turn themselves off" and you are back to the normal unhealthy "survival "state without vitamin C.
I've tried high doses of C for various things: warding off colds, hayfever, alleviate the effects of smoking. I've never felt any benefit from it. So, who knows?

[Ginga]

You may want to try this link for some other views about Vitamin C megadoes. I found it very interesting. Apparently vitamins can cure anything. ??

http://www.doctoryourself.com/vitaminc.html