Journeyman
Senior Member
- Messages
- 193
In spite of following a fairly judicious methylation protocol and healthy diet since mid 2013 (3.5 years now) I find that I'm both easily stressed out and positively exhausted after a morning gym session, from which I only feel close to normal the next day.
Suspicious of adrenal fatigue following low morning and day salivary cortisol levels going back as far as 2005 (When I was 24 btw) I've revisited the options to support adrenal fatigue from an adaptogenic herbal perspective. This invariably led me to this https://examine.com/supplements/licorice/
however I've some reservations about whether licorice would be a good adrenal support for me given its primary focus on raising cortisol, which according to my blood type (A) might not be a good thing since apparently I'm already pre-disposed to elevated cortisol levels in response to fairly minimal stressors, and have a tendency to clear it slowly once its created... and without diverting too much from the primary purpose of this post I would say that I'm in complete confusion over whether I have too high or too low Cortisol levels. Firstly I do tend to be anxious and vulnerable to relatively minor stressors (associated with elevated Cortisol levels) with fairly high blood sugar levels, but on the other hand I don't have middle body obesity (indeed I'm 10% body fat) and my salivary cortisol results from my 'prime' suggested I had too low Cortisol levels... (though this was on a day where I had no stressors whatsoever so perhaps if it was a normal work day it would have been totally different)... Go figure..
Now according to the same linked article above, if I had any concerns about the Testosterone lowering / Cortisol raising effects of Licorice I can opt for Deglycyrrizinated (DGL) Licorice where the Glycyrhizzin has been removed with some additional side benefits such as less risk of lowered Potassium (hypokalemia) and high BP (neither of which would concern me since I tend towards Low BP and have ample Potassium supplementation)
However before choosing DGL or normal Licorice I really think its worth understanding what benefits I'm missing out on noting that the previously linked article seems to suggest that its the Glyzzhirizzin component that is responsible for promoting Cortisol levels and thus (presumably) giving the adrenal support function that Licorice is known for?? Are there other saponins or components that give adrenal support in licorice? and if so what kind of significance are they or is it primarily the Glyzzhirizzin that gives the adrenal support?
Will I effectively be throwing the baby out with the bath water by getting licorice without the Glycyrhizzin content??
Suspicious of adrenal fatigue following low morning and day salivary cortisol levels going back as far as 2005 (When I was 24 btw) I've revisited the options to support adrenal fatigue from an adaptogenic herbal perspective. This invariably led me to this https://examine.com/supplements/licorice/
however I've some reservations about whether licorice would be a good adrenal support for me given its primary focus on raising cortisol, which according to my blood type (A) might not be a good thing since apparently I'm already pre-disposed to elevated cortisol levels in response to fairly minimal stressors, and have a tendency to clear it slowly once its created... and without diverting too much from the primary purpose of this post I would say that I'm in complete confusion over whether I have too high or too low Cortisol levels. Firstly I do tend to be anxious and vulnerable to relatively minor stressors (associated with elevated Cortisol levels) with fairly high blood sugar levels, but on the other hand I don't have middle body obesity (indeed I'm 10% body fat) and my salivary cortisol results from my 'prime' suggested I had too low Cortisol levels... (though this was on a day where I had no stressors whatsoever so perhaps if it was a normal work day it would have been totally different)... Go figure..
Now according to the same linked article above, if I had any concerns about the Testosterone lowering / Cortisol raising effects of Licorice I can opt for Deglycyrrizinated (DGL) Licorice where the Glycyrhizzin has been removed with some additional side benefits such as less risk of lowered Potassium (hypokalemia) and high BP (neither of which would concern me since I tend towards Low BP and have ample Potassium supplementation)
However before choosing DGL or normal Licorice I really think its worth understanding what benefits I'm missing out on noting that the previously linked article seems to suggest that its the Glyzzhirizzin component that is responsible for promoting Cortisol levels and thus (presumably) giving the adrenal support function that Licorice is known for?? Are there other saponins or components that give adrenal support in licorice? and if so what kind of significance are they or is it primarily the Glyzzhirizzin that gives the adrenal support?
Will I effectively be throwing the baby out with the bath water by getting licorice without the Glycyrhizzin content??