Only abstract available here, but sugar in the form of sucrose found to lower cortisol. Increased activity in the hippocampus was evident in the sucrose arm of this study. Both of these activities will lead to stress induced food addictions--particularly of sugar. Sugar is highly addictive and should be especially avoided in children. Of note, this study followed the cortisol levels through saliva.
Cortisol inhbits LH secretion at the level of the Pituitary. The result is a decreased pulse amplitude as a result of decreased pituitary response to GNRH.
At the age of 60, testosterone levels are typically only 40-50% of youthful levels and may be lower
Eurycoma contains a group of small peptides referred to as “eurypeptides” that are known to have effects in improving energy status and sex drive in studies of rodents
The effects of tongkat ali in restoring normal testosterone levels appears to be less due to actually “stimulating” testosterone synthesis, but rather by increasing the release rate of “free” testosterone from its binding hormone, sex-hormone-binding-globulin (SHBG)
The current study found that daily supplementation with tongkat ali root extract (200 mg/day) improves stress hormone profile (lower cortisol; higher testosterone) and certain mood state parameters (lower tension, anger, and confusion)
tongkat ali supplementation (100 mg/day) improved lean body mass, 1-RM strength, and arm circumference to a significantly greater degree compared to a placebo group.
In a recent 12-week trial [46] of Eurycoma longifolia supplementation (300 mg/day), men (30–55 years of age) showed significant improved compared to placebo in the Physical Functioning domain of the SF-36 quality of life survey
sexual libido was increased by 11%
In men with low testosterone levels (average age 51 years), one month of daily supplementation with tongkat ali extract (200 mg/day) resulted in a significant improvement in serum testosterone levels and quality-of-life parameters
rise in cortisol and drop in testosterone is an early signal of “overtraining”
Tongkat Ali, commonly known as long jack, is found to reduce stress and increase Testosterone. Stress is one of the common causes of low T in men. It appears that long Jack functions as an adaptogen.
Meta analysis of salivary Testosterone and cortisol finds mixed results. The results are by no means uniform, but resistance training appears to trend to an increased salivary Testosterone and salivary Testosterone to salivary cortisol ratio. Cardio trends the opposite. This fits with prior literature on the types of exercise and hormone results.
Moderate resistance training program over 8 weeks associated with increased Testosterone production in young and middle age lean men. Growth hormone was also increased in both groups. ACTH and cortisol decreased in this lean men.
good discussion of the effects of resistance training on Testosterone and cortisol in obese men. The literature is more more clear on the effects of resistance training on healthy men, but the evidence in obese men is less clear--likely due to the disrupted metabolism.
Study followed Total Testosterone:Cortisol ratios to monitor catabolic/anabolic states in basketball players. The authors followed serum levels and monitored them 24-36 hours post game. Those playing > 25 min/game had the lowest TT:C and highest cortisol indicating a catabolic state and making recovery critical.
resistance training associated with an increase in Total Testosterone and free Testosterone in young men with exercise and rest. In contrast, with older men, the increase was seen with TT only. An increase in IGF-1 was seen and a decrease in resting cortisol was seen.