Supplements

I frequently get asked my thoughts on supplements. For the most part I think you can save your money. But there are a few that I think are worth the money.

What you should save your money on: protein powders, creatine, energy drinks/formulas, fish oil, and multivitamins.

By and large most protein powders are cheap per shake if you buy a bulk container. However flavored protein powders are packed full of artificial sweeteners and fortified vitamins. I am a huge advocate for avoiding artificial sweeteners, they have not been tested long enough for us to know the true effects of them on our bodies. My theory is don’t eat non-foods; artificial sweeteners are NOT food, they are chemicals. Unless you are trying to stack on mass amounts of muscle, it is best to eat your protein in the forms of eggs, meat, fish and Greek yogurt.

We’ve all seen that douche that walks around carrying his protein bottle everywhere making a big deal out of the fact that they are “bulking”. They’ve got some magic shaker full of some red or purple liquid that they slurp down between “lifts” (and I use that term loosely to describe their efforts on the lat pull down….who knew you could kip on the lat pull down?). Then they are refilling that shaker bottle full of another powder – all in dramatics and theatrics for the young new gym goer to stop and ask. And then they spout off their deep knowledge of Muscle Fitness’ latest article on Muscle Milk (that was paid for by said company). If you pay particular attention to this said gym douche you never see them exercise anything much more than their mouth and air lats. A hard gainer is usually a poor trainer.

Creatine; this is a sticky one. In about 20 percent of people creatine will have immediate and measurable results, but for the rest of us creatine provides no remarkable results other than slight bodyweight increase from water retention but no performance gains. My personal opinion is it is over marketed – some people swear by it, I swear it is mental – but sometimes that placebo affect makes a difference.

Energy drinks/shots are chock full of too much caffeine and a vitamin b complex. Caffeine shots are full of artificial sweeteners and the energy drinks have a ton of sugar. (Eight ounce of: Red Bull has 26 grams of sugar; Monster has 27 grams; Amp has 29 grams…oh and try and find a can of Amp or Monster at 8 ounces) Caffeine at 10 grams is lethal. Most of us don’t get anywhere near this amount in a day. There is about 200mg in an eight ounce cup of coffee (this of course varies on brand). Most coffee cups that you use in your house are 12 ounces and the smallest size of coffee at Dunkin Donuts is 10 ounces. If you start adding energy drinks/shots to your coffee consumption you could experience eye twitching, heart palpitations, nervousness, and sleeplessness.

Fish oil; I was guilty of this until just recently. There was a fancy chart and everything that told you how much fish oil you should take by weight. But the really confusing part was which one should you buy? They ranged from cheap to really expensive and the fancy chart told you that you should take somewhere around 9 capsules a day! So this got to be expensive. The next thing was the ones worth a shit had a short expiration date; so you had to pay attention to that upon purchase. But new evidence suggests you should get your fish oil from fish, who knew. The reason fish oil was suggested was to help with inflammation, most of the inflammation was coming from a diet too high in Omega 6 (corn and vegetable oils). Now we are told to get our Omega 3s (fish oils) from eating fish and to keep our diets low in Omega 6. Please note that flax seed oil and seeds are high in Omega-3 but they also are an irritant to the gut. Win-lose. Eat fish.

Multi-vitamins. My take on a multi is eat a good diet and you don’t need a multi. Especially one that has a shelf life of several years and note that most minerals do not have a shelf life; so they are null and void. Add in the preservatives and coloring and you get a non¬-food. Most importantly the type of vitamins and minerals that are put into a multi do your body no good and are frauds. For example, niacin, in a multi they put niacinamide and it is NOT niacin at all. Vitamin C in a multi comes in the form of ascorbic acid; again this is garbage. You want a Vitamin C with flavonoids. The magnesium is magnesium oxide which is cheap but not well absorbed by the body. The best form of magnesium is magnesium aspartate or chelated magnesium. Chromium as chromium oxide, again a cheap form not well absorbed – a better form is chromium picolinate. Zinc in the form of zinc oxide but again the better form is Zinc mono aspartate. Okaaaaayyy…you get the picture here, right? Multi’s are garbage.

So what supplements do I use and recommend?

#1 – Niacin. This is the best pre-workout supplement out there. When I say Niacin, I mean niacin. The stuff that makes you flush like a ginger in the Florida sun. If you have never taken Niacin before I recommend starting with 250 mg. Then moving up to 500mg. No better motivation than popping a 500mg of niacin if you don’t start moving your body you will become very uncomfortable. Niacin opens up all the capillaries in your body and lets the blood flow better; basically you warm up faster. Other supposed properties are stabilizing blood sugar levels and increasing the good cholesterol.

#2 – Probiotics. Buy in the powder form and the good ones have to be refrigerated. Gut health is essential to health.

#3 – GABA – this is an amino acid that promotes relaxation. This is perfect before bed. Much better than melatonin. GABA does some fancy stuff with the electricity in your body – I don’t know look it up.
#4- Vitamin C – Flavanoids. The boost to the immune function is still in question; however it does help control cortisol. So it makes a perfect supplement for when you are stressing, and post workout.

#5 – Magnesium aspartate – Magnesium deficiency can cause lots of problems including muscle soreness, muscle cramps, and impaired contraction of the smooth muscle tissue. Basically if you work out and you feel like you are getting extremely sore after the workout or you are getting Charlie horses you need some magnesium.

#6 – Iodine – I buy the liquid and draw a circle on my stomach and let my skin absorb it. Iodine is needed for proper function of the thyroid. America has become salt-phobic and iodine deficiency is on the rise – slow thyroid, goiters and all.

So folks there is my list of my personal essential supplements. Hope you find it useful. I’d love to hear supplements you use and how they work for you.