Use Supplements Wisely

Use Supplements Wisely

Supplements are a tool to help you achieve your goals. They are not magic pills and potions that will grant you wish the physique you wish. You still have to train and carefully follow your diet. If you do the hard work and use supplements as they’re designed, then you’ll get the benefits that you seek from them. We all have little holes and shortcuts in our diets, and supplements help us round them out. All elite athletes use supplements. The expense, hassle and confusion world of diet supplementing scares off people. The biggest mistake people make is not choosing the correct product for the situation.

Top 20 Supplements for Nutrition and Training needs

Fish Oil

Fish oil is known for delivering omega-3s, essential fats that our bodies can’t make on our own so must get them from our diet. Even if you eat fish one to two times per week, you won’t be taking in enough omega-3s to meet your body’s needs. By taking a high quality fish oil, you can reduce triglycerides, lower your risk of heart disease, improve recovery from exercise, protect your brain health, and potentially lower your risk of diabetes. Omega-3s may even help with losing body fat. When choosing a supplement, pay seek brands that deliver a minimum of 2 g EPA and DHA (two of the three acids in omega-3s) daily.

Vitamin D

Plenty of data has suggested that the majority of Americans have less than optimal levels of Vitamin D. That’s not surprising – the nutrient is tough to get from food (though canned salmon, milk, and sardines are all good sources), and the only other method is sunlight. If you live north of Atlanta, the sun isn’t strong enough from November to March for you to make sufficient amounts. And even when you are outside, most people are covered with clothing and/or suntan lotion. Most experts agree that supplementing with at least 1000 IU’s daily is a good start

Multi-Vitamin

When eating a diet meant for mass, you will no doubt be targeting the foods that can pack the most calories on from the needed macro-nutrients. In turn this can lead to a deficiency in Micro-nutrients, meaning vitamins and minerals. Such a deficiency can impair optimum functioning of the body and consequently hinder your growth. Minerals are building blocks, they are used for cellular actions, building bone, transporting nutrients and so, whilst vitamins provide enzymatic functions in digesting foods and protect the system against damage from the outside and inside. Levels of these substances must be kept above a certain level to maintain proper health, but kept a great deal higher for optimal functioning of your system. That’s why supplementing with a multi-vitamin above all else makes sense: you get at least your daily minimum of all these nutrients avoiding anything going wrong with your quest for growth, and together with the rest of the vitamins and minerals found in every food to some extent, you are bound to be on the road to getting everything you system needs.

Greens Products

While not a replacement for fruits and vegetables, Greens products (fruit and vegetable concentrates) are a good “insurance” policy if your produce consumption is lower than idea. Less than 6% of men and 9% of women aged 5 to 34 consume the recommended minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Greens can help fill this void. They’re especially handy when real produce is hard to come by, like during times of heavy travel.

Probiotics

Here’s the deal — there are millions of different strains of bacteria in our guts. Some are good. Others, not so much. The bacteria in your gut can influence your overall health, digestion and immune system. Probiotics can help replenish and nourish your internal supply of good bacteria, sometimes leading to less gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. Aim for a product from a trusted brand that lists at least 3 billion organisms per serving. Keep it refrigerated after opening to protect those organisms.

Proteolytic enzymes

Is a specific combination of digestive and anti-inflammatory enzymes with antioxidants and metabolic cofactors? It’s extremely effective for the treatment of chronic and acute inflammation.

Inflammation is the body’s natural reaction to physical, chemical and metabolic stress as well as to injuries that initiate tissue damage. In a healthy person, inflammation initiates the process of ridding the body of damaged tissue and rejuvenating the damaged area. However, when inflammatory pathways are abnormal or crippled, a chronic state of inflammation can develop and persist.

Simply put, inflammation increases the flow of fluids to and from an affected site, turning the site of inflammation into a “construction zone”. Most over-the-counter pain relievers block your body’s desire to initiate inflammation, slowing the healing process.

Proteolytic enzymes formulation of digestive enzyme should have antioxidants and metabolic cofactors including serratiopeptidase to help break down and remove debris from an injured or inflamed site more effectively. This helps eliminate the root cause of inflammation and can accelerates the healing process.

Acacia Fiber

Powder is a natural, pure, soluble dietary fiber produced from the gum of the Acacia tree. Scientific studies have shown that as part of the diet, soluble fiber can help to encourage intestinal regularity. Acacia Powder is also known to be an excellent prebiotic, as it supports healthy gut flora. Becasue it acutally slows fermentation and decreases gas and bloating, Acacia Powder is well-tolerated.* NOW Organic Acacaia Fiber Powder can be used daily and contains no GI irritants or stimulants. VITAMIN C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps in the synthesis of hormones, amino acids and collagen. It also protects immune-system cells from damage and allows them to work more efficiently. The body cannot store vitamin C, so it must be frequently supplemented. Multivitamins contain C, but additional supplementation will ensure that you don’t have a deficit. Take 500-1,000 mg per day.

EFA’s

EFA’s or essential fatty acid like linolenic and linoleic acids are the components of clean fats. Mostly poly-unsaturated fats, the kind you should be getting in your diet as opposed to the kind you are most likely getting in your diet, the saturated fats. These clean fats are an essential part of the diet. They are considered a vitamin (Vitamin F) and the FDA recommendation is that they comprise 10 to 20 percent of your diet. Odds are you aren’t even at 5 percent. So why do you really need them ? Well first of all fats help to digest protein, which is why milk is so high in fat. So when taking in large quantities of protein at once, its wise to have some fats present to ensure proper digestion. Fats are stored in the body as cholesterol, which is also the basis for the manufacture of steroid hormones, two of them extremely important to the bodybuilder, namely calciferol (Vitamin D) and the male sex hormone testosterone. Fats, despite the fact that they have twice the amount of calories other macronutrients do, may also be of assistance in the burning of body-fat. Mostly a high-fat diet is also a low-carb one, and using the fat instead teaches the body to burn fat as fuel, which increases the chance of adipose tissue being burned in times of catabolism, not muscle-protein. High-fat diets also make you reach a level of satiety sooner, which assures less carb cravings and less cheating when on a diet. A definite plus. They are also largely responsible for the transport of fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) in the body. Fats are mostly stored in the skin, and consequently also play a large role in the health of skin, hair and nails.

MINERALS

Take extra calcium and magnesium. Calcium is important for fat-burning metabolism, magnesium for training performance and potassium for muscle cell volume. A once-daily multivitamin simply doesn’t cut it. Correct the situation by taking 1,000 mg per day of supplement-source calcium, 450 mg of magnesium; get the rest with five or six servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

USE PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS

Take a protein supplement at least after workout. Choose a product from a good manufacturer and stevia sweeten, this practice can give you an extra 40-50 g of protein per day, and it will help you bring your protein recommendation to 1 g of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. It’s often enough to cause acceleration in muscle growth, usually noticeable within three months. It’s especially important to follow this formula when dieting. Higher protein needs and restricted caloric intake make a protein supplement essential.

GLUTAMINE

Known for its immunity-enhancing properties, glutamine is not only one of the most common amino in the body, but also one of the most important for your body. If you are overly stressed from dieting or training, supplementing with glutamine allows your body to maintain its storage supply of glutamine in muscle tissue, enhancing overall muscular growth and recovery. Take 10-40 g of glutamine a day, spread over 3-4 servings, with food. Add a heaping teaspoon (5 g) of glutamine powder to your post workout shake and take another 5 g before bed, especially if dieting. Glutamine has a muscle cell-volumizing effect that shuts down protein-destroying enzymes that become active when you’re dieting, reducing muscle catabolism and helping you retain a pump even on a strict eating plan. Glutamine also nourishes muscle, gut and immune cells directly, reducing protein loss.

CREATINE

Supplementing with creatine can provide people with tremendous benefits, including faster recovery from intense weight training, decreased post exercise muscle soreness and increases in muscle mass. Take 3-5 g of creatine immediately after your workout — the muscles you trained will absorb creatine at a faster-than-normal rate. Boost creatine retention in muscle by taking it with your postworkout shake. Take the rest of your daily creatine allotment (3-5 g) at another time of the day. This strategy may help speed the rate at which your muscles refuel with phosphocreatine. Creatine is associate with added power and the ability to produce more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – the chemical fuel source for training and growth. Supplementing with creatine allows bodybuilders to raise creatine levels in the muscle – therefore enhancing strength and ATP – without the unwanted fat that you’d be saddled with by getting all your creatine exclusively from food.

BCAAs

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are essential aminos: leucine, isoleucine and valine. They’re important because they can help with energy production, fat burning, muscle growth and recovery. Those who take BCAAs may note increased Fat loss and improved maintenance of muscle mass. Branched chain amino acids act as a handy fuel source when glycogen stores are low. Adding BCAA to your nutritional program will increase your nitrogen balance while preventing the dreaded catabolic state that derives from overtraining or overdieting. Take 3-6 g per day.

Beta Alanine

β-Alanine supplements have garnered interest over the last several years as several research investigations have linked its use to performance improvements. β- Alanine is the ‘beta’ form of the amino acid alanine, which muscle cells use to form carnosine. Carnosine is one of the more effective buffering agents in skeletal muscle, meaning that during high-intensity activity it helps stave off some of the things that slow you down.

Arginine or Citrulline Malate

Try adding arginine to your supplement mix. Arginine, a conditionally essential amino acid, seems promising in the muscle building department. Arginine improves blood flow and enhances the growth of muscles lengthwise. Arginine may also enhance immune function in athletes, especially when combined with glutamine. Try 3-5 g before and immediately after training

Citrulline is an amino acid that is produced when the amino acid ornithine combines with carbamoyl phosphate. This happens during the urea cycle, a way that the body disposes of nitrogen waste. The excess citrulline from supplementation is thought to put the urea cycle into overdrive, sucking up the ammonia (made of three nitrogen molecules) produced by working muscles before it can produce fatigue.

Citrulline is also a by-product of the body’s conversion of the amino acid arginine into nitric oxide (NO). Excess citrulline, a number of studies have shown, increases the amount of arginine in the blood, leading to increase NO production. More NO, you may have heard, means increased blood flow to muscles during exercise, which allows them to last longer under duress—and produce bigger muscle pumps to weightlifters.

Malate, or malic acid, is a salt compound that is often used as a food preservative and, in nature, contributes to the sour flavor of apples and other fruit. In supplemental form, it is bound to citrulline and other various other supplements to give them stability in the body.

However, malate is also thought to have fatigue-fighting capabilities of its own, by helping the body recycle lactic acid and use it for energy.

ZMA

ZMA is a patented mineral formula that is turning a lot of heads. Minerals you say? Well, if that just turned you off, think again. The statistics show that the majority of athletes is deficient in both of the minerals contained in ZMA: magnesium and zinc. This has many reasons, often that there are other factors in the foods we eat that inhibit the minerals from being absorbed. Calcium for one, is a mineral that will block the uptake of zinc. And most zinc supps use a calcium filler. So now the idea was to bond it (a process called chelation) with an amino acid, in this case methionine and aspartate. This would facilitate absorption and aid the minerals in their intended function, which is improving recovery and raising natural hormonal levels. Testosterone was shown to increase overnight by almost 100 percent.

GLUCOSAMINE AND CHONDROITIN

Glucosamine is the major building block of the solid parts of cartilage. Chondroitin is a major component of connective tissue, especially cartilage. Often, these two ingredients are combined in one supplement. People should use glucosamine and chondroitin

For joint injuries, and for injury prevention. Take 1,500 to 2,000 mg of glucosamine and 800 to 1,200 mg of chondroitin each day. Split that amount into a morning and evening dose.

USE THERMOGENICS WISELY

Use thermogenic supplements intelligently to reduce body fat. Supplements containing caffeine can help curb appetite, boost metabolism, enhance workouts and preserve muscle mass during a cutting phase. The side effect are things like headaches, sleep disorder, and adrenal exhaustion to names a couple, but they usually can be avoided by starting with a low dose in the morning only and working up to the recommended dose of 200-400 mg caffeine three times per day over two or three weeks. Do not exceed the recommended dose. Do this consistently for at least three months to achieve significant fat loss. Check with your doctor before taking thermogenics if you suffer from depression or other psychiatric conditions.