supplements

BCAA
Isolate protein
Multi Vitamin
fish oil
glucosamine chondroitin
CLA - depends on your body
Milk Thistle
Hawthorne berry

Do you lift?
Pre-workout - mp assault or jack3d

From that list this is what I would buy first if were going more for necessity:
Multi Vitamin
Fish Oil
Protein
Glucosamine and Chondroitin

The rest are fine too although with the milk thistle, you could just use a cleansing formula that contains milk thistle as that is what it is for. If money is an issue I wuld stick with the 4 I mentioned before obtaining the rest.

I am trying to figure out which ones will be most helpful to me at this point in time. I have been to a nutritionist but the amount of supplements(and money to get them) was slightly overwhelming and I tend to forget about them. I am wanting to keep better control on what and when I eat, I tend to graze. Every one is different on what the need as supplements and vitamins but any ideas to help would be appreciated.

Multivitamin and a healthy diet

This will do for sure!

I am trying to figure out which ones will be most helpful to me at this point in time. I have been to a nutritionist but the amount of supplements(and money to get them) was slightly overwhelming and I tend to forget about them. I am wanting to keep better control on what and when I eat, I tend to graze. Every one is different on what the need as supplements and vitamins but any ideas to help would be appreciated.

Any supplement regime should be individualised, to take account of what you don't get in your diet, any health issues you have or any additional demands on your body such as intense exercise. You don't need vitamins or minerals unless you have a deficiency or a poor diet, you can all you need and more from the full rainbow of fruit, vegetables, oily fish, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Do you eat all those regularly?

Having said that high strength fish oil is the one supplement I routinely recommend to my nutrition clients, few eat enough oily fish and long chain omega-3s play a role in every cell, organ and process in the body. Frankly I wouldn't trust any 'nutritionist' who recommends long lists of supplements, did they actually have a degree in dietetics or nutrition? What did they recommend?

I take:

- Multivitamin (since I KNOW that I'm not getting enough of everything through food)
- Vitamin C (only in winter because it helps me from catching every cold that everybody else gets)
- Vitex and Saw Palmetto (For my PCOS)
- MSM (started taking for hair but found it helped my creaky joints...I'm young but my joints make me sound like I'm 80 and MSM REALLY helped with that)
- Vitamin D (only in winter again since where I live we get little sunlight all winter and I find I get more depressed during winter)
- Omega 3s (helps my skin a lot...when I ran out once and didn't buy more right away my skin went NUTS; also I take just Omega 3s instead of 369s since during my research I read that it's common to get more Omega 6s and 9s than 3s so most people only needs the 3s)
- B complex (majorly helps my energy; forgot to put these in my week vitamin organizer and that week I felt like the walking dead...seriously...I didn't realize how huge of a difference the vitamin b's helped my energy)

Of course these I know work for myself. It's not something I'd suggest to other people (unless they're in the same situation as me). Which supplements help you may be different. I have a reason for each of the ones I take and I have noticed a difference with all of them.

to figure out which ones will be most helpful to me at this point in time. I have been to a nutritionist but the amount of supplements(and money to get them) was slightly overwhelming and I tend to forget about them. I am wanting to keep better control on what and when I eat, I tend to graze. Every one is different on what the need as supplements and vitamins but any ideas to help would be appreciated.

BCAA
Isolate protein
Multi Vitamin
fish oil
glucosamine chondroitin
CLA - depends on your body
Milk Thistle
Hawthorne berry

Do you lift?
Pre-workout - mp assault or jack3d
[/quote]


Whey and fish oil are the only useful stuff on that list.
CLA doesn't work.
JAck3d is garbage
[/quote]

This, and sack your nutritionist. http://www.jissn.com/content/7/1/7 has all the info you need. If you check out table 3, you'll see most of the stuff people are telling you to take here appear on the ineffective list.

I am trying to figure out which ones will be most helpful to me at this point in time. I have been to a nutritionist but the amount of supplements(and money to get them) was slightly overwhelming and I tend to forget about them. I am wanting to keep better control on what and when I eat, I tend to graze. Every one is different on what the need as supplements and vitamins but any ideas to help would be appreciated.

BCAA
Isolate protein
Multi Vitamin
fish oil
glucosamine chondroitin
CLA - depends on your body
Milk Thistle
Hawthorne berry

Do you lift?
Pre-workout - mp assault or jack3d

Whey and fish oil are the only useful stuff on that list.
CLA doesn't work.
JAck3d is garbage

I concur.

I take flaxseed oil supplements (fish oil leaves a bad taste in my mouth) - I swear my moods are more stable with them.

I also take B complex since I mostly eat vegetarian and no red meat at all (fish or chicken maybe once a month).

I've been taking biotin to see if it really does improve hair/skin/nails.

And I take D3 at fairly large doses (especially in winter) since reading a ton of research about it.

I also take melatonin most nights to help me sleep (I have chronic insomnia).

I am trying to figure out which ones will be most helpful to me at this point in time. I have been to a nutritionist but the amount of supplements(and money to get them) was slightly overwhelming and I tend to forget about them. I am wanting to keep better control on what and when I eat, I tend to graze. Every one is different on what the need as supplements and vitamins but any ideas to help would be appreciated.

BCAA
Isolate protein
Multi Vitamin
fish oil
glucosamine chondroitin
CLA - depends on your body
Milk Thistle
Hawthorne berry

Do you lift?
Pre-workout - mp assault or jack3d

Whey and fish oil are the only useful stuff on that list.
CLA doesn't work.
JAck3d is garbage

I concur.

Agree^

There is really no need for "fast" absorbing protein so I would not spend the extra for whey isolate.

You get enough BCAA's from your normal protein sources. MAYBE a case could be made for taking them if you workout fasted but I dont think the average lifters needs to supplement them.

I like pre workouts when they are free. : ) So many supplement store with so many different employees you can usually get some free sample if they think you might buy one of them. Not buying that over priced stuff though. LOL

I picked up a case of GNC's AMP pre-workout for $5 a tub. You can't beat that. The only supplement I will pay for is protein powder.

Note: If your diet is totally squared away, you may be able to ignore some of these. Even most people who eat "very healthy" are both choline and magnesium deficient though. Dosages are generally suitable for "average" people. If you are very large or small, modification may be needed.

General Purpose (most people should take):
Multi-vitamin
Fish Oil (should get ~1.2g DHA, 1.8g EPA per day between diet and sups)
Choline ~300-600mg/day (>80% of Americans are deficient)
Magnesium ~500mg/day (~75% of Americans are deficient)
Probiotic (yogurt works too)
CoQ10 ~100mg/day

Anti-oxidant/anti-aging (people who care about longevity and general health and/or environmental stress/toxins should take these):
Acetyl L-Carnitine (~500mg 2x/day)
Alpha Lipoic Acid (~250mg 2x/day)
N-Acetyl Cysteine (~500mg/day)

Optional but nice:
Piracetam 800mg 2x/day (enhances intelligence, memory, and prevents cognitive decline related to aging... prescription only in Europe)
Phosphatidylserine (consider this if you don't eat a lot of meat... not sure on dosage on this... if you eat ~1lb+ of meat per day, which you should, you get enough already)
Melatonin (1-2mg sublingual if you have sleep issues. Take ~1.5-2 hours before bed, or 9-12 hours after natural awakening time for treatment of circadian disorders)

Workout-related (all optional, but dirt cheap and effective):
Creatine ~5g/'day
Beta-alanine ~4g/day
L-Glutamine ~4g/day

Interesting optional stuff:
Sedatives:
Valerian Root (same method of action as valium, very effective), can make you drowsy, pretty potent
Phenibut (Beta-phenyl-gamma-aminobuteric acid--form of GABA that can pass through blood brain barrier), very mild @~250mg, good "natural" way to boost GABA levels

Stimulants/Euphoriants
L-Tyrosine: Boosts levels of dopamine and adrenaline (epinepherine/norepinepherine), non-essential amino acid.

"Stubborn fat" burners (useful for <10-12% body fat men, <18-20% body fat women... no point otherwise):
Alpha-yohimbine/rauwolscine (alpha-2 antagonist, limited alpha-1 agonist effects): Mild stimulant/mood effects, great for stubborn fat loss.
Yohimbine (alpha-2 antagonist, strong alpha-1 agonist): Potent stimulant with major potential side effects on blood pressure and mood (e.g. panic attacks). More effective for stubborn fat loss, but start with low test dose to evaluate side-effects.
Effective dose for either is ~0.2mg/kg lean body mass. Personally, I can't tolerate that much Yohimbine. Combine either with L-Tyrosine for better efficacy. DO NOT ever combine yohimbine or alpha-yohimbine with ephedrine or other stimulants (caffeine may be OK, but ephedrine could kill you... YMMV).

I really like this thread. Lot of different perspectives.
I too get confused on what to take.

Outside of muscle building supplements are there any fat burners u guys suggest?

None