supplements

AntWrig · December 2012

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.

mustgetmuscles1 · December 2012

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

NCchar130 · December 2012

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).

MrNoisy · December 2012

Yikes, what's with all these grocery lists of supplements.

A good multivitamin, Omega-3, and Whey protein are all you "need" if you're going to start supplementing. None of these are necessary though hence the term supplements. They are the most useful though, if you decide to use any. (I'm assuming you're talking about supplements for weight training and body building?)

BCAAs - pretty much pointless. You could take it if you train fasted, but even still it's not necessary. If you look at any protein powder, you'll see it already has more than enough BCAAs in it.

Isolate Protein - Waste of money. Super fast absorption is not worth losing all of the extra nutrients during the refining process. The whole must have protein within an hour of working out is also bs. Whey concentrate is just as good/far cheaper. The best bet would probably be a blend, with concentrate, isolate, egg, casein proteins (and are still cheaper than isolates). Having different digestion rates for your protein would be best.

CLA - Not needed

Glucosamine/Condroitin - Depends on age, joint issues, but for the most part, not needed.

Milk Thistle - If you're an every day drunken college kid or like beating up your liver maybe. But again, for the most part not necessary.

Hawthorne berry - not needed

Pre Workout - Try working out normally first. If you seriously can't make it through a workout or have no energy at all, then maybe. Not needed, but can be useful.

Glutamine - It's the most abundant amino in our bodies. If there's ever a full on cash grab, I would pick this as my #1.

Creatine - Not needed, but can help in the long term if you decide to start seriously working out.

Waxy Maize - It's carbs. I'm sure you get plenty of carbs in a day. Not needed.

Greens Powder - Not needed, eat your veggies.

Green Tea Extract - Not needed.

Save yourself some money and keep it simple. Don't get sucked in to the supplement industry and all the marketing and propaganda that goes with it.

If you want to Supplement:

1) Multivitamin
2) Whey Protein
3) Omega-3

That's it. You can add in creatine later on down the line if you like, it's pretty cheap.

*Edit: Like the above poster said, Vitamin-D3 is good for general health. Most people don't get enough sun/are deficient.

AntWrig · December 2012

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.

Game8 · December 2012

For anyone in general, fish oil is really the only supplement you NEED. Everything else depends on your stats and goals.

As for multi vitamins, sure you can take them, but the only way to really know what you vitamins your body is lacking is to get blood work done.

I wouldn't consider whey/ casein protein powders as supplements, but more of a food source. They're something to help you hit your daily protein goal.

If you lift weights for the purpose of changing your body composition, then I'd also include Creatine, Beta-alanine and Citrulline Malate (in that order). If you feel you also need some sort of stimulant pre-workout, then whatever floats your boat.

If you lift weights seriously and sometime go heavy, then a good joint support supplement (or simply glucosamine) might be also helpful.

These are the only supplements I would ever take/ recommend, with very rare exceptions

wackyfunster · December 2012

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).

sblake204 · December 2012

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?

IronSmasher · December 2012

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

qbdeal1 · December 2012

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

Again, everything i put up i take and it helps a lot. It depends on your body, i know people where CLA doesn't help and it does help lose weight. Again this is based off different people. I never buy from GNC, they are a rip off.. All of my supps come from bodybuilding.com. Literally everything is 50 percent cheaper. Isolate protein i prefer, I dont use whey but bioplex nutrition, i rather have more protein in 1 scoop than all that other crap. Its based upon your body. As of now i am getting 90% protein in 1 scoop.

Most of it is in your diet anyway.

For Fat burners, I used that and had a great weight loss. Now i am all about cutting up.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bsn/hyper-shred.html

Also, everyone has different opinions about pre workouts, i tried a lot and i found MP assault and Jack3d work good for me. I take 3 scoops not the average 1 and i stack it with con cret and beta cret.

maxonehiphop · December 2012

I started a similar thread a while back where very few people dropped their 2 cents but there was some good input and a link to a study on Glucosamine that surprised me because Glucosamine seems to have done wonders for me.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/767742-vitamins-minerals-supplements-stimulants-confusion

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