Supplements? Legit or money-sucking?

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OnePrincessOnePrince
OnePrincessOnePrince Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone! I'm fairly new to MFP, joined in January, and I had a supplement question.

Do you guys take any supplements or anything?
People in my real world life (aka offline) ask if I am taking anything in addition to diet/exercise. I am not, but should I be??
Is there actually a supplement that legitimately aids in fat burning or anything? Or is it all a ruse?! TIA :)
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Replies

  • notnikkisixx
    notnikkisixx Posts: 375 Member
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    Unfortunately for all of us there is no magic fat burning pill out there. Nothing beats fat like good old-fashioned calorie reduction and exercise. Personally I have a multi-vitamin and a fish oil pill that I take (when I remember!) but thats it.
  • AntonioP23
    AntonioP23 Posts: 80 Member
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    The thing that will determine 99% of your results with weight loss/gain is diet (calories in vs calories out) aka creating a deficit or surplus.

    Don't waste your money on "fat burners" or any products. A well planned and balanced diet is all you need (coupled with exercise).


  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I don't buy in to the fat-burning claims of supplements, but absolutely see a difference when I use other types of supplements like protein powder, etc. It's been my experience that the fat-burners don't do much more than make you jittery, and then there's a horrible angry sort of crash when you stop taking them.
  • JordisTSM
    JordisTSM Posts: 359 Member
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    If there was a legit fat burner out there, we would all know, and all be taking it. When that magic pill does hit the market, it will be all over the news. Until then, save your money.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Nope... waste of money.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Nope.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    ChasingDisney2015 wrote: »
    Hey everyone! I'm fairly new to MFP, joined in January, and I had a supplement question.

    Do you guys take any supplements or anything?
    People in my real world life (aka offline) ask if I am taking anything in addition to diet/exercise. I am not, but should I be??
    Is there actually a supplement that legitimately aids in fat burning or anything? Or is it all a ruse?! TIA :)

    Unfortunately, no. You should be able to get all the nutrients you need from foods you eat. Even if you were low on nutrients, it would only affect your weight loss with respect to energy level depletion affecting how much you can move, wherein you would compromise your calorie deficit.

    The only thing required to lose weight is to eat at a calorie deficit.
  • Showcase_Brodown
    Showcase_Brodown Posts: 919 Member
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    First off, anything claiming to be a fat-burning supplement or anything like that is appropriately put in the BS category. Don't waste your money.

    There are other supplements you can look into that have varying degrees of usefulness depending on your situation. Personally, I like to take a multivitamin to cover my bases (although many would argue that a multi is not necessary), Vitamin D, Omega 3 (DHA & EPA), Creatine, and recently, Magnesium.

    One website I really like for looking up the potential usefulness (or uselessness) of supplements is Examine.com. They tend to have a pretty informed write-up on pretty much anything you want to look up.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    ChasingDisney2015 wrote: »
    Hey everyone! I'm fairly new to MFP, joined in January, and I had a supplement question.

    Do you guys take any supplements or anything?
    People in my real world life (aka offline) ask if I am taking anything in addition to diet/exercise. I am not, but should I be??
    Is there actually a supplement that legitimately aids in fat burning or anything? Or is it all a ruse?! TIA :)

    The only "supplements" I take are a multivitamin and probiotics. I know due to food allergies there are some nutrients that are lacking (due to confirmation via blood work) so I take a multivitamin reccomended by my MD. The probiotics are also reccomended by my MD since I used to be irregular in the bathroom,

    Other than those, no. I don't take any "fat burning" supplements.
  • Khukhullatus
    Khukhullatus Posts: 361 Member
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    Aids in burning fat specifically? No. But, if you are doing any sort of lifting, taking a protein recovery shake can help you increase muscle mass slightly faster, which will help raise your resting metabolism and help you burn more calories down the road.

    It's a little round about, but if the goal is a lifestyle that helps you burn calories more easily, it's a good start.
  • lalepepper
    lalepepper Posts: 447 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I do take supplements and taking them has helped me feel better, which has in turn helped me continue to do the things that help me lose weight. My supplements were recommended by my doctor after blood panels reflected some low numbers and deficiency in my B and D vitamins, and low "good" cholesterol in relation to "bad". I also sometimes supplement my protein intake with whey protein isolate, and take a multivitamin with iron as I am a frequent blood/plasma/platelet donor.

    Vitamins/supplements won't make you lose weight, but if you're lacking you can experience side-effects that make things like exercise harder. When I was tested I was deficient in vitamin D, and my doc explained that this was a likely contributor to my joint pain. Once I got my levels up, my constant aches decreased. My doc recommended B12 as my numbers were on the lower side, and long-term deficiency can result in neurological symptoms. My neurologist recommended adding some magnesium to assist in muscle relaxation as I have Tourette's and my neck/shoulders can spasm/cramp easily. I take fish oil as recommended by my doc to help keep my cholesterol balanced.

    All of my supplements are taken at the recommendation of a doctor following testing and discussion about my dietary habits. Sometimes we need a bit of assistance getting the "balanced" part of diet right, but there's no magic pill that will burn off calories for you. If you're in pain, really lethargic, or experiencing other physical difficulties that are holding you back, supplements might help you, but avoid self-diagnosing/medicating - most people don't need to take supplements.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I take supplements to supplement for things in which I'm deficient and/or otherwise have difficulty getting in my diet. Supplements to not aid in fat burning...that's not their purpose.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    For people with blood sugar/insulin resistance, Metformin can help by prescription.

    Ephedrine and caffeine based products in my opinion, are unsafe so should be avoided.

    The rest are feel-good and feed in to our desire to fix with a pill. Just because it makes me happy and it looks so artificial, I like to spike my water with Biosteel on rest days. It's darned expensive though.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    For people with blood sugar/insulin resistance, Metformin can help by prescription.

    Ephedrine and caffeine based products in my opinion, are unsafe so should be avoided.

    The rest are feel-good and feed in to our desire to fix with a pill. Just because it makes me happy and it looks so artificial, I like to spike my water with Biosteel on rest days. It's darned expensive though.

    Metformin is not a supplement, it is an actual medication.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,196 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    For people with blood sugar/insulin resistance, Metformin can help by prescription.

    Ephedrine and caffeine based products in my opinion, are unsafe so should be avoided.

    The rest are feel-good and feed in to our desire to fix with a pill. Just because it makes me happy and it looks so artificial, I like to spike my water with Biosteel on rest days. It's darned expensive though.

    Metformin is not a supplement, it is an actual medication.

    Yes--it's an entirely different thing.

    This investigation just came out recently:
    well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/sidebar-whats-in-those-supplements/?fb_ref=Default&_r=0
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
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    Nope. If your doctor thinks your lacking something after your yearly blood work, then he'll let you know and possibly prescribe you whatever he wants you to take. But otherwise, then you'll be fine just eating foods to get your vitamins :-)
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
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    I lost over 100lbs without taking one fake weight loss supplement. When anyone asks how I did it, I always say "hard work and determination". Mainly because they don't want to hear, "ate less, moved more"
  • Roxiegirl2008
    Roxiegirl2008 Posts: 756 Member
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    I only take a multivitamin, vitamin D (because I was tested and had really low levels) and folic acid. No weight loss supplements because I don't think they work.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    The short answer: Unless prescribed by a (real, medical) doctor for a specific medical need, most supplements are a waste of money at best, and potentially harmful at worst.

    Eat real food, in moderation. Exercise, in moderation. Lose the weight the healthy way.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    90% of supplements out there aren't needed in the general population's diets. The other 10% are pretty legit for deficiencies (usually in vitamins, minerals, fiber and some macros).

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

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