Supplements? Legit or money-sucking?

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).

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.

Nope.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 :-)

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.

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

unless your doctor advises taking a supplement (my husband takes potassium), it's totally a waste of money.

Long post sorry.
This is my personal experience with certain supplements and appetite suppressants. I have used a few different ones from a few different companies. I really love a lot of stuff made by Katalyst Nutraceuticals. Their products are sold at Nutri Shops. I love their Joint supplements, their woman vitamin mix called "For Her". I love their Glutamine recovery mix called Glutacor. I also really loved their appetite suppressant Adicor. I really did not care for their supplement called Hypercor which I think was an appetite suppressant/thermogenic.
The joint supplement is really balanced with glucosamine/chondroitin, and vitamins and minerals, and also contains tumeric to help with inflammation. It has helped my fiance with his lower back, and he can feel a big difference when he takes them every day for a while, and when he stops. They are expensive but really are worth the money.
The glutacor helps for when you get into doing hard, body stressing workouts. It has a little bit of a salty taste, is vanilla flavored and you can mix it into shakes, or take it as a quick shot in an ounce of milk.
I noticed a huge difference in my skin when I was taking the "For Her" supplements. You really have to take them for a few months before your skin really shows. I was looking at pictures of myself, and the pics I have from when I was taking the supplements religiously vs after I stopped for several months are crazy. So I am getting back into it. Also my nails are getting flimsy again.
The appetite suppressants I used here and there. The adicor I only started with one a day in the mornings. They really did help suppress my appetite. I think they were useful in learning how to portion control what I was eating. They helped me from bingeing also in the evenings. They curbed my appetite just enough so that I could eat, but not over eat. I think they may have been discontinued though. I can't seem to find them anywhere, otherwise I would buy them again. I think the main thing in them that worked was the caffeine.
The hypercor I feel no difference at all on. But maybe that is just me.
I also love Nature's way supplements. I notice a difference in energy taking them. It is probably all the b vitamins in them. I also take a daily hyaluronic acid liquid formula. It helps with skin too.

nutraceuticals!! have heard it all now.
$$$$$$$$ schluuuurppppppppppp.

Supplements and all these weight loss shakes are just Marketing 101. That's it.

Coming from someone who used to take every supplement under the sun, I can tell you first hand, they made NO difference at all. I'm talking about test boosters, fat burners, pre-workouts, etc.

I currently just take the basics- vitamins, creatine and aminos. My wallet thanks me at the end of the day.