Opinions on what are actually useful suppliments/vitamins?

Spadesheart
Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
I put in a massive protein and suppliment order last week, with 10 kg of protein powder, 1 kg of creatine and a pound of citrulline. Realistically, this should be a 3-4 month supply. Maybe a little less as my protein goals will be going up as I work into maintainence.

That being said, the stupid company just came up with a new flavour and put it on sale for 15% off... And I want it. Cherry cheesecake sounds delightful.

The problem is, 5 kg of this would be $ 68 Canadian, and they offer free shipping on orders of $100 or more, so I thought maybe I'd buy some other vitamins or suppliments.

Does anyone have any suggestions on suppliments that are actually useful that I could buy to fill that gap?

The company is Canadian protein, if anyone was curious.

Replies

  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 596 Member
    I only supplement nutrients that blood tests show I'm deficient in. So, for me, that's B12, D3, and I throw an fish oil capsule in there because the doctor told me to. I don't take protein supplements because I have no trouble getting enough protein from my regular diet.
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
    edited June 2019
    First, in my opinion, supplements at best can only make small, incremental differences in your fitness results, and as often as not the only thing they really make is expensive urine. The biggest thing you can do to affect your fitness results is to eat a healthy, balanced diet, get sufficient protein, and drink plenty of water.

    But if you do decide to go ahead with supplementation then do as @kimny72 suggests and look at examine.com for what the scientific literature has to say about the efficacy of a particular supplement.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    GaryRuns wrote: »
    First, in my opinion, supplements at best can only make small, incremental differences in your fitness results, and as often as not the only thing they really make is expensive urine. The biggest thing you can do to affect your fitness results is to eat a healthy, balanced diet, get sufficient protein, and drink plenty of water.

    But if you do decide to go ahead with supplementation then do as @kimny72 suggests and look at examine.com for what the scientific literature has to say about the efficacy of a particular supplement.

    For the most part, I completely agree. I've already bought the ones that are shown to be effective and can't be well supplimented through food. That being said... that's such a good deal on protein powder that it really would be like trying some stuff for free. And any little bit that can help with recovery coming up would be worth it, I think.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    Outside of things like vitamin D, if deficient, you may want to consider a fish oil, especially if you don't consume fish 3x a week.

    You could do beta alanine but it does cause tingling/itching in some people (like me).
  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
    edited June 2019
    Beta alanine - pretty hit or miss & has marginal benefit, more of an endurance athlete supplement; however, I find it helpful in performing long sessions (~2 hours, mainly countering my issue of having enough stamina post weight lifting to get in a decent amount of LISS). Paresthesia/tingling sensation most problematic; start low with the dose and work your way up (response around 3.2-6.4g/day...I seem to respond around the lower end of the range so I don't go above). Not sure about how beta alanine would impact you if you are doing "2-a-day" sessions like you've mentioned in previous posts (might not be worth it)

    I would suggest looking at your blood panel/chem7/electrolytes (if you have access to) to determine whether you even need other supplements. Although supplementation does not always seem to resolve some seemingly simple deficiencies based on the root cause (calcium being a good example, blood/serum levels not necessarily very telling vs. ionic Calcium and then again Albumin (binding) can influence Calcium as well).

    Vit D generally a common concern (get lab value to determine a need) & like @psulemon mentioned, possibly omega-3-fatty acid supplementation based on dietary intake (can influence lipid panel, lowering triglycerides, marginal increase HDL, neutral to raising LDL (debatable if this is actually bad because of the lack of LDL subtyping performed in standard lipid panels/not all LDL subfractions are considered "bad"))
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    Beta alanine - pretty hit or miss & has marginal benefit, more of an endurance athlete supplement; however, I find it helpful in performing long sessions (~2 hours, mainly countering my issue of having enough stamina post weight lifting to get in a decent amount of LISS). Paresthesia/tingling sensation most problematic; start low with the dose and work your way up (response around 3.2-6.4g/day...I seem to respond around the lower end of the range so I don't go above). Not sure about how beta alanine would impact you if you are doing "2-a-day" sessions like you've mentioned in previous posts (might not be worth it)

    I would suggest looking at your blood panel/chem7/electrolytes (if you have access to) to determine whether you even need other supplements. Although supplementation does not always seem to resolve some seemingly simple deficiencies based on the root cause (calcium being a good example, blood/serum levels not necessarily very telling vs. ionic Calcium and then again Albumin (binding) can influence Calcium as well).

    Vit D generally a common concern (get lab value to determine a need) & like @psulemon mentioned, possibly omega-3-fatty acid supplementation based on dietary intake (can influence lipid panel, lowering triglycerides, marginal increase HDL, neutral to raising LDL (debatable if this is actually bad because of the lack of LDL subtyping performed in standard lipid panels/not all LDL subfractions are considered "bad"))

    Wouldn't the beta be more helpful considering the pretty high increase in volume, if it helps with volume?

    I'll be discussing blood work with my doc come the 24th I believe, but I think that might be after the pretty awesome protein deal goes offline. I'm really just setting myself for another 2 months of protein needs by buying now, and I wouldn't really mind having more variety considering the ones I ordered were an economy cookies and cream, and unflavoured to experiment in cooking/replacing milk applications.

    I'm looking at a lot of their vitamins vitamins, but they're surprisingly not really super competitive prices. Sigh.

  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
    https://examine.com/supplements/beta-alanine/

    I say you might not get much benefit when doing "2-a-days" out of the assumption you are performing intensely and having enough time to recover adequately enough in between sessions
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    To add to what @Keto_Vampire is saying, most of the research regarding BA has been done in cyclist.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    Lol...I just found out that you can buy gift cards on the site and cheat the system that way. I might just do that.

    The only other suppliment on the site that seems at all worth it for exercise is the Beta, I'm still tempted to buy it because a pound is 20 cad, but I'm really not sure. The vitamins that would interest me don't really interest me because of anything to do with exercise, and are a better deal elsewhere anyways.

    Anyone with strong opinions in Beta? That's 20 for I'm guessing a 3 month supply.
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
    I put in a massive protein and suppliment order last week, with 10 kg of protein powder, 1 kg of creatine and a pound of citrulline. Realistically, this should be a 3-4 month supply. Maybe a little less as my protein goals will be going up as I work into maintainence.

    That being said, the stupid company just came up with a new flavour and put it on sale for 15% off... And I want it. Cherry cheesecake sounds delightful.

    The problem is, 5 kg of this would be $ 68 Canadian, and they offer free shipping on orders of $100 or more, so I thought maybe I'd buy some other vitamins or suppliments.

    Does anyone have any suggestions on suppliments that are actually useful that I could buy to fill that gap?

    The company is Canadian protein, if anyone was curious.

    Mutant has a sale on now ... free shirt and BCAA's when you spend $75 ... they might still have buy 2 get 25% off buy 3 get 35% off also. Also Canadian company, (hi from Canada btw).

    As for supplements, I think allot are a waste of money protein is food not really a supplement to me.

    D3
    Fish Oil

    Those are all I need, creatine makes 0 difference for me, I've tried taking it for years and never notice a difference.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,443 Member
    edited June 2020
    There's some newish research that says HMB might be beneficial as an anti-catabolic agent. I've added that into my regimen.

    DOH! Sucked in by a zombie thread. I'm guessing OP has placed his order already. :laugh:
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    There's some newish research that says HMB might be beneficial as an anti-catabolic agent. I've added that into my regimen.

    DOH! Sucked in by a zombie thread. I'm guessing OP has placed his order already. :laugh:

    Always happy to have new information. I'm down to 5 kg of protein powder, so I might make an order soon to just mix up some flavours.

    I have citrulline and creatine, but I haven't even broken into them yet, since I keep flirting with my weight/strength goals when I had some mild injury in August. I didn't want to break into supplements until I was maintaining/slightly bulking. A non catobolic agent might be a good idea for now as I am dropping weight at (hopefully) a rate of 1.5 pounds per week again.

    Work had also gone full time since I work in elderly care, but I've been keeping a pretty good at home weight training program I think; lucky there way 350 pounds of dusty weights in my parents basement.

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    There's some newish research that says HMB might be beneficial as an anti-catabolic agent. I've added that into my regimen.

    DOH! Sucked in by a zombie thread. I'm guessing OP has placed his order already. :laugh:

    Always happy to have new information. I'm down to 5 kg of protein powder, so I might make an order soon to just mix up some flavours.

    I have citrulline and creatine, but I haven't even broken into them yet, since I keep flirting with my weight/strength goals when I had some mild injury in August. I didn't want to break into supplements until I was maintaining/slightly bulking. A non catobolic agent might be a good idea for now as I am dropping weight at (hopefully) a rate of 1.5 pounds per week again.

    Work had also gone full time since I work in elderly care, but I've been keeping a pretty good at home weight training program I think; lucky there way 350 pounds of dusty weights in my parents basement.

    Using creatine during cutting can help with keeping strength up and increase volume. At least when bulking, you get extra food. Also, L-Citrulline is just a recovery agent. If anything, weight loss is a better time to use it.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    I put in a massive protein and suppliment order last week, with 10 kg of protein powder, 1 kg of creatine and a pound of citrulline. Realistically, this should be a 3-4 month supply. Maybe a little less as my protein goals will be going up as I work into maintainence.

    That being said, the stupid company just came up with a new flavour and put it on sale for 15% off... And I want it. Cherry cheesecake sounds delightful.

    The problem is, 5 kg of this would be $ 68 Canadian, and they offer free shipping on orders of $100 or more, so I thought maybe I'd buy some other vitamins or suppliments.

    Does anyone have any suggestions on suppliments that are actually useful that I could buy to fill that gap?

    The company is Canadian protein, if anyone was curious.

    Mutant has a sale on now ... free shirt and BCAA's when you spend $75 ... they might still have buy 2 get 25% off buy 3 get 35% off also. Also Canadian company, (hi from Canada btw).

    As for supplements, I think allot are a waste of money protein is food not really a supplement to me.

    D3
    Fish Oil

    Those are all I need, creatine makes 0 difference for me, I've tried taking it for years and never notice a difference.

    I have somehow ended up with $350 of gift cards for Canadian protein, so I think my fate with them is somewhat sealed haha.

    I agree, protein powder is food, and very convenient food. I honestly find it too difficult to accurately count protein from food sources alone, and using things like protein powder actually allow me to eat more things I enjoy. I never thought I would be here, but we ended here all the same. I'm slowly becoming a bro. Sigh.

    Luckily I have enough access to fish that fish oil is a bit redundant for me. That being said, when I was doing a lot of cardio, I found supplementing some potassium with "no salt" to be fantastically useful for cutting cramping and weird muscle spasms.

    Hello from another part of Canada!
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    There's some newish research that says HMB might be beneficial as an anti-catabolic agent. I've added that into my regimen.

    DOH! Sucked in by a zombie thread. I'm guessing OP has placed his order already. :laugh:

    Always happy to have new information. I'm down to 5 kg of protein powder, so I might make an order soon to just mix up some flavours.

    I have citrulline and creatine, but I haven't even broken into them yet, since I keep flirting with my weight/strength goals when I had some mild injury in August. I didn't want to break into supplements until I was maintaining/slightly bulking. A non catobolic agent might be a good idea for now as I am dropping weight at (hopefully) a rate of 1.5 pounds per week again.

    Work had also gone full time since I work in elderly care, but I've been keeping a pretty good at home weight training program I think; lucky there way 350 pounds of dusty weights in my parents basement.

    Using creatine during cutting can help with keeping strength up and increase volume. At least when bulking, you get extra food. Also, L-Citrulline is just a recovery agent. If anything, weight loss is a better time to use it.

    The initial idea was when I hit goal weight, I was going to do a very intense 2 a day program for a few months to try to pack on as much muscle in a short amount of time as possible. That's why I was saving the supplements till then. At that time I was expecting to continue to have about 4 days off a week on average, but that may not be the case for a long while now. So maybe, with all of what's going on, you're right and I should just break into the supplements. Sigh.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    psuLemon wrote: »
    There's some newish research that says HMB might be beneficial as an anti-catabolic agent. I've added that into my regimen.

    DOH! Sucked in by a zombie thread. I'm guessing OP has placed his order already. :laugh:

    Always happy to have new information. I'm down to 5 kg of protein powder, so I might make an order soon to just mix up some flavours.

    I have citrulline and creatine, but I haven't even broken into them yet, since I keep flirting with my weight/strength goals when I had some mild injury in August. I didn't want to break into supplements until I was maintaining/slightly bulking. A non catobolic agent might be a good idea for now as I am dropping weight at (hopefully) a rate of 1.5 pounds per week again.

    Work had also gone full time since I work in elderly care, but I've been keeping a pretty good at home weight training program I think; lucky there way 350 pounds of dusty weights in my parents basement.

    Using creatine during cutting can help with keeping strength up and increase volume. At least when bulking, you get extra food. Also, L-Citrulline is just a recovery agent. If anything, weight loss is a better time to use it.

    The initial idea was when I hit goal weight, I was going to do a very intense 2 a day program for a few months to try to pack on as much muscle in a short amount of time as possible. That's why I was saving the supplements till then. At that time I was expecting to continue to have about 4 days off a week on average, but that may not be the case for a long while now. So maybe, with all of what's going on, you're right and I should just break into the supplements. Sigh.

    Very logical. Creatine is dirt cheap and if you don't run a load phase, it will take about 3 or 4 weeks to get the full effect.
  • KayakerJoe
    KayakerJoe Posts: 80 Member
    You won’t add muscle at a fast speed. It is impossible.

    Muscle building is a determined and slow progress. You can add water and pump but muscle growth takes time and dedication.

    You need to focus on increasing your strength by gradually adding weight to the bar each week.

    Don’t believe any of the before and after pictures that show massive changes in muscle for 12 weeks. It’s all lighting, makeup and snake oil.
  • sheena_shewell
    sheena_shewell Posts: 48 Member
    I'd suggest getting magnesium as a supplement to help with muscle recovery