Walking into a supplement/health store can be daunting. There are shelves stacked high of every different supplement you can think of. Pre-workout drinks, post workout shakes, intra workout nutrition and lots of pills for many different purposes. They are also expensive!
WHERE SHOULD I START?
Well before you even consider taking any supplements. You need to make sure your nutrition is as optimal as can be. Whole foods should be a staple of your daily intake. Grass-fed meats, organic vegetables (see Michelle’s Blog) and unprocessed foods are going to give you the best bang for your buck! I hear people saying that organic veg is expensive, yet they buy a $60 supplement that they take each morning. That probably has to do with the ‘Quick Fix’ mentality we have, but that is a whole different topic.
Google definition
Supplement – something that completes or enhances something else when added to it
So we need to be looking at our base nutrition before even looking to supplement it. Once we have that covered then there are a couple of ways to go about it:
- The best way, in my opinion, is to have your blood tested and have someone analyze that data to see if you have any deficiencies. Be careful when looking at national averages as you may want to be shooting for much better stats if you’re looking for optimal health. If you’re looking for performance then we may need to go even further.
- The second option would be to try a supplement and see how you react to it. I would look at the symptoms of being deficient in that supplement and see if that is what you are experiencing. There are a few supplements out there that the majority of people can benefit from and studies have proved levels to be low across different nations. Vit D3 + K2, magnesium, and zinc are a few that levels are commonly low. Again, be careful when reading any studies because the data can easily be manipulated to show the result wanted.
Either way, you need to monitor the results. Whether you re-check your blood work to see if the supplement is having an effect or you document the way you feel whilst you are taking it, you need to track the data. Otherwise you could just be literally pouring money down the toilet. Magnesium oxide, for instance, has a very low bioavailability and is therefore pretty useless.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRODUCTS
So you’ve had your blood work checked or you have decided you have the symptoms that could be resolved by a certain supplement. Now you need to find a supplement. My suggestions are:
- Speak to someone who understands supplements and their ingredients
- Research the bioavailability of the different types of that supplement
- Don’t buy the cheapest – you’re probably better not taking anything
- Look at the non-medical ingredients. Somethings are necessary for the delivery of the product but often there are ‘fillers’ which are detrimental to health
- Be aware of all the sweeteners and sugars added to many of the drinks. Sucralose is the most common and this stuff is bad. We want to avoid artificial sweeteners full stop.
To be clear, I’m not writing this to suggest you should be using supplements. I honestly believe people can get a lot more out of their regular nutrition. I have used lots of different supplements and there are very few I would recommend with a guarantee that you would feel a benefit. There are some which I think most people could benefit from, I will write another article on those. I would say to just follow the advice above and test them for yourself.
Thanks for reading
Darren