When it comes to transformations, everyone looks for the extra edge.

And why not?

If there’s something that can speed up results, why not utilise it?

Que supplements…

The supplement industry is HUGE!

And they make A LOT of money.

A LOT!

When you make that amount of money, some people get greedy and provide shitty supplements.

Afterall, business is business?!

Then the marketing team get involved, the sales guys need their commission and then…

THE BEST FAT BURNER” was born.

Supplements can be a tricky subject, so, I like to keep things stupid simple. I’ve got 4 supplements I’ll chat about today, that I take and I’ll discuss why I take them. As you read through this, remember that there isn’t one best diet, not everyone is the same and many factors can influence supplement requirements:

Here’s my go to:

  • Multivitamin
  • Fish Oil (unless you eat fish daily)
  • Protein
  • Creatine

Now, the argument that everyone puts up is that you should be able to get this stuff from your diet.

I agree, you could…

But you probably aren’t.

Let’s take water soluble vitamins for example (B-Vitamins) – many of these are sensitive to heat and can be lose during cooking. Not ideal if you’ve been boiling your broccoli and sieving the water down the drain.

Now, I’m not saying you must take these supplements to get an amazing transformation. Far from it in fact, but you do need to hit your RDI’s for good health.

Multivitamin

Nothing in the body works in isolation, meaning, you could be getting a lot of sodium, but are you getting enough potassium? A multi is a good insurance policy for overall health. It’s important to buy quality products – Supermarkets are usually not that great. Granted, this is a hard job someone who doesn’t have a textbook about vitamins and minerals, right? Some tell tail signs of a quality multi would be, 100% RDI for all vitamins included. Also look for Folate instead of Folic Acid (Folate is the natural form of vitamin B9 in food, while folic acid is a synthetic form).

Fish Oil (EPA/DHA)

Fish oil is important for brain development, can help slow down neurodegenerative disorders and they’re important for both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses – Omega 3 helps to dilate out blood vessels, while omega 6 helps to constrict blood vessels. This sounds contradictory, but both are super important processes of the body, and, without them, we couldn’t heal from injuries or recover from training. Again, quality matters.

Protein

First off, you can definitely get 100% of your protein from food. You can get protein from lean meats, beans, legumes etc. Protein is important for muscle growth, recovery, bones, hormones and immune system. It can also give us energy if we need it, but it’s very rarely used for energy. In my experience, it can be difficult to hit your protein goals for the day, especially when you’re aiming for the higher limits (2.2g/kg+). This is where protein can come in handy. Yet again, quality matters. When buying a protein, you want to see a full “Amino Acid Profile” and it should include >2g leucine and it should be greater be 1g = >0.7g protein.

Creatine

I remember when I was growing up, I thought this was a steroid, lol. Far from it. Creatine is one of the most researched supplements going around. It’s produced naturally in the body and is used for explosive power. Creatine helps with performance and can be the 1% difference for athletes. It’s also really cheap and you only need 3-5mg per day. When looking for creatine, look for Creatine Monohydrate and on the ingredients, it should be Creapure – the best quality one. Most top brands use Creapure.

Again, it’s important to note, you don’t need these supplements, but they can help with health and performance.

– Stephen

 

NOTE: Before diving in and taking any of these, please consult with your healthcare practitioner.