SUPPLEMENTS 101
Arm yourself with some simple facts to make the right supplement choices to fit your needs.
VITAMIN D
Health, Strength, Muscle Builder & Fat Loss Supplement
Vitamin D has been shown to improve mood, aid immune function, fight off cancer, burn body fat, and improve bone health. It also helps boost muscle strength and growth, mainly due to its potential to increase testosterones levels.
How to take
The safe upper limits is 10,000IU/day, for moderate supplementation, a 1,000-2,000IU dose of vitamin D3 is sufficient to meet the needs of most of the population.
Vitamin D should be taken daily, with meals or a source of fat, like fish oil.
OMEGA 3 FISH OIL
Health, Strength, Muscle Builder & Fat Loss Supplement
Fish oil contains the essential omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which provide many heathy and performance benefits due to high anti-inflammatory properties. Form a health perspective, these fatty acids appears to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke while from a performance aspect they can help prevent muscle breakdown, enhance joint healing, improve brain function and achieve greater fat loss.
How to take
Effective dosage of combined EPA and DHA are from 250mg to 1000mg per day. For more dramatic and enhanced effects, dosage can be used up to 6g split throughout a day. Liquid fish oil is usually more effective at providing these dosage than a capsule.
GREEN TEA
Fat loss, Energy Production & health supplement
Green tea contains compounds called catechins, including EGCG, the primary active ingredient for its thermogenic properties. Green tea also contains caffeine, which boosts energy levels and provides further fat burning actions. It can also serve as an anti-oxidant and may help reduce certain cancers and provide other health benefits such as improved joint healing.
How to take
For maximum fat burning and metabolic capacity, a high dose of 400-500mg EGCG will be required daily. A green tea extract is therefore recommended, as one cup of green tea will only provide approximately 50mg of EGCG equivalence. It's suggested talking thus alongside food, as some people can feel nausea after taking it on an empty stomach.
ZMA
Health, Strength, Muscle Builder & Fat Loss Supplement
This is a combination of zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. Research has shown that hard training individuals (people who sweat a lot) may be deficient in these essential minerals. You may see improved hormone levels, aiding better recovery, sleep and strength.
How to take
Zinc: For the hard training individual, a higher dosage of 25-45mg daily is the ideal. If no training is taking place, 5-10mg is likely sufficient.
Magnesium: Citrate or other bioavailable forms such a Diglycinate or Gluconate are your best options to provide best absorption rate. with these, a daily dosage from 200-450mg Magnesium is the deal.
WHEY PROTEIN
Mass builder, Strength, energy production, fat loss, health
Whey is an effective protein for increasing muscle protein synthesis, the process in muscle cell that results in muscle growth. There are numerous reasons why whey is so effective, such as its high content of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAS) and its ability to boost blood flow to muscle. However, the most important characteristic of whey is its rapid rate of digestion. Whey protein is one of the fastest-digesting protein sources that you can get. It also makes achieving a high protein diet super easy.
How to take
Typical recommendations are 20-40g first thing in the morning, 30-60 minutes before workouts, within 30-60 minutes after workouts,and between meals, as needed.
CREATINE
With regards to athletics performance, creatine has continually proved itself to be one of the most effective and safe nutritional supplements to increase strength, muscle mass and performance. Benefits include: increased muscle mass and strength, increased single and repetitive athlete performance, enhanced glycogen synthesis, increased work capacity and enhanced recovery.
How to take
A dosage of 3-5g per day of creatine monohydrate in powder form is recommended. You should consume this alongside a meal, or at least some carbohydrates to maximize uptake to the muscle cells.
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