It’s time for the truth to come out. People need to know that they’re wasting their hard earned money buying the latest supplement that’s promising incredible, almost ridiculous results.

The supplement industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that’s unregulated by the FDA.

That means that they can put anything they want into the supplement they’re selling and the only time the FDA would step in is if multiple people die resulting from the supplement.

That’s pretty fucked up if you ask me.

I’m not ok being the guinea pig for any company. That’s why after many years of falling for the marketing I decided I will never buy another supplement again.

Ok that’s not true. I do buy supplements but it’s minimal and these actually work.

I hate pre-workouts, I don’t take test boosters, and if you know me I’m all about minimal consumption of supplements and getting most of my daily requirements from foods.

For most people, supplements have become a big part of their diets, when in reality supplements are only to be used to “supplement” your diet. In other words they’re supposed to aid you in getting your daily requirements of macro and micro nutrients.

That’s why I personally take a few selected supplements and I’ll never steer clear from them.

1. Protein Powder

I love protein powder. Without it I wouldn’t be able to get the amount of protein I need for the day. That’s why it’s #1 one on my list. I eat around 300 + grams of protein on certain days. Having such a high amount of protein to eat; while implementing intermittent fasting makes it pretty hard to get all my protein from food.

That’s why I supplement with it.

When I was younger I was trying new proteins every month. Different types of protein, different brands — I even tried plant based protein once (never again, that shit tasted terrible). But after all the years of trying different proteins I always came back to my favorite; Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Whey.

This protein’s pretty clean, meaning there are not a lot of fillers in it. Most companies add fillers to their protein which jacks up the price. I like to keep it simple and minimal. That way I’m happy and so is my wallet.

Now I know this protein doesn’t come from grass fed cows; I’m okay with that. There is a protein I’ve been eyeing for some time now. It’s BioTrust low carb protein. I did some digging around and found out that the protein isn’t grass-fed finished but is indeed predominantly grass-fed and pasture-raised. I’m going to try it after I’m done with the protein that I have and I’ll let you guys know if I like it or not.

2. Digestive Enzymes

These are great if you’re suffering from digestive issues. Taking these with every meal is going to help with the breakdown of the foods you eat. This is a good thing because now you can absorb more nutrients and better recover from your workouts.

Our bodies naturally produce digestive enzyme but the thing is that most people don’t allow their bodies the necessary time for it rejuvenate digestive enzymes.

People eat all day and every time you eat; digestive enzymes are secreted. Now I’m not saying there’s a limited supply of enzymes but if your body is constantly secreting enzymes eventually it’ll start secreting less and less; leaving undigested food in your body.

This undigested food can lead to a lot of different ailments. By making sure you’re getting adequate amounts of digestive enzymes you make sure that your body is breaking down every little bit of food you eat.

3. Creatine

Creatine is awesome. I’ve been taking it since I was 15 or 16. There’s a lot of different forms of creatine in the market but the one that’s proven to work; the one that has all the research done on it is good old creatine monohydrate.

We naturally produce creatine in our bodies but in small amounts. Enough to supple the ATP-CP energy system.

We also can find creatine in the foods we eat like; meat, fish, and egg.

Wait!

Before we go on, lets go back to the energy system. ATP-CP is the energy system used for quick burst of energy like sprinting, jumping, or squatting near your max. All these activities require your muscles to use energy really quick. Unfortunately the ATP-CP system is limited. Lasting up to 10 seconds, that’s because ATP is stored in your muscles in very low quantities for the exact use of “quick bursts of energy”.

So where does creatinephosphate (CP) fall into this energy system?

Well CP is also stored in your muscles in low quantities. CP’s job is to regenerate ADP back to ATP so it can be used for energy again.

In other terms; when your cells use ATP for energy a phosphate is broken off from that ATP making it ADP (adenosine diphosphate). You see but your body can’t use ADP for energy. It needs ATP, so by using a phosphate from CP, ADP can regenerate and convert back to ATP.

So when you supplement your diet with creatine you’re giving your body more CP so it can regenerate ADP to ATP a lot faster.

That’s why there’s an improvement in power output during high intensity exercises when supplementing with creatine.

One thing I didn’t like about creatine when I first started taking back in the day was that it caused bloating and diarrhea. Well I found out how to avoid those annoying side effects from creatine.

Taking too much creatine at once is what usually triggers the upset stomach. As for stomach cramps that usually happens when your water intake is to little. Remember you should drink a gallon a day to be healthy. But when you’re supplementing with creatine the amount of water has to go up considerably .

So I know there’s a lot of negative talk out there about creatine; like it damages your kidneys or even as far as “it doesn’t even work”.

Well those two things are utter bullshit. According to Examine.com; a study done found that the net result was that even with one kidney, creatine had no negative effect on the kidneys.

And the coolest part about creatine that I found was that there was a notable reduction in circulating myostatin when supplementing with creatine; a 17% reduction.

For those of you who don’t know what myostatin is – it’s a protein that limits muscle growth (fucked up right?)

Although they haven’t figured out a way to inhibit myostatin, a reduction from it will definitely help add on some more mass.

Recommended dosage

Every creatine package I’ve ever seen always recommended a loading phase. This is a 7 day period where you would O.D on creatine.

Loading is what usually caused my upset stomach. I haven’t loading in years, what I have found to work is taking 10 grams a day; no loading at all. I put 2 scoops of my creatine in my post workout protein shake with some grape juice.

That’s one important thing to remember. Always take creatine with some form of carb. You want an insulin spike when taking creatine so it gets into your muscles.

3. Glutamine

I’ve written about glutamine before and the powers it has on controlling your cravings. I have also spoken about how effective glutamine is for your intestinal and immune health.

Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid; meaning that you’re body synthesizes it in quantities that don’t require you to get it from your diet.

A big misconception is that glutamine helps increase lean body mass.

Well according to Examine.com this only occurs when a person is suffering from physical trauma such as burns or muscular wounds (knife wounds) or in disease states in which muscle wasting occurs, such as aids. Other than that, for a healthy individual your body will use the glutamine for intestinal usage before it even gets to your muscles.

This is a good thing cause for most people their gut is what’s causing many illnesses and deaths.

You see health starts in your digestive system. If you’re eating foods that harm the integrity of your GI tract you start swimming in deep waters.

And for most people they never really learn the proper way to eat. So years of blindly stuffing food down their throats can lead to the exact disease we see people dying from today; cancer, obesity, diabetes, celiac disease, malabsorption, and the list goes on.

So do yourself a favor. Add glutamine to your supplement list. It’s a cheap supplement that can have drastic effects on your health.

4. Greens Supplement

I’ve been supplementing with greens supplements for some time now. I originally bought it to ensure I was getting all my vitamins and minerals for the day (side note: green supplements are way better than multivitamins in pill form)

After about a week of taking it I noticed something I was not expecting at all.

I started feeling amazing. More energy, more alertness, clarity, and above all; I felt cleaner (if that makes sense)

You see a lot of people’s diets consist of foods that bring the body into an acidic state. Foods like meat, grains, sugar, coffee, soft drinks etc.

Unfortunately that’s all most people eat. Fruits and vegetables, foods that put the body in an alkaline state are limited.

This isn’t good for one important reason; according to Mark A. Stengler, NMD, a naturopathic medical doctor; when the body is in an acidic state the risk of osteoporosis, sarcopenia (muscle loss), fractures, kidney stone formation, and possibly diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, thyroid problems, cancer and other insidious conditions can form.

I hope I don’t have to point it out but the conditions I stated above are what are most prominent in our society today.

Supplementing with greens puts the body back in a healthy alkaline state.

So there you have it. I know the list is small but it’s the essentials. Don’t fall for the marketing hype, you don’t need the latest supplement. You need to train hard, eat right, and sleep in order for you to get the body you want.

There’s no magic pill, just hard work

Talk to you later,