Friday, February 22, 2013

New Year, New You #7 Supportive Supplements



The supplement industry is full of products that claim do to amazing things to assist a person in achieving the fitness level and body desired.  Some work, most are garbage.  Before taking any form of supplement, consult your physician.  What you will find here is not an endorsement of any particular product or brand, but, solid information about several different supplements and the purpose behind using them.  Before a person should even consider taking any form of supplements there are a few key things to know.  Supplements are not regulated by the FDA, supplements are not drugs.  There is no set of criteria to be met that determines if a product is both safe and an effective as the manufacturer claims.  It is for this reason that I do not endorse any particular product or company.  Most importantly, supplements are meant to enhance and improve an already healthy nutrition program.  Supplements are in no way, a replacement for or substitute of, healthy eating.  Before taking any supplement to enhance fitness and performance, take into account several considerations:

1.      Is there any independent research on the supplement?  Has the research been published in a scientific journal for review by the scientific community?  Also, is the research relative to the fitness and athletic population?

2.      Has the supplement been patented by the manufactured?  If so, most of the research done on the supplement will be from the manufacturers and not an independent review.  Claims based upon this research will be slanted in favor of the manufacturer.

3.      Has research been done in an athletic and fit population? Has it been done both during training and competition seasons?

4.      Is the product suited to your sport and your level of training?  Make sure it product supports your preferred style of training.

5.      Has the supplement been approved or banned by the governing body for the athletic community or sport?  Or, it there a limitation of the dosage and use of the supplement?

The use of quality products that have been researched by the scientific community, independent of manufacturer influence and combined with an understanding of what a supplement does for the body and the type of training that its use affects most positively, is the only way to make sure that you, as the consumer, are spending your money wisely.  I would further add, for a supplement to be truly effective, it must increase the availability of, or, maximize the use of a form of nutrition or biochemical compound that the human body naturally utilizes without out the aid of supplements.  This will be important to keep in mind because the specific supplements discussed here are either naturally made by the body, or, consumed through eating natural, healthy food.  The use of these specific supplements is intended to aid the body in being better at what is already naturally does.

Protein Powders
There will not be a lot of specifics on this, as it was covered in the post: New Year, New You #6 Powerful Protein.  Protein powders are among the most researched and effective forms of supplementation available.  At the simplest level, these products increase the amount of protein in the diet.  Inadequate protein levels are common problem is everyone’s diet, both inactive and athletic people alike.  Unless a person is following an incredibly strict low-carb diet then the protein supplement should include some form of carbohydrates.  The ratio of carbohydrates to protein should be around 1.5:1 grams of carbs to every gram of protein.  Carbs are essential for aiding in the digestion and absorption of protein.  This is especially true if the protein powder is going to be consumed following exercise.  If the ratio in the supplement does not match this then eat a healthy form of simple carbs, such as a banana or berries, to maximize use of the supplement.  This can be used by everyone for positive benefits.

Amino Acids
Amino acids are another popular supplement that aids in recovery from exercise.  There are twenty different amino acids but not all of them need to be taken in supplement form.  There are four specifically that can aid in improving exercise and fitness performance as well as the recovery process.  A branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) is an amino acid having aliphatic side-chains with a branch (a carbon atom bound to more than two other carbon atoms). Among the proteinogenic amino acids, there are three BCAAs: Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine; these BCAA’s work together to improve the use of calcium within the muscles cells, enhancing the quality of muscular contraction during exercise.  A quality BCAA product is going to provide 2000-2500 mg per serving.  Everyone who exercises, regardless of the preferred type of exercise, can benefit from BCAA supplementation.

The fourth amino acid is glutamine.  Its primary role is to aid in protein and nitrogen synthesis, aiding in the anabolic processes of muscles.  It can also be used as a source of energy when muscles cells become depleted of muscle glycogen during prolonged and intense exercise.  For these reasons, glutamine is fantastic for muscle recovery and growth.  Anyone who lifts weights can benefit from glutamine supplementation.  It may also help with recovery from cardio- based exercise but it is less effective for cardio training.  A quality dosage of this is 5000 mg per day.

Creatine
As a nitrogen-based organic acid, creatine is a naturally occurring compound within the human body and 95% of its stored within the skeletal muscle tissue.  It helps provide the muscles with energy during exercise and is most effective under high intensity, short-term activity such as sprints or intense, heavy weightlifting.  It does not have any benefit for cardio-based activity. For physically inactive people, the human body produces creatine in adequate amounts.  However, for most people who train at high intensities, higher levels of creatine can be very effective at producing extra energy for more repetitions with heavy weights.  An additional 3000 mg per day is all that is needed for most people.  The most effective and most researched form of creatine is creatine monohydrate.  At one point it was thought that creatine supplementation required a loading phase, where a dose of four or five times the recommended amount was necessary for the first few days in order to maximize use in the body.  This is not true.  Also, it was once thought that creatine should be consumed with juice because sugar was necessary to aid in digestion.  This is also not true. 

When considering a supplement, always clear its usage with your physician.  But also consider if the use of the supplement supports your training goals. Most importantly, remember that supplements are just that a supplement. These products are intended to enhance the quality of and improve the effectiveness of a healthy nutrition program. Supplements DO NOT replace eating healthy food.

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