Supplements 101
Arm yourself with some simple facts to make the right supplement choices to fit your needs.
Last Piece of the Puzzle
Supplements should only ‘supplement’ your already healthy and active lifestyle! If your nutrition is dialled in and you are eating correctly with high-quality foods, research suggests they can be of benefit to you.
Don't Believe the Hype
Supplements can be a minefield these days. With so many different options & promising claims, it can be difficult to know what exactly we should be taking and if it will even work. If a supplement claims to do something that sounds too good to be true, then this is usually the case.
Stick To Proven and Tested
There are a small number of supplements that have been scientifically researched, and field tested to show they work. Do your research and stick to suggested dosages.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D has been shown to improve mood, aid immune function, fight off cancers, burn body fat, and improve bone health. It also helps boost muscle strength and growth, mainly due to its potential to increase testosterone levels.
How to Take
The safe upper limit 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
Fish oil contains the essential omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which provide many health and performance benefits due to high anti-
inflammatory properties. From a health perspective, these fatty acids appear 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 dosages of combined EPA and DHA are from 250mg to 1000mg per day. For more dramatic and enhanced effects, dosages can be used up to 6g split throughout a day. Liquid fish oil is usually more effective at providing these dosages than a capsule.
Green Tea
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 dosage 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 taking this alongside food, as some people can feel nausea after taking it on an empty stomach.
ZMA
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 rates. With these, a daily dosage from 200-450mg Magnesium is the ideal.
Vitamin K
Research is uncovering many roles for this vitamin in the body. There are two main types of vitamin K – K1 (phylloquinone) and K2 (menaquinone). What is currently known is that vitamin K plays a critical role in enabling specific enzymes in the body to function. Some of these enzymes help form blood-clotting factors, and some are important for fixing calcium in bones. These roles appear to be performed by K1. A particular type of K2 is known as MK-4 has recently been shown to increase testosterone production.
How to take
Look for vitamin K supplements that provide both K1 and K2. While most supplements use a form of K2 known as MK-7, your best bet is to use a form that includes MK-4 to maximise testosterone production. Take 100-1,000mcg of vitamin K1 and vitamin K2.
Whey Protein
Whey is an effective protein for increasing muscle protein synthesis, the process in muscle cells 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 muscles. 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 athletic 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 maximise uptake to the muscle cells.
