Whether you’re gaining muscle or trying to lose body fat there’s a supplement being marketed towards you. The supplement market is massive and preys on every type of consumer. Products, such as weight gainer shakes, fat burners and branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) are often targeted to people who are uninformed or those who want quick results. Supplementation isn’t necessary to achieve your goals. However, there are a few well-known substances, like caffeine and creatine, that has proven to be beneficial.
Although considered a drug, caffeine is proven to improve alertness and increase stimulation, while reducing any pain induced from activity. It also has metabolic impacts that can improve performance in the gym (2018, Helms). It’s easy to see why one of the main ingredients in many fat burners and pre-workout supplements is caffeine due to its metabolic impacts. Therefore, it can be extremely useful during a weight loss phase. However, it is vital that individuals manage their intake timing since caffeine can negatively impact sleep quality. It’s also important to consider taking a dosage relative to what you’re accustomed to since taking too high of a dosage can cause negative mental or physical effects, thus impacting your recovery.
Protein is another common supplement that is by no means required, but is usually taken for the sake of convenience. It’s also useful for individuals who struggle to meet their protein requirements. Whey and Casein protein powders are two of the most common and easily available protein powders. There are also numerous vegan protein powders, such as pea protein and brown rice protein that can also help vegans and vegetarians meet their protein requirements. The problem with Whey and Casein is that many people find that they are intolerant and develop allergic reactions when ingested, however they are the cheapest protein powders on the market. Additionally, many vegan protein powders have been questioned for their amino acid profile and run the risk of being ‘incomplete’ proteins. Although the topic of incomplete proteins has been up for debate for what seems like forever, it’s still something to consider.
Furthermore, supplements, such as Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs), have grown in popularity over the years because of the understanding that taking them during your workout facilitates muscle growth and repairing. Unfortunately, BCAAs do not to provide any significant benefits. What is more important is consuming your protein throughout the day. Unless your workouts are strenuous, high-intensity workouts that last more than 1.5 hours intra-workout supplementation isn’t really a requirement.
On the other hand, creatine is a naturally occurring energy system within the human body that can help increase energy and improve performance. Even though we can get creatine from food sources the amount our body utilizes is minimal compared to the amount we actually need. Therefore, individuals, including women, vegetarians and vegans, can benefit from creatine supplementation in both mental and physical ways, as long as it does not cause any adverse stomach issues. I won’t go in to too much detail since there has been a lot of extensive research published but I will link a few articles for those interested.
What about multi-vitamins and fish-oil supplements? Based on individual needs multivitamins can help meet your daily vitamin and mineral requirements if you don’t see yourself ingesting enough of them through whole foods. Fish oil supplementation can also be beneficial for reducing inflammation in the body. However, both supplements have been called into question since fish oil can have adverse effects on some individuals and multi-vitamins may not be required at all. Therefore, individuals should consult their physicians before adding supplements to their diet.
Remember that supplements are called supplements for a reason. They shouldn’t make up your diet nor are they required. Many a time it’s difficult to even say what a supplement contains because of how they’re manufactured. Therefore, there’s always a risk of spending money on products you don’t know will be beneficial to your goals. As it is the vast majority of supplements are grossly overpriced, if you do end up buying supplements buy it from a reputable company that shows the profile of the supplement and the reasoning behind it.
Marie
References:
BCAA Supplementation does not help in maintaining lean body mass in during fat loss phases: https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-016-0128-9
Creatine Supplementation: https://examine.com/supplements/creatine/
Omar Isuf and Eric Helms: Everything you need to know about creatine
Marie Writes (A Fitness Blog) 