I get this question a lot: "What kind of supplements do you take?" It's very rare that someone asks me if I take supplements, but instead the question usually masquerades as, "Hey, how many supplements do you take and which ones?"
The answer to the question is that I take virtually no supplements at all.
How did I get to this blasphemous stage of taking no supplements? Well, I've been exposed to the health/supplement industry for quite some time. I started working at one of several different nationally known nutrition/supplement stores at the age of seventeen and worked there for nearly five years. In that time span, I was exposed to nearly every type of supplement that you could dream of - herbs, minerals, vitamins, oils, bodybuidling supplements, etc. During the first couple of years of working there I assumed that all of the products that are on the shelf must have some type of efficacy to them otherwise they wouldn't be on the shelf, right? In the quest for self-improvement I tried nearly every type of supplement known to man that professed to help in the bodybuilding process. After spending nearly half of my paycheck at my place of employment, for nearly two year, I came to the realization that every type of supplement that I tried yielded no results. Did taking extra protein powder help? Nope. Did taking the newest ultra-filtered whey isolate help? No. Did taking the bulk-up powders help in my quest for size and muscle. Well, it helped in my quest for getting fatter but that's about it.
The only exception that I found was creatine monohydrate and the now banned fat burning supplements (ephedra, caffeine, asprin combos). Creatine monohydrate has been found to effectively increase muscle size and strength, albeit to a small degree, but as we all know every bit helps. Not only has it been proven to work but it's been proven to be safe as well.
The ephedra, caffeine, asprin combos worked well but lets face it, they were essentially "drugs" in every sense of the word. It was basically a legalized stimulant that was found to suppress appetite and perhaps speed up the metabolic rate.
Before you jump head first into the crazy world of supplements and throw away your hard-earned money, ask yourself: are there any legitimate studies showing that this particular supplement will yield the results that I think it will? I'm amazed at the amount of people that will spend hundreds of dollars a month on supplement that don't a single scientific study done on them. On a related note, be cautious of who conducted the study as well. Was the study conducted by researchers in the exercise physiology lab at Ohio University or was it paid for and conducted by the company that owns the supplement?
Oh, and please - disregard the anti-rational establishment that feels that you can't trust medicine or the scientific community. By nature, scientists are seekers of the truth and you should put more trust in their findings even if it opposes what your favorite author in Flex or Muscle and Fitness says. Keep in mind, virtually every muscle magazine owns and runs their own supplement company. Make no mistake: they are out to sell you their supplements and push their ads. If you doubt my claims then pick up an issue and then gloss over the amount of ads in each issue.
In the future, other effective supplements may come down the pike but you really should first be critical and try to figure out if any reputable scientific organizations have studied the product. If they haven't, how do you know it works? What if it ends up being dangerous? What if you're prone to the placebo effect? Be as critical and inquisitive as possible and you just may save yourself a lot of money and a lot of frustration.
The answer to the question is that I take virtually no supplements at all.
How did I get to this blasphemous stage of taking no supplements? Well, I've been exposed to the health/supplement industry for quite some time. I started working at one of several different nationally known nutrition/supplement stores at the age of seventeen and worked there for nearly five years. In that time span, I was exposed to nearly every type of supplement that you could dream of - herbs, minerals, vitamins, oils, bodybuidling supplements, etc. During the first couple of years of working there I assumed that all of the products that are on the shelf must have some type of efficacy to them otherwise they wouldn't be on the shelf, right? In the quest for self-improvement I tried nearly every type of supplement known to man that professed to help in the bodybuilding process. After spending nearly half of my paycheck at my place of employment, for nearly two year, I came to the realization that every type of supplement that I tried yielded no results. Did taking extra protein powder help? Nope. Did taking the newest ultra-filtered whey isolate help? No. Did taking the bulk-up powders help in my quest for size and muscle. Well, it helped in my quest for getting fatter but that's about it.
The only exception that I found was creatine monohydrate and the now banned fat burning supplements (ephedra, caffeine, asprin combos). Creatine monohydrate has been found to effectively increase muscle size and strength, albeit to a small degree, but as we all know every bit helps. Not only has it been proven to work but it's been proven to be safe as well.
The ephedra, caffeine, asprin combos worked well but lets face it, they were essentially "drugs" in every sense of the word. It was basically a legalized stimulant that was found to suppress appetite and perhaps speed up the metabolic rate.
Before you jump head first into the crazy world of supplements and throw away your hard-earned money, ask yourself: are there any legitimate studies showing that this particular supplement will yield the results that I think it will? I'm amazed at the amount of people that will spend hundreds of dollars a month on supplement that don't a single scientific study done on them. On a related note, be cautious of who conducted the study as well. Was the study conducted by researchers in the exercise physiology lab at Ohio University or was it paid for and conducted by the company that owns the supplement?
Oh, and please - disregard the anti-rational establishment that feels that you can't trust medicine or the scientific community. By nature, scientists are seekers of the truth and you should put more trust in their findings even if it opposes what your favorite author in Flex or Muscle and Fitness says. Keep in mind, virtually every muscle magazine owns and runs their own supplement company. Make no mistake: they are out to sell you their supplements and push their ads. If you doubt my claims then pick up an issue and then gloss over the amount of ads in each issue.
In the future, other effective supplements may come down the pike but you really should first be critical and try to figure out if any reputable scientific organizations have studied the product. If they haven't, how do you know it works? What if it ends up being dangerous? What if you're prone to the placebo effect? Be as critical and inquisitive as possible and you just may save yourself a lot of money and a lot of frustration.
While we're on the subject, I highly recommend that you read the article entitled The Most Anabolic Diet - Real Food written by Dr. Richard Winett, PhD. The article can be found in its entirety here: http://www.cbass.com/WinettAnabolicDiet.htm.
