Supplement stores are bursting with a myriad of different pills, powders and liquids, all presented in shiny, brightly coloured packaging and boasting incredible claims of performance enhancement, fat loss and muscle gain results that sound too good to be true…. Because they are. The fact is that most of those supplements aren‘t going to do anything but make your wallet lighter, and if your diet is on point then you don’t actually need any supplements, but there is small list of products that can be beneficial to supplement your diet with for a little extra edge, which we are going to look at here.
Note that the criteria for this list is that the product must have been proven across the board through several unbiased studies to be effective. Many supplements just haven’t been tested enough for us to confidently recommend them, and others may have been through many studies, but the results just aren’t clear enough. Beta Alanine is one example, there’s been some promising studies, and many athletes and gym-goers swear by it, but there’s also been a lot of inconclusive studies, so we just can’t guarantee that it‘s actually doing anything except giving you a weird tingly skin sensation.
Here’s a look at the products that are probably worth your time and money:
Protein Powders
There’s nothing magic here. It‘s protein, same as you get in meat, fish, dairy, etc. Most protein powders are made from dairy or egg whites and there’s plant based options that are usually based around pea protein. If you‘re already meeting your protein requirements from food, you don’t need a shake, but these are a great way to easily get some extra protein in. Most protein powders like whey, egg white, and vegan protein, are fast digesting, so they’re great to have around your workout to help fuel muscle growth. Casein protein is a slow digesting protein, its great to have at night to help muscle growth and recovery while you sleep.
Carb Powders
Nothing magic here either, these are just carbohydrates in powder form, also available in gel or liquid (sports drink) form. The prime ingredient here is usually a form of sugar, like glucose. The key thing here is that these are carbs that are fast and easy to digest, you want to be having them around, or even during your workout, especially if it’s a long one. They can provide you with energy to fuel your workout, and if you’re trying to build muscle, you want to be getting fast acting carbs in during your anabolic window. You don’t actually need to fork out big bucks for fancy carb powders though, because fruit juice or candy will work just as well.
Creatine
With hundreds of studies proving its effects, this is one of very few supplements that has truly been proven to do what it claims. It increases power output, and muscle mass, and can reduce fatigue during exercise. Claims about it causing hair loss or other negative side effects have been disproven, and while it will probably cause a spike in your bodyweight when you start taking it, this is intra-muscular water weight, so basically its filling out your muscles, and who doesn’t want that?
Caffeine
The good stuff. When used before training it can increase motivation, performance and pain tolerance. It basically gets you pumped and allows you to push harder in your workouts, It also suppresses hunger which can be good if you‘re eating in a calorie deficit. Caffeine is available in pill or powder form, and is usually the only effective ingredient in preworkouts. Of course you can also take it in good old fashioned coffee form, the only downside being that the actual amount of caffeine in a coffee is going to be pretty variable, so its difficult to regulate.
Mulitvitamins & Fish Oil
We’re going to lump these last two together. Do you need either of them? Probably not. Are they going to make a difference? Maybe. You should be aiming get all your vitamins from a healthy, balanced diet, full of fruit and vegetables, and a vitamin tablet is not going to replace that, but it might not hurt to take one to cover anything you might be missing. Similarly, if your diet‘s not high in fish, its not a bad idea to take fish oil supplements to make sure your omega 3 levels are where they should be.
At the end of the day the key word here is in the name; Supplements, these should be used to supplement and already balanced diet, if you haven‘t got that sorted yet there’s literally no point in adding in any of these. But that’s what we‘re here for.