All you need to know about supplements. 

A large part of the health and fitness world today is supplements. Supplements are supposed to take the place of nutrients that people do not get enough of through the food that they eat.

The most common supplement that people use is protein. Research has shown that ingesting a source of quickly metabolized protein within twenty minutes after a workout helps your muscles recover and also helps them grow. A very popular source of this type of protein is whey protein. The reason things such as chicken, steak, or fish aren’t the optimal sources of protein directly after a workout is because it takes time for your body to digest and process all of the nutrients that they contain. While there are some natural sources of whey protein, supplementing your diet with protein shakes is a cost and time efficient way to replenish your body.                 

Protein is the most commonly used supplement on the market right now, but other supplements are growing in popularity as well. Some of these include multivitamins which are supposed to give you your daily dose of vitamins during the day. Another example of a supplement is pre-workout. Pre-workout contains things such as caffeine, amino acids and sometimes sugar in order to give you energy for your workout. If you read the pre-workout ingredient lists, some of them won’t even disclose exactly what is in the ominous looking powder that you are about to put into your body. Regardless, people buy it anyways because it enhances their work out and they don’t think twice about it.            

Supplements are a blessing and a curse because, while the idea behind them is awesome, companies also have the ability to put chemicals in them that are not supposed to be consumed by humans. If you have a hard time pronouncing what an ingredient is, your body will most likely have a hard time processing it.         

When deciding what supplements to take, there are a lot of factors to consider. When you really think about it, what you put into your body is what you slowly become. The nutrients that you ingest are what your body uses to rebuild itself. The reason athletes generally have a healthy diet is because they need to build their body with nutrients that support their lifestyle. It’s very similar to constructing a building. If a person works out and has an aesthetic looking body, but does not have a healthy diet, it would be similar to a company investing in a very nice looking building with very low structural integrity. It may look good from the outside, but in reality, it’s only a matter of time before the building collapses.                         

My philosophy is that if there is any way that you can get a certain nutrient whether it be carbs, proteins, vitamins or anything of that matter through your actual diet, then that is what is best for your body. Unfortunately not everyone has the time to cook food to get in the nutrients that their body needs. For the most part, I would recommend that people avoid supplements that they do not need. The results that you desire might not come as quickly, but they will be more sustainable, and healthy than if you were to overuse supplements.