By the year 2021, the nutritional supplement industry is projected to be a $60 BILLION dollar a year business. People are buying protein powder, fat burners (even though there's no such thing, and something I'll have to touch on later) and sport performance supplements at an ever increasing rate in the grand search for a healthier and more proportioned body. Unfortunately, people are also often wasting massive amount of their hard earned cash on stuff that offers empty promises and no results.
I personally love supplements. I use them daily, and find many of them to offer me an edge I previously wouldn't have had. That being said, I believe supplements should only be used in conjunction with an already proper diet to enhance good habits you're already practicing. So, get your diet and exercise correct first, and if supplements fit in with your routine, then start using them.
That being said, choosing the right supplements in an ever growing market is not always the easiest thing. And once again, there are so many things out there for sale that have no business being on the market, it's disgusting. So today, I want to share with you the 3 most beneficial supplements I believe anyone can buy. These are in no particular order, but I believe all of them can have a permanent place in your overall routine.
I personally love supplements. I use them daily, and find many of them to offer me an edge I previously wouldn't have had. That being said, I believe supplements should only be used in conjunction with an already proper diet to enhance good habits you're already practicing. So, get your diet and exercise correct first, and if supplements fit in with your routine, then start using them.
That being said, choosing the right supplements in an ever growing market is not always the easiest thing. And once again, there are so many things out there for sale that have no business being on the market, it's disgusting. So today, I want to share with you the 3 most beneficial supplements I believe anyone can buy. These are in no particular order, but I believe all of them can have a permanent place in your overall routine.
WHEY PROTEIN
In the pantheon of supplements, it's hard to deny whey protein's place as the undisputed king. As muscle mass is the main thing that keeps your metabolism running at an optimal level, protein is the building block most responsible for new muscle growth, as well as muscle retention. While people on exercise programs should include a fairly substantial amount of protein at each meal, it's not always easy to wolf down several chicken breasts and a steak every day. That's where protein powders and drinks come into play. There are many different kinds of protein drinks on the market, but whey is the preferred choice of most due to the fact it's also one of the best absorbed kinds of protein you can buy. Check out my protein powder buyer's guide HERE to find out more on the benefits of using whey in your diet.
MULTIVITAMINS
While nothing can replace the vitamins and minerals you receive from eating whole foods, the fact is most people simply don't eat enough of the right kinds of foods to get the essential amounts of vitamins their bodies require to run at it's absolute highest levels. Many people need something to fill in the nutritional gaps. That is why including a quality multivitamin in your diet can be highly beneficial. A few words of warning about multivitamins. You get what you pay for. Those "one-a-days" you see on commercials are nearly all synthetically made in a laboratory and contain little to no natural based materials in them. If the budget will allow, buy an organic based multivitamin. They are essentially made from food, and for that reason, are better absorbed and used by the body.
FISH OIL
The overall importance of Omega-3 fatty acids in the diet are numerous. They are highly beneficial in the areas of heart, brain, and joint health, as well as providing a base for overall better athletic performance. While there are many non-seafood based sources of Omega-3's, digestive processes required to turn them into the fatty acids EPA and DHA make them an inferior product due to the fact there is no digestion needed when these fatty acids come from fish oil. Out of everything on this list, the thing that I can literally FEEL working is fish oil. For a more in depth analysis of fish oil supplements and their benefits, read HERE.
BONUS: CREATINE MONOHYDRATE
Creatine is not completely necessary to an average person's overall nutritional program, but in the area of athletic performance, there is nothing more scientifically studied and proven to increase athletic performance than creatine monohydrate. While many of you may be under the notion that creatine is an anabolic steroid, that couldn't be further from the truth. Creatine is actually an organic compound produced by the liver that helps supply energy to cells all over the body, most notably muscle cells. Around 95% of the creatine your body produces is stored within the muscle, and while your body produces it naturally, an excess of creatine has been shown to verifiably increase athletic performance and with it, muscle building potential. Studies have found that people taking creatine experience upwards of 15% better athletic performance. This is something no other supplement can claim, and therefore the reason I feel it deserved a place on this list! Read more about creatine HERE.
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