“What supplements should I be taking?”
…is the question I hear the most. So many people are looking for the next “thing” that promises great results. Fat burners for weight loss, pre-workouts for performance or detox supplements for health – it seems the public at large is always looking the next magic pill.
Every corporate gym, bikini model and fitness bro out there is seemingly promoting some kind of supplement stack or dietary aid claiming to help you burn fat, build muscle and even have better sex. Because of all the sexy marketing around supplements everyone wants to start here when, in reality, they should be looking to make diet and lifestyle changes first. But, nevertheless, it’s a topic that needs to be addressed…so here goes.
What counts as a “supplement”?
Before we go any further, I think this is an important question to answer to better frame the discussion we’re about to have. If you ask a Merriam-Webster a “Supplement” is “something that completes or enhances something else when added to it“. By that definition, what can be considered a “supplement” is any number of things. Which is why supplements are broken down into two main categories: Dietary Supplements and Ergogenic or Performance Enhancing Supplements.
Dietary Supplements are meant to fill in the gaps where the food you’re eating may not be enough – as a means to complete or enhance your diet. These are the vitamin and mineral pills you see in the grocery store and pharmacy. Most well-known and commonly used of this category is probably a multivitamin. But I would also argue that, when used correctly, supplements such as protein powders and bars would count as dietary supplements as well.
Ergogenic Supplements are meant to enhance your physical or mental performance – which is why this category is often referred as “Performance Enhancers”. This is where all the pre-workouts, testosterone boosters, recovery aids and mental focus supplements come into play. These are increasing in popularity every year and are a the main reason the supplement industry is seeing the rapid growth it is.
Why most supplements are bullshit
The global dietary supplements market was valued at $163.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $272.4 billion by 2028 if it continues to grow at it’s current rate. This rapid growth isn’t because they all work; in fact, very few of them do. But dieting and exercising are not easy, so the promise to finding a shortcut to goals in pill or powder form is very appealing. And supplement manufacturers take advantage of that appeal big time. So where’s the problem? Why do supplement companies make a fortune off selling snake oil?
Ultimately, it comes down to one thing; cost. Most supplement manufactures’ only concern is how to make the most money while spending the least money…it is a business after all. And as it turns out, the stuff that you can put in supplements that actually works…is really damn expensive. So manufacturers either use suboptimal ingredients or they use a little a bit of the stuff that actually works and use fillers to make up the rest.
Dietary Supplements
A lot of the problem lies in what is called the bioavailability of the of the ingredients that are used. Bioavailability is a just another way of saying how much of the supplement is absorbed by the body and how much is excreted as waste. Vitamins and minerals come in different forms and some forms are more bioavailable than others – meaning your body will absorb or not absorb a significant portion of the supplement you’re taking depending on the form. Take magnesium for example, there’s magnesium oxide, citrate, asperate, sulfate and lactate just to name a few. Of that list, both magnesium citrate and asperate are bioavailable than magnesium oxide for example.
Side Note: This lack of ingredient quality is my biggest problem with brand name and generic multivitamins. More often than not, all the ingredients in them are low quality and most of what’s in that pill are binders and fillers. Which is why they can get away with charging $10 for 100 pills. I have many more problems with multivitamins but that is for another post.
Ergogenic Supplements
Here there’s a similar, yet different problem; something know as Pixie Dusting. This is slang term in the supplement industry for when manufacturers will put a very small amount of a lot of ingredients into a supplement. So when you look at the label on the back, it looks impressive. But in reality, there isn’t enough of any of the ingredients to see any actual benefit. A supplement many contain 10 micrograms of the ingredient per serving, but in order to be effective, you may need half a gram per serving. But the price you pay for the supplement makes you think you are getting a lot of it while it just isn’t true.
When supplements can actually help
Originally, my plan for this post was to spend the whole time just shitting on supplements but I came to two realizations;
#1 that would’ve done nothing to help the person who came here for advice
#2 I would’ve been a massive hypocrite
I myself take supplements…a lot of them actually. Some I take because I find they help me and others I take as a test before I recommend other people take them – I’d rather use myself as a guinea pig than use some poor sole just looking help.
Truth is, a very small percentage of people will see any real benefit from taking lots supplements. Where you will get the benefit from supplements is to correct nutrient deficiencies. And even though I will always promote getting all nutrients through eating whole, natural food whenever possible – for many people, that isn’t always a realistic or sustainable approach. There are some very common nutrient deficiencies where adding a dietary supplement can help.
Fish Oil – most people don’t eat enough fish to get what they need from their diet
Vitamin D – primarily comes from spending time in the sun and most people don’t get outside enough
Magnesium & Zinc– the average American diet lacks adequate amounts of either mineral
Vitamin C – it’s difficult to get enough from food alone
Outside of just filling the gaps where the diet lacks, there are some supplements that are traditionally seen as Performance Enhancing Supplements that have other important benefits. Vitamin B Complex, Glutamine and BCAA supplements can all fit into this category in the correct context. But there are two Ergogenic Supplements that most people will benefit from when used appropriately.
Creatine is the most widely studied supplement…probably ever. There have been countless studies done over the years detailing the safety and effectiveness of Creatine as a performance booster. But recent research has shown strong evidence that taking 3-5 grams of creatine regularly may protect against neurological diseases, improve brain function, lower blood sugar and even fight against diabetes and Parkinson’s.
Protein Powders/Bars are another supplement traditionally seen as something only gym-crazed meatheads use. But they can be very useful to the average person. Protein is an essential macronutrient that most people don’t get enough of. For people who find it hard to hit their protein targets or don’t eat much protein in general, adding a protein shake can help. And while shakes shouldn’t replace protein sources like meat, fish and eggs, they are an easy way to get more protein in when necessary.
The Grey Area of Supplementation
One of the most unfortunate parts of the supplement industry itself is the (somewhat surprising) lack of regulation in it. This lack of regulation gives the manufacturer free reign to put whatever they want in the supplements – meaning what is listed in the supplement facts label on the back isn’t necessarily what is actually inside the pill or capsule. And while third party testing of these supplements is available, it is an optional step by the manufacturer and one that is often skipped.
It has long been known that this lack of quality control is rampant in the Ergogenic Supplement market, it seems to be making it’s way into the Dietary Supplement side as well. There have been multiple studies done on what is actually in the supplements that are sold in some of the largest retailors of vitamins. One of the most well-known examples of this is an investigation done by the New York State Attorney General’s Office in 2015. They investigated supplements from GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens and found that 80% of the supplements they tested didn’t contain one ounce of the what the label claimed they did.
There have been many other studies on protein powders that have found popular brands of whey protein to contain arsenic and for plant-based proteins to contain high amounts of other heavy metals. As if I didn’t have trust issues before – this lack of regulation makes it hard to trust any supplement you get.
What’s a guy(or girl) to do?
To be completely honest, it’s all about where you get your supplements from and how much you pay for them. Purchasing from reputable places, who use effective doses of high quality ingredients isn’t cheap. Where you run into problems are the grocery store, drug store and superstore supplements that give you a lot of pills for not a lot of money. The cost of quality supplements is another reason why they are one of the last things you should consider.
Looking for certain logos and seals can also help. Consumer Labs, NSF International, U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) and Informed Choice are all third-party testing companies that can help you avoid some of the grey areas we just talked about. Looking for their seals on the bottle or researching the website data base will help out – I’ve attached a link for each of the organizations I listed.
If you plan on tackling supplementation on your own, the truth is this: finding a supplement regimen that is safe and effective for your specific body takes a lot of time and research and can get very expensive. Before looking to what supplements to take, fix the things that are cheap and in your control. Fixing the issues with your diet, your exercise and your sleep will do more for you than supplements ever will.
Disclaimer: All information presented is for general information purposes only. Coach Owen Stenabaugh is not a registered dietitian, licensed nutritionist or medical professional.
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