What's up(plements)??

Pre-workout, fat burners, green powders, digestive enzymes, fish oil, multi-vitamins, shark cartilage...the list goes on and on.

Trying to figure out which supplements to add to your diet and what brands to buy can seem overwhelming. Walk into a health food store and you'll be bombarded by hundreds of supplements, all with some lofty claim of changing your life.

In this post, I'd like to identify the top three supplements that I recommend for the general population. I'd also like to identify the three most "bogus" supplements on the market today. Before I get into my "top three" lists, however, I'd like to preface by saying that most people who maintain a desirable physique can attribute their success to the foods they eat, rather than to the supplements that they take. Want to lose some fat, gain some muscle, and feel better? Eat a clean diet with a low to moderate amount of carbohydrates, and a fair amount of lean protein and quality fats, and get set up on a progressive fitness program which focuses primarily on resistance training.

My top 3 supplements

1) Vitamin D - for the price and potential benefits, you can't go wrong. Vitamin D aids in calcium uptake, and helps to support positive mental health. For Native Canadians, take 1000-2000 IU per day in Summer/Spring months and 4000-5000 IU in Fall/Winter months

2) Whey Isolate Protein Powder - For those that find it hard to eat enough protein in a day, whey protein powder provides a cost-effective, easily digestible, high quality protein source. Great for a meal replacement shake and post-workout shake.

3) Greens Powder - Most food logs I analyze lack green veggies. For some clients, I've realized that the reality of consuming 3 servings of green veggies per day just isn't going to happen. Green powders can be thrown into a shake and will provide you with an abundance of vitamins and minerals, keeping your cells healthy and making you feel good!

Honorable mentions - multivitamins, fiber powder, fish or udos oil, creatine

My top 3 DO NOT BUY Supplements

1) Fat Burners - there is no peer-reviewed research showing that fat burners actually work. Often loaded with guarana, caffeine, yerba mate, and cayenne, fat  burners are more likely to lead to dehydration and fatigue than actual fat loss. To my knowledge, the only "proven" fat burner on the market is CLA, a pill containing a special fat found in cows.  CLA has some research showing that is can positively lead to fat loss, but the results are neglible (ie. 0.25 to 0.5 lbs of fat loss per week). Simple adjustments to your diet can achieve far greater results without having to dish-out the extra cash.

2) Pre-Workout Supplements - perhaps the most heavily marketed category of supplements on the market today, pre-workout supplements such as Super Pump and N.O. Explode get away with making grossly exaggerated claims. They are usually loaded with caffeine, and the main "super" ingredient is an amino acid called arginine. The problem is that high doses of caffeine have been shown to impede the desired effect of arginine; arginine improves blood-flow to muscles but caffeine gets in the way of this process. If you really need to get "amped-up" before a workout, try coffee. It's much cheaper, and less likely to cause you to crash after your workouts.

3) Detox "kits" or cleanses - So much money is wasted on detox supplements. Again, there is no actual research to show that a detox kit, or a detox diet, do anything more to detoxify our bodies than we can naturally do on our own. One of the most popular detoxes on the market, is the Wild Rose Cleanse, designed by Dr. Terry Willard. You'll see that the "kit" is sold at what I estimate to be a 500% mark-up, and may actually make you less "healthy" than you were before you began the cleanse (many people report feelings of fatigue, headaches, and dizziness).

Dishonorable mentions - testosterone boosters (ie. tribulus), glucosamine, ephedrine

Terry Willard, founder of the Wild Rose Cleanse

In summary, you likely don't need supplements at all unless directed by a doctor or dietician. The supplements that you see on the shelves are part of a largely unregulated market which rakes in billions of dollars on grandiose claims that can't be backed up by actual research.

As I mentioned earlier, the BEST thing you can do is to eat a clean diet and limit your intake of processed/starchy carbohydrates and bad fats. If your plate usually consists of large portions of lean protein and green veggies, and smaller portions of starchy carbohydrates, you are doing more to change your body composition than any supplement on the market could!

Also, if you'd like to order any supplements from the most reputable and trusted source in North America click this link to visit : WWW.BODYBUILDING.COM 

I purchase all of my supplements through bodbuilding.com and have them shipped straight to my door. I am proud to call myself a bodybuilding.com affiliate.