Busting the Supplement Myth once and for All

Hi everyone, today we will be talking about supplements, and especially all the controversy surrounding it. Since our team doesn’t have a lot of experience with supplements, we have invited our regular guest post columnist Samantha Olivier from Ripped.Me to talk about this. Enjoy!

The supplement industry has been making headlines in offline and online media for decades now, creating stories that would appeal to your sense of self-accomplishment and inspire you to buy and consume every product imaginable in order to make your dreams a reality.

But are supplements actually that necessary in order to make progress towards reaching your goals and are you making a grave mistake by not succumbing to the hype? Let’s dig right into the matter in hopes of busting this myth once and for all and giving you the information you need to tailor your lifestyle for maximum results.

Are supplements necessary for progress?

The health and fitness industry would love you to believe otherwise, but no, supplements are not necessary for progress, whether you’re aiming to lose weight, pack on muscle size, or increase your cardiovascular endurance. Supplements are exactly what the name would suggest – supplementary agents to your diet.

In that sense, various studies have concluded that certain supplements can be helpful in facilitating muscle and nervous system recovery, and that others are simply good for you as a lifestyle choice on a daily basis.

Contrary to popular belief, most well-known supplements are not bad for you, because they were designed to help you. That means that protein supplements do not have a negative impact on your kidney or liver functions, and creatine will not make you go bald or develop osteoporosis.

With this in mind, it is important to note that no amount of supplementary agents you consume can help you outrun a poorly structured diet plan, because supplements are not meal substitutes, and it’s almost impossible to live strictly off supplements on a daily basis. Why, you ask?

Because you need nutritional diversity and because synthetic meal substitutes are usually of dubious quality and can contain high amounts of sugar. That being said, which supplements do work, and which are the healthiest for you?

The supplements that work

Supplements can definitely help you maintain a healthy macro and micronutrient intake throughout the day, especially if you are short on time. Given the fact that the human body cannot discern between natural and synthetic food sources save for their particular carb, fat, and protein structures, supplementation is a great way to ensure you’re reaching your daily requirements.

Firstly, a majority of people is concerned about their macronutrient intake throughout the day, when they should actually be concerned about their vitamin and mineral intake, as it is much more difficult to avoid micronutrient deficiency. And micronutrients are equally, if not more important for your quality of life.

Instead of trying to tailor your diet plan around micronutrients, research would suggest it would be optimal to get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals from trusted supplement brands, such as Herbs of Gold supplements that provide natural supplementation from various herbs.

Micronutrients are essential in supporting numerous healthy processes in the human body, regulating everything from your sleeping cycles, to muscle recovery, strength, and proper organ functions. On the other end of the spectrum, you have your macronutrient supplements.

The supplements that definitely do work are protein, creatine, and glutamine. Forget about pre-workouts, amino acids, mass gainers and fat burners, as these are simple marketing tricks that bend the truth about how metabolic processes work.

Protein supplements will help you reach your daily requirements, and no, there is no anabolic window, creatine could help you jumpstart your strength, and glutamine might have a positive effect on your immune system if you consume excessive amounts. So how do you put all of this information into daily use?

Achieving balance for maximum results

As mentioned earlier, it all comes down to diet and personal choices when it comes to supplementation. While macronutrient supplements might not be necessary at all as sufficient amounts can be acquired through diet alone, micronutrient supplements in the form of vitamins and minerals are beneficial for you overall health.

Therefore, it is safe to conclude that you can stop wasting your money on protein shakes, pre-workouts and other trending products, and focus on cleaning up your diet, regulating your sleep cycles, and adhering to proper-intensity training sessions that will facilitate maximum results and avoid injuries.

It’s easy to fall prey to cleverly-designed marketing campaigns targeting your weaknesses and insecurities, promising the world and delivering subpar results. The truth is that there is no cookie-cutter solution, no magic trick that will allow you to reach your goals faster, at least as a drug-free athlete. So be sure to use this information to pave the road to a strong, happy, and healthy future.

Once again, thanks to Samantha for this guest post. Don’t forget to check out Ripped.Me by clicking on the image below. Cheers!

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Also published on Medium.