by Milo Dragutinovic
It’s easy to view fitness supplements with some degree of skepticism. After all, if you eat balanced meals and exercise regularly, aren’t you doing enough for your body?
The truth, however, is that when you regularly take the right supplements — supplements such as those described below — you will soon notice significant positive differences in the way you look and feel.
Stubborn pockets of body fat will vanish. Your muscles will grow larger than ever. You’ll have more energy and more vitality. And you may even discover that you’re in a good mood more frequently!
The problem lies in the fact that there are so many supplements to choose from and honestly most of them are a waste of money.
I have outlined seven supplements below that I feel are among the only ones that are actually worth picking up and using on a daily basis.
Protein
Protein powder shakes are low in calories, especially when compared to many protein-rich meals. These shakes reduce muscle recovery times and provide the body with amino acids that aid muscle growth.
Be aware, though, that there are two protein supplements you can take: casein and whey. It’s important to consume both.
Casein stimulates the body to produce more of its own proteins; as such, casein is valuable for long-term muscle maintenance. Meanwhile, the peptides inside whey let the body build muscle mass faster in the short term.
Fish Oil
Fish oil pills provide bodybuilders and everyone else, protection against heart disease. If you take one or two grams of fish oil a day, you’ll have healthier arteries, and you’ll strengthen the muscles of your brain, which helps you ward off Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
The powerful benefits of fish oil result from the omega-3 fatty acids they contain. Note that you should splurge and purchase the best-quality fish oil pills you can find; cheaper versions often taste horrible and can lead to extended periods of fish-flavored belching.
Creatine
Creatine, which consists of the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine, is a substance that the human body produces naturally for energy. Even so, taking a synthetic creatine supplement is advantageous.
That’s because when you take these supplements every day, your body has a greater store of energy during workout sessions, which means you can lift heavier weights and perform more repetitions.
Creatine supplies the cells of the muscles with more water, too. Consequently, your recovery times will be shortened, and your lean muscles will considerably increase in size.
Multivitamins
Most people do not derive from their diets all of, or enough of, the 13 essential vitamins. It’s always preferable to obtain vitamins from food, of course, but if you suspect that there are nutritional gaps in what you eat each day, multivitamin supplements will help immensely. Plus, scientific studies have indicated that multivitamins lower levels of stress and minimize many signs of aging.
Look for a multivitamin dietary supplement offering 100% of the recommended daily doses of those vitamins it contains.
Glutamine
Glutamine is an amino acid that can be found in large quantities throughout the body.
Still, you can always use more, as glutamine supplies leucine to the fibers of the muscles and induces the endocrine system to secrete additional human growth hormone (HGH), both of which help muscle mass grow.
What’s more, this supplement prevents muscle fatigue, and strengthens the immune system as well.
Green Tea
If you consume about 270 milligrams of a green tea supplement per day, you should find that it’s much easier to lose excess body fat, given the extraordinary fat-burning properties this herbal beverage possesses.
Green tea contains a substance called polyphenol, which increases a person’s metabolic rate. It also regulates glucose levels in diabetics, prevents the blood clots that so often lead to cardiac emergencies, lowers levels of bad cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, kills harmful bacteria and viruses, and eases effects of depression, among many other benefits to a person’s health.
ZMA
ZMA is a mixture of the vitamin B6 and the minerals zinc and magnesium aspartate, three nutrients in which so many people, including athletes and bodybuilders, are lacking.
Zinc synthesizes proteins and protects the liver and the reproductive organs. Magnesium aids cardiac functioning and helps the body balance its quantities of potassium and sodium.
Further, B6 digests proteins, keeps the brain operating at peak condition, and assists the body in the formulation of new red blood cells, among various other roles.
Together, these nutrients serve to improve sleep and regulate hormones. And a person’s sleep quality and hormonal balance are essential to the development of muscles.
For maximum results, ZMA supplements should be taken when your stomach is empty.
In Conclusion
To wrap things up; there are many supplement choices out there, thousands, heck maybe even millions. Hundreds of different companies all offering the same thing under a different guise.
The trick is to do your homework and actually educated yourself on which supplements are actually worth spending money on and which ones are just wastes of time.
The seven supplements that I have covered in this article are some of the absolutely best supplements to spend some money on. All of them are basic nutrients that the body creates on its own. Taking in extra amounts of these nutrients through supplementation is a great way to stay healthy especially if you lead a very active lifestyle.
Sources
http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/supplements/the-5-best-supplements-for-men
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/supplements/build-muscle/11-best-supplements-mass
(Milo Dragutinovic is an avid health nut and a fitness enthusiast. He is an author on Top10supplements.com and enjoys writing about general health and fitness info along with reviewing and ranking supplements.)
Such a beautiful article. I have learned a lot of things on choosing the right vitamin supplements to take. Thanks for sharing.