Poll

What supplements are worth taking?

none
vitamins
whey
vitamins, whey
vitamins, creatine, whey,
fish oil
vitamin D

Author Topic: Mustachian Supplements?  (Read 6824 times)

beav80

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Mustachian Supplements?
« on: September 20, 2012, 06:05:31 AM »
I know the easy answer here is nothing but does anyone have any supplements that they take.  I know MMM has talked about whey as a luxury that he wants to keep.  So, what do you take or not take and why?

I've taken vitamins and frequently had some whey on hand.  I've taken greens powder (basically powdered vegetables and fruits), creatine for a short while as I was seeing how it would effect building muscle (worked for me), and branched chain amino acids.

Anyway, I swing from poles of taking nothing and advocating it to taking a bunch of things and looking for proof that they work (not exactly objective).

What do you all think about it?

Angelfishtitan

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2012, 07:21:38 AM »
I take no supplements, most of my meals contain a decent amount of vegetables and I normally have fruit for breakfast so I don't worry too much about vitamins. Same thing for protein, I love beans and also normally have some meat in my dinner, instead of whey you should just add some lentils to your meals, they are super high in both protein and fiber for the calories.

daizy744

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2012, 08:04:04 AM »
I take glucosamine supplements. I started giving it to my dog (a golden retriever), as they're prone to joint problems. She's now 10 without any issues. But I'm just as prone, with a history of arthritis in my family. An investment in my long term health. I also (knock on wood) don't have any arthritis issues yet. :-)

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2012, 08:11:18 AM »
OMG where did my reply go to...

beav80

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2012, 08:24:25 AM »
I added in fish oil and vitamin D.  I think you could argue both of these have a pretty strong research case for positive benefits but also you could just say you eat fish and get some sun.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2012, 08:30:11 AM »
Well shit, I'll just retype it.  Here is my take on the matter from being in the iron game for over a decade now.  IMO, the best, most effective supplements are ALSO the cheapest.

Multivitamins are kind of the baseline.  Most people don't eat a wide enough variety of foods to get all of the vitamins that are included in these.  They are also super cheap, especially if you get them on sale like I do, $10 or so gets you about a few months worth.  You can also get the individual vitamins and minerals (the vitamin C tabs, vitamin D, or whatever) if you want, but a multivitamin covers most of your bases.

The next thing I think everyone should be taking is fish oil.  Too many benefits to talk about, but if you want to read more about them, google 'oil of pisces' and go to that website.  Fish oils are just a good cheap way to get some essential fatty acids.  Again, get them on sale like your multivitamins, and you can get a couple months worth for about $10.  I take 6 tablets a day.

Third, especially if you are a weightlifter or other kind of athlete, is creatine.  a 500g jar of creatine monohydrate (the only kind you need) can last you several months at 5g a day, and costs about $15 or so.  Again, don't get those super expensive creatines like Cellmass or whatever weird names they have, which cost $50 and have a ton of ingredients, just get the active ingredient (creatine monohydrate).  Now a word about creatine, I remember maybe 10 years ago when the hysterical media and soccer moms were flipping out about creatine, saying it was basically a steroid and should be illegal; this is bogus.  Here is a Barney-style breakdown of what creatine does, in case someone doesn't know.  Muscles run on ATP.  ATP only last for a couple seconds of muscle contractions, so it is constantly being replenished.  It is replenished by phosphocreatine stores in the body.  With exercise, you can increase the amount of phosphocreatine available, this is how you increase the amount of pushups you can do in 2 minutes with a consistent routine; you are causing your body to increase its phosphocreatine stores.  Creatine simply adds to the amount of phosphocreatine available to the muscle.  It also recently has been shown to have more beneficial effects, but the main thing it does is to allow you to exercise harder for longer.

Next, for people trying to lose fat, is ephedrine.  Another one mired in controversy, but people have been using ephedrine (the pharmaceutical grade version of ephedra, which comes from a plant) for thousands of years.  It is available at every pharmacy I've been to (it's just behind hte counter now, because you can make various illegal drugs out of it) for about $12 for a months supply, at 3 pills a day.  You might remember the media scare related to ephedrine a few years ago, when Kory Stringer, a lineman for the MN Vikings, and a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, died "because of complications from ephedrine".... never mind that they both took many times the standard dose, hadn't eaten, and were working out in extreme heat and humidity, and were both out of shape.  Anyways, taking a standard dose (20-25mg ephedrine, 200mg caffeine) is safer than most common drugs people take every day (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc) in terms of mortality rates.

So there you have it, my take on the cheapest and most effective supplements available.
Multivitamin
Fish oil
Creatine monohydrate
Ephedrine

Don't waste your money on supplements that CONTAIN these ingredients, but ALSO have a bunch of other stuff in them and cost 10x as much: these are the ones doing the work.  Hope this helps.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2012, 08:32:47 AM »
Oh, I didn't include whey because I consider it a food, but it can be a great cheap source of cheap protein.  I just had to include fish oil in my write up because most people don't consider that a food either, which it is.

Sparafusile

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2012, 09:23:42 AM »
I take a multi, fish oil, vitamin D, and fiber every morning.

The multi because I tend to eat the same thing a lot.

The fish oil because my joints hurt after martial arts and lifting heavy.

The vitamin D because it prevents "death". That's what my doctor said. Apparently, it's just an all-around good vitamin that reduces the chance of terminal disease.

The fiber because no one likes clogged pipes.

beav80

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2012, 10:59:17 AM »
Kreig- I'm with you though I'll cycle things in and out depending on my lifting (crappy or easy lifting means I don't need the whey and creatine in my opinion). Fish oil, vitamin d, multi. are part of my everyday.  I think that there was a good cochrane review of vitamins A, C, and E taken as antioxidants but the plain old multivitamin hasn't received the same treatment so I don't worry about negatives so much as I think of it as an added buffer between me and nutrient deficiencies.  I got on to greens+ through the writing of John Berardi but I'm still on the fence with fruit and vegetable supplements in general.  I don't think they would be harmful but they end up costing you about 50 cents per day if I remember right.

Financially speaking I'll sit down and add up what supplements cost for me to get a better idea.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2012, 11:46:34 AM »
Kreig- I'm with you though I'll cycle things in and out depending on my lifting (crappy or easy lifting means I don't need the whey and creatine in my opinion).

Just curious, do you just eat less protein when you are doing "easy" lifting?


sideways8

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2012, 11:52:05 AM »
I take fish oil because it has helped with my skin. Last winter was HORRIBLE. The skin on my lips and around my mouth was itchy, burny, dry, cracking, flaking, peeling... ugh. I ended up using vitamin E oil directly on my skin plus I started taking fish oil again. It worked and I still have a ton of the vitamin E capsules left, which I have started using on my chin since my chin skin seems to dislike the recent weather change.

I used to take multies but the kind I used has been hard to get lately... ok, I just haven't tried very hard to get it. :P

Jamesqf

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2012, 12:04:18 PM »
The vitamin D because it prevents "death". That's what my doctor said. Apparently, it's just an all-around good vitamin that reduces the chance of terminal disease.

I'd add a daily aspirin or two, for pretty much the same reason.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2012, 04:03:16 PM »
I'm of the opinion that everyone should weigh their own risks and rewards with regards to regular aspirin dosing.

maryofdoom

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Re: Mustachian Supplements?
« Reply #13 on: September 21, 2012, 07:05:07 AM »
I take fish oil because I don't normally eat a ton of fish, and also because it's supposedly good for high triglycerides (which I do have). But I am also a worrier about things like mercury and I hate the "sushi burps," so I get the awesome ones that have to be refrigerated and have lemon in them. No sushi burps!

The doctor also put me on iron, first twice a day, now three times a day, and hoo boy, it SUCKS. I hope this regimen will kick-start my ferritin levels, because I don't know what I'll do if this doesn't work.

 

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