6 Supplements Not Worth Your Money

Not too many years ago there wasn’t much room for food in my parents’ cupboards.

The shelves were stacked full of test-boosters, fat burners, vitamins and minerals, 3 different tubs of creatines, mass builders, BCAA powders, intra-workout carbs and other ‘magical potions’.

I used to spend almost all of my monthly salary on my vast amounts of pointless supplements and have a specific schedule dictating when to take each of them.

If only I could have looked to the future and seen what I know now it would have made my training life back then A LOT simpler and efficient.

If as much time, effort and money had gone into my actual nutrition as it did on my supplements then I also think I would have made double the gains in a much shorter timeframe.

So to help you avoid making the same mistakes I did (and possibly saving you some hard earned cash along the way) and learning what’s actually worth investing your time and money on I’ve put together 2 articles.

One of the articles will be going over the supplements to avoid (this article) and the next is an overview of the supplements that would actually be beneficial to your health and fitness.

1. Fat Burning Supplements

There are many types of fat burners on the market which claim to have miracle fat burning effects….You can find ‘diet’ whey protein and fat burning capsules on most supplement sites.

Now SOME properties of the fat burners may have slight positive effects on metabolism and thermogenesis.

But when it comes down to it the few positives of taking a specific fat burning supp they really aren’t worth the financial investment.

Personally with competition clients I may include yohimbine and caffeine as an aid, but this is only when clients are extremely lean and where small percentages may matter. Anyone who is not competing does not need it and won’t see any benefit.

Fat burners may increase your fat burning capabilities by decimal places and at £30-£60 per month it isn’t worth it. Put it this way - if you reduced your calories by 1-2% (about half an oatcake) it would make much more sense to do so.

What is even more ludicrous is that if you look at most fat burning protein bars or diet whey proteins they actually contain more calories than the standard whey protein...

Silly huh?

Not quite as silly as the people still adding 500 calories worth of coconut oil to their coffee in the morning… but that’s for another post!

Round up on fat burners:

For fat loss don’t worry about the ‘fat burners,’ focus on setting an appropriate calorie deficit, set a structured strength and cardio plan and adjust variables when needed

You can read more on fat burners here.

2. Glutamine

Glutamine is an amino acid which when combined with another 19 makes up protein.

Bodybuilders and weightlifters still wrongly believe that supplementing with glutamine aids muscular hypertrophy and increases immune function but current research shows the amino acid to have no positive effects on these variables.

From a muscle building perspective the only time you should consider using glutamine would be if you were suffering from physical trauma such as burns, muscular puncture wounds or muscle wasting diseases such as AIDS.

Only in these individuals glutamine is an effective supplement at building muscle and preventing muscle wastage from the injury/disease.

In addition, healthy vegans or vegetarians would not be getting enough glutamine from their diet due to the lack of meat and dairy, therefore this population may benefit from using this supplement.

Round up on Glutamine:

Anecdotally glutamine may help blunt hunger (there is no research on this that I am aware of) but in the case of using this supplement to build muscle it is definitely one to leave on the shop shelf

You can read more about Glutamine here.

3. Testosterone Boosters

Testosterone boosters can come in many shapes and forms but there hasn’t been sufficient research to show that any over the counter supplement can actually increase the hormone to the levels required to have a positive impact on muscle building.

Testosterone is a good thing to have in your blood for many reasons but high levels are NOT always needed for muscular growth.

People associate ‘high testosterone’ levels with large muscles and being able to build muscle quicker.

But...

If high test-levels were super important then why are women able to grow larger muscles than some males when females can only produce 1/10th of the hormone that guys can?

Basically there are many other factors going on from:

• Training type and intensity

• Lifestyle

• Satellite cell efficiency (complicated bit)

• Nutrition

Test-booster round up:

Even if increasing testosterone was going to be beneficial in building muscle; using a test-booster is severely unlikely to increase testosterone to the required levels and therefore unlikely to build any extra muscle mass.

You can read more about testosterone boosters here.

4. Glucosamine

When gym-goers complain about joint pain one of the first things that they turn to from a supplement perspective is glucosamine in order to 'cure' their symptoms and help their joints recover.

However contrary to common belief glucosamine can only temporarily and slightly reduce pain in some cases.

Its main job is to reduce how quickly joint tissue is degraded; it doesn’t cure joint pain or aches.

Due the minimal pain relief benefits common weightlifters will most likely not benefit too much from using glucosamine.

The type of person who may want to use this supplement are those who participate in ‘high impact’ sports such as running or sprinting.

If you’re suffering from joint pain when lifting or exercising it is a much better idea to rest and rehab the affected area rather than look to glucosamine as an aid.

Glucosamine round up:

There is some very mild pain relief from the supplement but when cost and effectiveness is taken into place for most people Glucosamine wouldn’t be worth taking.

You can read more about glucosamine here.

5. BCAA's

Protein consists of 20 amino acids and the 3 main ones which beneficially influence the muscles are known as 'Branch chain amino acids' (BCAA's for short).

The 3 amino acids which when combined are classified as BCAA's are:

• Leucine (the most import of the 3 as far as muscle growth is concerned)

• Isoleucine (Which helps transport glucose into cells)

• Valine (optimal dosage and reason for valine supplementation requires further research)

BCAA's can be found in any foods or food source containing protein such as:

- whey protein

- meat

- dairy

- eggs

As said before leucine is the amino which stimulates muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and it has been found that the optimal amount of leucine to ingest each meal in order to maximise MPS is 3-4g.

Any more than 3-4g of leucine per meal most likely doesn't provide any benefits, MPS can also only be maximally stimulated every 4-6 hours so consuming more of this amino acid more frequently also won't have any further benefits.

To make sure you’re consuming enough leucine aim to consume 3-5 meals per day containing 20-40g of animal, whey or dairy protein per meal or 40-60g of vegan protein per meal (as vegan sources of protein have much less leucine)

Consuming 20-60g of protein will contain 3-4g of leucine and hence there is no need to supplement BCAA's.

Protein or BCAA's also don't need to be taken during/immediately after exercises as long as there has been frequent protein/leucine feedings that day.

BCAA Round up:

BCAAs are important to ingest on a daily basis, but many protein sources, such as meat and eggs, already provide BCAAS. Supplementation is unnecessary for people with a sufficiently high protein intake (1-1.5g/kg a day or more).

The take home message is to make sure you are eating enough protein daily, do this and you don't need to waste your time or money on BCAA's

You can read more about BCCAs here and here.

6. Hydrolyzed Whey Protein/ Hydrolyzed Casein Protein

Now this kind of ties in with my previous part on BCAA’s’ regarding how the body does not need ‘fast’ proteins or amino acids.

People who take hydrolyzed whey tend to use it as they believe that because it is a more refined (pre-digested) source of protein it is therefore utilized more efficiently by the body resulting in better muscle gains.

30g serving of hydrolyzed protein (depending on the brand) will give you the required 3-4g of leucine required for MPS, but as discussed previously, just because it may digest quicker than standard whey – ‘MPS’ can also only be maximally stimulated every 4-6 hours’ – therefore there is no benefit to having it digest quicker.

Supplementing with protein powder isn’t necessary if protein intake is sufficient via food but if you’re looking to increase protein consumption via supplementation, a whey protein isolate is not only much better tasting than hydrolyzed protein, it is better value for money therefore a smarter choice.

Hydrolyzed protein round up:

Research has failed to show any significant difference in digestion speed for whey versus its hydrolysate or casein versus its hydrolysate. – Lyle McDonald

Summing It Up

Hopefully this article saved you some time, effort and money by helping you eradicate some of the un-needed supplements from your monthly supp stash.

If you’re wondering what supplements are actually worth a damn, and could aid with fat loss or muscle gain, read on to my article; 6 Supplements Actually Worth Your Time and Money.

If you have any questions as always please chuck me a message.

#supplements #Glutamine #Boosters #Glocosamine #BCAA