There’s no doubt that there are a lot of supplements out there in this world, which at times can be overwhelming. I’am here to help you!
There is THREE supplements the individual who exercises regularly should be taking regardless of what you choose to do for your choice of working out.
Multi-Vitamin:
The formula of any good multi vitamin is lead by the four fat-soluble vitamins- vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E and Vitamin K (Fat soluble means vitamins that get absorbed when dietary fat is present in your body), and two other water-soluble vitamins: Vitamin C and the B complex. These essential vitamins help facilitate countless bodily processes, all of which help keep things in your body running smoothly. While one can get most of these vitamins from certain foods you would have to eat an awful lot of those said foods to get a beneficial dose, which is why a multi-vitamin supplement can be useful to anyone.
A multivitamin is easily one of the three products everyone should be taking no matter their goal. There are MANY different kinds of multivitamin products out there today. So which one is the right one for you you ask? A lot of Multivitamins have a very similar profile of the vitamins and minerals contained in them, the biggest difference is the dosage of each and every vitamin and mineral. Something to keep in mind though, if you do exercise 1-2 days a week you'll want a multivitamin product that has more than 100% of the daily value of most of the vitamins and minerals since your body will be breaking down the vitamins and minerals as your working out and continuing to recover on your off time from your workouts.
Fish Oil
"Fish oil" refers to a solution of fatty acids where the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are dominant. Typical fish oil can contain small amounts of other omega-3 fatty acids, usually DPA and fatty acids that don't belong to the omega-3 category. Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids which occur naturally in seafood but like multivitamins to get the proper dose of omega-3’s you’d have to eat an uncomfortable amount of seafood.
One of the biggest benefits of supplementing with fish oil is the anti-inflammatory benefits. Those of you with any type of arthritis or any other condition/disease relating to inflammation will strongly benefit from consuming fish oil. If you have arthritis or any type of inflammatory condition/disease don’t change your use of prescribed medications without consulting your healthcare provider.
Along with being a very good anti-inflammatory fish oil has been shown to help with lowering blood pressure, reducing triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels.
There are TWO different forms of fish oil supplements and they are Triglyceride and Ethyl Ester forms.
First, a primer on what exactly those forms are! Triglycerides are a molecular form common to almost ALL plant and animal species: a glycerol backbone with three fatty acids (in the case of fish oils, EPA and DHA) attached to them. For example the “stuff” of human adipose tissue (fat) is triglycerides to put it into perspective. Ethyl Esters, on the other hand LACK a glycerol backbone- they are a single fatty acid molecule attached to an ethanol molecule, unlike triglycerides ethyl esters are not a natural molecular form and formed solely by chemical synthesis.
To put it simply triglyceride form is fish oil supplements are far superior and when choosing a fish oil supplement you should always try and take a triglyceride form if possible. 98% of fish oil bottles will state on the bottle which form their fish oil is.
Creatine:
Creatine is by far the most studied supplement in the industry, it comes in many forms but creatine monohydrate is the most studied and beneficial form. Creatine often gets a bad rap sadly. Let’s cut to the chase, despite what you have heard about creatine it IS safe to take. You want to be sure to drink PLENTY of water. Creatine works by pulling water into your muscles so you will notice being a little more thirsty when taking creatine which is why you want to ensure you’re drinking plenty of water.
Through a number of enzymatic and cellular steps, creatine is first metabolized into a compound phosphocreatine and eventually into a compound known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the “energy source” of the human body. Taking creatine over extended period of time has been linked to a wide-range of benefits including: Cell volumization, increased delivery of plasma (blood) nutrients to the cell, increase in skeletal muscle total mass, protein synthesis, decrease in muscular fatigue and increased endurance.
About Nutrition Junction and Jesse Westover
I started in the supplement industry when I was 18 as a retail sales associate and a local big name supplement retailer that’ll remain unnamed. As I got more into the supplement industry I began to do research on single ingredients and deep dive into why certain ingredients are used in supplements. Two years as a sales associate I went onto manage 4 different stores by this company over the course of two years. The deeper I got into this company the more I began to dislike it. They began to focus more on numbers, sales and hitting certain key indicators (which is fine to a point it’s a business which is understandable) but they got away from focusing on what truly matters THE CUSTOMER! In the supplement industry you don’t need to use any fancy marketing words, just EDUCATE the customer about supplements and why they’re taking what they’re taking and the sales will come and do the rest without being a “sales shark”.
That is why I started Nutrition Junction, to focus on the customer and bring them education and the most value. During the years I also spent time in the military and the corrections field where taking care of yourself and your health should be top priority because it can ultimately save your life.
The Nutrition Junction is an E-Commerce supplement site, we carry basic multivitamins, Fish Oils and creatinewhich we mentioned in this article! We also carry a vast majority of other supplements that can help you increase energy, focus, lose weight and also gain muscle!
References:
“Omega-3 Supplements: In Depth.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 8 May 2018, nccih.nih.gov/health/omega3/introduction.htm#hed5
Blumberg, Jeffrey B, et al. “The Evolving Role of Multivitamin/Multimineral Supplement Use among Adults in the Age of Personalized Nutrition.” Nutrients, MDPI, 22 Feb. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5852824/.
Examine.com. “Fish Oil: Summary of Scientific Research.” Examine.com, 18 Sept. 2019, examine.com/supplements/fish-oil/.