1. B Vitamins:
Have you ever run low on fuel (especially carbohydrates) and felt fuzzy and irritable? And then you eat and all of the sudden you feel better and your ability to think and concentrate returns to normal. Well, it isn’t just the food and increase in blood sugar that is helping you function. The B Vitamins play an integral role in brain functioning. The Bs are a part of the enzymes and coenzymes in your body that take the energy from carbohydrates, fat and protein and help turn it into a form your body can use to function. In addition, several B vitamins are absolutely essential for proper brain and nervous system functioning.

2. L-Carnitine:
L-Carnitine is a conditionally essential micronutrient. It is considered “conditional” because our body can make it but, at times our demand for L-Carnitine exceeds our supply and supplementation may be the best route for increasing our L-Carnitine levels. Our body’s stores of L-Carnitine are concentrated in our heart and skeletal muscle where this micronutrient plays a vital role in energy production. Studies in rats indicate that L-Carnitine supplementation may put up a roadblock against age-related declines in memory and cognitive impairment. Does it help humans too? Some scientists believe that giving a nutrient cocktail of Alpha-Lipoic Acid, L-Carnitine and Coenzyme Q10 may be one of the most effective nutrition-based solutions for improving cognitive decline in older adults.

3. L-Tyrosine:
Tyrosine is a nonessential amino acid that our body can make from the amino acid Phenylalanine (although people with PKU must consume Tyrosine). Some studies indicate that supplementation with Tyrosine may improve alertness after sleep deprivation and delay a decline in performance on psychomotor tests after skimping on sleep.

In addition to possibly helping people perform better during times of sleep deprivation, supplemental L-Tyrosine may also be beneficial during times of stress. Under stressful conditions, the human brain may not synthesize enough Tyrosine to manufacture essential compounds like your flight-or-fight Catecholamines: Epinephrine and Norepinephrine as well as the neurotransmitter Dopamine, which has a number of functions in the brain from helping control behavior to learning and memory. Therefore, supplemental Tyrosine may improve performance, memory and learning during times of psychological stress.

4. Phosphatidyl Serine:
Phosphatidyl Serine is a phospholipid that is present in cell membranes and plays a role in cell functioning. Most research has examined the role supplemental Phosphatidyl Serine plays in enhancing memory and cognitive functioning. For the athlete, Phosphatidyl Serine has been shown to minimize physical and mental stress. Doses used in sports studies range from 200 – 800 mg. A study in golfers found that just 200 mg phosphatidylserine taken daily (in a bar) for six weeks had a tendency to improve perceived stress as well as a statistically significant improvement in the number of good ball flights during tee-off.

5. Theanine:
Studies show that L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress and increases alpha-brain wave activity to produce a dose-dependent relaxed yet alert state about 40 minutes after it is ingested. Take it with Caffeine and you have one dynamic duo that stimulates areas of the brain to increase alertness, boost reaction time, memory and performance on cognitive functioning tasks.

In one study, L-Theanine (250 mg) and Caffeine (150 mg) together led to faster simple reaction time, faster numeric working memory reaction time and improved sentence verification accuracy – all functions we perform on a daily basis.

Conclusion
If you want your brain functioning at maximum capacity you need to treat it the same way you treat your body – exercise your mind by reading, solving puzzles and figuring out tasks that take brain power. And, feed your brain with the right foods including a good mix of protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrate (focus on fruits and vegetables since these are among the best sources of antioxidants and essential nutrients). Lastly, try one or more of these powerful supplements that support brain functioning.

Before taking any supplement, talk to your physician. The supplements listed here are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure disease. And keep in mind, more isn’t always better.

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What Is Creatine?
Creatine is a nitrogen-containing compound stored mainly as phosphocreatine in muscle tissue and the rest can be found as free creatine. Every day the body breaks down about 1-2% of the creatine pool, approximately 2 grams, into creatinine, which is excreted in urine.

Where does our body get creatine? We eat it in fish and meat. A pound of uncooked beef contains approximately 1-2 grams of creatine. And, we can also make about 1-2 grams of creatine daily from the amino acids glycine, arginine and methionine. Because dietary sources of creatine are found in animal flesh, some reports indicate that vegetarians have lower creatine stores in their muscle tissue than non-vegetarians.

How The Bodybuilding Supplement Creatine Enhances Your Health:

Creatine May Boost Athletic Performance:
We know it can increase your one rep max bench press and make an athlete more explosive. But, did you know this could translate to enhanced self-esteem? When you look better, you feel better about yourself. And, physical activity itself is one of nature’s best mood lifters.

Creatine May Help Lipid Metabolism:
The research on creatine and lipid metabolism is in the infancy stages. However, one study found that it helped decrease total cholesterol and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the worst kind). Hopefully future research will examine changes in blood lipids with creatine supplementation.

Congestive Heart Failure:
Creatine may improve some of the symptoms in people with congestive heart failure. Supplementation may improve exercise tolerance and in one study, creatine given via IV improved cardiac function*.

Muscular Dystrophy:
Some studies indicate that creatine supplementation can improve muscle strength and activities of daily life in patients with muscular dystrophies.

Parkinson’s Disease:
Studies in early Parkinson’s disease patients indicate that creatine may help slow the rate of disease progression. Creatine may also improve strength and the results from physical therapy in patients with Parkinson’s.

Additional Tips To Enhance Your Health

• Get your routine checkups from your physician and the physical exams you need based on your age. Preventive medicine works.
• Take a multivitamin. I can guarantee you aren’t getting every nutrient you need from food alone (unless perhaps you are taking several fortified foods throughout the day).
• Take fish oil (omega 3 only) or eat fatty fish.
• Keep your stress levels low.
• Find a hobby you are passionate about.

Creatine can help you build a great body. In fact, that is the most noted benefit from consuming this supplement. It can help you work harder in the gym by providing a substrate necessary for the production of energy. And when you work harder you’ll build strength, size and power. But, creatine does more than just help build a strong body.

It may help many people who suffer from debilitating diseases. In fact, clinical trials are currently examining how creatine may help people with Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, statin related myopathy, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and more. See www.clinicaltrials.gov for more information on these trials.

Studies indicate that creatine monohydrate is safe when taken in appropriate doses daily for a period of 1-5 years. It doesn’t make sense to take it in high doses, above what your body needs, because the rest is excreted after skeletal muscle stores are saturated. There are no studies that have found it causes dehydration or other detrimental side effects in otherwise healthy people.

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If this is the first question someone asks me or one of my teammates, I’ll usually just let out a sigh and proceed to give a brief plug about the primary importance of quality nutrition. When I fail to disclose any “secrets” about some magic powder or pill, I can see their interest quickly fade. Disappointed, they might walk away before I can even finish answering their initial question. No one wants to hear that persistence in the gym is best complimented by quality calories, rather than some quick fix potion. This is the truth, but it isn’t the whole truth.

They should have stuck around, because I would tell them that dietary supplements are in fact a critical component in building muscle, losing fat, improving focus, performance, and eventually producing a physique worthy of competition. It’s no secret that whether you’re a bodybuilder, professionally football player, or “weekend” warrior… we’re all looking for that edge in our respective area of competition.

Background
Since the 1970′s, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiast have always carried a lot of muscle. These guys would head over to Gold’s Gym in Venice, California or some other dungeon-like gym filled with barbells and heavy dumbbells. They would train with maximum intensity day in and day out while performing set after set of heavy squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Today, most successful lifters would also recognize that these movements are superior. Invariably, they would place them as primary exercises in their routines since they obviously worked better than anything else.

Old school lifters also understood that nutrition was the primary catalyst for muscle growth and fat loss. They placed protein at the forefront of their diet plans, and ate adequate carbohydrates and fats to fill in the remaining calories they needed for building muscle. Just like today, bodybuilders and athletes are manipulating their diet regimens to lose fat at an optimal rate while simultaneously trying to minimize muscle wasting. All in all, it seems that not much has changed if we look at basic philosophies regarding training and nutrition. However, it is quite obvious that modern athletes and bodybuilders of all ages and competition levels are progressing at a rate much faster than any other time in human history. Where are the discrepancies? Why are natural bodybuilders now expected to obtain striations in their glutes and hamstrings? …

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Creatine
Let’s first start with the personal favorite of many lifters which is creatine. This article is not for debunking the myths behind creatine; however it is intended to allow you to see creatine in a different light in terms of its muscle building potential. There are tons of articles already on creatine myths. In case you missed them, here’s a few: Creatine does not require a loading phase6, it is counter acted by caffeine7, it is effective for explosive bouts of excercise8, and its proven to increase muscle mass without side effects when taken properly9.

Now let’s talk about some of the things creatine has been shown to do that you may not know of. If you’ve heard of myostatin, than you know that it is a protein in the body discovered in 1997 that is responsible for regulating muscle growth by inhibiting it to prevent overgrowth. Based on genetics, there are myostatin levels that vary from person to person that can cause one person to be a world class bodybuilder and the other a hard gainer. Creatine (like glutamine mentioned earlier) had also been used in hospital settings to help battle atrophy (muscle wasting) in patients. What was unclear was the actual pathways creatine was involved in that aided in muscle gain. Everyone knew that creatine helped to increase strength, but was the increase in strength what lead to the gains in muscle? Or was it something else?

Researchers from Tarbiat Modares University discovered that when combined with resistance training, creatine actually helped to inhibit serum levels of mysostatin10! This research came as somewhat of a surprise, but the reason was quickly accepted by many that myostatin also works by inhibiting satellite cell formation. And back in 2000, researchers from the University of Wisconsin Medical School discovered that creatine does the exact opposite of that11. Satellite cells are myogenic cells responsible for postnatal growth and regeneration of skeletal muscle12. Stimulating these cells through training and supplementation is of the upmost importance for lifters looking to build muscle.

Another important capability of creatine is its effect on recovery from high intensity exercise. I’ve heard of bodybuilders neglecting the use of creatine in the past because they weren’t lifting for strength or power lifting. They felt creatine was only effective for increasing strength (which as you’ve read so far in this article, is only part of what creatine does) and it had no place in their 8-12 rep high intensity bodybuilding program. It has long been tradition in many bodybuilding programs to use short rest periods, and because creatine takes upwards of 2 minutes to regenerate, some ill informed bodybuilders have not seen it as a necessary supplement in their regimen. Well research begs to differ. High intensity anaerobic exercise is notorious for depleting muscle glycogen because carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for high intensity activities.

Bodybuilders consume carbohydrates post exercise along with their protein to refill their depleted muscles stores of carbohydrates so they can return to the gym and lift with the same intensity. Bodybuilders may notice however that when they do heavy multi-joint lifts (like the squat, or the deadlift), or they lift at a slower pace, it takes them longer to recover. This is a result of the eccentric (lowering movement) phase of the lift which causes more muscle damage and inflammation. Many experienced lifters know this already, but what they may not know is that eccentric exercise also impairs glycogen replenishment

Yet low and behold researchers from the Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics Laboratory of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium discovered that supplementing with creatine helps preserve muscle glycogen by increasing creatine utilization during exercise14 (the researchers used 5g of creatine a day with no loading phase). In case you were wondering if creatine cycling was a real issue, the researchers found out the hard way as the increase in muscle glycogen they noted vanished after 5 weeks despite continued creatine supplementation. So cycling on and off creatine during your training cycles is still a good idea.

Glutamine

Now let’s take a look at glutamine, its importance to the body as an amino acid is unquestionable and nearly unmatched by any other single amino acid. We will talk about the research to support this in a second, however, we must first talk about the instances in which glutamine supplementation is most effective before my hardcore lifter/supplement guru audience stops reading. The reason I say this is because there is a lot of research to support the fact that glutamine supplementation in many instances is unnecessary. You will still find the amino acid in almost every recovery supplement because of its proven anti-catabolic effects which are important post exercise. However, it is not an anabolic amino acid and will not be of much support in building bigger muscles or increasing strength1.

However, the same research study that made these findings still couldn’t deny the amino acids ability to prevent muscle breakdown, “[glutamine]…… may suppress a rise in whole-body proteolysis during the later stages of recovery.” Also, to go along with what I stated earlier about recovery products including glutamine, quality protein powders either have glutamine added or naturally occurring which would further seem to reduce the benefit of added supplementation. So the question now is what happened to all that research that was done to show its benefits for the immune system and preventing muscle wasting? The answer: this research was done on hospital patients and aerobic athletes.

What does this mean for us? It means that those who will benefit from stand alone glutamine supplementation the most are those who have a caloric deficit and at risk of muscle wasting (similar to a hospital patient who is at risk of muscle wasting) and those who are aerobic athletes who do not have the protein requirement of a power lifter or bodybuilder. However, for every bodybuilder who is ready to shun glutamine listen up; glutamines ability to promote glycogen storage and promote glucose synthesis independent of carbohydrates makes it a bodybuilders dream in terms of insulin control while dieting. And for any athlete looking to optimize his/her training, supplementing with glutamine will ensure you get the most of your glycogen stores while optimizing performance and recovery.

It can be especially useful for those athletes who are dieting for a competition (anyone who needs to meet a weight class in individual sports) and are limited in calorie intake. Now let’s take a look even further into the glutamines benefits to dieters; because of its ability to form glucose as shown in the studies it can actually curb dieters’ cravings for carbohydrates. Then there’s the age old question for bodybuilders who push themselves to the limit at the expense of their immune system; “to train or not to train while I have a +100 degree fever? That is the question”. Philip Newsholme from the Department of Biochemistry from the Conway Institute for Biomolecular and Biomedical Research analyzed the cells of the human body which were responsible for the immune system response and how much they relied on glutamine4. This is the reason for the positive results it has when used for the purposes of recovery and it can become extremely important for bodybuilders fighting sickness that attempts to stifle there training. Every gym rat has a personal testament or knows someone who was in the middle of a great training stretch before losing their hard earned muscle due to sickness.

So next time someone’s bashing glutamine, just remember, while the research discredits its use for certain purposes that doesn’t take away from the fact that it is the most abundant amino acid in the body and it’s involved in so many biological processes that in a study done on HeLa cells (immortal cells that were created in the 1970′s) scientists discovered that the cells themselves could run on just glutamine5! So it’s not that supplementing with the amino acid is a lost cause as some would have you believe; the problem is that glutamine supplementation fits for specific needs/situations.

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The most common reason for supplement use is “to improve overall health and general well being.” It is a popular belief that vitamins are antioxidants and can therefore protect us from oxidative stress that causes many health conditions.

The most common supplements taken are:
multivitamin/multiminerals – 22%;
multivitamins plus vitamin C – 15%;
vitamin C as a single vitamin – 13%;
herbal and botanical supplements – 7%;
vitamin E as a single vitamin – 6%.

Over the years, more and more reports on the health benefits of vitamin supplements have emerged, ranging from cardiovascular benefits to cancer prevention. This is mainly due to the antioxidant properties of vitamins that can protect us from oxidative stress. As a result several studies have been conducted to confirm these reports. Some of the latest studies summarized below reveal surprising results to say the least.

One of the very first studies to comprehensively investigate the health effects of vitamin supplements was conducted by Danish researchers in 2007. They performed a meta-analysis on data pooled from several clinical trials which used supplementation of the antioxidant vitamin A, vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C and selenium used as stand-alone or as combination supplements to treat a wide range of health conditions, from cardiovascular disorders to cancer. Their results were a surprising, even troubling. For one, no benefits of these “antioxidant supplements” were found. Second, supplementation with vitamins A and E and beta-carotene (but not vitamin C and selenium) actually increased overall mortality. This study prompted other researchers to take a second look at the benefits of vitamin supplements.

In a more recent review paper, the same researchers performed another meta-analysis of more data from several clinical trials, this time involving over 200,000 people who are healthy as well as those with existing health conditions. The researchers only considered studies which compared the efficacy of antioxidant supplements against placebos in the primary and secondary prevention of different medical conditions. The authors reported that they “found no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention. Vitamin A, beta-carotene, and vitamin E may increase mortality.”

Another meta-analysis investigated the anti-cancer properties of antioxidant supplements, particularly against gastrointestinal cancers. They looked at data of trials which studied beta-carotene, vitamins A, C, and E and selenium. The authors concluded that “we could not find convincing evidence that antioxidant supplements prevent gastrointestinal cancers.”

One of the most recent developments in vitamin supplement research is the long-term SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) study of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The study evaluated the efficacy of selenium and Vitamin E in preventing prostate cancer and enrolled 35,000 male participants in the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The participants were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: group 1 were given vitamin E supplements only, group 2 were given only selenium, group 3 took both supplements in combination, and group 4 were given placebos only. Five years into the study, the NCI decided to stop the trial because of some “concerning” findings, namely:

1. The analysis found no lower risk of prostate cancer in men taking the supplements, either alone or together.

2. Men who were taking only vitamin E actually had a slightly higher risk of developing prostate cancer.

3. Men taking only selenium seemed to have a slightly higher risk of developing diabetes.

Another study evaluated the efficacy of combined folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 in reducing cancer risk among women. Their result show that combined folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 treatment had no significant effect on overall risk of total invasive cancer or breast cancer among women during the folic acid fortification era.

A study published in December 2008 evaluated whether vitamins C and E and beta carotene supplementation have an effect on overall cancer risk. The data was taken from the Women’s Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study and involved 8,171 women who were cancer-free at the start of the study about 9.4 years ago. The findings of the study showed that “supplementation with vitamin C, vitamin E, or beta carotene offers no overall benefits in the primary prevention of total cancer incidence or cancer mortality.”

The Women’s Health Initiative Calcium/Vitamin D Trial evaluated the effects of vitamin D and calcium supplements on blood pressure and risk for hypertension risk of 36,252 healthy postmenopausal women. The women were assigned in 2 groups: one group received a daily supplement of 1000 mg of calcium plus 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily. The other group received placebo only. The researchers reported that “in postmenopausal women, calcium plus vitamin D3 supplementation did not reduce either blood pressure or the risk of developing hypertension over 7 years of follow-up.”

The Physicians’ Health Study II evaluated whether vitamin E or vitamin C have cardioprotective properties that can reduce risk for CVD in men. A total of 14,641 American doctors were enrolled in the study, aged 50 years and older, and were followed up for 8 years. The study results showed that “neither vitamin E nor vitamin C supplementation reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events. These data provide no support for the use of these supplements for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older men.”

This study evaluated whether antioxidant (vitamins E, C and/or beta-carotene) supplements can prevent atherosclerosis. The researchers performed a meta-analysis of 22 trials which involved 134,590 participants. The researcher conclude that “…the majority of studies included in this review does not support a possible role of antioxidant supplementation in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease … no definite conclusion can be drawn to justify the use of antioxidant vitamin supplements for the prevention of atherosclerotic events.”

Folic acid is routinely prescribed for pregnant women to prevent birth defects such as spina bifida. It has also been thought that folic acid, which reduced the levels of homocysteine in the blood, can prevent cardiovascular disease. Homocysteine is an amino acid used as biomarker for cardiovascular disorder. This trial investigated whether a vitamin combination pill with folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 (vs. a placebo) can reduce cardiovascular risk. It enrolled more than 5,400 American women with a history of cardiovascular disease or with moderate to high risk profile for ccardiovascular disease. After 7.3 years of treatment and follow-up, a combination pill of folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 did not reduce a combined end point of total cardiovascular events among high-risk women, despite significant homocysteine lowering.

While most of the evidence from studies summarized here does not seem to support the health benefits of vitamin supplements, there are some studies which indicate that vitamin D supplementation is worthwhile, even essential. Vitamin D is unique because we cannot get our vitamin D requirements from food alone. Instead, vitamin D is synthesized by the body upon exposure of the skin to the sun, thus earning it the title “sun vitamin.” However, since the sun is said to cause skin cancer, people tend to avoid exposure leading to widespread vitamin D deficiency.

American health experts are convinced of the necessity of vitamin D supplements and thus, routinely prescribe vitamin D supplements even for newborn babies. Milk and other dairy products in the US are fortified with vitamin D but not in many parts of the world. Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines for vitamin D supplementation to recommend the doubling of the dose for babies and children from 200 IU to 400 IU per day.

According to a review paper, “vitamin D is not only important for calcium metabolism and maintenance of bone health throughout life, but also plays an important role in reducing risk of many chronic diseases including type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, deadly cancers, heart disease and infectious diseases.”

In summary, antioxidants in fresh fruit and vegetables have been shown to have extensive health benefits. Unfortunately, except for vitamin D, the use of vitamin and mineral supplementation does not seem to reproduce the protective effect of natural food stuffs, as shown by many different studies summarized here. Worse, some studies even suggest that vitamin supplementation can actually increase risk for certain health conditions and mortalities. Most of the studies cited were long-term randomized, placebo-controlled trials involving thousands of participants. The data they presented are therefore, highly reliable.

The antioxidant supplement pill fits in quite nicely in this era of convenience food and lifestyle on the go. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a real healthy lifestyle and convenience can go hand in hand. The take home message is, when it comes to nutrition, there is no substitute for natural food stuff. Nature is still the best source of our nutritional needs.

There are 12 essential vitamins that our body needs to function effectively. These include Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D, E, K and folate. These vitamins have been shown to protect the body from certain illnesses, including heart disease and cancer. Lack of vitamins in the body can result in various diseases, including blindness, anemia, birth defects, bleeding disorders and bone deformities, among others. Vitamin supplements provide your body with the recommended daily amounts of essential vitamins, and help prevent the development of these diseases.

Nowadays, numerous vitamin supplements exist, available in different forms. Vitamin supplements are available in all health stores and can also be ordered online. These vitamin supplements can generally be divided into two categories: natural and synthetic. At present, there is a continuing debate regarding which kind of supplement is more beneficial to the body.

Natural vitamin supplements are vitamins extracted from natural food products and processed to create a food supplement. Meanwhile, synthetic vitamin supplements are man-made vitamins chemically processed in a laboratory.

Research has been leaning more towards natural vitamin supplements as the more beneficial product between the two categories. Studies on synthetic vitamin supplements have resulted in mixed results. Some scientists believe that taking synthetic vitamin supplements could result in numerous side effects, especially when the vitamins are taken in large amounts. This is because synthetic vitamin supplements contain numerous chemicals, which could react adversely with your body. Just as lack of vitamins results in various diseases, excessive intake of vitamins have also been known to cause a myriad of toxicities, including hypersensitivity reactions, diarrhea and bone damage, to name a few.

Recent studies have also shown that natural vitamins are better absorbed and processed by the body than their synthetic counterparts. This allows you to get the most out of your supplements, ensuring that you have adequate vitamin levels in your body.

Since natural vitamin supplements appear to be the better choice, it is best for you to find a natural supplement that can provide all these benefits.

When choosing a natural vitamin supplement, make sure that the supplement contains all 12 essential vitamins. Also, check that the supplement is really natural. Some synthetic products manipulate their advertising to make it appear that the product is natural, when in fact, it isn’t. Look closely into the ingredients used in the product, and research on them. Take advantage of some websites that allows you to check up on these supplements and their contents. Finally, before taking any natural vitamin supplements, it is best to consult a qualified nutritionist or your physician first.

Don’t forget that no vitamin supplement can replace a healthy, balanced diet. It is recommended that you eat a vitamin-rich diet, which can be achieved by increasing your intake of vegetables and fruits. A healthy diet, complemented by a high-quality natural vitamin supplement, can ultimately give you a stronger body and help you live a longer life.

ABSTRACT: Vitamin supplements are necessary to keep your body healthy. Natural vitamin supplements can provide you with adequate amounts of vitamins needed in your diet, without the side effects associated with its synthetic counterpart.

The first thing you should do when shopping for a supplement is take a few minutes to read the supplement facts label found on the supplement bottle. On it, you will find the serve size or dose for the supplement, the kind of calcium compound it contains, amount per serving, and percent daily value. Percent daily value is simply the percentage of the daily value provided by one serving.

Secondly, determine the calcium content per serving of the supplement. You can do so by identifying the kind of calcium compound used in the supplement. Different calcium compounds have different amounts of calcium (or elemental calcium). For example, calcium carbonate is 40% calcium; dicalcium phosphate is 38% calcium; calcium citrate is 21% calcium; calcium lactate is 13% calcium by weight and calcium gluconate is 9% calcium. What this means is that if you take 500 mg of calcium carbonate, for instance, you will get 200 mg of calcium. By contrast, you will have to take at least 950 mg of calcium citrate in order to get the same amount of calcium.

Next, consider how well the supplement dissolves. This is what sets apart good calcium supplements from bad ones. If the supplement does not dissolve well in your stomach, you are unlikely to get maximum benefit from it. To test how well the supplement dissolves, place a pill in a cup containing warm water. Let it sit for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally. If it does not dissolve well after 30 minutes, it is unlikely to dissolve well in your stomach.

Absorbability is also an important feature of a good calcium supplement. Calcium carbonate is well absorbed by most people, but calcium citrate is often recommended for those with digestive or absorption problems. You can also improve absorption of any calcium supplement by taking it in doses of 500 mg or less and with vitamin D. Calcium carbonate should be taken with food while calcium citrate can be taken any time during the day.

Good calcium supplements meet certain purity standards indicated by the use of the abbreviation USP, which stands for United States Pharmacopeia. Choose only supplements that have this symbol on their labels. Avoid calcium from unrefined oyster shell, bone meal, or dolomite without the USP symbol; they may contain high levels of lead or other toxic metals.

Finally, check how well you tolerate the supplement. Some calcium supplements produce side effects such as constipation, gas, and stomach upset. If you develop any of these side effects, try the steps discussed above under absorbability. If those steps do not help you, try a different supplement. You may also consult with your doctor or pharmacist.

Anyone looking for a calcium supplement can easily find one in the stores; picking out the right one for you is a different story. So, before you buy, read the supplement facts label carefully. Determine the calcium compound in the supplement and its calcium content. Test how well it dissolves and your level of tolerance for it. Choose supplements with the USP abbreviation on their labels. If you develop side effects from your supplement, try a different one, or consult with your doctor.

Bodybuilding supplements are usually composed of a blend of some vitamins, minerals and natural energy vitalizing substances. These substances are useful to promote the growth of muscles and tissues that have been broken down from hard workouts. Fat burning pills are another important supplement in this category and they help to speed up the process of metabolism in order to release energy. Bodybuilding supplements are sometimes referred to as energy boosters or mass builders. NO2 supplements help to bring the bodies blood flow and oxygen to the worked out areas at a greater pace insuring that the body is able to recuperate faster. NO2 supplements also give you that “pumped” up feeling long after your workouts are over.

Creatine is also a kind of bodybuilding supplement. Creatine will not only assist you in exercising longer but will also help in quicker restoration of strength after program sets.

Normally a nutritional supplement like Creatine is made by combining several different substances that work better and faster when combined than individual substances. Creatine enhancers are used to increase its effectiveness. Creatine phosphate is the energized form of creatine and functions as an energy storage reserve. Supplements rich in nitric oxide (NO2) also work well as bodybuilding supplements. They usually come in the form of tablets and capsules, but some are also available in liquid form.

When exercising it is possible that you will cause damage to your joints. Unfortunately, like the wearing of tires on a car, the connective tissue that cushions our bones will continue to wear out as we get older. There are certain supplements that are capable of preventing joint injury. They usually consist of Chondroitin sulfate and Glucosamine and sulfate. Glucosamine is an amino sugar derived from the chitin of shellfish and is used by the body to support healthy joint structures. Chondroitin complements Glucosamine and works synergistically to provide optimal nutritional support..

Muscle building and energy boosting drinks are readily available are very easy to consume and equally effective. Although there is no real alternative to eating a proper balanced diet, sometimes due to a lack of time we are not able to include all the natural nutrients in our everyday meals. To address this deficiency, you can take nutritional supplements. Testosterone boosters, growth hormones and a blend of herbs and vitamins just to name a few are also very effective bodybuilding supplements

Meal replacement supplements are normally found in the form of powdered material and more commonly known as meal replacement powder or MRP. These are rich in protein and fatty acids, so that they can provide the necessary energy boost required by the body. MRP can be mixed in water or milk before consuming. They also have RTD or Ready To Drink versions which are readily available and are more for the “on the go” type person. .They This way they are easier to take and provide the instant energy boost needed just like energy boosting drinks. MRP is recommended for bodybuilders who require large quantities of a Hi Protien Supplement to keep them in an anabolic state.

Nutrition bars, commonly known as meal bars or protein bars are also important to mention when considering body building supplements. Before using any kind of nutrition bars, don’t forget to consult a health expert because sometimes these bars contain additives that might be harmful to some people. If you are on any other medication to treat a disease, for example if you are an insulin-dependent diabetic patient then you should always ask your doctor before consuming any type of nutritional supplements. Hi Protien bars can be eaten just before working out to give your body some extra pre-workout energy.

Some natural substances like probiotics are also used in bodybuilding nutritional supplements. These are healthy bacteria that are naturally found in the digestive system, these help with the proper digestion of food. Eating a prescribed amount of these supplements daily helps to speed up the digestive process. If you don’t know where to start then you can search for bodybuilding supplements on the Internet including fat burning pills and energy boosting supplements, but make sure you talk to your Doctor before you consume any of these supplements.

A healthy diet and exercise program will ensure that you live a healthier and longer life. Always remember to research any nutritional supplement and talk to your doctor before taking anything. How you take care of yourself today

But you CAN use supplements to help the process along faster. The real key is knowing what works, what is garbage, and when an advertiser is simply trying to take your money.

Let me put it this way…in a recent muscle magazine, I counted 120 pages of full-page (in some cases 3 to 6 page), high-powered supplement ads. If you were to buy all these products, you’d be laughing all the way to the bank…laughing maniacally, because you’d have to rob it in order to pay for all those supplements!

There ARE good supplement manufacturers who make good products…they put in what they say they’re putting in and don’t try to fool you with advertising. But this article is about the BAD ones and it’s more fun to talk about them…

So what sneaky tricks do advertisers use to separate you from your money?

1. Unprovable Testimonials

How many times have you seen testimonials like “I lost 10 pounds in a week” or “I gained 20 pounds of muscle in a month.” These testimonials prey upon the desire in all of us for fast and easy results. Who wouldn’t want results this quickly? After all, if this person did it, I should get those same results too, right?

To me, this is like a car commercial that uses special effects to catch your attention then has an official disclaimer like “car should not be driven underwater” or “does not imply resistance to meteor strikes.” It looks and sounds cool but you know it’s just not real – you want to believe but…

And believe me, I would LOVE to think that results like this are possible with just a supplement. But how do you prove that those results even happened? You can’t. How do you prove it was due to that supplement? You can’t. How do you know the person wasn’t “on” something? You can’t. And how do you get your money back when it doesn’t work? You can’t.

About 10 years ago, I did an experiment on myself to see just how much weight I could gain in a week (keep in mind, I was just aiming for total bodyweight, which includes muscle, water and fat). By going on a very strict diet and training program for 2 weeks then completely reversing everything and loading up, I was able to gain 25 pounds of bodyweight in 7 days. And I owed it all to the incredible new supplement I was taking called Hydrogen Dioxide (a.k.a. H2O).

2. Before and After Photos

Before and after photos can be very inspiring and offer proof that a product works. Or they can fool you like the time Homer Simpson opened a can of beer that had just been in a paint shaking machine.

Here’s a before and after picture technique you can try at home:

Your Before Picture:

• slouch as much as you can
• let your gut hang out and down, push it out if you can
• bow your shoulders in, hunch your back over, and bow your knees in
• stand directly square to the camera so you look as wide as possible
• frown or look miserable
• have a messy, unflattering hairdo
• wear the most unflattering clothing you can find – make sure the clothes highlight every bulge
• don’t flex or tighten up anything – make yourself feel as flabby as possible

Your After Picture:

• stand up straight and tall
• suck in your gut and flex your abdominals
• keep your shoulders back
• look happy and wear a big smile
• stand slightly sideways (tilting your body at angle makes it look thinner)
• wear flattering clothing and have your hair neat
• flex all your muscles and keep everything tight

You can make quite a change in yourself pretty quickly!

3. Pay An Athlete To Get Fat Then Pay Them To Get Back In Shape

It is a little-known fact that some supplement companies have been known to actually pay well-trained athletes to stop training and get fat. Why? To get a really awful-looking “before” picture.

Then, when the athlete starts training hard again, eating right and, of course, taking their magic supplement, they get into great shape very quickly. The goal is to convince you that it was the supplement that was the key to the transformation, not the fact that it was a well-trained athlete in the first place. But an average person is NOT going to be able to make a transformation like this, no matter how good the supplement is.

When you’re already a well-trained athlete, you can make dramatic changes to your body extremely quickly (as evidenced by my own 25 pounds in a week weight gain I talked about above). To me, it’s like telling a professional boxer that he can only punch with his face for a few rounds. When he starts up with the fists again, he’s going to make a pretty rapid improvement!

Vitamins and mineral supplements are great however they are not broken down and processed in the body as easily as foods are. Some vitamins such as A,D,E,K are stored in the fat cells of the body and can become dangerous if these vitamins are abused. Vitamins A,D,E,K are fat soluble vitamins.

Are the vitamins and minerals in supplements identical to fresh foods? No, but they are better than trying to get everything you need out of a can.

Herbal supplements, herbal Medicine, also called Herbalism, is a traditional medicine practice that uses Herbal supplements for their therapeutic or medicinal value. Herbal supplements are plants or plant extracts valued for their therapeutic, aromatic or medicinal qualities. Herbalism is also referred to as herbology, botanical medicine, medical herbalism and phytotherapy. Herbal Medicine is the most ancient form of health care known to humankind and has been used by most cultures throughout history.

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