Supplements / Vitamins - waste of time??

[Freefaller]

Not really, I eat very little fruit, but I drink a very large quantity of fresh juice (not shop bought) mostly from fruit bought from the source.



If your body was naturally the way you want it to be then there would be no need for creatine, but because you want a body you cannot get naturally you have to supplement. That is your choice!

Creatine is natural though - it's found in fish and other animal proteins. It's also one of the most researched dietary supplements in the health and fitness industry. I don't use it myself, but it has fairly extensive research and results attached to it. It's not artificial or boosts your body like exogenous hormone injections.

However I understand your sentiment.

 

[Freefaller]

There's a big difference between being able to function and having optimum health. Unless you live in a remote part of the world where pollution is extremely low and eat a 100% organic diet, I would recommend at the very least some form of maintenance supplementation, e.g. a very high strength multi-vitamin (ideally with a multi-mineral separately taken in the evening since that's when the body needs minerals), an antioxidant such as Ester-C and some essential fatty acids (flaxseed oil).

You don't need to take EFAs if you eat decent amounts of oily fish for example, nuts, some fruits, oils, some veg and beans.

The problem with flax seed is that they are short-chain fatty acids, which means that your has to convert them to long-chain fatty acids before the EFAs can be used. In many cases, our bodies don't do do this in a particularly efficient way.

 

[arc@css]

You don't need to take EFAs if you eat decent amounts of oily fish for example, nuts, some fruits, oils, some veg and beans.

The problem with flax seed is that they are short-chain fatty acids, which means that your has to convert them to long-chain fatty acids before the EFAs can be used. In many cases, our bodies don't do do this in a particularly efficient way.

I used flaxseed as an example, though I agree that varied inclusion of efa's in the diet without solely relying on them in the way of capsules for example (the amount you need to gain real benefit is so much more than the pathetic recommended 1 -3 a day anyway as I'm sure you know) is the best foot forward, e.g. hemp seed oil, fish oil, fish and seeds, etc. The path way for conversion in the body when using flaxseed is, as you mention, a less efficient process, that is, unless one starts to look into genetics.

 

[Sui]

Vitamins/supplements are only beneficial if you don't get enough from your day to day diet really.

 

[BigBoy]

Creatine is natural though - it's found in fish and other animal proteins. It's also one of the most researched dietary supplements in the health and fitness industry. I don't use it myself, but it has fairly extensive research and results attached to it. It's not artificial or boosts your body like exogenous hormone injections.

However I understand your sentiment.

Balanced diet with all food groups covered and there is no need for the supplement! Although Creatine is natural it is not natural to pump your body full of it, I am in no way a purest just don't see the need, Look to professional sports men and women that bang down supplements and creatine like its proper food. Many of whom have suffered for there super strength and body tone! Whats the point in being super fit if its still going to kill you?

You don't need to take EFAs if you eat decent amounts of oily fish for example, nuts, some fruits, oils, some veg and beans.

The problem with flax seed is that they are short-chain fatty acids, which means that your has to convert them to long-chain fatty acids before the EFAs can be used. In many cases, our bodies don't do do this in a particularly efficient way.

This is what I'm talking about!

 

[Jay794]

I thought they were revising 5 a day for 8 a day

 

[Goodie]

I wouldn't trust what is written in a magazine as gospel. It wasn't too long ago that I was looking through a copy of runners world at the dentist in which it recommended a supplementation of caffeine at an amount of 10mg/kg body weight to 'help you get the most out of your training'. I understand the benefits of caffeine but that advice is just silly.

My opinion is that antioxidant vitamin supplementation (A, C and E) is fairly pointless, and possibly detrimental in certain situations. For example research has suggested that vitamin C supplementation hampers the effects of training induced adaptations to endurance exercise. Yet people (and elite athletes) still think it wise to supplement them.

With regards to other supplements, I don’t dispute that some can have an important role to play in the right situation. I would ensure that your diet is in check first before considering supplements, and even then do some thorough research before making any purchases.

 

[weringo]

How on earth are you supposed to eat 8 portions of fruit/veg a day. Even with a portion with each meal and 2 snacks in between that's only 5.

 

[joxang]

Sheldon: Well, there’s some value to taking a multivitamin, but the human body can only absorb so much, what you’re buying here are the ingredients for very expensive urine.

Penny: Well, maybe that’s what I was going for.

Sheldon: Well then you’ll want some manganese.

This is essentially true.

Of course supplements work - they get prescribed all the time for people with diagnosed deficiencies - but you rarely actually need them.

There's is one vitamin in the this country in particular that should be supplemented by a huge proportion of the population - vitamin D - due to the lack of time spent outdoors by most people, and the lack of sun in this country. Most people in Scotland are currently vit D deficient, and this has been solidly linked to the disproportionately high rates of MS up there as well.

Massive public health drive on at the moment to get the government and food companies to introduce it into various things (e.g. breakfast cereal).

 

[arc@css]

How on earth are you supposed to eat 8 portions of fruit/veg a day. Even with a portion with each meal and 2 snacks in between that's only 5.

I consume eleven portions a day, and this I find very easy. Two fruit smoothies give me four fruit portions, e.g. banana + blueberries // cherries + raspberries, and then I eat seven live foods (vegetables) portions as part of my evening meal.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Your friend is talking rubbish. We all need a boost with some form of supplement, as no-ones diet is perfect - and everyone has trouble metabolising one thing or another.

And as a side note - don't bother with muti-vitamins - or the majority of cheap pills/tablets you get in the likes of Holland and Barrett / boots etc..... most contain a very small amount of the supplement that they claim - and they are cheap for a reason.

Per day - I take.
1000mg of EPA/DHA - Solgar (which cost around £40)
High dose B Complex "50"s - Solgar (Cost around £25 )
2g of Glutamine - from MyProtein
5g of Essential Amino acids - from MyProtein.
15-30g of all additional Amino acids on alternate days - Usually Maximuscle promax.

For anyone that says supplements are a waste of time - tell them to take the above for a 2 weeks and then ask then how good / strong / they feel

Haha - what a mug!

 

[Freefaller]

Balanced diet with all food groups covered and there is no need for the supplement! Although Creatine is natural it is not natural to pump your body full of it, I am in no way a purest just don't see the need, Look to professional sports men and women that bang down supplements and creatine like its proper food. Many of whom have suffered for there super strength and body tone! Whats the point in being super fit if its still going to kill you?



This is what I'm talking about!

I agree - however, for people hitting the gym or doing some high level physical training creatine can help performance if taken correctly. Creatine however won't kill you - it's a perfectly safe and one of the most researched sports supplement to take. However I completely agree not everyone needs to take it, in fact no one needs to take it... but it can help get that last rep out, do a little more volume in your exercise, train a little harder. It's not a steroid or anything that potent. IT just helps to produce ATP and potentially slows down fatigue.

However I agree, like anything in life, anything taken to excess without due care can lead to potential issues in the future. However one must assume a certain amount of knowledge for professional athletes. And certainly for high performance athletes the benefits of taking something like creatine will be (although slight) still beneficial. However I'll agree that for most people taking it is utterly pointless. This is just one supplement of hundreds that industry has created.

 

[weringo]

and then I eat seven live foods (vegetables) portions as part of my evening meal.

This is not reasonable for normal people

 

[arc@css]

This is not reasonable for normal people

...but some of them will manage to eat other things. I guess it depends how much it interests someone.

 

[quackers]

Would you say cod liver oil is also a waste of time?

 

[Sefirosu]

The belief that a good quality, rounded modern diet does somehow not satisfy the body's needs properly is an utter and criminal myth.

 

[Bear]

The belief that a good quality, rounded modern diet does somehow not satisfy the body's needs properly is an utter and criminal myth.

Yes but how many people eat the diet you speak of. There are instances of many people in the western world suffering from malnutrition due to poor diet (admittedly due to eating too much junk).

 

[Martin_Man]

Your friend is talking rubbish. We all need a boost with some form of supplement, as no-ones diet is perfect - and everyone has trouble metabolising one thing or another.

And as a side note - don't bother with muti-vitamins - or the majority of cheap pills/tablets you get in the likes of Holland and Barrett / boots etc..... most contain a very small amount of the supplement that they claim - and they are cheap for a reason.

Per day - I take.
1000mg of EPA/DHA - Solgar (which cost around £40)
High dose B Complex "50"s - Solgar (Cost around £25 )
2g of Glutamine - from MyProtein
5g of Essential Amino acids - from MyProtein.
15-30g of all additional Amino acids on alternate days - Usually Maximuscle promax.

For anyone that says supplements are a waste of time - tell them to take the above for a 2 weeks and then ask then how good / strong / they feel

I might give some of these a try .

 

[G-MAN2004]

You never eat any fruit?
You don't enjoy all fruit?
That cannot be true.

Same for me. Yes, I drink fruit juices, but I can't remember the last time I actually had any fruit to eat.

 

[cm1179]

when i travelled europe in 2006, we got to berlin after a week and our diet had been very poor. we purchased a bag of multivitamins and took one a day. now, i don't know if it was the sun, the german water or the vitamins but i had what can only be described as a 'buzz' the whole time.