How to Use Supplements Effectively


by Dan Patterson - Date: 2007-01-16 - Word Count: 463 Share This!

When and how often should you use dietary supplements? The best answer to this question is that it depends on what level of nutritional value you're currently getting in your regular diet. One thing that a lot of people tend to overlook is what a supplement really is and how they are meant to be used. A supplement is something that you use to fill in for something else that is missing. So, if you had a perfect diet, essentially you wouldn't even need to use any type of dietary supplement. Unfortunately, these days it's almost impossible to have a perfect diet. There are several reasons for this, more than we have time to cover in this article. But the basic idea is that your diet at this time most likely just doesn't supply all of the vitamins, minerals, etc. that your body really needs. That's where dietary supplements come in handy and are worth using.

One recommendation that you need to consider when looking at supplements is that they are not meant to completely replace a regular diet. Use them as a supplemental part of your diet, not the foundation. In other words, don't plan on just living off of protein shakes and not eating any regular food!

Below you'll find a sample list of some standard dietary supplements that you should consider including in your diet:

Multivitamins/Multiminerals
In today's world, most of your foods you buy at the grocery store are very vitamin and mineral deficient. So, taking a good multivitamin/multimineral can help you to make up for this. There are plenty of brands and varieties out there, just stick to your budget and what you can afford.

Creatine
If you haven't heard of this one, you might be living under a rock. More and more research has been done on the benefits of creatine than just about any other sports supplement on the market. Some of the reported benefits of using creatine are delayed muscle fatigue, enhanced muscle size, help gain muscle, and it helps to regulate blood sugar.

Vitamin C
Great for keeping you healthy and not on the sick bed. Known benefits include increasing immune deficiency, enhance muscle recovery, reduce fatigue, reduce inflammation, and fight infections.

Whey Protein
Basically, the more active you are, the more protein you need to be eating. Whey protein has more net utilization than eggs. It is a great source of protein to reach the recommended 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. It is best be metabolized if taken with some carbs.

We could add to this list more, but that should be enough to at least get you started. Again, remember that supplements are meant to be a small addition to make up for the deficiencies in what you're already eating. They shouldn't be the only thing you eat!


Related Tags: supplement, healthy weight loss, creatine, gain muscle, big muscle, whey protein

About the Author:
Dan Patterson is an editor of BodyFitnessInfo.com, a website that offers free information about many health and fitness topics such as how to gain muscle and body building tips.

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