Supplementation and Athletic Performance
Everybody has their own theories and methods when it comes to supplements. What they use, how much of it, and when is all based on personal experience and research. The key is to find out what works best for you. Because what might help me lose body fat, may not be what helps you.
Dr. Howard LeWine (M.D) from Harvard Medical School wrote an article a few weeks ago in which he outlines how vitamin and protein supplements are not necessarily beneficial and there is little evidence to support those claims. Now, I’m not a doctor and I’m not questioning Dr. LeWine’s credibility because I’m quite sure he can backup any of the arguments he has made. However, there’s something about being a highly conditioned athlete and knowing the limitations and needs of your own body.
For instance, a person looking to lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass needs high amounts of B-vitamins to sustain energy and convert food into energy. As Dr. LeWine says:
During exercise, more than the usual amounts of B vitamins are needed. These include thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and pantothenic acid. Enriched cereals and whole-grain carbohydrates combined with some lean meats will satisfy the needs of even the extreme athlete.
The only problem with that is when you’re trying to lose body fat and gain lean muscle you’re not going to rely on cereal and carbohydrates to sustain your energy. You’re going to limit the amount of carbohydrates (especially cereal because most of it is processed anyway) and concentrate on a high protein diet. That’s why supplementing with B-vitamins could be a good idea. The same is true for protein. You’re not going to comsume all of your protein by way of meat and nuts — if you do you’d be putting your health at risk. Instead, you supplement with protein powder and meal replacement shakes.
Don’t get me wrong, Dr. LeWine makes a lot of good points and even credits creatine as to having some value:
Creatine is the one amino acid that may have some athletic benefit. It contributes to rapid energy production and may enhance power or speed bursts that require short periods of anaerobic activity. It does not build muscle or increase endurance, and it can result in water retention. Long-term effects are unknown.
As I have discussed in previous posts, Kre-Alkalyn is the new generation of creatine. It’s a buffered type of creatine that is better absorbed in the body and doesn’t force you to retain water.
It’s true that many supplements are bogus because they don’t have to be approved by the FDA, but there are many good ones out there from reliable companies. So be sure to do your research before picking one. I agree with Dr. LeWine’s overall point that you should get the majority of your nutrition from food and not from supplements. However, there are cases when supplementing is beneficial. Especially cases where an individual is trying to lose weight and gain muscle.
27 comments
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I will have to disagree on you assesment of nutritional supplements. Athletes live on the cutting edge at all times.
Two weeks ago I subluxated my shoulder doing dumbbell bench presses. I took the supplement MSM @ 30 g/day and within 2 weeks my shoulder is fine. In another couple of weeks I’ll be hitting the 115 lbs dumbbells again. There’s no double blind study to prove 30g/day is the proper dose but who cares. I need to be ready for the Muscle Beach Powerlifting Meet in Venice Beach, CA as soon as possible. What I’m doing works and I will continue to out perform my personal bests even at the age of 42.
If I was to only take 100 gms/day of Protein I would never recover in time to be Squatting 525 lbs @ 162 lbs body weight.
Sorry Doc, I’ve been proving you guys wrong all my life. If you read my blog you will find that I was a sickly 95 lb weakling, sick every day of my life until I started taking massive amounts of supplements. Even the Docs at Johns Hopkins couldn’t do for me what I did for myself after locking myself in the UCSD Bio-Med Library back in 1991.
dangilliland.wordpress.com
Awesome story Dan!
I think you may have misunderstood that I’m not the doctor who wrote that article, I was just citing it. You’re living proof that supplements can do a lot of good and have great benefits.
Thanks for the comment!
I agree with you here Pat. Our diet is meant to be our main source of sustinence. Supplements are meant to be just that – products which supplement our diet and give us that little bit extra to help us perform at our best.
Supplements can be a key part of a fitness regimen if taken with an adequate training and diet program. This is the key! Supplements will not be a waste if you research the proper ones to take and take them with proper training and diet. I feel that the people that bash supplements and call them scams are the people that do not have the proper diet or training programs in place to take advantage of them!
I believe that there are so many things to discover about supplements. There are those which promise a lot of wonders for the body but have minimal effects. It is best to always remember that supplements are only “add-ons” and they do not stand on their own. Each body builder still needs exercise and proper nutrition to achieve total physical fitness.
Creatine dosage should be 5 gms per servings, better to consume afterwork out and have lots of carbo-rich food. Drinks enough amount of water.
Mark Martinez
your creatine powder test lab
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