Optimize Supplements
Supplements can be great, but they won't be as effective as good sleep, diet, exercise, and other positive habits. Think of them as the 'cherry on top', rather than a 'shortcut' or a 'hack'.
Muscle building
Creatine
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/creatine/
Benefits:
- The primary benefit of creatine is an improvement in strength and power output during resistance exercise.
- Creatine appears to reduce mental fatigue in scenarios such as demanding mental activity and sleep deprivation.
- Creatine supplementation can accelerate the recycling of ADP into ATP, thereby making more energy available for high-intensity exercise.
- This increased availability of energy can promote improvements in strength and power output.
Drawbacks:
- Total body water increases body weight. May be bad for weight-sensitive sports e.g. rock climbing.
Dosage For Creatine Monohydrate:
- Loading phase: 0.3g per kg of bodyweight per day, for 1 week
- Maintenance phase: 0.03g per kg of bodyweight per day, indefinitely
- For a 180 lb (82 kg) person, this translates to 25 g/day during the loading phase and 2.5 g/day afterward
Electrolytes
Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate)
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/sodium-bicarbonate/
Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/baking-soda-and-performance
Benefits:
- Supplementation with sodium bicarbonate can enhance performance in high-intensity (anaerobic) single- and multiple-bout exercises that last between about 30 seconds and 12 minutes.
- The main mechanism of action of sodium bicarbonate is in negating the effects of exercise-induced acidosis.
- During anaerobic exercise, your body’s demand for oxygen exceeds the available supply. As a result, your muscles cannot rely on oxygen to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
- While researchers don’t yet fully understand this process, they have determined that a major byproduct of the anaerobic pathway is hydrogen (H+)
- Sodium bicarbonate has an alkaline pH of 8.4 and may play a role in buffering excess hydrogen during anaerobic exercise
- To date, it appears that sodium bicarbonate plays a bigger role in muscular endurance — how long the muscle can be actively worked — than in the strength of the muscle
Drawbacks:
- As 27.3% of sodium bicarbonate's weight is due to sodium, every 100 mg/kg confers about 27 mg/kg sodium to the diet
- Excessively high doses or rapid ingestion can cause gastric upset due to a reaction between bicarbonate and stomach acid.
Dosage:
- Benefits of sodium bicarbonate can be observed with a single dose taken 60-150 minutes before exercise
- When used before exercise, supplemental dosages of sodium bicarbonate are in the 200–300 mg/kg range. 300 mg/kg appears to be optimal
- Bicarbonate should be sipped slowly over a period of a few minutes with a moderate amount of water (500 mL)
Mental health
Omega 3 (Fish oil)
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil/
Benefits:
- Fish oil causes a potent reduction in triglyceride levels
- It appears to notably improve mood in people with major depression, though it's unclear if it has an effect in people with minor depression.
- EPA, in particular, seems to be the most effective omega-3 fatty acid for this purpose
Drawbacks:
- Many fish oil supplements may contain harmful lipid peroxides (oxidized lipids that can damage cells), but it's unclear if this has notable consequences to health.
- Aftertaste can be annoying. (really hasn't been at all noticeable for me)
Dosage:
- The American Heart Association recommends 1g of combined EPA and DHA daily.
- FDA suggests people take no more than 3g per day.
- Andrew Huberman recommends 1-3g of EPA per day
Tip
Don't waste your money on the capsules. Get lemon flavored fish oil. You'll get 2x more per dollar. It doesn't even taste like fish. They do some werid chemistry to get rid of the fish flavor. It really only tastes like mildly sweet lemon syrup.
Also, keep it in the refrigerator. Youshould also refrigertate capsules.
Caffeine
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/caffeine/
Benefits:
- Caffeine is a powerful stimulant, and it can be used to improve physical strength and endurance.
- Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors which cause relaxation and sedation when acted on by adensosine.
Drawbacks:
- Taking too much can cause jitters, fast heart rate.
Dosage:
- 100-200 mg is recommended.
- 300-400 mg will make me feel 'wired'. Not a particularly nice feeling, but it does help if there's a lot of work that needs to be done.
L Tyrosine
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/l-tyrosine/
Benefits:
- The main benefits of L-tyrosine are related to its ability to replenish catecholamine levels in the brain, which can become depleted under stressful conditions.
- Stressful conditions are usually exercise
Drawbacks:
- limiting efficacy to sufficiently stressful or challenging conditions
Dosage:
- 500-2000mg, approximately 30-60 minutes before acute stressors
- Maximum recommended dose: 150 mg/kg of bodyweight
Alpha GPC:
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/alpha-gpc/
Benefits:
- Mechanistic evidence suggests that alpha-GPC exerts its effects by increasing the synthesis and release of acetylcholine in the brain, where it is involved in memory, motivation, arousal, and attention.
- Acetylcholine is also responsible for the action potential that stimulates muscles to contract. Therefore, it’s theorized that increased acetylcholine levels lead to a stronger signal for muscle contraction and, consequently, increased force production.
- Alpha-GPC is primarily of interest for nootropic or cognitive-enhancement purposes.
- There are a number of rodent studies that support this effect, but it has yet to be shown in otherwise healthy humans.
Drawbacks:
- Alpha-GPC use for at least 12 months was associated with an increased risk of stroke over 10 years.
- However, the currently available evidence is preliminary in nature, so randomized controlled trials and large cohort studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Dosage:
- For boosting power output, studies have used a dosage of 300–600 mg, supplemented 30–60 minutes prior to exercise.
- For attenuating symptoms of cognitive decline, almost all studies used a dosage of 1,200 mg per day, divided into three doses of 400 mg.
Ashwagandha:
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/ashwagandha/
Benefits:
- Ashwagandha is best known for its anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) and stress-relieving effects.
- It also seems to reduce cortisol levels
- Improving total sleep time and sleep quality in people with and without insomnia.
- Ashwagandha has been reported to improve VO2max, and preliminary evidence suggests that it improves upper and lower body strength, lower body power, and recovery.
- Ashwagandha may also improve sperm quality parameters in men with fertility issues.
- Its ability to increase testosterone levels. Preliminary evidence suggests ashwagandha may boost testosterone levels in healthy men as well.
Drawbacks:
- Ashwagandha may cause mild drowsiness and sedation for some people.
Dosage:
- The most common dosing protocol is 600 mg/day divided into two doses, with one taken in the morning with breakfast and the other in the evening.
Longevity
Beta-alanine
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/beta-alanine/
Benefits:
- Beta-alanine has been shown to enhance muscular endurance during high-intensity exercise lasting 1–10 minutes.
- When beta-alanine is ingested, it turns into the molecule carnosine, which acts as an acid buffer in the body.
- Carnosine also appears to exert antiaging effects, mainly by suppressing errors in protein metabolism, as the accumulation of altered proteins is strongly associated with the aging process.
- These antiaging effects may derive from its role as an antioxidant, a chelator of toxic metal ions, and an antiglycation agent.
Drawbacks:
- Large doses of beta-alanine may cause a tingling feeling called paresthesia.
Dosage:
- Studies have investigated a range of 3.2–6.4 grams per day of beta-alanine.[116] To avoid paraesthesia, a dose of 0.8-1.6 grams of beta-alanine every 3-4 hours is recommended.
Template:
Source:
Benefits:
Drawbacks: