SUPPLEMENTS: FAKE OR FACT
It’s time to discuss a subject that can be very controversial and confusing… supplements. There are promises to make our fat melt off, our skin clearer, our sprints faster, our lifts heavier, our hair and nails longer, our abs more defined… Collagen, CLA, Fat Burners, HMB, Pre-workout, Beta-Alanine, BCAAs, EAAs, Creatine, Whey Protein, ATP, and the list goes on and on and on…
How are we supposed to know which ones are actually worth our time and money? Do we look at before and after pictures? Do we type it into Google and see what we find? Do we listen to Instagram influencers selling the product? No, no and no. We are going to look to scientific, peer-reviewed research! AKA… people that have made a career of researching, testing and proving the answers to these questions.
Let’s go over a couple supplements that get the most buzz.
Collagen. We are told collagen will give us fuller, younger looking skin and have anti-aging benefits. Less cellulite, more hydration, less roughness, more elasticity. This sounds pretty great, right? So, we will turn to the experts to see if it’s worth the often high price tag.
A recent study was performed on 72 healthy women with an average age of 36. They received either a collagen supplement or a placebo for 12 weeks. A skin assessment was carried out based on skin hydration, elasticity, roughness and density. The results were that the collagen group had significantly improved skin hydration, elasticity, roughness and density. The differences were statistically significant for all test parameters.
Another group of studies was done with a total of 805 patients. Eight studies use collagen hydrolysate for 8-24 weeks for the treatment of pressure ulcers, xerosis, skin aging, and cellulite. Two studies used collagen tripeptide for 4 to 12 weeks, with notable improvement in skin elasticity and hydration.
Lastly, one study using collagen dipeptide suggested anti-aging efficacy is proportionate to collagen dipeptide content. The results were promising for the short and long-term use of an oral collagen supplements for wound healing and anti-aging with no reported adverse effects.
Up next is Conjugated linoleic acid. CLA for short. It is believed that CLA can aid in weight loss, reduction in body fat, increased lean mass, improved insulin resistance, but there are many doubts that it actually leads to the reduction of body fat.
We will first look at the effects on overweight and obese individuals. Gaullier et al. performed a 24-month controlled study, during which 6 capsules of gel were administered daily. The authors observed that the CLA supplementation for this period in overweight adults is well tolerated, and CLA reduces body fat in overweight humans and can help maintain the initial fat and weight losses over the long term.
In another study, 101 moderately obese subjects who lost >8 % of their baseline body weight in a previous study were subsequently assigned to a 1-year double-blind CLA or placebo supplementation regime in combination with a modest hypocaloric diet. The authors found no significant difference in body weight or body fat regain between the treatments.
As these two studies suggest, the results of supplementation of CLA are very discordant. The reality is, there is not enough research on the effects of CLA in conjunction with physically active humans/athletes on changes in body composition. In conclusion, the doses of CLA we naturally consume through our food, such as fat from beef and dairy products, is a good alternative to supplementation.
Next up… Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate. I know… sounds complicated. Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate is referred to as HMB. HMB is said to improve strength and lean mass gains during anaerobic and aerobic training, and spare muscle protein and speed recovery.
According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, HMB has yet to show a clear benefit in previously trained or competitive athletes. The benefits have primarily been shown in previously untrained subjects and the elderly. This was proven in a double-blind study with experienced weightlifters. There were no improvements found in protein synthesis, one rep max strength, body composition or other measures of anticatabolic or anabolic action.
Increased muscular performance, increased lean mass, faster recovery and decreased muscle soreness and damage. That all sounds pretty ideal, huh? All of these benefits are said to come from branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation.
A study investigated the effect of BCAA supplementation on recovery from eccentric exercise. Twenty males ingested either a BCAA supplement or placebo prior to and following eccentric exercise. The results of this investigation demonstrate that supplementing a controlled diet of 1.2 g/kg/day of protein with 0.22 g/kg body mass/day of BCAA for eight days results in decreased perceptions of soreness in resistance-trained individuals with several years of experience.
Another group of 11 studies were done and found that BCAAs supplementation can be efficacious on outcomes of exercise-induced muscle damage, as long as the extent of muscle damage was low-to-moderate, the supplementation strategy combined a high daily BCAAs intake for a long period of time; it was especially effective if taken prior to the damaging exercise.
There is zero harm in incorporating BCAAs into your fitness routine. As you can see from the studies above, best case scenario is that you may be mildly less sore if you are a highly trained athlete with low-to-moderate muscle damage. So, if you don’t feel like soreness is a huge problem in your training or performance, then leave it out, but if it is, then give BCAAs a try for a couple weeks and see how they work for you!
This next one is a big one. Listen up.
Creatine. Creatine is one of the most popular nutritional training and performance aids for athletes. Studies have consistently shown that creatine supplementation increases intramuscular creatine concentrations which may help explain the observed improvements in high intensity exercise performance leading to greater training adaptations. In addition to athletic and exercise improvement, research has shown that creatine supplementation may enhance post-exercise recovery, injury prevention, thermoregulation, rehabilitation, and concussion and/or spinal cord neuroprotection. Additionally, a number of clinical applications of creatine supplementation have been studied involving neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease), diabetes, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, aging, brain and heart ischemia, adolescent depression, and pregnancy. These studies provide a large body of evidence that creatine can not only improve exercise performance, but also can play a role in preventing and/or reducing the severity of injury, enhancing rehabilitation from injuries, and helping athletes tolerate heavy training loads.
I highly recommend making creatine a part of your daily routine as an athlete!
Beta-alanine is another sports supplement that is commonly used to improve sports performance, specifically short-to-moderate duration and high-power output. The International Society of Sports Nutrition position statement proves: 1) Four weeks of beta-alanine supplementation (4–6 g daily) significantly augments muscle carnosine concentrations, thereby acting as an intracellular pH buffer; 2) Beta-alanine supplementation currently appears to be safe in healthy populations at recommended doses; 3) The only reported side effect is tingling, but studies indicate this can be attenuated by using divided lower doses (1.6 g) or using a sustained-release formula; 4) Daily supplementation with 4 to 6 g of beta-alanine for at least 2 to 4 weeks has been shown to improve exercise performance, with more pronounced effects in open end-point tasks/time trials lasting 1 to 4 min in duration; 5) Beta-alanine attenuates neuromuscular fatigue, particularly in older subjects, and preliminary evidence indicates that beta-alanine may improve tactical performance; 6) Combining beta-alanine with other single or multi-ingredient supplements may be advantageous when supplementation of beta-alanine is high enough (4–6 g daily) and long enough (minimum 4 weeks); 7) More research is needed to determine the effects of beta-alanine on strength, endurance performance beyond 25 min in duration, and other health-related benefits associated with carnosine.
The last supplement I will discuss today is one we all know and love… whey protein. As an athlete, protein is one of the number one nutrients we tend to lack! The main benefit to protein powder is convenience. Sure, ideally, we are getting it from animal and vegetable sources, but let’s face it… sometimes we don’t have time to cook a whole chicken breast and have it on the go. Yes, we have protein bars which many times can be a great option, but with that we have to be careful of fat and high sugar content. With protein powder, we can toss a scoop into our morning smoothie or put a scoop in a shaker bottle and just like that you’re a huge step closer to meeting your protein intake goal.
Why is it so important to meet this goal you ask?
Consuming a source of protein after resistance exercise is essential to maximize muscle protein synthesis and net protein balance, both of which are required to support muscle hypertrophy with training. Beneficial effects have also been shown with whey protein supplementation that extend up to 24 h into recovery with improvements in repetitions to failure, peak aerobic power, and maximal strength.
Consumption of moderate amounts of whey and animal derived protein has been demonstrated to enhance short and long-term protein balance over a placebo. Whey protein isolate lead to a significant increase in lean body mass in resistance trained individuals. Fat loss was also significantly decreased at 8 weeks. One rep max for both deadlift and bench-press were both significantly increased for all treatment groups when compared to baseline.
If you are not already, start throwing in a scoop of quality, certified protein powder into a shaker bottle and drink it after your workouts. You will highly benefit from incorporating this into your daily routine.
Time to wrap up a few final reminders:
1. It is important to start by making sure you are getting good nutrients from whole foods in your diet before considering supplementation.
2. When buying supplements, be sure they are certified. NSF certification is a popular one to look out for.
3. Incorporating protein in your post workout routine is a MUST.
4. Creatine is a highly tested and approved supplement that serious athletes should consider using.
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