When you start on your fitness journey, it only makes sense to start with your foundation. It wouldn’t make sense to start putting up the walls of the house before setting that foundation would it? Of course not. If you do that, the house wouldn’t be too strong would it?
Unfortunately, that is where many supplement companies make you think you have to start. They often market the flashy, easy recognizable things, or products you “feel” right away, with no regard to whether you have a foundation of nutrition and the right nutrients to even benefit from their product.
Products such as Pre-Workouts, Protein supplements, BCAA supplements, Beta Alanine supplements, and many more fall in this category.
These supplements can all be helpful ... but they may not be the best starting point. Products like these will be far more beneficial down the road when you have a sturdy foundation in place.
What Supplements Should I Take?
If you’re asking yourself “What supplements should I take,” the truth is, there are probably quite a few you could use to increase your results. But, what you want to do is look at what is MOST important first, then work your way from there.
That is the purpose of the Supplement 101 Series, to lay out what will have the biggest impact on your health and results and work from there.
For starters, I always suggest a high-quality multivitamin.
I know it's not sexy or the type of product you would brag to your friends about. However, a high-quality multivitamin or daily essential nutrient pack should never be skipped over! That's because multivitamin supplements can help account for all of the micronutrients your body needs.
Essential Micronutrients
No matter what your fitness or health goals are, you can, and should, be taking a multivitamin or daily nutrient pack. These products are designed to cover your baseline needs as a living, breathing human being.
You see, your body needs a certain amount of essential vitamins and minerals each and every day to effectively function. These essential vitamins and minerals are like the tools your body uses to do work on itself. If you were to build a house or make home improvements… you would need some tools, wouldn’t you? Exactly.
This is why there are many health issues that can stem from deficiencies in either vitamins or minerals. Falling short on these essential nutrients can also create some roadblocks toward achieving your fitness goals.
Just to name a few, here are some of the roadblocks I'm referring to...
• Slower metabolism
• Inability to recover from training
• Decreased brain function
• Increased signs of aging
• Decreased hormone production
• Low energy levels
…and the list goes on.
Most people do not eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables to provide their body with all the essential vitamins and minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants it needs. On top of that, if we cook or process these foods, which we almost always do, their nutritional value goes down!
Luckily, you can get all those vitamins and minerals in a quality multivitamin or essential nutrient pack.
There are many multivitamin supplements out there to choose from, but it is always best to go with a capsule or powder when it comes to multivitamins.
This is because hard-pressed tablets are so incredibly compacted that your stomach acid struggles to break it down before you pass it.
Some brands will even use petroleum-based coatings to make their supplements easier to swallow. The problem is, this makes it even harder for your body to process those nutrients! This just defeats the purpose of taking a multivitamin to begin with.
Greens & Superfood Supplements
Other than a multivitamin, a high-quality greens powder is one of the best supplements that you can take.
I know we just covered supplements to get your vitamins and minerals for the day … but I don’t want you to think greens supplements are second to a well-rounded daily nutrient pack. Ideally, you should be taking a multivitamin and greens powder together!
Now, you may be thinking, "Well, then why don't companies put their greens product as a part of their vitamin packs?"
Well, that would mean adding an additional 8-12 pills depending on the serving size! I don't think anyone wants to throw back that many pills a day.
So What’s the Scoop On Greens?
Greens are very alkaline and can help to balance dietary acids. This directly impacts our health and results because an imbalance of acidity and alkalinity allows unhealthy organisms to flourish, damages tissues, slow our metabolism, rob our bones and organs of nutrients, and wreaks havoc on our immune system.
On top of that, regular exercise can increase acid production in the body. So even when you're working hard to be healthy, you still have to be conscious of this balance.
Now let’s go ahead and factor in the stress that we put our body through due to the fast pace of society. We all have late nights … long days … and before long we can create an unfavorable environment within our body.
It becomes very obvious that steps need to be taken to reduce the acidity in our body so it can operate at optimal levels, and greens can help with that!
As with any supplement, the product is only as good as the ingredients are. Therefore, you want to look for a greens supplement that uses a wide variety of low-temperature processed ingredients.
Why Are Low-Temperature Processed Ingredients Important to Your Results?
Utilizing low-temperature processed ingredients ensures maximum bioavailability of the greens, grasses, and superfoods in the product.
This is because enzymes are normally found in raw foods, but through the processing and cooking of our food, many get destroyed. Using low-temperature processed greens and grasses can help prevent this from happening.
Supplementing with greens supplements can improve energy, recovery, antioxidant status, and bone health. At the same time, it can also improve digestion and increasing nutrient absorption, promoting a healthy gut, a stronger immune system, and reduced bloating!
In other words, If you really want to get the benefits of a greens product ... using one with low-temperature processed ingredients is the way to go.
Omega-3’s & Fish Oil
One final foundational supplement we need to talk about is Omega-3's. Really, omega-3's go hand in hand with multivitamins and greens.
There are far too many benefits from getting enough omega-3 fatty acids to not add them to your diet. From heart health to joint health, cognitive function, blood pressure, and even weight loss ... omega-3's can make a big difference.
The problem is, most people fall far short of the recommended daily consumption of these anti-inflammatory fats.
If you find yourself struggling to get 3 servings of 4 ounces or more of wild-caught fatty fish … I highly recommend a high-quality omega 3 fish oil supplement. In addition to that, you also want to make sure the fish oil supplement you use has a high concentration of the fatty acids EPA and DHA.
Is Your Foundation In Place?
I know there's quite a bit to take in which is why I wanted to keep this as simple as possible. When it comes to supplements ... start with your foundation.
By taking care of the essential nutrients your body may be falling short on through your diet, you can ensure that your body is firing on all cylinders. As a quick recap, in order to cover your bases, I always recommend these three supplements...
1. High-quality multivitamin or daily essential nutrient packet
2. Low-temperature processed greens powder
3. Omega-3/fish oil supplement
If you want to learn more about these supplements and how they can help, we happen to offer all of them here at 1st Phorm!
For multivitamins, we have gender specific supplements like M-Factor Men and M-Factor Goddess. Or, if you're looking for a complete daily nutrient pack to cover these essential nutrients and more ... we also offer Micro Factor.
We also offer a low-temperature processed greens superfood powder called Opti-Greens 50. Opti-Greens contains 50 hand-picked ingredients designed to optimize your gut health, digestion, energy levels, immune system, and so much more!
If omega-3's interest you, we offer a phenomenal supplement called Full-Mega. Each serving of Full-Mega gives you an incredible 2500 milligrams of omega-3's, most of which comes directly from EPA and DHA!
If you have any questions or need any help, just reach out to our team of NASM Certified Personal Trainers and Nutrition Coaches for free! You can reach them at 1-800-409-9732 or by email at CustomerService@1stPhorm.com.
We want you to be successful, and we’ll help in any way that we can to ensure that you are!
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