My Supplement Pills & Potions — Optimising Health, Energy & Gains

Setting the Scene for Optimal Nutrition

You’re are what you eat. Think about it for a second…

Every cell in your body turns over every two years, meaning that you are in a constant state of renewal. Your genes and DNA pass copies/instructions over to the new cells that allow you body and physical expression to stay pretty much constant. But as we age, we notice the deterioration physically, functionally and cognitively.

That’s just life… but we absolutely can stack the conditions in our favour.

So, if we are constantly replenishing the cells within our body, what do you think fuels this work? Yep – the things you ingest will either help or hinder the complex metabolic and cellular processes that are both critical and usually taken for granted.

If we eat food that is known to be bad for us, be it inflammatory, destructive, nutrient deficient or just throwing the complex orchestration of internal processes out of whack, internally it can represent a war zone of panic and lots of wasted energy trying to correct these wrongs.

This energy is taken away from more productive activities, and when combined with having chronic nutrient deficiencies in your diet, the net result is a deterioration of skin, joints, mind, gut, thyroid function, organs and muscle performance and many many more functions within you body. We’ll cover Leaky Gut in a subsequent post.

Prescribed medicines and quick fix pharmaceuticals are not the solution. If you’re putting cheap ineffective fuel into your car, or worse diesel into a petrol engines, it’s obvious you’re going to run into problems.

Yet, we’ve not systemically pieced this together within society, that our body needs good fuel to run optimally, and the difference between crap nutrition and ideal nutrition could add decades of youthful experience to our lives as opposed to feeling and looking old way before our time.

Moreover, bad diet is proven to be the lead cause of many societal issues we are grappling with in western culture – such as Obesity, Diabetes, Chronic Fatigue, Arthritis, Gut Conditions, Thyroid issues and mind-related conditions.

“If you’re putting cheap  ineffective fuel into your car, or worse diesel into a petrol engines, it’s obvious you’re going to run into problems”

What should we do?

It really starts with having a largely whole-food diet and dialling down on the processed packaged foods. If it’s been scientifically engineered for taste and addictive properties, has tons of marketing thrown at it, and comes in packaging with lots of ingredients then you should look to make these foods a minority of your overall diet.

This is NOT about calories and weight loss (albeit it’s absolutely linked), instead the guiding principle should be about nutrient density in the foods you consume the majority of the time. Follow AdapNation’s Food Diary for ideas and approaches in making nutritious and tasty food that ticks all the boxes.

If you can follow this basic principle, across animal-based and plant-based foods, you will go a long way towards giving your body what it needs.

In that case, why do Supplements?

For me, I see supplement as a catch all. Certain nutrients to optimise my health and performance are hard to source from food at the optimal volumes, plus my diet can vary a fair bit day-to-day.

Add to that the need for sufficient protein and healthy fats, especially if you have the goal of developing your muscles, and it just makes sense to optimise your intake to get the best results (on top of a well executed training programme of course).

To be clear, supplements are not essential. If your budget does not allow, or you know your diet is dialled in, then much of supplements I take are just to make sure the reservoirs of said nutrient/thing are maximal. If you only took extra Vitamin D, a quality Fish Oil, and a good Multi-vitamin on top of a good diet, you’d be in a good place.

So what do I take, and why?

FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm seriously dialled in. It's all about optimising my food and nutrition for maximum benefit. Take a look at what I take and why (at a high level), and make your own decision on what would help support optimal health for you.

Pill Form:

#1 – Wellman Sports Multi Vitamin – I used to take these daily. Now, having confidence in my meat-dominant diet nutrition, I’ve dropped to once every 5-7 days. This give me the confidence that any gaps are being filled (albeit synthetically), without unnecessarily spending and over consuming.

#2 – High-Grade Omega 3 Fish Oil – Fish Oil capsules can be of questionable quality with the fish oil oxidised, defeating the purpose. Go for the highest concentrations of DHA and EPA you can afford. Important for cognitive function, joint health, hormone production and battling inflammation. As modern diets contain far too much pro-inflammatory Omega 6’s, it’s important to balance the ratios with daily Omega 3. We take high-quality. We take a teaspoon of Nordic Oil High-Strength daily.

#3 – Vitamin D3 – 4000 UI a day. Best source of Vitamin D is actually sun exposure. Vitamin D is a critical hormone for recovery and repair within the body. Maximise your intake, especially in the cold and dark months where skin exposure to sunlight is minimal. See this Vitamin D Article.

#4 – Probiotic – Minimum of 20 billion CFU’s.Gut health determines overall health. The amount of genes in our microbiome outnumber our genes in our genome by a staggering 100 to 1. To a degree, you get to choose which bacteria (and therefore gene expression) that live in your gut. Mind-blowing! I take Intelligent Labs Probiotics and Prebiotics – has 50 billion CFU’s from 10 strain species and has built-in prebiotic that helps the probiotics survive.

#5 – ZMA & Magnesium Taurate – Zinc and Magnesium are typically deficient in most average western diets. Supplementing with these minerals aids with rest and recovery. Very important if you are needed to repair worked out muscles and calm the nervous system after training and before going to bed. Check out this AdapNation Top Tip Article on Magnesium.

#6 – Glycine – I take Glycine with Magnesium Taurate to help inhibit my sympathetic nervous a little after my training, and before going to bed. Glycine helps reduce cortisol, and more gently brings you down from being amped up after training than say GABA. Additionally Glycine helps increase Serotonin and is slightly anabolic, helping rise mTor after training.

#7 – Alpha GPC – 1 capsule per workout. A wealth of research on this compound supports a role for enhancing cognitive function, increasing strength and stimulating the release of growth hormone. As a Type 1A Neurotype, I have low levels of acetylcholine which is one of the reasons why I can’t tolerate a lot of volume and are stronger than I am explosive. This membrane-bound choline molecule supplies the necessary and rate limiting compound for acetylcholine neurotransmitter synthesis.

Powders & Liquids:

#8 – Goat Whey / Clean Whey Powders – I take1x Goat Whey or Unflavoured Whey Protein prior to a workout. I opt for clean Protein powders with no extra ingredients, flavours and sweeteners where possible. Just don’t need the extra stuff, especially daily. Whey has a fast absorption rate of 15-30mins.

#9 – Creatine – A must have, for anyone pursuing any fitness goals. We all have a creatine store within our muscles to assist with energy and force production when needed. The thing is, we deplete that energy too quickly when we work out, and getting enough Creatine is difficult, especially if you don’t have enough red meat. Creatine is safe, makes you stronger and fills out your muscles.

#10 – Bone Broth – All the rage at the minute, Bone Broth claims to be a super addition to your diet. The active ingredient being collagen, that is not regularly consumed in normal diets. Assists with protecting joints, maintaining healthy skin, supporting a healthy gut, general immunity and promotes anabolism. I take a gravy-like supplement from Best Of The Bone that I mix into hot water. Just tastes like a healthy cup-a-soup.

#11 – Caffeinated Coffee – Not needed per se, but is a nice mental and physical lift to have a little caffeine pre workout. Personally, it makes a difference to my workouts as I train early in the morning. Gets things fired up, and wakes up my mind to go lift heavy. Or, I drink my Awesome Morning Fuel concoction! I stick to one coffee a day, and take a day off a week to re-sensitise.

#12 – Leucine – 3-6g a day. Leucine is the primary BCAA that is used for protein synthesis. To optimise the 1%’s, it’s theorised that isolated Leucine 10-20mins before a workout  further stimulates protein synthesis and protein availability during a workout – necessary for muscle development.

#13 – L-Tyrosine – 500mg on training days. Tyrosine is a popular dietary supplement used to improve alertness, attention and focus. It produces important brain chemicals that help nerve cells communicate and may even regulate mood. As I am dopamine sensitive and perform dopamine dominant training (I’m a Type 1A Neurotype), this acts as a good way to my dopamine levels.

#14 – CBD Oil (tincture) – TRIALLING – The science and claims are still fairly fresh, but there seems to be a global groundswell in the wellness and anxiety-reducing benefits of CBD Oil. CBD is extracted from Hemp, but does not contain the psychoactive molecule THC. The reason for giving this a go is to help improve my evening wind down and sleep. Too early to tell if it’s making a difference…

Does Supplement Timing Matter?

This may surprise you, but it actually does. The primary considerations are:

1. Can the supplement cause any GI distress. If so, best taken with food.
2. Does the supplement struggle making it’s way through the GI tract? For example, Probiotics. In that case, take on empty stomach or with a little fatty food source.
3. Is the Supplement fat-soluble? I.e. does it need fat to transport it to your cells. If so, take with food that has a fat source. Such as Vitamins A, D and K.
4. Is the supplement designed to acutely excite or enhance performance? If so, take before a workout or in the morning.
5. Does the supplement offer calming, recovery or restorative properties? Think about taking these supplements before bed (e.g ZMA, CBD and Glycine) or after a workout.

Ultimately, do what you can

I am by no means advocating that the only way to lead a vital life is to follow my supplement and nutrition regime. Instead, I hope you feel a little more informed on what supplements are likely to offer broad value for the general population, specific to whether you are physically active or trying to deal with some wellness symptoms through nutrition.

Take what resonates with you most, and remember the most important thing is to get your diet in check. When you get to the level of wishing to optimise beyond diet, augment with supplements that you can afford and make a difference to how you feel.

Lastly, don’t expect a supplement to change your world in a day, or a week even. You are trying to restore optimal balance in your body on an ongoing basis, and that takes time.

Once diet and sleep are in a good place, give a supplement a month or so of consistent recommended dosing, and look to take a read of the subjective areas of mood, energy and wellbeing, as well as objective measurements such as bloat, gas, performance in the gym, hunger control, muscle size and sleep quality.