How important is supplementation to your success in gaining or losing weight? This question has been around for a long time.
The most common reason for using supplements is not being able to get macronutrients and/or micronutrients from everyday foods. How often have you heard that it is almost impossible to get the necessary amount of protein from regular food? Well, I guess if you’re consuming more than 300 grams of protein a day; that would be a lot of chicken breast and tuna.
The fundamental and simple question is whether you need all those supplements to build muscle or lose fat. If you think so, then the answer is simple. And again, if you think not, then the answer is also simple. But as in all things, it is never that simple.
Protein is an interesting topic. Do you need one gram per pound of body weight? If one gram is good, why not consume two grams per pound of body weight? Which peer-reviewed scientific study determined that one gram of protein per pound of body weight is the best ratio for building muscle? Not to question some of the big name bodybuilders, but some of them are associated with magazines and companies that promote and sell protein powders.
Does that make your support for protein supplements suspect? no, not necessarily.
But it should make you wonder why, on the one hand, you have those who claim you need a lot of protein and organizations like the Mayo Clinic who put the number around 70 grams per day. Where did they get that number?
Do we need 1000 mg of vitamin C a day? Do we need a horse pill-sized dose of all the vitamins in alphabet soup every day?
First of all, I have no answers apart from what I read and my very, very limited experience. I am not a guru and certainly not studied in these areas. I know: Eating a well-balanced diet consisting of a rainbow of fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and meats is good for you. Complex carbohydrates like pasta, rice, and potatoes should form the backbone of your caloric intake.
If you feel you need to increase your protein levels, drink more milk. You can eat a handful of nuts throughout the day, or mix granola with yogurt, or drink a couple more glasses of milk a day. Eggs, chicken, tuna, and pork are inexpensive sources of excellent protein.
One chicken breast, one can of tuna, one quart of milk, two eggs, one cup of yogurt, and one cup of peanut/almond mix will provide you with around 154 grams of protein. And that’s not even including the protein in your complex carbohydrates, your grains, fruits and vegetables. So do you need additional protein supplements?
When you’re consuming a wide range of foods, again, do you need a separate multivitamin pill? If you’re not sure you’re getting all your vitamins and minerals, then an inexpensive daily pill might be fine. But that opinion is definitely not based on any scientific reasoning, aside from my biased common sense.
And there are a ridiculous number of pseudoscientific-sounding products and terms that sound great, but are they necessary? Is creatine good but with 100 grams of sugars? How about taking the creatine with grape juice instead, it would be a lot cheaper for sure.
Personally, I don’t really like supplements. At one point, I was spending several hundred dollars a month on protein and creatine supplements. But, as I refocus my fitness goals, I find all of that unnecessary, regardless of whether or not it’s really necessary. And I would venture to say that for most of us it is not necessary either. We can get what we need from whole foods.
I am not a bodybuilding expert nor do I play one on TV. I have never, ever contemplated entering a pageant, let alone being a Mr. Anything other than Mr. Dad. Still, I believe that building a long-term strong healthy body is doable with what you have on hand without a lot of supplements or expensive equipment. Hey, prove me right!
