Supplements you should NOT take. Part1.

We’ve been talking a lot about supplements, specifically, the ones you should take and the ones that are the best in their category (amino acids, protein) . But there are supplements that are plain useless and some are even dangerous. What about those? In this article you will discover supplements, which should be avoided and what are the reasons for that. Overview will be divided in 2 parts, so make sure you’ve seen both!

Glutamine.

Surprised? Don’t be. It’s one of those supplements that is advertised everywhere – in muscle magazines, DVDs, books, on fitness/bodybuilding websites… but it has no real value. And before you start throwing rotten tomatoes in me, read this:

In 2001 a clinical study by Candow et al was conducted. They’ve tested this on experienced athletes by giving them almost 1 gram of glutamine per each kilogram of their bodyweight on a daily basis. Research has shown no considerable effect on muscle performance, structure or growth. And if you’re taking just 5-10 grams a day (as advertised), why do you expect big gains?

Another series of studies (J Appl Physiol 2002) shown that glutamine doesn’t not improve our immune system when stress is caused by regular intense training. However, glutamine does help to reduce clinical stress as major body burns, AIDS, major surgery recovery, etc.. but does it really matter for bodybuilders?

Dr. John Berardi, Ph.D discovered that Glutamine doesn’t promote any muscle “pump” effects, because it has no effect on total body water, intracellular fluid levels, or extra-cellular fluid levels.

And to conclude this – Clinical studies show that taking a post-workout BCAA drink increase protein synthesis by as much as 48%. When you add glutamine to the same drink, protein synthesis percentage stays unchanged.

And that’s just a brief overview, we will not get in-depth with it. However, these reasons should be enough to save you at least 15 euro per month, otherwise spent on glutamine.

Weight Gainers.

These are simply horrifying. I was a victim of those weight-gainer supplements too. I gained weight like crazy and at one point I realized it’s all fat… Don’t make the same mistake!

Did you know that there could be as much sugar as 35-38 grams per 100 grams of supplement? Hard to believe, but it’s true. And in most cases amount of sugars is between 10 and 20 grams. Just look at this abomination – http://www.cheapuksupplements.com/catalogue/shop-by-category-weight-gain-supplements/interactive-nutrition-mammoth-2500-4.4-kg

36 grams of sugar! That’s almost 2 table spoon full of sugar! You will get fat lightning-fast, that’s for sure! And maybe diabetic.

And it’s not just sugars. Amount of cheap ingredients in all those weight gainer is overwhelming. How do you think they are able to provide such quantities for such laughable prices? Only by using cheap, inferior ingredients. On top of that, amount of protein is quite low (usually under 30 grams per 100 grams of supplement). Add bad saturated fats to the mix and you have your standard weight-gain powder.

Just avoid any weight gaining supplements, even from the best brands like Optimum Nutrition. They are not worth it. Just add 2 snacks (seeds, nuts, fruits/dried fruit, vegetables +some tuna, etc ..) to your current diet and you will achieve much better results. And your body will be thankful too.

In part 2 we will take a look at such supplements as Nitric Oxide (NO), Testosterone booster and few more “recommended” supplements.

Part 2 coming tomorrow……