Learn about brain health and nootropics to boost brain function
Keeping your body healthy doesn’t end with eating the right foods. You need to make sure that your micronutrients are in check and ready for the day ahead.
It seems like everywhere you look now, there is always a new gimmick on the market to make you gain muscle, lose weight, or be healthier – quicker and easier than the others. If you believed half of the slogans that you read, you’d be out of a lot of money and it’d take you a long time to realize how utterly worthless a lot of these supplements are.
But, while most are a waste of money, we can find the quality in a few supplements here and there. There are supplements with proper scientific research behind it that shows why it works, and how it works. These are the ones that you rarely see at the front section of GNC, but the ones that are well hidden in the back that nobody goes to.
Your body needs a wide variety of vitamins and minerals to perform the millions of processes that keep you alive on a daily basis. Ideally, we get all the vitamins and minerals we need just out of our diet, but with some of the foods we eat, it’s easier said than done.
The quality of the foods that are put out is becoming less and less nutrient dense, which means that we can try to supplement the essential micronutrients into our diet this way.
Any and all holes that are left in my diet are properly taken care of by my multivitamin. I recommend using a high quality, natural vitamin that will give you what you need.
Garden of Life has a great reputation and the research done on their products confirm the quality and potency of their vitamins. It will be a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals that the body needs, as well as probiotics and enzymes to help with absorption.
For women, there is the female counterpart which adjusts the amount of vitamins and minerals that the body needs from a female standpoint. As well as probiotics and enzymes added to help with absorption, antioxidants are also added.
According to the CDC who published research in 2011, over 25% of Americans are at risk of being Vitamin D deficient. The U.S. Endocrine Society reviewed Vitamin D requirements they showed that 1500-2000 UI per day is adequate for ages 19+ if they get 15-25 minutes of sunlight a day.
According to the Vitamin D Council, we see that 5000 IU of Vitamin D is needed for those that do not get enough sunlight.
As many of you know, our body can’t produce Vitamin D without being exposed to sunlight. Being that many of us are sedentary, don’t have too much time in the sunlight, or just don’t have the time to get into the sunlight, we need to supplement this.
Vitamin D is extremely important and deficiencies have been linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Both the Vitamin D Council and US Endocrine Society recommend about 1500-2000 IU of Vitamin D-3 per day for the average adult but recommend more (generally, 5000 IU) if you get little to no exposure to sunlight – which I why I recommend NOW Vitamin D-3.
Not only is magnesium linked with food cravings, it has also been proven to help with blood pressure, maintain healthy muscles, nerves, and bones, prevent kidney stones, revitalize immune system, and even reduce stress.
Magnesium comes in many forms, but you should go after magnesium citrate. This is a form that’s easily absorbed by the body and, while a little bit more expensive, will allow you to get your money’s worth. With other types of magnesium, your body usually excretes quite a lot of excess due to the absorption rate being low.
I recommend taking about 400mg (2 pills) of magnesium 30 minutes before bed as it’s a natural muscle relaxant and can help with sleep quality. We’re choosing to use NOW Foods because they offer quality products at an affordable price.
Omega-3 fatty acids are an essential fatty acid, meaning the body cannot create this on its own and must be received through diet. Although most people will get sufficient Omega-3 on keto, it’s important to keep it in balance with your Omega-6 consumption.
Research shows that taking fish oil can reduce inflammation, blood pressure, risks of stroke, and metabolic syndrome. Fish oil has also been shown to increase memory, cognitive performance, and of course fat loss.
There are two types of fish oil that you can use, triglyceride form and ethyl esters form. Studies show that the triglyceride form will absorb into the body better, and can be broken down more effectively than the ethyl ester counter-part.
You also have to take into account as to how much EPA and DHA each pill contains. The lower quality fish oil will end up having much less omega-3 fatty acids per pill, and that’s the reason that they can market the product cheaper. It’s well worth buying a quality supplement for your health, so I recommend the Nordic Naturals brand. Coming in at 26 cents a pill, this is a fantastic way to boost your health at an affordable price.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids really help with the prevention of muscle breakdown during workouts, which also adds to the recovery process of your muscles.
Generally, BCAAs don’t need to be supplemented if you are eating a proper diet, but they do have a good use as a pre-workout supplement if you’re in a fasted state.
Working out while fasting is a fantastic way to speed up the weight loss process and it’s been proven time and time again. You should take 10g of BCAAs about 10-15 minutes pre-workout in a fasted state.
Glutamine is one of the most abundant amino acids in the body and can be depleted with prolonged exercise.
Research shows that glutamine can reduce the negative effects of exercise on the immune system, improve endurance and reduce fatigue, and help your body more easily deal with the stress of exercise.
Better said, Glutamine can help you push your body harder for better results without the bad side of over-training. It will help your muscle recover quicker, and keep you feeling fresh for another workout.
Many studies show that there is a connection between sleeping and appetite. To be more precise, there is a connection between sleep and a balance of leptin and ghrelin in the body.
Ghrelin is a hormone that’s produced in the stomach and is released when we are hungry. It increases our appetite and the need to eat. Leptin, on the other hand, is produced in fat cells and is released to tell our brain that we’re full. This, conversely, decreases appetite and increases out satiation (fullness).
In one study that was done on 12 men, doctors allowed 2 days of sleep deprivation followed by 2 days of as much sleep as the patients wanted. They monitored hormone levels, appetite, and activity level. In the days when sleep deprivation was encountered, leptin levels went down and ghrelin levels went up.
Because of this, their appetite also went up and the desire for higher calorie foods shot up about 45%.
Getting a good night’s sleep is becoming rarer and rarer these days. Melatonin is a hormone that we naturally produce in our body, but can also be purchased as a dietary supplement. Research shows that supplementing melatonin can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better.
NOW Foods is providing quality products that are getting attention nationwide. They are free of unnecessary chemicals and additives, and they make their products very affordable. Rather than spending millions on marketing campaigns, they let their product do the talking, and spend their money on the manufacturing of quality products.
Clinical dosages of melatonin range between 3-6mg, and is recommended to take about 30 minutes before you go to bed.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, is an amino acid that has been shown to stimulate relaxation and promote sleep.
Research shows that low brain levels of GABA cause increasing wakings after falling asleep.
The supplementation of GABA can help relax you, help you fall asleep faster, help you stay asleep longer, and improve the general quality of your sleep. Again, we’re going with NOW Foods who offer affordable, quality, and reliable products all the way around.
Looking for something else? Head over to our recommended keto products page for more suggestions on the products we and the community use!
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