Food must constantly be the first source of nutrients, yet only a few people are able to achieve their daily nutritional needs. As such, this is where dietary supplements enter the scene to fill those gaps.
People are increasingly integrating supplements into their daily diets to improve health and wellness. Based on an international survey by Herbalife Nutrition and Council for Responsible Nutrition, consumers devote about USD$286 annually to vitamins, minerals, and other dietary supplements.
Yet, the question is how to find the right supplements according to your fitness goals. If you’re asking yourself the same thing, read on, as this article will tackle precisely that.
1. Select Supplements That Suit Your Fitness Goals
When you purchase dietary supplements, ensure that you’re aware of your fitness goals and how your chosen dietary supplements will help you achieve such a goal.
Your fitness goals could be:
- Building up muscle mass
- Improving resistance
- Enhancing muscle performance
- Losing weight
- Enhancing joint mobility
Regarding the goal of losing weight, some supplements that can be ideal for you when mixed with the right foods are protein shakes, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), carnitine, or green tea.
If your goal is to improve muscle mass, some supplements you should take are testosterone boosters, mass gainers, or branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), or growth hormones, such as HyperGH 14x. You can go online and read articles discussing HyperGH 14x results testing to help you discern whether or not it’s what you need.
Lastly, if you want to achieve any of the said fitness goals, you can take glucosamine, chondroitin, zinc magnesium aspartate (ZMA), or casein protein.
2. Track What You Eat
You have to track what you eat and how much you’re eating, as it’s precisely what a lot of dietitians advise their clients before such individuals start their fitness journey.
There are various ways to track what you’re eating. You can have notes on your computer or digital device, scribble them down on paper, or use a diet tracking application or website. You can follow the period you eat, the type of foods you eat, portion sizes, and details about what you do or feel when you use most of these approaches.
To provide an example of how to track what you eat, say, you’re drinking a glass of milk and are eating one egg to supply your body with protein. This means consuming approximately 1.3mg of calcium and 0.6mg of iron. Yet, your body needs about 1200mg of calcium and 17mg of iron daily. And so, you can use supplements or food to fill the remaining amount of calcium or iron needed by your body.
3. Examine If You Are Deficient In Vitamins And Minerals
Ensure that you consult your doctor before taking any vitamin or mineral supplements. Visit a medical professional to determine what vitamins or minerals you need most, and then consume them appropriately.
Likewise, if you want to know for yourself whether you lack certain nutrients, then consider these common signs:
- Mouth ulcers or cracks at the mouth corners
- Unideal night vision and white growths in the eyes
- Bleeding gums
- Brittle nails and hair
- Restless leg syndrome
- Red or white bumps on the skin
- Hair loss
If you’re suffering from mineral deficiency, you can experience various health issues, such as weak bones, lower immune systems, and fatigue. This deficiency usually occurs slowly as time passes and can be due to multiple reasons. Some common causes are the scarcity of minerals in one’s diet or difficulty absorbing minerals from food.
Overall, taking vitamins and minerals in the form of supplements is one way to reduce these kinds of deficiencies.
4. Select The Right Supplement Brand
From vitamins and minerals to blends of herbs and nutrients, you can find various supplements on the market that promise amazing health benefits. Thus, it can be challenging to determine which supplements are of excellent quality, which ones are a waste of cash or even possibly hazardous. This is primarily due to narrow regulations that oversee these supplements.
As such, it’s crucial to know how to choose the right supplement brand. Here’s how you can go about it:
- If a supplement product asserts it’s ‘all natural’ or has a ‘money-back guarantee,’ be on guard. Any products that sound too good to be true might be less likely to be authentic.
- Search the Internet for and read customer reviews.
- You must examine the seal of the supplement you’re about to purchase. The seal must be intact.
- The dietary supplement should have a holographic mark.
- Research shows that some products might include more or less of an ingredient than what’s stated on the label. And so, re-examine the ingredients.
To Sum Up
Apart from religiously going to the gym or using using home gym equipment performing various workouts, you can find different dietary supplements on the market to help you achieve your fitness goals, so it’s vital to know how to choose the right one. Some ways to determine the right dietary supplements are in this article. Overall, finding suitable supplements for your fitness goals should always be about filling those nutritional gaps.
About Author
Michael Jones
I am Michael Jones and I support this blog with a group of authors consisting of Personal Trainers, Physiotherapist and sellers of fitness equipment.
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