Supplements 101
What you need to know about supplements
The good and the bad.
The Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) was created to regulate manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded.
However, since 1994 the amount of supplements that enter the market every year has exploded to a degree that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has failed to keep up with. Furthermore, supplement companies don’t have to provide premarket evidence of product safety and efficacy of their products before release, so products that make false claims for their effectiveness or have additives that are not on the ingredients list can take the FDA years to effectively regulate.
Some of the most concerning unlisted ingredients that have been found in products over the years and persist to this day are heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury), bisphenol-A (BPA, which is used to make plastic), pesticides, or other contaminants with links to cancer and other health conditions.
So the bottom line is don’t trust the labels of products you haven’t researched first.
The Good News
Fortunately for us there are private, third party groups that test the contents of supplements as well as companies that pride themselves on responsible practices, so you just need to do a little searching.
Here are some third party testing companies:
RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTS
Creatine Monohydrate (Creapure) is the only supplement I have ever taken that I can confidently say that I feel the difference while taking. I feel stronger, my muscles are bigger, I have more energy, I’m mentally sharper, and it helps with my depression. I started taking it in 2024 and I wish I started taking it years ago.
Creapure is a proprietary, brand name of creatine monohydrate that is widely regarded as the highest quality available on the market, so make sure your creatine monohydrate says Creapure on it.
I’ve taken whey protein isolate for most of my life to keep up with the protein demands of my high activity lifestyle. I’ve taken many different brands over the years and I don’t know if I have ever noticed any difference, other than the different flavor offerings. But I like the idea of buying from a company that has high standards for their ingredients so I go with Momentous at the moment.
For those of you who are plant based, pea protein is the next best thing to whey protein. I haven’t tried this protein before but it highly regarded form reputable sources and is NSF certified.
DISCLAIMER
I am not a doctor, a nutritionist, a dietitian, or anybody with any formal qualifications of any kind having to do with food, diet, nutrition, supplements, or anything even close. The information I have provided is purely based on articles I have found on the internet and my own personal experience. I do my best to pull information from reputable sources but it’s important to understand that even the doctors and scientists get it wrong a lot more than anyone wants to admit and money is the ultimate disrupter of truth. It’s up to all of us to stay informed and accountable for your own health and what you put into your body.
