Time to get back to the basics.  In order to build strength and muscle one must first understand what weightlifting is actually doing to the body to produce growth.  With this knowledge making the right choice in supplementation is easy.  When we lift weights and push ourselves pass our limits we are actually inducing microscopic tears in the muscle fiber.  That’s why after a good work out we are sore.  The human body evolved in such a way that we adapt to caused trauma (microscopic muscle tears, broken bones, etc.) by recovering the affected area stronger than its original state.  This is called progressive overload when having to do with weightlifting and muscle growth.  The idea is that the harder we train, the more trauma we cause to the muscle fiber, the bigger and stronger the muscle will grow.  This is where supplementation can come in handy.  Certain supplements allow us to train harder and longer and ultimately cause more trauma to the muscle fiber which translates to greater muscle growth.  Creatines are great for this.  ANS Diesel Fuel is a customer favorite.  MSI CXS Revolution is also excellent for those trying to keep water retention to a minimum.  Pre-workout powders are also another good choice for increasing workout overload.  BioRhythm’s SSIN Juice is one of the craziest pre-workout powders I’ve ever tried.  Another aspect of muscle growth is recovery from those intense training sessions.  If the muscle is not completely recovered by the time you work it out again it will not grow and performance will be diminished.  The faster you recover the sooner you can get back in the gym to stimulate more muscle growth.  Supplements that promote a faster, fuller recovery include but are not limited to protein, glutamine and BCAAs.  Intek makes an excellent protein and BCAA powder.  BioRhythm makes a product called AfterGlow to be consumed right after a workout; this is the best stuff Performance Nutrition sells for recovery.  Stress the muscle, recover the muscle and rule the gym!

If you shop for your supplements at discount stores you may be seriously shortchanging yourself because those products typically use cheap synthetic isolates.

Millions gorge themselves on synthetic vitamins, only to acquire and die from degenerative diseases.

You see, isolated vitamins are partial vitamins, combined with other chemicals. They’re a low-end alternative to whole, real complete food.  When you remove a part from the whole, you get ‘Synthetic,’ ‘Isolated,’ or ‘Fractionated’ pieces of the whole, but it’s simply not the same. 

There are four problems with synthetic vitamins…

1. Nature intended for you to consume food in WHOLE form because all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes are together in one package. They work synergistically to give your body the nutrition it requires for optimal health. 
2. Your body only absorbs a small percentage of an isolate form of vitamins and minerals – and it utilizes even less. You get the best bioavailability in whole food form.
3. Synthetic vitamins often give you massive quantities of some nutrients (usually the most inexpensive ones) and insufficient quantities of others, not balance.
4. You can experience side effects of synthetic isolates from the additives and the unnatural state of the synthetic supplement.

You’ve heard it before… Fast food and a sedentary lifestyle can be a disaster for your health.

Don’t let your multivitamin add to the collateral damage.  In fact, you want to be sure it makes a real and significant contribution to your health, especially if you’ve already adopted healthy lifestyle practices.

Check out ANS Natural Vita Greens for a good whole food based multivitamin.

Inflammation promotes blood vessel disease, heart attack and stroke. Researches found that a low-carbohydrate diet reduced markers or inflammation and blood fats better than a low-fat diet in people with MS. MS is a group of symptoms linked to poor metabolic health that include insulin resistance, abdominal fat deposition, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low HDL (the good cholesterol), inflammation, type 2 diabetes and blood-clotting abnormalities. Low-carb diets reduced inflammation and improved blood-clotting regulation better than low-fat diets in people with MS.

Overfeeding gradually leads to increased fat mass. Arginine supplements prevented fat accumulation in rats fed high-calorie diets. In a study genetically obese rats were fed diets high or low in fat. Fat pad weights were 74 percent higher in rats fed a high-fat diet. Supplementing their diet with arginine reduced fat increase by 50 percent. Arginine treatments resulted in lower blood levels of leptin (weight controlling hormone), glucose, triglycerides, urea, glutamine and branched-chain amino acids. The arginine-fed rats also had higher levels of nitric oxide, an important marker of metabolic health. If these results apply to humans, taking arginine supplements might be useful in athletes trying to gain quality weight.

Sleep disturbances cause daytime sleepiness, accidents, constant fatigue, depression, heart rhythm disturbances and irritability. Studies show that older men with low testosterone levels had lower sleep efficiency, woke up more often at night, spent less time in deep sleep and had lower blood oxygen levels at night than men with normal testosterone levels. Many physicians are reluctant to prescribe testosterone to aging men because they fear it will lead to sleep disturbances and other side effects. There is no correlation to testosterone treatment and sleep apnea. Millions of men have had testosterone therapy and had no increased incidence of sleep apnea. Low testosterone levels can lead to poor sleep quality, but the problem might be remedied with testosterone supplements.

As the nation copes with a shortage of vaccines for H1N1 influenza, a team of Alabama researchers has raised hopes that they have found an Achilles’ heel for all strains of the flu — antioxidants.

In an article appearing in the November 2009 print issue of the FASEB Journal, they show that antioxidants — the same substances found in plant-based foods — might hold the key in preventing the flu virus from wreaking havoc on our lungs.

“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza and the rapid spread of this strain across the world highlights the need to better understand how this virus damages the lungs and to find new treatments,” said Sadis Matalon, co-author of the study.

“Additionally, our research shows that antioxidants may prove beneficial in the treatment of flu.”

In a study published in the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal, Harvard researchers concluded that a deficiency in Omega-3 fats is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.  On a positive note, fish oil supplements, a convenient source of omega-3’s, were found to dramatically reduce allergies among infants when mothers began taking the supplements during the 25th week of pregnancy and continued while breastfeeding.  For people of every age, benefits of fish oil include heart and brain health, improved blood sugar control, and reduced pain and inflammation. 

With all of the press on “red” super foods like acai the green super foods sometimes get over looked.  Spirulina is a specific type of algae that is nutritionally dense, concentrated with protein, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, healthy fat, chlorophyll and enzymes.  Spirulina has been used to ward off disease, provide energy, and help you stay fit.  It is available in both pills and powders.  Look for it in Healthy Greens by Optimum Health Nutrition.

The body’s aging process can be compared to rusting, which in this case happens from the inside out.  Rusting is a result of cumulative free radical damage.  Free radicals are compounds that are unstable and can damage the body’s cells if left unchecked.  Free radicals come from our normal metabolism and our environment – for example exposure to sun, x-rays, cigarette smoke, saturated fats, alcohol, ozone, automobile exhaust, heavy metals and many other sources.  If we don’t do something about neutralizing free radicals the aging process can be accelerated as these compounds do damage to the bodies cells.  Conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and many of the health issues of aging are all linked back to free radical damage.  In order to help neutralize the damaging effects of free radicals we need to take antioxidants.  Antioxidant combination formulas are a great source of antioxidants as well as greens foods and super fruits such as acai and pomegranate.  We recommend using a whole food based multi like ANS Vita Greens as well.

10 million Americans are estimated to have osteoporosis.  Women are four times more likely to develop this condition than men.  1 out of every 2 women and 1 in 8 men will suffer from an osteoporosis-related break in their lifetime.  It takes much more than calcium to have healthy bones.  Using just a calcium and vitamin D supplement won’t do the trick.  We now know that other nutrients such as magnesium, vitamin k2, silica, vanadium, strontium and trace minerals play a huge roll in bone health and strength.  Combine this with proper diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes and you should see improvements in your bone health.