As the fitness industry booms, tonnes of supplements are being released almost every other day. People are no long treating supplements as supplements but rather take them as if they were necessities. But are supplements truly needed in your fitness journey? Or is it just a sham that the multi-million-dollar industry is pulling off on young, uneducated people? Today, we will take a look at some of the most popular supplements in the bodybuilding industry and see if they are truly worth your money.
Protein Powders
Protein powders while a useful tool, is not something that is very necessary for building muscles. There have been multiple studies measuring the effects from 0.8g of protein to 1.5g of protein per kg of body weight and the results are barely different from each other. If you’re not a professional athlete that is training for hours at a time, protein powders are not necessary in order for you to build muscles. Opt instead for whole food such as fish, chicken and dairy to get your protein as much as possible. The only one circumstance which you should be taking protein powder is if you are not able to have a balanced diet daily due to other commitments. Still, it is always a good practice to have a balanced lifestyle.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAS)
BCAAs are the three essential amino acids that form the skeletal muscle in our bodies. The body utilises it to repair tissue, form muscle fibres and replenish it with energy. The thing about BCAAs however, is that it cannot be produced by our bodies and has to be obtained from the food we take. The health industry chooses to tell us about the benefits that BCAAs bring, but the fact remains that what we take from normal food remains to be more than sufficient to build muscles in us. In fact, most research carried out about athletes taking BCAAs were done when the participants were depleted of nutrients such as protein and carbs. As such, it is safe to say that BCAAs can be skipped unless you’re training often on an empty stomach.
Conclusion
The bottom line for supplementation of one’s fitness journey is that you have to be wary of the macros you are consuming and from there determine whether or not you require the additional supplementation. More often than not, supplementation is not needed at all and you will not see the effects of it (excluding pre-workouts).