My Vitamin & Mineral Stash
I get asked a lot what supplements I use on a daily basis. I’m fortunate enough to work for a great supplement company like Gaspari Nutrition so a lot of my needs are covered and some of those I was able to help design myself. However, I am a firm believer in taking a well dosed multivitamin especially since I’m an active bodybuilder and am constantly subjecting my body to supraphysiological conditions daily. For this reason, RDA’s (recommended dietary allowances) really don’t apply to me and just as my body requires more macronutrients like protein and carbohydrates to grow it also requires higher daily values of certain vitamins and minerals.
My Vitamin & Mineral Stash
Enzymedica Digest Gold – One of the requirements of being a bodybuilder is eating a lot of protein. There just isn’t a way around it. Unfortunately, eating a lot of protein can sometimes upset the GI tract and taking digestive enzymes can help facilitate greater quality of digestion.
AOR Ortho-Core – A good multivitamin should be a staple for just about everyone unless you are able to get all your vitamins and minerals from whole food. I chose Multi-Core because it contains bioactive forms for its vitamin and mineral sources so they don’t eliminated as waste due to poor bioavailability. I also like how the doses are split throughout the day because from anecdotal experience, it’s not optimal to slam the body once per day with large doses of vitamins and minerals.
NOW Foods Ubiquinol – CoQ10 is a remarkable ingredient for maintaining mitochondrial bioenergetics in skeletal muscle and the heart. Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ10 which is most commonly found in the body and also has a higher bioavailability being upwards of 4-8 times more potent per milligram. I prefer taking this in the morning and sometimes even before training as it helps with aerobic respiration.
Life Extension Mega Silymarin - Proper liver health and function is very important to the active bodybuilder due to the fact the liver plays such an important role in metabolizes many of the supplements we ingest and also filters out many toxins. It is also important for glycogen production which is essential for energy. The particular product I take has a high standardization for silibinin which is one of the key flavonolignans responsible for it’s hepatoprotective properties. Like with many supplements, not all silymarin products share the same efficacy or potency.
NOW Foods Ultra-Omega 3 – I should first tell you that I only take fish oil supplements while bulking. The reason being, I eat a lot of fish when dieting down so I get plenty of O3’s in the form of EPA and DHA. When I bulk I tend to eat a lot more mammalian derived meats so having a good O3 supplement with a high EPA/DHA content is vital. I typically take them before bed as EPA & DHA are critical for neurotransmitter regeneration and overall recovery of the nervous system.
NOW Foods Magnesium Citrate – Unfortunately, most multivitamins don’t provide a lot of magnesium and it’s optimal to take multiple doses per day for proper absorption. I take mine before bed because it does help my sleep quality. Beyond being a critical mineral in hundreds of physiological process supplemental magnesium has been shown to increase hemoglobin levels which can increase your ability to transport oxygen to tissues such as skeletal muscle which is critical for performance and health.
NOW Foods NAC – N-acetyl-cysteine helps maintain healthy gluthionine levels in the liver. This is critical in reducing oxidative stress and overall liver health. One drawback of being a bodybuilder is having to ingest copious amounts of food which can require the liver and associated organ systems to work harder and more efficiently. NAC is just one more measure to help insure your liver is functionally properly as pound down the calories.
Jarrow B-Right – A good B-complex is essential for proper macronutrient assimilation. Being water soluble your body does not store these so when you don’t need the they are eliminated. I only add in a B-complex to my multi when I’m really eating an excessive amount of calories as my multi is sufficient, but I tend to drink a lot of water which causes them to be transported out of my system faster. Like AOR Ortho-Core, B-Right contains an excellent array of bioavailable cofactors which is optimal for the active athlete.
Jarrow GPLC – Carnitine is a great ingredient and while there are numerous forms, I’ve been using glycine propionyl-l-carnitine as of late. GPLC has some decent research which can also be likened to the research available for proprionyl-l-carnitine. It really helps with mitochondrial energy production and even has some mild cognitive effects. I don’t take it daily, but occasionally I’ll pop a few caps before training.
Cognizin Citicoline – This is one of the more exotic nootropics I take and I’ve always been impressed with research for citicoline. It has been shown to increase cognitive performance and assist in maintaining brain health. Being a researcher I spend countless hours pouring over journals and text books which at times is just mentally exhausting. Anecdotally, citicoline helps keep me focused and allows me to hit the books a bit longer by helping maintain optimal levels of numerous neurotransmitters.
As you can see I’m a bit obsessive in my approach to supplementation, but then again I’m constantly exercising put both my mind and body. Beyond maintaining a good diet in my quest to a be a competitive bodybuilder I also want to make sure I’m providing my body with the essential cofactors to help recover properly and to perform optimally both in the gym and at my job. Anyway, this is just a basic look into my supplement regimen beyond the protein powders, creatine, etc. If you have in depth question feel to ask.
