It turns out that the world of food supplements is lucrative. Just talk about the price of a kilo of vitamin C which costs 300-400 euros. Everyone sometimes or even often expects profits before quality. It is therefore important to choose the right sources of food supplements in order to make the best choices by asking yourself the right questions.
It is especially important not to rely on the health promises of certain products, which are made by manufacturers who just want to sell their supplements.
On the other hand, well-chosen food supplements can give a real boost when it comes to sport, and they are also very practical.
But the first thing to know is the definition of this food supplement.
What is a food supplement?
As the name suggests, the purpose of food supplements is to supplement normal diets.
The normal diet is a diet that contains nutrients and other elements with a nutritional or physiological effect.
It turns out that sometimes it is difficult to cover the needs with normal diets, that's why food supplements come in support. They are therefore there to compensate for the lack of food. And there are several choices of food supplements.
There is no point in rushing to take and accumulate food supplements without obtaining a solid knowledge base. Choosing a food supplement requires common sense in the field of sport, such as muscle building, fitness, crossfit, etc. The choice of the latter is made in the light of the specific needs of each individual. The choice of the latter is made according to the needs and objectives to be achieved by each (fitness, physical,beginner in bodybuilding etc. )
How to choose your food supplements?
In order to know the right food supplement to buy, you need to know what the person needs and what the expected objectives are. There are several alternative needs, depending on the sport practiced:
- Explosiveness
- Recovery
- And more.
Among these physical qualities useful for sport, it is necessary to see what factors limit progress:
- The athlete wishes to gain strength
- The athlete wants to gain muscle
- The sportsman wishes to have more power
- The sportsman wants to lose body fat
- Or he wants to have more endurance
- The sportsman wants to make up for vitamin and mineral deficiencies
- The sportsman wants antioxidants
- Etc.
Having defined all this, it is now possible to know which food supplements to take.
How to use food supplements
The compositions of food supplements are not the same, even if they are the same supplement but manufactured by different industries.
Therefore, it is important to know what is needed in order to optimise the effects.
One must also be very careful when taking these supplements to avoid it becoming counterproductive. So you should start with a small dose to see what effect it has and how the body reacts after taking it. It is important not to give the body a sudden intake.
As with bodybuilding, you have to do things little by little and with intelligence. However, it is difficult to follow this rule for those who want very quick results and are in too much of a hurry to get everything right away.
vvMany scientific studies have shown that the timing of taking these supplements is very important, always in order to optimise the quality of their action.
When to take the food supplement?
For bodybuilders who wish to take food supplements, there is an anabolic window just after the training session that has expended a lot of effort. This is the right time to take whey protein, BCCA, creatinine, etc.
But there are also written instructions on the boxes to know when to take them.
It should also be noted that the desired effects may diminish over time. In spite of the numerous scientific studies, there are still many unanswered questions from sportsmen and women, such as how long to take the supplement(s).
But this question is mainly a question of common sense. That is, if the athlete feels the desired effect, he can continue to take them. Or if he feels the need to take them after a break, he can resume taking them by increasing the dose little by little.
After a definitive stop in sport or training, it is no longer necessary to continue taking food supplements except for health supplements such as omega 3 and 6, iron, zinc, vitamins, etc.
It should also be noted that the price of food supplements is also an element that should be taken into consideration, as the best food supplements are not necessarily those that are expensive or have the best taste.
Are food supplements doping products?
A lot of people confuse food supplements with doping or products that are harmful to health. But it is mainly people who have no knowledge of nutrition and sports or health supplements.
But first of all, we have to define what doping is. Doping then is the use of hormones or substances that act like hormones in order to improve performance. So doping products are not allowed and are not sold in shops or online on the internet.
Food supplements such as protein, creatine, slimming supplements are not doping products. On the contrary, they are substances that are present in food and have the role of improving the effects on the body and performance.
