What supplements do you need?

What supplements do you recommend?

Disclaimer: Please seek professional medical advice from your doctor before trying out any supplements or drugs. What's written in this article is solely our opinion form through extensive research.

Supplement is; simply put: "a thing added to something else in order to complete or enhance it". This means sorting out your health and fitness basics before thinking about adding supplements. Do take a look at renown coach SoheeFit hierarchy of fat loss:

Notice that supplements aren't in the graph as you seek for fat loss? So please, for those who are just starting out in exercise or diet, we sincerely advise you to look at the pointers above before even considering supplements.

For those familiar, there are 2 supplements that we MAY recommend clients because of the benefits and applicability in our daily lives.
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1. Fish Oil
There are 3 essential type of omega-3: Alpha-linolenic acids (ALAs), eicosapentaenoic acids (EPAs), and docosahexaenoic acids (DHAs) and we are mainly going to focus on EPAs and DHAs in the form of fish and fish oil supplements. These two essential fatty acids are better absorbed by the body and benefits includes: 
​1. Decrease inflammation
2. Promotes joints health 
3. Reduce triglycerides
4. Promotes muscle recovery

Based on our current lifestyle, we also tend to consume more Omega-6 than we need which are refined vegetables oils such as: Corn, Sunflower, Canola and Soy. Reduce these intakes and promote more Omega-3 intakes by consuming more fish such as salmons, sardines, tuna, and trout. 

If you find yourself having some of these symptoms even after reducing Omega-6 and increasing Omega-3, you might want to consider supplementing with good quality fish oil from reputable sources.
1. Craving for fatty food
2. Joint pain
3. Dry skin, mouth
4. slow/soft fingernails

Most worry about having traces of impurities such as mercury in fish oil supplements, so you may want to check your products here:
http://www.nutrasource.ca/ifos/product-reports/default.aspx
www.goedomega3.com/consumers

Or you can simply bite into the first capsule to test for it's freshness, It should be relatively free of fishy taste or smells.

How much to take?
Omega-3 intake can be up to 3 grams per day which is considered safe and do note that sides effects includes thinning of the blood and fishy burps.

2. Protein Powder
Another one of the most studied supplements in the world.
Protein powder mainly derives from milk and even cheese as its contents are separated and processed. Two widely known protein powder are whey and casein, the difference is their chemical bonds which makes whey faster to breakdown and casein slower. It contains the 9 essential amino acids that our body needs and J may not even consider protein to be a supplement but the same category as milk.  

Benefits includes:
1. Promotes muscle protein synthesis
2. Aiding in weight loss
3. Anti-cancer properties (more recent years)

Side effects includes:
1. Acne (high level of consumption)
2. Stomach Cramps and Pain due to intolerance
3. Nausea and Headaches

How much to take?
That would entirely depend on your macro-nutrients and protein requirements.
Someone who is looking to build muscles and increase weight would find themselves supplementing in between meals in order to fulfil the macro-nutrients. If you are looking to lose weight, then you might find yourself replacing it with a meal. 

Do check if your protein powder is safe with independent resources such as:
https://www.consumerlab.com/Search/protein-powder-Review
https://labdoor.com/rankings/protein

Summary
Of course there are more, but we will only advice on a case by case basis and it might or might not work depending on the individual. For example, a client who has fatty liver, we got him to try out milk thistle and it does seem to reduce his visceral fat level, at least on the bio-impedance machine.

Thank you for reading and once again please check with your medical professionals before embarking on any supplementation.

Regards
JG FIT