Hello Warrior! I’m going to be straight up honest, I’ve got a bit of a rant today. I generally try to keep things pretty positive around here. But sometimes, something comes along and I just need to vent (anyone who knows me personally is caught between eye rolling and tongue biting right now). That thing today is supplements.
Americans spend something like $35 billion on nutritional supplements every year. Of course, that number is nebulous at best since the definition of supplement is not agreed upon, but not my point here. We spend billions of dollars on things that aren’t proven to do $#!t.
I’ll admit to contributing to the overall total. I take a daily multivitamin/multimineral supplement, but it isn’t anything fancy. Just the basics. I also keep collagen in my pantry. Again, nothing fancy and I don’t use it daily.
And here is my point of irritation. Supplements, as I’ve said before here on MMW, are just that. They are meant to supplement your diet. Because meat isn’t my favorite thing to eat (I’ve considered going vegetarian several times) and I’m a fairly active person, I sometimes have trouble consuming the amount of protein I should. Thus the collagen to supplement. I personally like it because I can use it in more ways than whey and I notice a huge difference in my (dry) skin too. But the amount I use is a relatively small amount of protein compared to my overall diet.
You will not find special vitamin blends or tubs of pre-workout in my pantry. I try to eat a variety of foods in moderation every day. My daily multivitamins are to fill in any unforeseen gaps. And I am aware that it is most likely a placebo effect.
In fact, my first foray into the world of supplements (despite working in fitness for years) was under doctor’s recommendation. My primary care suggested a very low dose melatonin to help with sleep issues due to anxiety. The dose she recommended was almost impossible to find and, in the end, I hated how I felt with it. I ended up having better luck with some lavender essential oil, a weighted blanket, and focusing on cleaning up a few small areas of my sleep hygiene.
Rather than doing the actual work of looking at how we can improve our diets, we are spending and spending on things that we are sold. Supplements are a multi-billion dollar a year industry because they are marketed to us. We are told by the advertisers and manufacturers that we need them.
Spoiler alert: we (largely) don’t. Unless your goal is a huge amount of hypertrophy, you are training for a marathon and need extra fuel during long runs, or you have an illness or injury that affects how your body metabolizes things, you don’t NEED supplements. Read that again.
What we need to be doing is looking at the areas to improve our diets. More fruit and vegetables for sure. Stop demonizing carbohydrates and choose quality ones that offer filling fiber. Lots of color and variety. And protein amounts that fit your lifestyle and goals. Oh, and wash it all down with water.
And beyond just the food we eat, how are we consuming it? Are we skipping meals or eating in a rush from one errand to another? Not sitting at tables and dedicating time to actually eating? Eating alone or with a screen in front of us? Yup, those are all things that can (and should) be tweaked before adding supplements.
Then, we can look at adding supplements in strategically if the need is there. If you are having trouble meeting protein needs, add a basic powder or shake. A multivitamin if you tend to eat the same fruit and veg. But, honestly, you don’t need much else. That fancy fat-burner is only making your wallet slimmer.
To put this in another perspective, let’s look at the real dollars aspect. The average American household spends a shade under $400 per month on groceries. Specifically food from a grocery store. The average American household spends about that much on restaurants and eating out – yes, take out and delivery count here. (And don’t get me started on the ways eating out is derailing fitness progress, that’s a soapbox for another day.) The average American adult (note, not household) spends $55 per month on supplements. In a $800 consumables budget for a month, almost 15% of it goes to supplements that aren’t proven to work.
As with a daily coffee shop habit, how could your diet improve if you put that supplement money towards real food? Shoot, if you saved that money, you’d have another month’s worth of groceries at the end of a year. So, I’d encourage you, Warrior, to take a look at your pantry and determine if the supplements hiding there are worth your money and worth it to your goals.
Until next time, be well friends!
