Thanks. I used myprotein already occasionally for one of their amino mixes (saves me the bother). So will head in there and have a look. Cheers
Used to get maltodextrin for dirt cheap at a beer brewing supplies shop (amounted to pennies/concoction). I suppose itās best to trial cluster and maltodextrin (in a blind test, ideally) in order to figure out which works best for you/your gut.
Iām very interested in this topic, because with all the cardio I do while suffering, Iāve lost quite a few extra grams.
I am 169cm and iām currently weighting only 55Kg! this is crazy thinā¦
I was about to start taking BCAAās but a doctor (youtube) said you should only take these when doing heavy weight and not cardio rutines, because they tend to increase something else (insuline, i believe) and end up been worse,
what are your thoughts?
are BCAAās OK to take while doing only SUF programs without Strenght nor Yoga addons?
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After looking at the commercial Electrolyte Supplement mix - like āHi Lyteā or NUUN came to the conclusion that a mix of sodium and potassium make the base. āNoSaltā is the salt for low sodium diet and mostly contains potassium and costs a little/nothing. I make the mix of table salt and āNoSaltā for a daily workout to compensate for buckets of sweat. I think itās working fine for me so far and does not feel a difference compare to the official electrolytes mix. Question if I miss something? If not - thatās a good hack for you.
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There are a lot of claims about supplements but the performance impact of vast majority of them is marginal at best. But there are at least a few that are safe and effective, to my knowledge. They are:
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creatine: bc it is legal in competition, itās probably one of the most widely studied of all supps and consensus is itās safe and can be effective at improving certain parameters. Still gotta ask if it makes sense for an endurance athlete, for me personally itās a ānoā but YMMV
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caffeine and also apparently beetroot juice are effective ergogenic aids. But again thereās going to be different results for different folks bc thereās genetic differences in how people metabolize (eg I can drink 5 or 6 cups of coffee each morning, my wife is jittery after 1)
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true āsupplementsā like protein powder. Protein is something you can get from food and probably best to get most of it from real foods. But itās not always practical esp bc athletes need a relative lot of it, so thereās nothing wrong with reaching for a supp rather than trying to slam a roast chicken or a pound of edamame after exercising. Some are better than others (eg amino profile etc) but I suspect the impact there is marginal as long as youāre otherwise eating a good variety of healthy natural foods including protein sources.
IIRC, things like standalone BCAAs are mostly garbage / irrelevant, as you get what you need from protein sources anyway abd they apparently donāt do much absent the rest of the protein.
I can dig up my citations but I recommend checking out Stronger by Science, itās a page / coaching company for strength athletes run by some pretty smart folks
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It would be very easy to do a very deep dive on every supplement that is out there. However many of them are superfluous to training, resting, and fuelling correctly. The only one that is often cited as being beneficial to the majority is omega 3 as that is something that is often lacking in most peoples diets and is really beneficial for both health and recovery. Beetroot juice, beta alanine, bicarb and various other supplements have been looked into and seem to be beneficial but they require knowledge to know about the loading period and that is based on a lot of factors of the individual hence why nutritionists and dietitians are in such demand when it comes to using sport supplements. One thing I would avoid is CBD oil as a lot of studies have shown that the actual quantities of the active ingredient in there are often very different to what is stated. Sometimes there is none of it, sometimes there is too much of it, and sometimes the THC is present as well
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I would also add that if at all possible try and get your carbohydrates and protein from food sources rather than supplements. Chocolate milk is as good a recovery drink as I need that you can purchase from a sports nutrition website. However for longer or really intense sessions then carbohydrate supplement such as energy gels and drinks really do have their place
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@devolikewhoa Your conclusions are similar to mine. I donāt take creatine although I have seen the research. I rarely use caffeine but do drink hibiscus tea as it has a positive impact on the inner lining of blood vessels.
I take protein powder but have switched to plant protein as there seems to be an advantage with an overall reduction in inflammation versus whey.
My understanding of beetroot is that the effects are acute for less conditioned athletes but not as acute for more highly trained athletes. I still eat beets for the fiber and nutrients.
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Same here, love beets. My only āsuppsā are caffeine and sometimes a protein powder, but I also try to get the protein mostly from food
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I canāt handle the taste of plant based proteon powders. I have a whey isolate instead. 
@DameLisa I add date syrup and cardamom and use a nut milk and they seem fine.
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sounds deliscious. Worth a shot for sure, thanks!! I
My other reason for staying with isolate, is itās higher in g protein per serve than both plant based alternatives and 100% whey, so I can get away with having less. Seems to agree with me on the inflammation side (am lactose intolerant and have IBS) and Iām not vegan
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In regards to inflammation from whey protein, I havenāt seen that much actual research on that. What I have read is that the bioavailability of plant protein is not as good as dairy or other animal proteins. In other words if you would consume 40 g of plant protein you might only be able to use for example 30. Whereas with animal protein it would be far closer to 40. So if using plant proteins you will likely have to consume more of them and to make sure that they are complete proteins
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@Coach.Andy.T Yes this is true for plant proteins but I donāt really worry about it as I get most of my protein from whole foods anyway.
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Thatās really good then. Things like oats, peas, rice and other vegetarian carb sources have surprisingly more carbs in them than people realise and additional protein supplements are not needed by everyone
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I total how much protein I should be getting and compare to what Iām actually getting. High level of activity requires more, as does older age. For me (active and old) that comes to ~1.8 gm/kg so at 78 kg, thatās 140gm or 560 cal of pure protein. Of course any protein containing food will have more than 4 cal/gram. e.g. beef has ~8cal per gram of protein. Eggs have 12 cal/gm of protein. The calories can quickly add up.
I use magnesium tabs regularly when I train big volumes (for me). When I sweat a lot I also use a hydro tab (electrolites). After a tough and long ride I use a whey protein shake, sometimes I ad some natriumbicarbonate (baking soda) or kurkuma, these should counter inflammation.
I still havenāt found what is best for me to counter the lactic acid, of which I have a lot and have trouble getting rid off.
Hey @MatthiasC ,
Check out this article by @Coach.Andy.T for more insight into the real causes of fatigue and some ways to deal with them: From the Coaches: What is Fatigue?
Cheers,
Spencer
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