expert opinion
 

On these supplements and their usefulness to an athlete and if they are really needed...

• B-100
• Cayenne
• Ginkgo
• Alpha Lipoic Acid
• Acetyl L-Carnitine

I don't take a lot of stuff, but I am looking to keep my supplementation to the bare minimum to save money and cut back on usage.

I'm thinking my staples would be:

• Fish Oil (12 g per day, Costco brand... helps with inflammation and lipid profile)
• High Quality Multi (if anyone has a great suggestion that would encompass a good amount of B vitamins as well it would be great, I take a whole food vitamin but I want to hear if you guys have a great one that is low cost and good quality)
• B-12
• ZMA
• Vitamin D (5000 iu a day)
• Calcium

Help a brother out. :) thank you.

and if you have any suggestions as to what you guys recommend, it would be appreciated as well... I'm looking to simplify and add to my health without overdoing it.

I was checking out NSI's line of multis as well, they seem to be pretty decent for a good cost..

Everything in your staples is good.

Everything else you asked about is generally useless.

The only things you really need beyond that are whey and/or creatine if you're looking for better performance.

can you explain why you think that the asked about products would be useless? Isn't ALA and ALC two very beneficial supplements as far as fat metabolism and anti-oxidants go?

I'm looking for answers beyond google, because I do search and read, I want to hear people's opinions who train like I do.

Keep in mind I don't eat nearly as many veggies as I should so I tend to take the antioxidants to try to "make it somewhat ok" :D

isn't cayenne great for circulation as well?

Cayenne is a food. Put it on vegetables.

Maybe this is more important than the pills.

If you eat meat like most people on here, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't need the B12. Unless you have absorption issues, in that case fix 'em.

You can if you want. Well, the studies have been kind of like Vitamin D where there's some benefit whereas if you piece together the information with D you can find out it's very critical. The rest aren't, so it's up to you if you wanna shell out the bucks for a potentially small if any benefit.

You should definately work on eating more veggies, or perhaps berries if not to get most of of your antioxidants. Food is most important, but it was a supplement question....

Supp's really depend on how much $$ your prepared to part with and what your goals are.

•B-100 Get any extra B's from a multi
•Cayenne Eat as food as Rob said.
•Ginkgo maybe

The below 2 have some pretty compelling human evidence if you ask me, but are pricey.
•Alpha Lipoic Acid Make sure you get the R+ form or dont bother.
•Acetyl L-Carnitine


The staple all look sensible before getting into exotics like ala, alc, except B12(get from meat or multi), and why so much fish oil? 3-5g range is usually ok or take even less and top up with salmon/sardines.