Because of massive increases in the rates of weight gain, the supplement industry is booming. In fact, sales of supplements are in the range of billions of dollars.
Unfortunately, because of loose regulations most products are a waste of money.
So here is an analysis of some common supplements:
1. Powdered protein: Ignore all the marketing hype, you are not going to lose 20 lbs of fat and gain 10 lbs of muscle by having protein from a tub. In fact, your body is far better off with solid protein because it digests slower.
2. Carbohydrates: Just like protein, your body works better with slow digesting carbohydrates. The only time you should consider taking supplemental carbohydrates is during exercise that lasts longer than one hour and immediately after resistance training.
3. Stimulants: The primary stimulant in most weight loss formulations is caffeine, ignore all the marketing hype. Now caffeine is very useful when taken in moderation. You will run into problems when you start abusing it.
4. The bone mineral: Calcium has received a lot of attention recently. After all, some research has shown it to be harmful for the heart. So try to get most of your calcium from leafy greens. And if you are deficient consider a supplement that is low dose.
5. Omega 3 fish oils: Although very healthy, many people are overdoing consumption here. Anything in excess is bad for you and omega three oils are no exception here. So never have more than 2 grams per day for the best health benefits.
6. Vasodilators: While these products do make your muscles feel tighter when you are exercising, the effect is short lived. So save your money here and use natural products that produce the same effect. One such product is natural green tea.
More often than not you are going to be far better off saving your money here. However, you can experiment with some of the above supplements and see how your body reacts.
Writer Katherine Crawford, an exercise physiologist and recent flabby arms sufferer, teaches how to get slim arms. Figure out how to get sexy arms by exploring her blog with shake weight reviews now!