Deep down inside, who wouldn’t want to find a magic pill that could give them the body of their dreams? Well, the fitness industry is aware of this and as a result, there are an infinite amount of nutritional supplements on the market.
And do you truly know how to figure out what works and what doesn’t?
So let me save you some money by shedding light on some dietary supplements that aren’t as good as they say:
1. Arginine: The supplement companies claim two things about Arginine. One, that it increases vasodilation-the expansion of blood vessels. Two, that it increases growth hormone. The problem with taking large doses of a single amino acid is that it can block the absorption of others. Moreover, even if Arginine did increase growth hormone production, the body would decrease its own internal production.
2. Mitochondrial transporters: The main supplement here, carnitine, helps push the contents of fat cells into mitochondria-the sites where fat burning takes place. Keep mind, however, that you are much better off spending money on food than carnitine.
3. Cell hydrators: Cells grow whenever they are hydrated. And creatine is a cell hydrator and volumizer. Creatine, however, does not work as good as the supplement companies claim. It does have an effect on your body, but don’t expect massive gains here.
4. Testosterone boosters: ZMA is the main supplement in this category. The problem with this supplement is that you can’t simply take a pill and watch your hormone levels elevate, the body is too smart for that. Once hormones go up, your body will naturally bring them right back down.
5. Protein powders: Protein powders will never be able to rival whole foods. After all, whole foods in the right combinations have the slowest digestion rates you can get. And slower digestion rates translate into better protein synthesis.
There is always going to be a next best supplement hitting the media channels. Just keep in mind that most of the marketing is just hype. More often than not, you will be better off spending your money on high quality food.
Fitness author Katherine Crawford, a fitness physiologist and recent arm fat sufferer, teaches exercises for flabby arms. Figure out how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her blog with shake weight reviews now!