Supplements series part 2: Brendan’s Regimen

Last week we talked about skepticism surrounding nutritional supplements and the importance of non-daily dosing. While I maintain a healthy dose of skepticism, I also maintain a relatively steady dose of select supplements. Let’s take a closer look at a few things I use on a regular (but not always) basis:

Multivitamins 

I eat a varied diet with lots of healthy organically raised produce, nuts, meats, and healthy oils.  I avoid processed foods, grains and most legumes.  I think it’s a pretty comprehensive diet, but acknowledge that there can still be micronutrient deficiencies even in the best of diets.  Now, I do think some of the claims from health experts (particularly those who sell vitamins) regarding micronutrient deficiencies are overblown and often unfounded.  Nevertheless, I supplement my diet with a high-quality multivitamin, the Primal Blueprint master formula.  Even though I trust the manufacture implicitly, I am still a little bit skeptical about putting some artificially created substance into my body on a daily basis.  Therefore I typically take this only about 3 or 4 days a week.  When I first started taking this I did notice a significant improvement in my energy.  It also claims to “support immunity”—whatever that means.  But I can say that I always take this when traveling and rarely get sick.  One thing is for sure: these things pack a potent punch–Do not take them on an empty stomach or you will feel a curious and unpleasant burning sensation!  At least you know its not just placebo. The other way you know they’re working is that your urine will turn a neon yellow.  Yes, I know its just excess B vitamins being excreted, but certainly makes you feel that you have ingested something powerful! 

Zinc / Magnesium / B6 (ZMA) 

This has been a big one for me lately, especially as I’ve become more and more obsessed with sleep. Apart from melatonin (which I haven’t yet felt the need to take), ZMA is one of the most widely used sleep-promoting supplements around. I have found that taking this supplement immediately prior to sleep seems to help particularly with my deep sleep as measured with the Oura ring.  Although I use this for its sleep properties mostly, it is widely touted in bodybuilding circles and among athletes as a great tool for muscle health and recovery. Both Zinc and Magnesium are utilized by muscles, particularly with strength training and are often deficient in the diet. For the same reasons owing to suspicion about manufacturing and purity, I don’t take it everyday and have tried to rotate which brands I use. added bonus: its dirt cheap!  

Collagen 

This has been a recent addition to my supplement regimen.  There is a lot of buzz about the importance of collagen in our diets and the lack of it in most people’s diets.  Even though I eat a pretty good amount of animal products, I did realize that I am getting substantially less collagen than I probably need.  Additionally as I get older, I realized I need to take better care of the largest sources of collagen in my body—cartilage!  To be clear, you can get plenty of collagen if you drinking bone broth on a daily basis or eating your animal meat “snout to tail.”  But noshing on chicken meniscus or beef hide is not my idea of a tasty meal.  So I supplement instead with collagen powder.  I did experiment it with a few different brands including some that are mixed with MCT Oil.  Some of these are ostensibly pretty tasty, but in general I like to avoid foods with artificial sweeteners as they seem to trigger cravings more than quench them.  So I guess my preference is unflavored collagen peptides.  The addition of MCT oil is nice if you are trying to get into ketosis, but once again I have always been in favor of doing things more naturally and get into ketosis more via fasting and avoidance of starchy carbohydrate. 

So right now that’s it. Just those three. Nothing sexy or too expensive. I certainly have been interested in some of the newer things the experts are talking about, including NAD and even metformin. But for now, simple and intermittent is how I take these supplements.