Creatine, Fibre and Protein! The Three That Earn Their Place
Alex asked which supplements are worth taking and which are worth skipping. Here's the whole list, with doses, and nothing on it I don't take or wouldn't give my own family.
Creatine monohydrate. 3 to 5 grams a day, every day. The most studied supplement in sport, and one of the few that does what the label says. It helps your muscles produce force in short, hard efforts — most of what we do. Timing is irrelevant. Take it on rest days too. Don't bother with a loading phase, don't pay extra for a fancy form. Monohydrate, unflavoured, a few pounds a month. Expect to gain about a kilo in the first few weeks — that's water drawn into the muscle, exactly what's meant to happen. It isn't fat. Don't let the scales talk you out of it.
Fibre. 30 grams a day. Most UK adults get about 20. This is a food problem, fixed with food — vegetables, beans and lentils, oats, wholegrains, fruit with the skin on. Fibre feeds the bacteria in your gut, and it keeps you full, which solves a lot of the snacking problem. Count it for three days if you want to know how far off you are. It's usually a shock.
Protein. 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilo of bodyweight a day. I've talked on this exhaustively. YOU NEED protein and way more than you think. Most people, especially vegetarians and vegans, will need to supplement. Tbh, protein powder isn't really a supplement. It's food in a tub, and a reasonable way to close a gap. Hitting your protein without it means you don't need it.
Vitamin D, while we're here. UK adults are advised to take 10 micrograms a day from October to March — there isn't enough sun in this country to make it ourselves. That's general NHS guidance. If you're on other medication or have a condition, that's a conversation with your GP.
What to skip. Fat burners. BCAAs — pointless if you eat enough protein, useless if you don't. Most greens powders, an expensive way of not eating vegetables.
One last thing, because I'm being asked. Peptides — the injectable stacks doing the rounds online. We don't go there and we won't. They're unlicensed, unregulated, largely untested in healthy adults, and nobody selling them can tell you what they do to you over twenty years.
Creatine, fibre, and enough protein. Boring, cheap, and it works.
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