How To Decide Whether Or Not Taking Supplements Is Right For You

Hey there…

Mike here from B Method.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are lots of supplements available to take these days.

Did you know there are more than 50,000 dietary supplements available today?

Everything from supplements to help you lose weight, gain weight, put on muscle, increase metabolism, boost fertility, detox your liver, help with memory… the list goes on and on.

If you’ve ever walked into a vitamin store, you’ll know what I mean. There are literally shelves upon shelves of all sorts of different vitamins.

Seems like every health and fitness magazine you pick up to read is also promoting some new and exciting, all natural, organic product. Whether that’s a pill, powder, gel, or some form of liquid.

Supplement options are endless.

So what do you do? What do you take? How do you know what’s best for you and will support your health, fitness, and fertility?

That’s what we’re taking a look at here today.

After reading this, you will understand what supplements are, which ones are best when it comes to supporting fitness and fertility, and which ones to consider using yourself.

What are supplements anyways?

Let’s start by first understanding exactly what supplements are, dietary supplements as they’re officially called, and I don’t mean from a long, dragged out, boring scientific approach either.

I mean from a practical approach, in a way that makes sense and applies to how you use them.

A dietary supplement is intended to provide you with nutrients you may not otherwise be getting sufficient quantities of from how and what you’re currently eating.

Supplements can be anything from vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, and amino acids, amongst many others.

Supplements are not intended to take the place of proper food and nutrition.

As the name suggests, supplements are intended to supplement, not replace how and what you are currently eating.

For example, instead of taking a potassium supplement, consider eating more bananas, potatoes, and avocadoes – three foods that are packed with potassium.

Same goes for Omega-3 or fish oil, which is usually one of the more common supplements people take.

If you’re regularly eating flaxseeds, walnuts, salmon, or halibut, then you’re already getting healthy dosages of Omega-3 in your diet and don’t need to take a fish oil supplement.

You can avoid taking most, if not all, supplements simply by following a healthy, balanced, easy to understand, nutritional food plan which I will provide you with below.

So how do you decide if and when to take supplements?

The very first thing I suggest doing is scheduling a doctor’s appointment and have a check-up done, which includes blood work.

The blood work will tell you what vitamins and minerals you may be deficient in and lacking.

Depending on how your vitamin and mineral levels look, your doctor will either suggest eating more of certain types of foods to help boost these levels.

If it’s a bigger deficiency, the doctor may at this point recommend taking a supplement to help.

If you prefer not to go to the doctors, then one and only supplement I would suggest taking, regardless of how and what you currently eat, is a daily multivitamin.

Why is that?

Taking a daily multivitamin works as vitamin insurance for you.

It makes sure your body is getting all of the proper vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs on a daily basis to operate as efficiently as possible to support your health, fitness, and fertility efforts.

Here are 5 supplements to consider when it comes to supporting health and fitness:

1) Multivitamin

2) Antioxidants

3) Omega-3

4) Glucosamine & Chondroitin

5) Whey Protein

Here are 5 supplements to consider when it comes to supporting fertility:

1) Multivitamin

2) B vitamins

3) Vitamin D

4) Folic Acid

5) Iron

Remember that other than multivitamins, which I recommend everyone taking, supplements are not necessary if you’re already following a healthy, balanced, nutritional eating plan.

Here’s an example of what that would look like:

Breakfast Foods

Eggs, oatmeal, fruits, whole grains

Lunch Foods

Chicken, turkey, fish, fresh vegetables, olive oil

Dinner Foods

Lean meats, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa

Snack Foods

Almonds, walnuts, carrots, celery, peanut butter

Supplements are helpful, but not necessary.

The best way to decide on which ones you should be taking (if any) it to again, make a doctor’s appointment and get a check-up done where they do blood work and can then accurately tell you which supplements are best to take based on your blood work results.

If you prefer not to make a doctor’s visit and are like me and don’t like having blood drawn from your arm, the supplements mentioned above are often the most common and most effective ones to go with.

In addition to taking these supplements, that is if you do decide to take some or all of these, you should still make an effort to eat healthy foods and meals on a daily basis.

Supplements are great but by no means do they replace the actual nutritional value we get from eating healthy nutritious foods.

Eat healthy, take supplements (if and when needed), and you will be well on your way to being fit and fertile.

Cheers!

Mike