Supplements are a hot topic. Even congress has been talking about them. Seems I am asked about supplements
Supplements galore!by athletes, parents, patients, clients, or random people in the gym every few days. Everyone wants to know, “What is the best thing to get ripped, huge, lean, cut, bench 300, etc…..”. I will admit that at one time my book shelf looked a lot like a store shelf at the mall. Through years of school and just being a little nerdy (and hopefully a little smarter), I’m glad to say that now I have a few book shelves loaded with books and the amount of supplements have dwindled significantly. But since I get so many questions about what I take, I will give you a break down of supplements and my reasoning for taking each one.
PROTEIN
Protein powders come in many forms. They may be derived from vegetables, grains, and animal milk. The most common form is whey, which is a milk protein. Quality protein sources contain essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of life (and muscle). Ill drink a protein shake when on the go or for a quick snack. Sometimes I will include protein powder in a smoothie with fruits and veggies. Although meal replacements are available I rarely use protein powder as a meal. A protein shake is very handy and recommended for my athletes as a quick snack when short on time between classes. Good quality protein is very cost efficient and easy to use. A lot of people think that they taste bad and if you haven’t tried protein in the past few years, I completely understand your hesitation. Powders once were very chalky and did not represent the flavor advertised but today’s powders are tasty and smooth. Protein powders are quick, effective, and taste good.
CREATINE
Creatine is the most researched supplement with the first study dating back to 1994. Creatine has been falsely blamed for many negative side effects. Through the numerous studies on creatine it has been shown to be safe and beneficial. It is an effective nutritional supplement that has been proven to increase high intensity exercise capacity, improve lean body mass, and increase anaerobic capacity. Creatine can help in recovery and play a role in increasing strength.
FISH OIL
Fish oil is worthy of a post all to itself but for now I’ll give you some high points. Numerous studies have shown a wide array of benefits from fish oil. Fish oil has been proven to benefit health concerns from heart health to autism to fat burning. Fish oil is high in omega-3 fatty acid. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to improve heart health, help with memory, improve immune function, and decrease the risk of cancer. Taking a few capsules of fish oil a day improves your total health no matter what your goals.
These are supplements. They are meant to be used in addition to your normal whole food diet. While these can be beneficial, whole food will give more nutrients and therefore more bang for your buck. If your diet is terrible, supplements are not gonna help much. The better your diet the more effective your supplements will be. Those huge guys in the magazines advertising supplements may use that supplement but there’s a really good chance they are using other performance enhancement items as well (roids). All the supplements promise great results but without a proper whole food to diet, all the supplements in the world won’t allow you to achieve your potential.
Be Better,
Brooks
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Supplements
Supplements are a hot topic. Even congress has been talking about them. Seems I am asked about supplements
Protein powders come in many forms. They may be derived from vegetables, grains, and animal milk. The most common form is whey, which is a milk protein. Quality protein sources contain essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of life (and muscle). Ill drink a protein shake when on the go or for a quick snack. Sometimes I will include protein powder in a smoothie with fruits and veggies. Although meal replacements are available I rarely use protein powder as a meal. A protein shake is very handy and recommended for my athletes as a quick snack when short on time between classes. Good quality protein is very cost efficient and easy to use. A lot of people think that they taste bad and if you haven’t tried protein in the past few years, I completely understand your hesitation. Powders once were very chalky and did not represent the flavor advertised but today’s powders are tasty and smooth. Protein powders are quick, effective, and taste good.
CREATINE
Creatine is the most researched supplement with the first study dating back to 1994. Creatine has been falsely blamed for many negative side effects. Through the numerous studies on creatine it has been shown to be safe and beneficial. It is an effective nutritional supplement that has been proven to increase high intensity exercise capacity, improve lean body mass, and increase anaerobic capacity. Creatine can help in recovery and play a role in increasing strength.
FISH OIL
Fish oil is worthy of a post all to itself but for now I’ll give you some high points. Numerous studies have shown a wide
array of benefits from fish oil. Fish oil has been proven to benefit health concerns from heart health to autism to fat burning. Fish oil is high in omega-3 fatty acid. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to improve heart health, help with memory, improve immune function, and decrease the risk of cancer. Taking a few capsules of fish oil a day improves your total health no matter what your goals.
These are supplements. They are meant to be used in addition to your normal whole food diet. While these can be beneficial, whole food will give more nutrients and therefore more bang for your buck. If your diet is terrible, supplements are not gonna help much. The better your diet the more effective your supplements will be. Those huge guys in the magazines advertising supplements may use that supplement but there’s a really good chance they are using other performance enhancement items as well (roids). All the supplements promise great results but without a proper whole food to diet, all the supplements in the world won’t allow you to achieve your potential.
Be Better,
Brooks
- Supplements galore!
PROTEIN
Protein powders come in many forms. They may be derived from vegetables, grains, and animal milk. The most common form is whey, which is a milk protein. Quality protein sources contain essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of life (and muscle). Ill drink a protein shake when on the go or for a quick snack. Sometimes I will include protein powder in a smoothie with fruits and veggies. Although meal replacements are available I rarely use protein powder as a meal. A protein shake is very handy and recommended for my athletes as a quick snack when short on time between classes. Good quality protein is very cost efficient and easy to use. A lot of people think that they taste bad and if you haven’t tried protein in the past few years, I completely understand your hesitation. Powders once were very chalky and did not represent the flavor advertised but today’s powders are tasty and smooth. Protein powders are quick, effective, and taste good.
CREATINE
FISH OIL
Fish oil is worthy of a post all to itself but for now I’ll give you some high points. Numerous studies have shown a wide
These are supplements. They are meant to be used in addition to your normal whole food diet. While these can be beneficial, whole food will give more nutrients and therefore more bang for your buck. If your diet is terrible, supplements are not gonna help much. The better your diet the more effective your supplements will be. Those huge guys in the magazines advertising supplements may use that supplement but there’s a really good chance they are using other performance enhancement items as well (roids). All the supplements promise great results but without a proper whole food to diet, all the supplements in the world won’t allow you to achieve your potential.
Be Better,
Brooks
Monday, March 29, 2010
Food Revolution
This week I have been at my parent’s house enjoying some time with my family. When at home I often watch more tv than I do when at my apartment, and by more tv I mean a few shows at night and a little SportsCenter in the morning (not real hard to do since I don’t have tv at my apt). Earlier this week my mom told me about a show advertised on ABC about food in schools. This interested me because school food has always been a big gripe of mine. I’ve even discussed and shared my displeasure about school food with various teachers and administration, often to be told that my ideas just wouldn’t work.
At first I thought it would probably be a 4 minute segment on a news show but it was actually a real full hour show. The concept of the show is Chef Jamie Oliver is trying to change the way people eat and view food in America. The show takes place in Huntington, WV, reported as the unhealthiest city in America.
FOOD REVOLUTION
Jamie has some great ideas and seems to put a lot of effort and sincerely trying to improve the food that the youth of America are eating. In the first episode Jamie enters the school system and faces heavy negative attitudes from the school cooks. He has some great ideas and is really working to make the kids healthier. Throughout the show he does not shy away from his disdain of processed foods and Americas nutritional guidelines, both of which he calls “Rubbish” in his English accent. Jamie is surprised by the attitudes and reactions of the cooks, kids, and local community in general to the preference and acceptance of processed foods over fresh ingredients. I’m not sure if it is negative attitudes, ignorance, just not caring, or plain laziness that the cooks, administration, and people from the town so strongly exhibit but it is obvious that few think that he will succeed.
You can see clips or even check out the whole episode at ABC’s website.
I plan on catching the next few episodes of this show to see what happens. Having personal experience with school systems and administration I am curious as to how he will address the many excuses and negative attitudes that will stand in his way. The guidelines come from the top but getting the cooks involved could cause a big stir and cause a change in the administration.
Don’t get me wrong; in America we have a great system. And it should start at home. Teach kids to eat good at home and they wouldn’t need to force fresh food at school! The problem is the junk that we put into the system. Put junk in and we get junk out. The casualty is we are putting junk into our kids and they are blamed when they don’t do great things.
What do you think about the food our kids eat at school? What do you think about the tv show?
Be Better,
Brooks
At first I thought it would probably be a 4 minute segment on a news show but it was actually a real full hour show. The concept of the show is Chef Jamie Oliver is trying to change the way people eat and view food in America. The show takes place in Huntington, WV, reported as the unhealthiest city in America.
FOOD REVOLUTION
Jamie has some great ideas and seems to put a lot of effort and sincerely trying to improve the food that the youth of America are eating. In the first episode Jamie enters the school system and faces heavy negative attitudes from the school cooks. He has some great ideas and is really working to make the kids healthier. Throughout the show he does not shy away from his disdain of processed foods and Americas nutritional guidelines, both of which he calls “Rubbish” in his English accent. Jamie is surprised by the attitudes and reactions of the cooks, kids, and local community in general to the preference and acceptance of processed foods over fresh ingredients. I’m not sure if it is negative attitudes, ignorance, just not caring, or plain laziness that the cooks, administration, and people from the town so strongly exhibit but it is obvious that few think that he will succeed.
You can see clips or even check out the whole episode at ABC’s website.
I plan on catching the next few episodes of this show to see what happens. Having personal experience with school systems and administration I am curious as to how he will address the many excuses and negative attitudes that will stand in his way. The guidelines come from the top but getting the cooks involved could cause a big stir and cause a change in the administration.
Don’t get me wrong; in America we have a great system. And it should start at home. Teach kids to eat good at home and they wouldn’t need to force fresh food at school! The problem is the junk that we put into the system. Put junk in and we get junk out. The casualty is we are putting junk into our kids and they are blamed when they don’t do great things.
What do you think about the food our kids eat at school? What do you think about the tv show?
Be Better,
Brooks
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Best Supplement
For 3 payments of only $29.99 you can get your monthly supply of "Get Sexy"! The best most effective weight loss pill ever. Its so good it should be illegal. No diets or exercise required. Just take 3 pills a day and in one month you will be sexier!
Ok. So maybe not. Probably just be $90 in the hole and not one bit sexier. But we've all seen the advertisements. If you're a night owl like me you've probably seen these crazy commercials with ridiculous claims.
It seems that one of the most frequent questions that I get is "What supplement should I take?" And with the wide array of
products that guarantee a healthier better leaner ripped more muscular and sexier you with every bottle, it's no surprise that so many are looking for the magic pill.
Bad news: the magic pill doesn't exist. Good news: it's really not that difficult.
So What Is The Best Supplement?
The best supplement is to eat real whole unprocessed food. Whole foods can provide all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that our body needs. Yes, it can be tough to get everything we need from whole foods but it can be done.
While I personally use a few supplements it is important to get as much from whole foods as we can. In the next few weeks I will address some of the supplements that I use and my reasoning behind using them as well as address whole foods. Some of the foods will be familiar while others will be a little unusual and obscure.
Be Better,
Brooks Tiller
--Brooks L. Tiller, DPT
Physical Therapist
Strength and Conditioning Coach
www.drbrookstiller.com
www.thorathletics.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DrBrooksTiller
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/THOR-Athletics/132729619382
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