For instance, eggs are one of the most nutrient-rich foods you can eat, legumes are chock-full of prebiotic fiber and microminerals, and meat contains beneficial compounds like L-carnitine, CoQ10, iron, and creatine, all of which are missing from most protein powders.
Therefore, if you’re getting too many of your daily calories from protein powder (30 percent or more) and not ensuring your remaining calories are extremely nutrient dense, you’re likely to develop nutritional gaps in your diet that can cause health problems over time.
Eating too much protein powder—especially in one sitting—can also cause gas, bloating, and cramping.
We can only have so much protein powder in a day before something just doesn’t feel right, especially when it comes to milk-derived powders like whey and casein. Tolerance varies from person to person, but for me, any more than 70 to 80 grams of whey or casein in a day will upset my stomach.
Powders are also digested faster than whole-food proteins, so if you gulp down a large amount of protein powder, some of the protein molecules can make their way into the large intestine only partially digested, resulting in GI distress.
This problem is unique to protein powder because of how easy it is to eat.
Foods that require chewing are more filling than powders, making them harder to overconsume. A protein shake with a couple of chicken breasts’ worth of protein can be downed in a matter of seconds, though, placing an immediate and intense demand on your digestive system.
Whey protein can be particularly troublesome in this regard, as many people can’t comfortably digest a hefty dose of dairy protein in one sitting. This is less of an issue with whey isolate protein, which doesn’t contain lactose, but it can still occur.
So, all things considered, here are my recommendations for protein powder intake:
Don’t get more than 30 percent of your daily calories from protein powders.
Don’t have more than 40 to 50 grams of protein from powder in one sitting.
As far as specific products go, I alternate between three protein powders produced by Legion:
My 100 percent whey isolate protein, Whey+ (www.legionathletics.com/whey)
My 100 percent vegan protein, Thrive (www.legionathletics.com/thrive)
My 100 percent micellar casein protein, Casein+ (www.legionathletics.com/casein)
Fish Oil
Research shows that a combined intake of 500 milligrams to 1.8 grams of EPA and DHA per day is adequate for general health, but additional benefits are seen up to a combined intake of as much as 6 grams per day.1
For physically active people, 2 to 4 grams per day is a sensible recommendation.
Take your fish oil with meals, and if you’re going to take more than 2 grams per day, split it up into two doses separated by several hours (breakfast and dinner, for instance). This maximizes absorption and effectiveness.
Also, remember that I recommend a natural or reesterified triglyceride fish oil (the latter being my favorite), not an ethyl ester product.
To prevent the nasty fish oil burps so many people complain about, you can store the pills in the freezer and take them with food.
As far as specific products go, I take a high-potency 100 percent reesterified triglyceride fish oil produced by Legion called Triton (www.legionathletics.com/triton).
Vitamin D
According to the National Academy of Medicine, 600 IU of vitamin D per day is adequate for ages 1 to 70 (and 800 IU per day for 71-plus), but these numbers have been severely criticized by scientists who specialize in vitamin D research.2
These scientists call attention to the over 125 published studies that indicate such recommendations are too low and likely lead to deficiencies.
A committee of the US Endocrine Society convened in 2011 to review the evidence and concluded that 600 to 1,000 IU per day is adequate for ages 1 to 18, and 1,500 to 2,000 IU per day is adequate for ages 19 and up.3
So, assuming you’re 18 or older, I recommend you start at 2,000 IU per day, and then, if you’re experiencing any symptoms of low vitamin D levels, get blood tested for your 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (the usable form of vitamin D your body creates) to ascertain your status and adjust your intake accordingly.
As far as specific products go, I take a vitamin D supplement produced by either NOW Foods or Jarrow.
Multivitamin
Steer clear of multivitamins that claim to provide 100 percent of everything you need in just one pill per day.
They’re generally low quality, down-market supplements that mostly contain things you don’t need to supplement with and very little of what you probably do need.
Most good multivitamins have you take at least a few pills per day, because that allows for optimal dosages of a wide variety of micronutrients.
Multivitamins should also be taken with food, ideally a meal containing a bit of dietary fat, as this helps with nutrient absorption.4
As far as specific products go, I take a multivitamin produced by Legion called Triumph (www.legionathletics.com/triumph) that contains 21 vitamins and minerals as well as 14 additional ingredients proven to enhance health, performance, longevity, and more.
Fat Burner
In chapter 26, we discussed several natural ingredients proven to accelerate fat loss:
Caffeine
Yohimbine
Synephrine
Let’s look at how to use each safely and effectively.
Caffeine
The dosage of caffeine seen in most weight loss studies ranges from 2 to 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
Personally, I take about 4 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day in the anhydrous (“containing no water”) form when cutting.
As you know, one downside of caffeine as a weight loss aid is that it loses its effectiveness over time as your body becomes desensitized to it.
The best way to prevent this is to limit your intake. Here’s what I recommend:
Have at least some of your caffeine before your training unless you have a good reason not to (training later in the day, for instance).
If you’re not sure of your caffeine sensitivity, start with 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, and work up from there.
Keep your daily intake at or below 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
Do one to two low-caffeine days and one no-caffeine day per week. A low day should be half your normal intake, and a no day means less than 50 milligrams of caffeine. (One or two cups of tea would be fine, but no coffee, preworkout drink, caffeine pills, etc.)
As far as specific products go, I get most of my caffeine from my bestselling preworkout supplement Pulse (www.legionathletics.com/pulse), which contains an effective dosage of caffeine along with five other natural ingredients that improve mood, sharpen mental focus, boost strength and endurance, and reduce fatigue.
Yohimbine
Research shows that 0.2 milligrams of yohimbine per kilogram of body weight per day is sufficient for fat loss purposes and that taking it 15 to 30 minutes before exercise is particularly effective.5
Yohimbine can make some people jittery and anxious, though, so I recommend you start with 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of body weight to assess tolerance. If you feel fine, then increase to 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.
Furthermore, yohimbine can raise blood pressure, so if you have high blood pressure, I don’t recommend you use it.6
As far as specific products go, when cutting, I take a preworkout fat burner produced by Legion called Forge (www.legionathletics.com/forge), which contains an effective dosage of yohimbine along with two other ingredients that help preserve lean mass and workout quality while dieting.
Synephrine
Effective dosages of synephrine range from 25 to 50 milligrams and can be
taken anywhere from one to three times daily, depending on individual tolerance.
Research also shows that pairing synephrine with caffeine further speeds up fat loss.7
As far as specific products go, when cutting, I take a fat burner produced by Legion called Phoenix (www.legionathletics.com/phoenix), which contains an effective dosage of synephrine along with eight other ingredients that help boost metabolic rate, enhance fat burning, and reduce appetite.
Muscle Builder
As we’ve covered, there are three muscle-building supplements worth including in your regimen:
Creatine monohydrate
Beta-alanine
Citrulline malate
Let’s review each.
Creatine Monohydrate
Studies show that supplementing with 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day is optimal.8
When you start taking creatine monohydrate, you can “load” it by taking 20 grams per day for the first five to seven days and see benefits sooner.9
That said, loading creatine can upset some people’s stomachs, so I don’t generally recommend it unless you don’t mind “risking” a bit of GI distress.
I also recommend you take your creatine monohydrate with your postworkout meals for two reasons:
Research shows that taking creatine with a moderate amount of protein and carbohydrate increases its effectiveness.10
Studies show that taking creatine after a workout is slightly more effective for increasing strength and muscle gain than taking it before.11
As far as specific products go, I take a postworkout supplement produced by Legion called Recharge (www.legionathletics.com/recharge), which contains an effective dosage of creatine monohydrate along with two other ingredients that boost postworkout recovery and reduce muscle soreness.
Beta-Alanine
Effective dosages of beta-alanine range from 2 to 4.8 grams per day, with 4.8 grams being slightly more effective than 2 grams.
It’s also generally thought that people doing higher-volume weightlifting programs may benefit most from larger doses of beta-alanine.
This is because carnosine stores are depleted during muscle contractions, so naturally, the more you contract your muscles, the more carnosine your body uses. Although plausible, this theory hasn’t been demonstrated in scientific research yet.
As far as specific products go, I get my beta-alanine from the preworkout supplement produced by Legion, Pulse (www.legionathletics.com/pulse), which contains an effective dosage of beta-alanine (and more).
Citrulline Malate
For improving exercise performance, research shows that you should take 6 to 8 grams of citrulline malate per day.12
Unlike creatine and beta-alanine, citrulline malate’s performance-enhancing effects don’t accumulate over time, but instead only last several hours. This is why I recommend you take it 30 to 45 minutes before exercise (resistance training or cardiovascular).
As far as specific products go, I get my citrulline malate from the preworkout supplement produced by Legion, Pulse (www.legionathletics.com/pulse), which contains an effective dosage of citrulline malate (and more).
Supplementation When Cutting
When cutting, consider taking all the supplements listed in this chapter for the following reasons:
The protein powder will help you hit your protein targets more easily.
The fish oil, vitamin D, and multivitamin will provide your body with vital nutrients (which will be scarcer due to calorie restriction).
The fat burners will help you lose fat faster.
The muscle builders will help you retain or even gain lean mass.
I take all these supplements when cutting (and more), and it helps make for maximally productive and painless fat loss.
Supplementation When Lean Bulking
When lean bulking, consider taking all the supplements listed in this chapter except the fat burners (with the exception of caffeine—this can be taken when lean bulking).
Some people like to take a number of fat burners when lean bulking in hopes of gaining less fat, but this doesn’t really make sense.
The primary mechanism through which these supplements work is increasing your metabolic rate, which simply means you’ll need to eat more food to maintain a calorie surplus (which will still result in some fat gain).
Furthermore, some fat burners reduce your appetite, which is also counterproductive when lean bulking.
So aside from caffeine, save the fat burners for when you’re cutting.
Supplementation When Maintaining
Similar to lean bulking, when maintaining, consider taking all the supplements listed in this chapter but the fat burners (again, with the exception of caffeine).
That said, you can temporarily include fat burners in your regimen if you’re going into a “minicut” (two to four weeks) after a holiday, vacation, or just-for-fun bout of overeating.
•••
That’s a wrap on supplementation!
If you plan to use supplements to get fit faster, take a break now to order what you’ll need.
Then, when you’re ready to continue, we’re going to tie off a couple of remaining loose ends—tracking progress and breaking through weight loss plateaus—and then get you started on the program!
Let’s go!
Key Takeaways
Supplements can only give you a slight edge in losing fat, building muscle, and getting healthy.
I’ve always struggled to find high-quality supplements I could trust, so I started my own supplement line called Legion Athletics (www.legionathletics.com).
There’s a limit to how much protein powder you should have every day because too much can cause negative side effects like nutritional deficiencies and gastrointestinal (GI) distress.
Whey protein can be particularly troublesome in this regard, as many people can’t comfortably digest a hefty dose of dairy protein in one sitting. This is less of an issue with whey isolate protein, which doesn’t contain lactose, but it can still occur.
Here are my recommendations for protein powder intake:Don’t get more than 30 percent of your daily calories from protein powders.
Don’t have more than 40 to 50 grams of protein from powder in one sitting.
A combined intake of 500 milligrams to 1.8 grams of EPA and DHA per day is adequate for general health, but additional benefits are seen up to a combined intake of as much as 6 grams per day.For physically active people, 2 to 4 grams per day is a sensible recommendation.
Take your fish oil with meals, and if you’re going to take more than 2 grams per day, split it up into two doses separated by several hours (breakfast and dinner, for instance).
600 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day is adequate for ages 1 to 18, and 1,500 to 2,000 IU per day is adequate for ages 19 and up.Assuming you’re 18 or older, I recommend you start at 2,000 IU per day, and then, if you’re experiencing any symptoms of low vitamin D levels, get blood tested for your 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and adjust your intake accordingly.
Most good multivitamins have you take at least a few pills per day, because that allows for optimal dosages of a wide variety of micronutrients.
Multivitamins should be taken with food, ideally a meal containing a bit of dietary fat, as this helps with nutrient absorption.
The dosage of caffeine seen in most weight loss studies ranges from 2 to 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
One downside of caffeine as a weight loss aid is that it loses its effectiveness over time as your body becomes desensitized to it.The best way to prevent this is to limit your intake. Here’s what I recommend:
Have at least some of your caffeine before your training unless you have a good reason not to (training later in the day, for instance).
If you’re not s
ure of your caffeine sensitivity, start with 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, and work up from there.
Keep your daily intake at or below 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
Do one to two low-caffeine days and one no-caffeine day per week.
0.2 milligrams of yohimbine per kilogram of body weight per day is sufficient for fat loss purposes, and taking it 15 to 30 minutes before exercise is particularly effective.
Yohimbine can make some people jittery and anxious, so I recommend you start with 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of body weight to assess tolerance. If you feel fine, then increase to 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.
Effective dosages of synephrine range from 25 to 50 milligrams and can be taken anywhere from one to three times daily, depending on individual tolerance.
Supplementing with 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day is optimal.
Effective dosages of beta-alanine range from 2 to 4.8 grams per day, with 4.8 grams being slightly more effective than 2 grams.
People doing higher-volume weightlifting programs may benefit most from larger doses of beta-alanine.
For improving exercise performance, research shows that you should take 6 to 8 grams of citrulline malate per day, and 30 to 45 minutes before exercise.
When cutting, consider taking all the supplements listed in this chapter.
When lean bulking, consider taking all the supplements listed in this chapter except the fat burners (with the exception of caffeine—this can be taken when lean bulking).
When maintaining, consider taking all the supplements listed in this chapter but the fat burners (again, with the exception of caffeine).
Kris-Etherton PM, Harris WS, Appel LJ, American Heart Association. Nutrition Committee. Fish consumption, fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2002;106(21):2747-2757; Smith GI, Atherton P, Reeds DN, et al. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic response to hyperinsulinaemia–hyperaminoacidaemia in healthy young and middle-aged men and women. Clin Sci. 2011;121(6):267-278. doi:10.1042/CS20100597.
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