Be smart with your supplements

  • Published
  • By Airman Collin Schmidt
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  
A concern some people have when starting a new exercise regimen is feeling the need to use nutritional and performance supplements to attain their fitness goals.

While it is true that the right supplements can provide an extra edge to gaining a few pounds, many are over-marketed and hyped up to everything just short of a miracle in a bottle.

While we're not here to dissuade someone from taking supplements, before beginning we encourage people to first be sure there is an actual physiological need for supplementation and they've met with the Medical Group Health Promotion Dietitian.

"The first thing people should be thinking about is developing and sticking to a proper training routine," said Kirk Clark, 341st Medical Group health promotion director. "If a person is not putting their body through the proper exercises and physical exertion to demand the use of a supplement, there is the potential (depending on the supplement) of adding fat to their bodies." 

With a suitable training routine in place, the next step is to ensure the individual has a proper diet.

For most, if a good training routine is implemented and they are eating correctly, that's all that is needed to reach their fitness goals.

"If you have an adequate diet, you are getting pretty much everything that you need," said Matt Lewis, 341st Medical Operations Squadron health promotion dietitian. "The supplements developed by these companies are mostly just the specific macro/micronutrients that your body already gets from a proper diet."

When you are getting nutrition from real food, you are getting a lot more great stuff such as vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants on top of what will not necessarily be included in a supplement, said Lewis.

"If you are training and eating right consistently and still find that your body needs a little assistance, supplements may be an added benefit to your diet," said Clark. "It should be said that even if you may need supplements to reach your goals, that does not mean to just go and buy everything you can get your hands on.

"Luckily, there are some great resources out there that can help people, especially military members, find out what is just talk and what actually works," he continued. "Military members should still verify with their primary care provider what they would like to take will not make them test positive on a urinalysis sample. It's better to be safe than sorry."

As some supplements break down in the body, the content can cause individuals to test positive on urinalysis samples.

According to the Federal Drug Administration, there are more than 29,000 different nutritional supplements on the market today, making it a $28 billion industry.

Due to the large amount of money in this industry, marketing efforts are in place to make you believe supplementation is the 'end-all, be-all' for your nutritional and physical welfare. This is just not true.

Protein is the building block of muscle, for those hitting the weights in order to add lean tissue the protein requirement is 0.8g-1.7g per kilogram needed for healthy muscle development.

People who are deficient in certain vitamins may need to take them in order to stay healthy and promote good fitness, you can consult your primary care doctor to see if you have a deficiency.

For more information and to review supplements before use, visit www.hprc-online.org/dietary-supplements/OPSS