Foundational Supplements
Foundational supplements are formulated to establish a fundamental base or provide insurance alongside your nutritional intake, ensuring you receive essential nutrients. In essence, opting to take them is likely a preferable choice over not doing so.
Foundational supplements to consider:
Protein Powders
Whey
Whey protein is one of the proteins found in cows milk and is typically a by-product of making cheese (it’s the watery substance that sits on top of yoghurt after opening a container). The different types of whey products you can find resemble the processing method. Whey has been the ‘go-to’ for protein supplementation for years. However, as it is a dairy product some people (with lactose intolerance) do find that whey protein can give them digestive issues. Here, we can look for a whey isolate (extra level of filtration to remove the milk sugar). This also makes it an animal product which wouldn’t be suitable for people following a vegan diet.
Soy
A popular alternative to whey is soy protein. Soy protein is derived from soybeans. Soybeans contain the full spectrum of amino acids (one of the few plant sources that do) making it a great plant based alternative. Soy contains slightly lower levels of leucine than whey, however, most plant based proteins will contain added amino acids to help boost the leucine count. To get the light switch effect, ensure you are using doses that will provide you with 30g of protein - not 30g of protein powder.
Note: whey and soy protein are the most common. There are other specialty products on the market that will also contain adequate levels of leucine (beef and egg protein powders).
Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids have long been associated with various health outcomes such as reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, lower levels of inflammation, & enhanced brain function. But in order to get the health benefits of omega-3s there needs to be a change to one's omega-3 index (ratio of omega-3 in a red blood cell).
To achieve this change, we must look at our habitual consumption of omega-3 in relation to the other dietary fats we are consuming. Reducing your intake of saturated fats and replacing them with direct sources of omega-3 (particularly those high in EPA/DHA) is probably the best way to improve your omega-3 ratio. To impact the omega-3 ratio enough through food consumption we need to be aiming for an average of 1g per day of EPA/DHA. To achieve this through food alone, we would likely need to consume fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines) at least 2-3 times per week, ideally in replace of a red meat source. Due to taste, cost, & general availability, for most this will be unachievable.
When looking at an omega-3 supplement, we want to think of this similarly to how we would be thinking about food consumption, meaning, the goal would be to have 1g of EPA/DHA per day. The problem with most “fish oil” supplements is that they typically fall extremely low on their overall percentage of EPA/DHA. Therefore what we are looking for isn’t 1g of “fish oil” but 1g of EPA/DHA within that fish oil. Depending on the percentage of EPA/DHA in the fish oil you may need significantly more than what is suggested on the back of the packet.
Multi-Vitamin
One that definitely brings out the sceptics - the multi-vitamin. Whether it is in the form of a capsule, a greens based powder, or even a health drink, a multi-vitamin is typically a mix of vitamins, both water soluble and fat soluble, and minerals, in relatively low doses. The purpose of which to compensate for any deficiencies that you may have from diet or a lack of adequate diet.
The sceptics will say that all vitamin and mineral supplements do is create expensive urine, or an excessive store of fat soluble vitamins. And, indeed, both can be true if consumed in excess or at high doses. The reality is that some people have a varied and nutrient dense diet, and many do not.
There are a couple of key factors in deciding whether or not you might take a multivitamin. Firstly, ask yourself - “am I able to ingest enough food, with enough variety, to meet my nutrient requirements?” If the answer is no, then we recommend looking at taking a mulit-vitamin supplement. The second factor to consider is whether your budget supports taking a multivitamin consistently. Lastly, the more exclusionary your diet or the higher your mental or physical load the more likely you would benefit from a multivitamin.
If you do decide to take a multivitamin, take it with food to ease absorption (especially if you notice that you feel a little queasy taking them on an empty stomach) and ideally in the morning.