4 ms·

Have you seen the "Supplement scorecard" here: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/supplements-a-scorecard https://www.health.harvard.edu/newslet

Have you seen the "Supplement scorecard" here: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/supplements-a-scorecard https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/supplement... I take D and fish oil, and from my reading the science on both is strong. I also take 4-in-1 Fiber but people who have a better diet likely don't need it, but I find it beneficial (and, no, "number two" isn't the exclusive reason to make sure you're getting enough, fiber has numerous health benefits with "regularity" just being what is famous for). Creatine also has surprisingly strong scientific evidence with few side effects and has been heavily studied in sports medicine. It is niche though, primarily used by people doing regular resistance exercises or pro athletes to help expedite recovery and repair. PS - Creatine does cause water weight gain by design (it causes your muscles to hold more water) which can result in 8-16 lbs of additional body weight after two weeks~ and then for two weeks~ after you stop taking it (this isn't a problem nor body-fat gain, but people trying to lose body-fat need to expect this; it is largely a flaw in using scales to track body fat which ignores water weight/inflammation). PPS - Creatine's COVID and post-COVID price increase has made it more niche than it perhaps once was. It used to be near $10 per 30-day from a reputable brand, now it can be $20-30 depending on brand (e.g. Creapure is $32/30 day right now).

numinoid 4y ago
> PPS - Creatine's COVID and post-COVID price increase has made it more niche than it perhaps once was. It used to be near $10 per 30-day from a reputable brand, not it can be $20-30 depending on brand (e.g. Creapure is $32/30 day right now). There's no reason to be using anything but generic creatine monohydrate - studies show no difference in efficacy between different formulations. BulkSupplements current price is ~$56/kg at ~28 cents per dose per day. No reason to let price scare you away from one of the few supplements with a real body of evidence.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  what about contaminants? are they more or less prevalent in generic formulations?
  - numinoid 4y ago
    I haven't looked into that wrt creatine broadly - you can get generic creatine monohydrate across the spectrum from cheap to expensive. In the case I gave, bulk supplements does heavy mineral and contaminant testing on their supplements but it's going to vary depending on where you buy the generic from.
- magila 4y ago
  I think the biggest concern people have with cheap supplements is not so much efficacy as contamination with heavy metals and other nastiness. Especially with the vast majority of the raw ingredients being sourced from China. People are counting on the domestic distributer's testing to catch quality control issues before the product reaches consumers.
  - numinoid 4y ago
    As you said, you need to look at individual resellers/distributors and see what kind of QC/testing is being done on a company by company basis. Raw ingredients are sourced from China regardless of if they're expensive "designer" supplements or cheap generics. My comment was more along the lines of different formulations don't seem to have any difference wise, meaning that you can buy high quality generic creatine monohydrate at fraction of the price of something like Creapure(which is just monohydrate), creatine HCL, ethyl ester etc. Again, you need to audit who you're getting your supplements from - cheap doesnt always = poor quality and expensive doesn't always = high quality
hunter-gatherer 4y ago
During my life I've probably taken every sports supplement under the sun, and the two things from an athletic perspective I can say definitely have given me consisten results is creatine and whey protein. I regulary interchange other things and take them out of habbit and for the lolz I guess, but I can't say I've noticed positive effects from anything else. The last 6 months I've routinely taken vitamin D because I had read the literature and have noticed that all the illness that swpet through my family this year seemed mild as well. Might be that I've also been more diligent with hand sanitizer as well though. But yeah, creatine is amazing.
- jesuscript 4y ago
  What are the facts on the hair loss concerns with Creatine?
  - chollida1 4y ago
    I thought that was disproven. There was a single study that mentioned hair loss in the 1000's for creatine. It's often held up as one of the most studied supplements around and again, only a single study reported it as a possible side effect. if hair loss is a side effect then there should be some proof of that somewhere.

numinoid 4y ago

> PPS - Creatine's COVID and post-COVID price increase has made it more niche than it perhaps once was. It used to be near $10 per 30-day from a reputable brand, not it can be $20-30 depending on brand (e.g. Creapure is $32/30 day right now). There's no reason to be using anything but generic creatine monohydrate - studies show no difference in efficacy between different formulations. BulkSupplements current price is ~$56/kg at ~28 cents per dose per day. No reason to let price scare you away from one of the few supplements with a real body of evidence.

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
what about contaminants? are they more or less prevalent in generic formulations?
- numinoid 4y ago
  I haven't looked into that wrt creatine broadly - you can get generic creatine monohydrate across the spectrum from cheap to expensive. In the case I gave, bulk supplements does heavy mineral and contaminant testing on their supplements but it's going to vary depending on where you buy the generic from.
magila 4y ago
I think the biggest concern people have with cheap supplements is not so much efficacy as contamination with heavy metals and other nastiness. Especially with the vast majority of the raw ingredients being sourced from China. People are counting on the domestic distributer's testing to catch quality control issues before the product reaches consumers.
- numinoid 4y ago
  As you said, you need to look at individual resellers/distributors and see what kind of QC/testing is being done on a company by company basis. Raw ingredients are sourced from China regardless of if they're expensive "designer" supplements or cheap generics. My comment was more along the lines of different formulations don't seem to have any difference wise, meaning that you can buy high quality generic creatine monohydrate at fraction of the price of something like Creapure(which is just monohydrate), creatine HCL, ethyl ester etc. Again, you need to audit who you're getting your supplements from - cheap doesnt always = poor quality and expensive doesn't always = high quality

hunter-gatherer 4y ago

During my life I've probably taken every sports supplement under the sun, and the two things from an athletic perspective I can say definitely have given me consisten results is creatine and whey protein. I regulary interchange other things and take them out of habbit and for the lolz I guess, but I can't say I've noticed positive effects from anything else. The last 6 months I've routinely taken vitamin D because I had read the literature and have noticed that all the illness that swpet through my family this year seemed mild as well. Might be that I've also been more diligent with hand sanitizer as well though. But yeah, creatine is amazing.

jesuscript 4y ago
What are the facts on the hair loss concerns with Creatine?
- chollida1 4y ago
  I thought that was disproven. There was a single study that mentioned hair loss in the 1000's for creatine. It's often held up as one of the most studied supplements around and again, only a single study reported it as a possible side effect. if hair loss is a side effect then there should be some proof of that somewhere.