Advanced Rehab and Fitness

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Treatment Programs
    • Physical Therapy Services
    • Functional Assessment Tools
  • Rehabilitation
    • What is Physical Therapy
    • What is a Physical Therapist
    • Download Forms
    • Photo Tour
  • Fitness
  • Staff
    • Katharine “Katie” Dale, DPT
    • Kathryn “Sloane” Fair, DPT
    • Sherlonda Givens
    • Dale Morgan, RPT
    • Robin Smith, RPT
    • John Walker, RPT
    • Robert “Chris” Walker, DPT
    • Chris Wilson, CSCS
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Pay My Bill
You are here: Home / Fitness / Do I Need to Take Dietary Supplements?

February 24, 2015 By admin

Do I Need to Take Dietary Supplements?

suppliementsYou do not need dietary supplements unless you have a documented vitamin deficiency or you do not eat a balanced diet. Using supplements as an alternative to a sound diet can lead to serious deficits in the consumption of other nutrients (Benardot et al. 2001). It is always healthier to acquire vitamins and minerals from food than to obtain them from a pill. However, serious vitamin deficiencies do occur in a small proportion of the population (Benardot et al. 2001), and supplements are useful for making sudden improvements in vitamin status.

Supplements for losing fat or building muscle are rapidly becoming popular. Claims that “fat-burning” supplements will decrease body fat by increasing either mobilization or oxidation of free fatty acids (FFAs) are faulty at best. Untrained individuals have a greater ability to mobilize FFAs than they do to oxidize them. Therefore, supplements that increase FFA mobilization are not of any value for untrained people. For supplements to directly enhance FFA oxidation, the insulin response to the carbohydrates in those supplements would need to be eliminated (since insulin inhibits fat oxidation), and this is unlikely to happen (Coyle 1995). Exercise alone increases the muscles’ capacity to oxidize FFAs.

For those who eat a balanced diet, there is no evidence that muscle-building supplements, including protein powders and amino acids, build muscle mass (Clarkson 1998; Eichner et al. 1999). The few supplements whose muscle-building potential is supported by research (e.g., creatine) are effective mostly in elite athletes who have undergone many years of training (Eichner et al. 1999).

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: supplements

Contact Us

Advanced Rehab and Fitness
702 Highway 82 West, Ste B
Greenwood, MS 38930

Phone: 662-455-5010
Fax: 662-455-5468

Recent Blog Posts

  • Staying Hydrated
  • Fitness Fun Facts
  • Green Smoothie Formula
  • How Often Should I Work Out/Lift Weights?
  • How Do I Get Rid of These Flabby Arms?

Recent Comments

    Follow us

    Blog Posts

    • Staying Hydrated
    • Fitness Fun Facts
    • Green Smoothie Formula
    • How Often Should I Work Out/Lift Weights?
    • How Do I Get Rid of These Flabby Arms?

    Contact Us

    Advanced Rehab and Fitness
    702 Highway 82 West, Ste B
    Greenwood, MS 38930

    Phone: 662-455-5010
    Fax: 662-455-5468

    Copyright © 2019 Advanced Rehab and Fitness · Web Design by OptimusMedia.com · Log in