Many supplements claim to improve body composition or exercise performance. Some supplements seem promising, while others don’t seem to do anything, and some can even be counterproductive.
Here’s a thread of some of our supplements infographics 🧵👇
Creatine is an organic compound which is naturally present in our bodies. Creatine supplementation increases muscle creatine levels, strength and muscle mass gains during resistance training.
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Nitrate-rich beetroot juice has been shown to increase endurance performance because. Beetroot juice supplementation can also improve repeated sprint performance compared to nitrate-depleted beetroot juice.
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Carnitine helps fats get into mitochondria. Prolonged carnitine supplementation can result in sparing of muscle glycogen during low intensity exercise, allows for more carbohydrates to be used during high-intensity exercise, and can improve endurance performance.
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Caffeine has been shown to improve exercise performance. The effect of caffeine seems to differ between people. In most people, it improves or has no effect on exercise performance. In contrast, it decreases performance in some people.
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Melatonin is a hormone that is mostly known for regulating sleep patterns. Melatonin supplementation may improve body composition.
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HMB is a metabolite of the amino acid leucine. In contrast to some claims, HMB supplementation does not result in greater muscle mass gains as compared to leucine.
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Anti-oxidants can reduce oxidative stress and are therefore often seen as ‘good’. However, high dose anti-oxidant supplementation may reduce the adaptive response to exercise.
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See the infographic index on our website for an overview of all infographics and a more detailed discussion of each study.
The ketogenic diet is a very low carb, high fat diet, that claims to improve exercise performance by increasing the use of fat (fat oxidation) during exercise.
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This study investigated the effect of 3 different diets during an intensive training period on training adaptations in elite race walkers.
Protein ingestion after exercise stimulates muscle protein synthesis (the main process regulating muscle recovery, adaptation and growth). It has been well established that protein intake improves resistance training adaptations.
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However, little is known about the impact of protein on muscle adaptations following endurance exercise.
The gut absorption of the carbohydrate glucose is the limiting factor in using glucose drinks for energy during exercise (carbohydrate oxidation). Fructose is a carbohydrate that is absorbed differently in the gut than glucose. Sucrose consists out of glucose and fructose.
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Therefore, a combined ingestion of glucose and fructose allows a higher total carbohydrate absorption rate, oxidation rate, and exercise performance. But does this combination also improve the recovery of the muscle carbohydrate stores (i.e. muscle glycogen) after exercise?
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It is often suggested that coffee causes dehydration. This is because coffee contains caffeine, which has a dehydrating effect. However, coffee also contains fluid which has a hydrating effect. Therefore, it can be questioned if coffee intake really causes dehydration.
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This study investigated the effect of coffee intake on hydration levels in habitual coffee consumers (3-6 cups a day). Each subject participated in two 3-day experiment periods: one coffee period and one water period.
Poor sleep is associated with susceptibility to acute infectious illness. In addition, sleep deprivation has been shown to negatively affect immune system functioning. Does this mean that you have a higher chance of getting sick when getting insufficient sleep?
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This study investigated whether sleep duration affects the development of the common cold. Sleep duration was objectively measured for 7 days/nights with a sleep watch.