Believe it or not, essentially 99.43% of bodybuilding supplements are useless.
Fortunately, we examined the scientific literature to help you find out which supplements worth purchasing and which are simply waste of your money.
Read on if you want to discover the most efficient vegan supplements.
Think about this: are you a vegan athlete or a bodybuilder who wants muscle mass, strength, performance and health gains?
If so, you definitely want to read on.
These supplements have been broken down into two: general health and improved performance.
It means that you get an idea of what to buy if you want to be powerful in the gym or if you just want to be healthier in general.
The list of supplements is here:
Top 4 Vegan General Health Supplements
One of the most important components for vegans and vegetarians should start:
1.Vitamin B12
It is essential to take a B12 supplement.
Vegan diets do not contain reliable sources of B12, a vitamin essential for good health and energy. It should therefore be consumed artificially, usually as a vitamin or as a food enhanced with vitamins.
Any doctor who regularly works with herbal patients will tell you how important B12 is for people who do not eat animal products.
Get your B12 people-it can be found in enhanced foods or taken as oral or sublingual (1000 mcg) pills. The form of the B12 pill should be taken every couple of days.
2.Vitamin D
Vitamin D is an interesting vitamin.
Vitamin D is known for its hormonal escape as well as its lovely nickname “sunshine vitamin,” because it is
naturally produced by people who are constantly exposed to the sun.
The more bioactive form, known as vitamin D3, is not found reliably in any vegetable source.
This means vegans may need to consider sunbathing for the vitamin D they need. Unfortunately, if you read it in Alaska or Minnesota, your chances of sunbathing throughout the year are at best slim.
Vitamin D has many health benefits in high quantities, including reducing mortality, which I assume is always an added bonus. If you want to get as much vitamin D as possible without tanning or eating animal products, I recommend taking an additional 2,000 IU vegan vitamin D3 every day.
3.Algae-Based Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for our good health, despite their unattractive name. Fortunately, a diet based on plants in various vegan foods can also supply omega-3 in a form known as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Flax, seeds of hemp, chia, nuts of macadamia and walnuts.
So if this is the case, then why do you need an omega-3 supplement derived from algae?
As it turns out, ALA is not the only form of omega-3 fatty acid. EPA and DHA are two additional forms of omega-3 fatty acid and have been proposed to help prevent heart disease, reduce inflammation, improve brain health and keep you cognitively sharp longer.
These 2 acid forms are found in fatty fish, although vegans can take an algae supplement based entirely on plants.
It has been shown that those who eat a herbal diet have low baseline levels of these 2 fatty acids and therefore it is recommended that one of these omega-3 supplements be taken once a day.
If you prefer not to take this addition, be sure to get lots of ALA from sources like chia seeds and flax.
4.Iodine
You may remember this as something you played with in the science class, but iodine is an essential part of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, many vegans ultimately neglect their diets. Iodine is important for thyroid functioning and can lead to hypothyroidism if you don’t take enough of it.
Only plant foods that have grown in yodine-rich soil will produce iodine for those who only eat plants. This is not the easiest thing to keep track, as you might have imagined. As a result, there is no reliable plant source of iodine available.
You should rely on iodinated salt or take a vegan iodine supplement if you want to get your fix. Both may work, although the salt option is not ideal if you try to limit your salt intake for health reasons.
Some people think that algae is a good vegan source of iodine, but it can actually contain toxic levels.
Top 6 Vegan Performance Enhancement Supplements
5.BCAAs
Vegans need BCAAs because their diet may limit their natural intake of these essential amino acids. Naturally, the body can not produce BCAAs, so people need to eat them from food sources.
However, plant-based foods are not abundant in BCAAs, so many vegans turn to supplements for their intake.
BCAA supplements are commonly used to boost muscle growth and improve exercise performance.
They can also help with weight loss and reduce fatigue after exercise
6.Creatine
Creatine may be the most well-known and well-researched nutritional supplement. Here is a short summary of this common sports supplement:
creatine is a molecule that your body produces naturally, acting as a place for your cells to store energy. Taking
creatine supplements means that these cells that store energy are essentially filled and helped improve cell function when lifting.
So what does this effect mean in practice?
Your anaerobic working capacity is increased to allow you to lift at high intensity with more agents (15-20).
- An average increase in strength by +8% in 1RM and +14% in strength.
- An increase of 0.36 percent in slender mass gains-every little help!
- Large pumps due to improved cell swelling
I highly recommend that athletes eat plant-based diets to add vegan creatine to their diet. Because creatine occurs naturally only in animal products such as eggs and meat, there is no source of herbal creatine in a daily diet.
Vegas have been shown to have lower levels of creatine compared to meat eaters, but they see a huge increase in muscle concentration when taking supplements.
This means creatine supplements can have even more benefits for us, so it’s almost no brainer-get vegan-friendly supplements. I take 5 grams for myself every day.
7.Vegan Protein Powder
A high-quality vegan protein powder is not only a supplement, but can also often act as a substitute for food due to its nutritional characteristics. It’s an extremely effective and convenient way to ensure you get plant diet with enough protein.
There are many different sources of vegan-friendly protein acquisition, such as rice, peas, hemp, soy and much more. In particular, I would recommend a pea protein supplement because of its BCAA content if you want to build
muscle mass.
Without a decent pea protein powder, I would fight to get my macros with me every week.
It is one of the most important vegan supplements, especially if you are an athlete and/or a bodybuilder.
8.Caffeine (or Pre-workouts)
Caffeine is a stimulant to your central nervous system, as you probably know if you have a few cups of coffee a late night.
There is no need for detailed testing to determine whether caffeine gives you a boost in energy-it is well known that caffeine boosts energy.
Before you start the workout, drink a large cup of black coffee and you’ll find that you’re much more energetic and alert during the workout, whether you’re doing cardio or lifting weights.
Okay, as an avid coffee consumer, I’m going to admit I’m a bit biased about this issue.
But objective evidence suggests that caffeine can increase strength and performance with a thermogenic effect that can increase your metabolism rate.
Simply put, it means it’s easier to lose fat and make sure you get that intake of caffeine in one form or another. Basically the whole Western world is on that stuff. It can be in the form of tea, coffee or pre-workout vegan.
9.Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine is an amino acid that occurs naturally in our organisms and becomes carnosine when our bodies digest it.
Carnosine acts as an acid buffer to protect the body from excess lactic acid produced during intensive practice, making us weak and sorry.
Therefore, the levels of beta-alanine improve your intramuscular carnosine and affect your endurance during lifting.
This offers several benefits for plant-based athletes, including:
- Less exercise-derived fatigue
- A significantly increased anaerobic workout capacity
- Improvements in your workload that lead to muscle mass gains
Keep in mind that you may feel a tingling or itching sensation in your hands or other parts of your body if you receive beta-alanine supplements. This is a harmless side effect called “paresthesia,” so don’t worry if you don’t have any problems.
If you want to include beta-alanine in your supplementary scheme, this is a good vegan product.
10.Citrulline Malate
Citrulline malate is a compound of citrulline, a non-essential amino acid.
This compound stimulates arginine production after ingestion, which in turn boosts levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is an effective vasodilator that increases your blood vessels.
If your bloodstream has higher levels of nitric oxide, this will increase blood flow and help your muscles supply the blood they require when you pump.
That’s why this ingredient is usually included in pre-training formulas so you can look great at the gym.
However, this is not only useful for vanity, as it also shows that nitric oxide has positive effects on muscle resistance, muscle soreness and aerobic performance.
Are there any of the Vegan Magic Pills?
Yes, it was a rhetorical question.
But to show you one thing: There are no magical pills or shortcuts to achieve your health goals, build an impressive physics, or strengthen yourself.
Proper diet and training should always be the first priority for good reasons.
First, get the basics right: most of this means eating nutrient-dense whole foods, constantly touching calories and
macros every day, going to the fitness center and trying to add weights and reps to exercises…
… And that’s what you’ll get 90-95 percent of the results.
It doesn’t matter if you’re using beta-alanine or not if there’s no point in your nutrition and training.
This can be helpful with the right vegan supplements. However, you also need to take the correct supplementation approach. Throw spaghetti on the wall (in your body) and see what sticks is not a good way to do things.
Any supplement or ingredient in your body should have a specific function:
It can fill any gaps in your nutrition, or Give you the edge to improve performance, energy and muscle growth.
Please note the word selection. Fill in nutritional gaps and ‘small edge.’ I said nowhere that supplements should replace whole foods or magically turn you into Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It is what the term “supplements” implies, adding to an already sensitive vegan diet.
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