Supplements are BIG business. There are shops everywhere selling tons of different supplements. Supplements are carried at most grocery stores and department stores.  Depending on who you talk to, supplements are either the greatest things in the world or the most useless. The truth is that supplements actually fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

The most important thing to realize about supplementation is exactly that, they are supplements!  A supplement can be defined as “an addition designed to complete, make up for a deficiency”. 

From the very definition we can see that we should NOT be heavily relying on supplementation.  We should be using supplements to complete our nutrition or diet and to make up for any deficiencies we may have in our nutrition or diet. 

Many of us have turned to supplements to fill large gaps in our unhealthy eating habits.  The fact of the matter is that supplements should NEVER be used as a substitute for a good diet.  We should be eating well-balanced meals throughout the day. 

So what supplements can or should we be using?  Here is a relatively short list in order of importance:

• Shakeology
• recovery drink
• multivitamin
• protein powder
• EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids)
• vitamin C
• vitamin E
• creatine
• glutamine

Shakeology, the Healthiest Meal of the Day:  If you only have money for one supplement, this is the one to get.  Shakeology is a fantastic supplement/meal replacement.  It has over 70+ ingredients of healthy whole-foods.  It has a substantial amount of needed vitamins, minerals and whey protein.  Shakeology by itself is considered a whole meal.  If you want to increase the calorie count or include other foods to make Shakeology even better, try some of CoachWoot’s Shakeology recipes! 

Recovery drink:  Another essential supplement.  Pre and post workout nutrition is a well researched area of nutrition.  Fueling your body with a recovery drink, like the P90X Results and Recovery Formula, will help you recover faster and reduce muscle soreness.  The P90X Results and Recovery Formula includes plenty of vitamin C, vitamin E, creatine and some BCAAs (branched chain amino acids).

Multivitamin:  You cannot go wrong with a multivitamin to supplement your diet.  With today’s processed diets, we tend to be missing those needed vitamins and minerals.  An easy way to check to see how good your multi is to drop it in a small glass of water and time how long it takes to break down completely.  If the multivitamin breaks down in water in 30 minutes or less, you have a good one!

Protein Powder:  Protein powder can be a great supplement to help you boost your protein and calories.  It can be used in cooking and as ingredients in meals.  It is a very flexible supplement. 

Essential Fatty Acids:  This is something many of us are missing in our diets.  Any easy way to get this is to get some flax seed in your diet. 

Vitamin C and Vitamin E:  Both helpful vitamins, especially, for those working out intensely.  You can easily get these vitamins with the P90X Results and Recovery Formula. 

Creatine:  Another one of the most researched supplements.  This is one of those supplements that cannot hurt.  Some see great results with creatine.  There is also a small of amount of creatine in the P90X Results and Recovery Formula. 

Glutamine:  Glutamine is not recognized as an essential amino acid, however, there are many benefits to glutamine supplementation.  It has shown to help with recovery and healing which is great for those following intense workout programs.