Just Google ‘Fitness Supplements’ and you are bombarded with advertisements for everything. But how many actually work? It is just 3. And here they are:

One

Protein powders are the most convenient way to consume this macro-nutrient. If you have not read my post in detail about protein powders then here it is. But to summarize, protein shakes work. They provide your body a missing nutrient. This is the purpose of any supplement – to supplement what is missing in your regular diet. You consume protein shakes because you cannot get sufficient protein from your daily food.

Two

Caffeine is a double edge sword. Throughout the day, your body produces a chemical called ‘Adenosine’. Adenosine enters the brain and thus you feel tired and sleepy at the end of the day. However, caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors temporarily. It gives you focus and can even delay hunger. Caffeine is also known for tricking your central nervous system into thinking that you had food. This can be useful when you are fasting.

However, caffeine can also worsen your sleep. By blocking the adenosine receptors, it can also worsen existing anxiety issues because caffeine is also known to cause tachycardia (heart rate being higher than normal when at rest). Caffeine may also cause a ‘crash’. All the accumulated adenosine in your body can at once hit the receptors and make you feel sleepy almost instantaneously.

Ideally consume coffee in its purest form which is black coffee. You can also find caffeine in some protein powders and are the main ingredient in pre-workout powders as well. Be wary of the dosages of caffeine in a pre-workout. A single scoop can sometimes have 300mg of caffeine which is 5 times more than a shot of espresso.

Three

The lesser known supplement that is known to work would be creatine. Our body naturally produces the energy molecule in the form of ATP (mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell). It is ATP or Adenosine Tri-Phosphate that helps you in weight training exercises. When you run out of ATP, the weight suddenly feels heavy and you want to put it down.

But the ATP reserves are limited especially for a beginner. However, by taking creatine you can substantially increase the amount of ATP reserves your body has. This means you can do more repetitions and more sets when you are working out.

Aside from this, new research shows that creatine also has significant cognitive benefits as well. Creatine supplementation enhanced measures of memory performance in healthy individuals, especially in older adults aged 66–76 years (PMID – 35984306). Five of six studies (83.3%) reported a positive relationship between creatine and cognition in older adults, particularly in memory and attention (PMID – 40971619)