2650: Top 7 Underrated Supplements

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1:02Mind Pump. Mind Pump. With your hosts, Sal DiStefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews.

1:09Adam Schafer:You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast in the history of podcast. You guessed it. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, we talk about the most underrated supplements you probably should be taking. This episode is brought to you by Mass Zymes. Mass Zymes by Bioptimizers. These are digestive enzymes that break down your foods into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. In other words, you take these digestive enzymes, eat your food, and the food gets broken down easier. Better digestion, better health, better performance. Go try them out. By the way, these are the best digestive enzymes for those of you who eat a high-protein diet.

1:45Adam Schafer:Go to MassZymes.com. That's M-A-S-S-Z-Y-M-E-S.com forward slash Mind Pump. Use the code Mind Pump 10. get 10 % off your order. We also have a sale this month on some programs, MAPS Split and the Anabolic Metabolism Bundle. It's all 50 % off. Just head over to mapsfitnessproducts.com and then use the code JULY50 for that discount. Back to the show. Supplements. Oftentimes, people place way too much value on them, but sometimes, other times, they can actually be game changers. Now, in today's episode, we're not going to talk about the supplements you probably already heard about, like creatine, for example.

2:22Adam Schafer:It's a real popular one. We're going to talk about the most underrated supplements, ones that people just don't consider but should probably take. And this is based on data, and it shows, the data shows many people benefit. Let's get it. The overlooked class.

2:38Sal Di Stefano:I bet most people couldn't or wouldn't guess even two of these on the list. One of them. Maybe one of them. Yeah, but the rest of them, I wouldn't have seen you putting on this list. So this will be interesting to watch you explain each of these. And are you going to go in order? Because the very first one to me is the one and only. It's the only one, yeah. I would say it's familiar.

3:01Adam Schafer:This is the vitamin D. Vitamin D is the first one. And is it underrated? Maybe still, but it's moving close to, like, people understand its value. But we should talk about it still. It's an inexpensive supplement. supplement. A lot of people are deficient in it too. Oh, uh, you know, probably 50%. Some studies will show 50 % of people are deficient, but if we include people that don't have what is now showing to be optimal vitamin D levels, when you get your blood tests done, vitamin D, I think the cutoff is like 30 nanograms per deciliter, I believe is the number, right? So under that is deficient.

3:38Adam Schafer:And if you're deficient in vitamin D, it's not good. No, you feel that warning zone, like a much higher risk of disease, depression, pain, low energy, hormone production. By the way, vitamin D is actually some people classified as a hormone because of the way it acts in the body. So that's like warning, okay? If you're below that, you're going to get prescription vitamin D or your doctor's going to say you have to take it. But most people are not what would be considered optimal. and the studies on vitamin D and bringing them to optimal levels are now compiling to the point where you should probably supplement with it.

4:15Adam Schafer:You should probably take vitamin D.

4:16Sal Di Stefano:My favorite news about vitamin D that I did not know until just recently was the fact that I could stack it or I could load it. I don't have to take it. It'll carry you. Yeah. I was under the impression that you, yeah, you take five, maybe 10 ,000 I use a day and that's the most you would want to take or could take. Um, but I didn't know that I could load up on it and say, take 50 ,000 and then not take it for two or three days versus 10 days.

4:45Adam Schafer:Right. Cause that would be 5 ,000 a day. Yeah.

4:47Sal Di Stefano:And so this, for someone like me who has a hard time with being consistent with taking, uh, any supplements and taking this little tiny vitamin D pill all the time is just one of those things that I'm inconsistent with where now I just, I have, I have it in my bathroom and I do, I forget a few days and then, oh, I remember. And so I'll take three days worth and then I'll forget. And then I'll take three or four days worth again. And so I've become way more consistent with taking my vitamin D because of that. Yeah.

5:16Adam Schafer:In fact, if you get prescription vitamin D, because they have prescription vitamin D for people who are deficient, they'll typically do that. They'll give you one pill once a week or something like that to get your D levels up quickly. It's fat soluble. That's why it's stored in the body. I'll read to you guys a recent study. And they just keep compiling. This was a study on postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Here's what they found. 2 ,000 IUs a day, which by the way, most people, 2 ,000 to 4 ,000 IUs will probably be adequate. Although getting a blood test would be best so you can know how much you need to take.

5:51Adam Schafer:But these women took 2 ,000 IUs of vitamin D a day during chemo. This raised complete tumor clearance from the body. okay so you take you're on chemo the idea with chemo is get the cancer out it increased the rate of clearance or complete clearance from of the body from between 24 to 43 percent wow just by taking 2 000 i use of vitamin d a day and the reason why i love vitamin d besides its benefits which i'll go through some of these some other studies is that it's cheap vitamin d3 is dirt cheap. It is one of the least expensive supplements that you'll find. Uh, and it probably belongs, uh, most likely belongs, uh, in your supplement, uh, uh, regimen.

6:38Adam Schafer:And here's the interesting, interesting thing about vitamin D. You could get a lot of sunlight, but if you have like me, I'm a little darker complected. It's might still not be enough. I always use a story of my father cause this one really shocked me. I mean, obviously I'm same complexion as my father. So we're, you know, Sicilian, so darker skin. And my dad was never what I put my dad in the category of someone who's inside too much. He's always outside. He's outside in his backyard. He's always doing work. He's out in the sun all day long. I mean, my dad's old world, like getting him to do nothing is so difficult.

7:14Adam Schafer:He's always outside. And he had all these strange symptoms of most of them were pain and low energy, but a lot of pain. He thought it was due to the hard labor that he's done most of his life. and it's like my back's hurting, my knees are hurting, my hips are hurting. I don't know what's going on. Taking pain medications, getting CT scans and all kinds of stuff. Finally did a blood test. Oh, your vitamin D is painfully low, which I wouldn't have guessed. No, I would have thought the opposite. I totally would have never guessed it. He took, I think it was 50 ,000 IUs right out the gates and then started taking that I think once a week, something like that.

7:47Adam Schafer:And his pain dropped significantly, which is crazy. Here's some of the studies that we find that we see with vitamin D. 2019 meta-analysis found that vitamin D supplementation with calcium reduced fracture risk by 15 % to 20 % in older adults. 15 % to 20 % just taking a cheap supplement. They didn't do anything else. No strength training, no, none of that stuff. Just that. Another study showed, another meta-analysis showed vitamin D supplementation reduced acute respiratory infections by 10 % to 25%. Another study, this is another meta-analysis, found that 800 to 1 ,000 IUs a day improved muscle strength and balance in older adults, reducing falls by 19%.

8:29Adam Schafer:So just took vitamin D, again, cheap, easy, you're not even exercising, and you reduce your risk of falling by 19%. I feel like respiratory issues are very much on the rise after COVID and everything else. but like I just hear so many cases of pneumonia and lots of respiratory issues people are dealing with. Yes. Here's another one. 2018 meta-analysis found 1 ,000 to 3 ,000 IUs a day improved depressive symptoms in deficient adults, which is again, 50 % of you probably are. Another one showed that 4 ,000 IUs a day reduced C-reactive protein by 20 % in obese individuals. Easy supplement to take, underrated.

9:10Adam Schafer:I think it's underrated still because I know a lot of health fitness fanatics they don't consider it especially if they go outside all the time. They're like I'm okay. But again the data seems to show now about 50 nanograms per deciliter in your blood is ideal and most people fall below that even if they're not deficient.

9:32Sal Di Stefano:Now can you flip your second one and your third one because the The third one kind of pairs with this one, and that's something that I think that not a lot of people talk about is taking these together and the benefits of that, correct?

9:44Adam Schafer:Yes, vitamin K2, which is interesting. So this is, it directs calcium to bones, reduces arterial calcification. Okay, so that means less risk of heart disease and heart attack. In fact, back in the, do you guys remember the push in the 80s and 90s for women to take calcium? Oh, yeah. And what they ended up finding was calcium deposits in the arteries? Yeah, too much, right? Yeah. And what it was was they weren't taking, they didn't have enough vitamin D. They were so worried about osteoporosis back in the day.

10:14Sal Di Stefano:So how does it work again with, like everyone says if you take that with vitamin D, you should also, is it because of the uptake? They're synergistic. Okay.

10:22Adam Schafer:Yes, they work together in the body. And K2, again, it's one of those underrated, I don't know, do you know anybody who takes vitamin K2? I don't. Yeah, I take it with my vitamin D.

10:33Sal Di Stefano:It actually comes together. That's Mike's Legion. Legion does. So his vitamin D pill actually comes with, I think, the ideal ratio of vitamin D to K ratio.

10:45Adam Schafer:Now, here's the number of people that are probably, a recent study in 2017 found that older adults, the percentage of older adults that were deficient in vitamin K, 97%. 97 %? 97%. 97%. Wow. You know where you find vitamin K, the kind that you absorb, by the way? Because they'll say, oh, you get vitamin K in leafy greens. you don't absorb it very well you normally will get vitamin K from organ meats and fermented foods your gut will produce it with the microbiome will produce vitamin K organ meats is another one nobody eats organ meats so this is it's another super cheap

11:21Sal Di Stefano:so vitamin K helps direct the calcium directly to the bones and teeth that's right that's right that's the one good advice Liver King had yeah

11:31Adam Schafer:hey you don't say organ meats he's in prison right now right yeah he is

11:33Sal Di Stefano:yeah yeah he looks bad this is this is crazy another topic so so again save that one uh

11:39Adam Schafer:fermented dairy organ meats um now k1 is abundant in leafy greens but you just don't absorb um nearly enough typically from well i didn't realize that that 97 percent deficient of an older adults wow was deficient interesting yeah and it's again these are like when you talk about vitamins and minerals, these are essential for the body. So if you're deficient, your body is dysfunctional. So it's not like other supplements that can give you some benefits, some health benefits, an herb or something like that. There's no ginseng deficiency. Yeah, you can find this in a multivitamin.

12:17Sal Di Stefano:I just can say, typically in a good multivitamin, you have this. You have both of these. Yes. But you have to look for that, I'm sure.

12:24Adam Schafer:And it's got to be a good 100 micrograms a day is what you typically want. Sometimes what multivitamins do - Is a little bit of everything. Not very much. They'll have a lot of like B, a lot of C, a lot of - And then you'll look at K2 and it's like - Or they'll do like the - 20 micrograms.

12:36Sal Di Stefano:They'll do like the minimum RDA versus the optimal dose. And there's certain things like vitamin D, for example, there's an optimal dose and then there's like the baseline. So knowing the difference is probably important.

12:48Adam Schafer:Yes. Another one that a lot of people don't take is NAC and acetylcysteine. This is a precursor to glutathione. It supports detoxification, lung health, and mood regulation. There was a 2015 meta-analysis that showed 600 to 1 ,200 milligrams a day reduced depressive symptoms and aided in thinning the mucus for respiratory health.

13:09Sal Di Stefano:Oh, wow. Now, because it's a precursor to glutathione, do you get the same benefits if I just take glutathione?

13:14Adam Schafer:Yes, but the problem with glutathione, it's not typically well absorbed. So people inject glutathione. Well, if we have the liposomal. You do liposomal. That helps. That definitely helps. NAC is cheap. It's gross. Yeah. Say what? It's gross, but worth it. Yeah. It's got great liver support and mental health benefits by taking NAC. And I believe, was NAC, what was the supplement they tried to ban, Doug, during COVID? Yeah, it was NAC. So here's the deal. So we talked about respiratory illness, okay? During COVID, NAC, because it raised glutathione and helped with lung health, there were some studies showing that uh it really improved outcomes yeah suddenly regulatory agencies came up came on nac made amazon stop selling it nac and glued well i guess glutathione wasn't shut out but that was what they found later was like oh my god yeah if we raise our glutathione yes and nac uh was a supplement for like 20 or 30 years it's funny they tried to shut it down which is a little conspiracy theory for you but uh for health with it but for health it's a good thing.

14:19Adam Schafer:I don't even know what this next one is. Berberine? Yeah. Yeah, berberine is interesting. Of all the supplements that can improve or that are touted to improve...

14:28Sal Di Stefano:Sounds like some kind of plaid. Blood sugar? Yes, like the brand. Say what? The brand.

14:35Adam Schafer:No, not... Berberine. No, you're not talking about that. So of all the supplements that tout the ability to improve insulin sensitivity or lower your fasting glucose berberine is the only one in the data to show so i'm assuming that's in all those

14:53Sal Di Stefano:well uh they better have it so like the what's the popular like carb there's like a carb supplement

14:58Adam Schafer:i forget what it's called oh god i think you're talking about ones that try to block they try yes yes would it most likely have this it should if you're looking at because okay so we've had so continual glucose monitors have now been available to the average person for a little while and I remember when we had I forgot who it was that was on our show that was an expert, there were a dietitian that used these with their patients Oh, the girl from