To Supplement Or Not?

+ more on habits

A couple of days ago, my friend sent me this article titled "Most Supplements Don’t Work. But That’s Not the Worst Part”.

After reading it, my comment was how much people underestimate eating to fuel their bodies and provide adequate sleep for health and performance.

But is it easier to take a supplement than to change a habit?

I’m not against supplements; Up and Go Energise was my post-workout fuel of choice until I realised it has more sugar in it than protein powder, so I started buying it from Bulk Nutrients (although they have discontinued my favourite flavour - mint slice) because I like to drink flavoured milk post-training. But there are all kinds of other supplements on the market making health and performance claims or people taking fruit/vegetable powders/tablets when you can eat fruit and vegetables.

‘Energy’ drinks are also commonly consumed; people buy them from the servo for breakfast. Is it easier to buy a drink than to go to bed earlier?

There is no Judgement here; I'm just thinking out loud and wondering why people pay money to make themselves feel better when there are free or cheaper alternatives.

The advantage I see to diet challenges that cut out foods is not so much related to the foods they are cutting out but more to do with breaking habits. Habits can be linked to actions and, therefore, be hard to change. For example, you get up in the morning and turn the jug on to make a coffee, or you stop and get a coffee on the way to work, whether you actually want the coffee or not. Sometimes, we tell ourselves we need the coffee to get through the day, but what would happen if we didn’t?

During the lockdowns, I did not gain weight, and this is because I ate when I was hungry. Rather than, It’s my lunch break, so I need to eat lunch now. I realised that to fill the time between patients, I would snack, so I stopped having an ample supply of snacks at work. I started snacking when I stopped going on my phone between patients because sometimes I’d get caught up replying to a message and run late for my next patient. Still, these are habits that I did without even thinking about them. Like driving, you drive the same way to work every day. You go on autopilot and often don’t know how you got there. (The big thing for me is when you see a speed van and don’t know what speed you are doing because you weren’t paying attention.)

Some habits serve us well, while others mean that our health and well-being (energy levels and performance) aren’t as good as they could be. I also think it’s good to break habits now and then because we also need to be flexible/adaptable, which helps our resilience when we face adversity.

What are your thoughts and experiences on supplements?

Do they make your life easier? Or do they break your budget?

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A habit that I got into was donating plasma every fortnight. However, since returning to low blood protein levels in December and January, I was advised to donate less frequently. It was a long 4 week wait between donations, but I finally made it to 100 donations. But tally might now go up a little slower, but I’m keen to donate when I can because I enjoy it. It’s a great way to socially connect as well as help others.

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