[RRxtar]

for those asking about multi's

How to select a multi and why yours is probably garbage!

I'm sick of seeing threads on what multi to buy and then reading responses suggesting the latest crap on the market as the best. The truth is most of the multi's today are a complete waste of money and not even worth taking so I decided to make this thread telling everyone how to select a multi. Hopefully it can be bumped often so people don't need to start new threads.

The FIRST ingredient you need to look at is the vitamin B12. The reason this is the most important is because 1) it's the most expensive component in the multi and 2) it needs to be in high enough doses to be effective. B12 powers your nerves and liver function and you need a lot more than the government recommended amount (6mcg).

The cheap, inexpensive form of B12 is called cyanocobalamin. This is an inert form of B12 meaning that the cobalamin molecule has been stabilized with a cyanide molecule. This is bad because when your body has to metabolize it, it breaks it down, strips away the front end molecule (which is cyanide) and then you have to detoxify that cyanide.

So why is this bad? Because first you have to detoxify the cyanide and then it robs energy from your cells just to make it useful which is difficult if you are tired, stressed etc. Not ideal when cutting.

What you want to look for is a co-enzyme form of B12. Methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin. The methylcobalamin is exactly what your liver uses as methylation reactions which power a lot of your natural biochemistry. Adenosylcobalamin is used to assemble proteins in your body and is a key marker of aging. If you don't have enough adenosylcobalamin your body can't make proteins and ages much faster.

So why is this better? Well if you have a form of a vitamin that is exactly what your body uses then it goes right into your metabolism and does its job.

So what if it's a blend of methyl and cyano etc? Well, this is simply the company being deceptive. Methylcobalamin costs literally 10 times the amount as cyanocobalamin so the company wants to use as much as the cheap stuff as possible but still have the word methylcobalamin on their label so you think it's good quality.

Food based nutrients (greens supplements).

Lets look at chlorella first. What does it do? It absorbs toxins, metals and lead etc. Perfect if you eat a lot of tuna because it will help absorb/break down the mercury in the tuna. Quality all depends on where it's sourced. Does it come from the centre of a lake or does it come from irrigation channels dug around the lake? Is it grown hydroponically? This is important because you don't want your chlorella to be laced with mercury and other crap when that's the reason you're taking it in the first place.

Minerals.

Lettuce be reality, all minerals are natural so that's not something to be worried about. What you want to look for is how the mineral is structured. So when a plant absorbs minerals and builds them into its structure we get organic minerals which are biologically bound in a way which is more compatible to how we, as humans, have evolved. Iron is a perfect example of this. If you're getting iron through your water for instance, that's going to be a highly reactive compound, potentially toxic and destructive to health. However, if you get iron from something like spinach, it's been structured with proteins and is in a form that your body knows what to do with it. So you want a form connected to proteins or a form biologically bound to something your body uses in its metabolism.

Magnesium.

Magnesium is in short supply in our food and is a critical mineral to your health for your heart, muscles etc.

Magnesium oxide is the cheap form of magnesium. The oxide itself is oxygen generating compound so when your body has to use it, it strips the oxide from the magnesium before it can use it and now you have oxides in your system. So how do you get rid of oxides? You use antioxidants (vitamin c, vitamin e, beta carotene etc). Why on earth would you want to waste your antioxidants on something you just took for your health? Makes no sense at all. Inert forms of magnesium such as magnesium gluconate, which is a sugar containing molecule of magnesium, is about 10% magnesium and 90% glucose. Not at all what your body needs.

So what are the higher quality forms of magnesium? Magnesium bis-glycinate which is magnesium double bonded to the amino acid glycine. This is the most expensive form of magnesium you can buy. So what does it do? Well, it's absorbed as a food, it doesn't even need to bind to mineral receptors. This is good because if your body isn't working quite right or you have competition for mineral absorption it doesn't matter. Next, because it's bonded to glycine it goes to your liver to help detoxification and to your nervous system to help it relax. So the magnesium goes straight in with it. This is critically important in people who are fatigued because cells all over your body have to pump magnesium inside themselves. However, the pump needs magnesium to work in the first place so if you're deficient in magnesium and your pump doesn't work you can take magnesium oxide until you're blue in the face and none of it will make it to your cells because you can't get it there. So the best way to make magnesium is to chelate it with things that go into cells. We also have magnesium malate (malic acid). Malic acid is the best compound on earth for muscle fatigue. Perfect for athletes. It will delay the onset of lactic acid so great for cutting and doing cardio.

What to look out for.

Amino acid chelate. This sounds great and it does absorb better but what is it? Well usually it's hydrolysed soy protein and you still don't know what form of magnesium was bound to that soy protein. Some companies use calcium formate which is a chemical used to accelerate concrete hardening. Not good.

Forms of multivitamins.

Capsules vs tablets? Capsules break down easier and it's easier to absorb the nutrients in them. Vege caps are the best hands down because the vegetable fibre they are made of comes from a nice vegetarian source. Gelatin is fine too but there have been a few scares that they may contain mad cow disease (gelatin comes from beef). Overall though, not something to worry about. Tablets generally use a glue like substance to hold it all together. Usually this is dicalcium phosphate which sounds nice but it's essentially just a glue. Then you have to coat the tablet and companies generally use a coloured coating which is intended to mask the smell. After that you need to glaze the tablet and companies use what's called pharmaceutical glaze (shellac) which comes from a bug. Tablets also tend to just run right through people due to the fact they are basically like a tiny piece of cement all glued together.

I hope this helps a few people out.

Cliffs:

Read the thread or continue wasting your money on worthless vitamins.

How to select a multi and why yours is probably garbage! - Bodybuilding.com Forums