By Paul Mischel

In Part 1 of this article we discussed the importance of eating 5 – 6 meals per day, eating good quality protein, reducing simple carbohydrates, eating good healthy fats, drinking more than 8 glasses of water, advanced meal preparation and tracking our progress. In Part 2, we are going to discuss some useful supplements that you may wish to use on your journey towards a trimmer fitter you.

Before we discuss specific supplements let me start by saying that supplements are only of use to you provided that your diet is in order, hence the name of this article. However, supplements can tweak a good diet and make it great as well as provide ease of convenience in getting some specific macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients into your diet. Some of the supplements below are optional additions that you may wish to consider.

Protein powders.

Protein powders are an easy and convenient way of getting lean protein into your diet without the hassle of having to cook steaks/ chicken or carry cans of tuna with you. There are various types of proteins and it is not the intention of this article to go into detail about them. The key things to look for when getting a protein that will provide convenience and help stimulate your metabolism are:

A sustained release protein powder that contains either a combination of Whey Protein, Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate and Casein or a dedicated Casein protein preferably an undenatured casein such as Micellar Casein.

A low carbohydrate / low fat protein generally that provides less than 4g of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fat per serve. 

A powder that yields approximately 25g – 30g of protein per serve.

You can make life easier for yourself by carrying two – three servings of protein with you. This can be done by simply purchasing a portable baby formula container from a pharmacy and putting the servings into the segments that the baby formula would go into. Two – three protein shakes with water are viable low calorie, protein based meals when eaten with some vegetables or fruit and a small amount of fat. These protein shakes contribute to the five - six meals you should be eating per day.

Soluble Fibre

The average person should eat approximately 30g of fibre a day but the reality is that most are lucky to eat 15g – 18g per day. A soluble fibre formula is a great way of getting extra fibre into your diet. Apart from it making you more regular and reduces the risk of constipation, it also helps increase feelings of fullness, helps regulate blood glucose levels and has the capability of lowering cholesterol levels.

Fish oil capsules

Not everyone likes fish and some may find the idea of eating an oily fish like salmon as appealing as seeing Rosanne Barr naked. Fish Oil capsules are an easy way of getting this important fat without eating fish. Fish oil has been positively linked with lower levels of body fat and improved cholesterol levels. Three to six capsules a day is more than enough for most guys, though some dieters can experiment with taking up to 12 capsules a day. A word of warning, if you are on blood thinners such as Wafrin you may like to check with your doctor before supplementing with Fish Oils. They have the capacity to thin the blood, hence part of the reason for their cardiovascular benefits but this effect may pose a risk to people on medication.

Green Tea Extract capsules

Green Tea Extract (GTE) has been proven to increase metabolism in numerous studies. In fact it is one of the most researched herbs for fat loss on the planet and is generally included in most of the “fat burner” tablets in health food stores.  Unlike the green tea you buy in supermarkets, GTE should be standardised for the active ingredient Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG). If you are going to be using GTE make sure you take it 20 – 30 minutes before meals and try to get at least 250mg of the active EGCG per day.

You can also drink green tea throughout the day, it won't have the metabolism boosting benefits of GTE capsules, but it does make drinking water a little more interesting.  Green tea has it's own diuretic benefits and if you add a one of the flavoured green teas to a bottle of cold water and let it percolate, it provides a low calorie iced tea.

Leucine Powder

You've probably never heard of this amino acid before, but Leucine is one of my favourite supplements and will most likely become yours as well when you read what it does.  Leucine is an amino acid that is essential to our diet, our bodies can not produce it so it must come from food. It is theorised that this powerful amino acid is responsible for the initiation of muscle building when protein is eaten. That's right this amino kick starts muscle building! On it's own Leucine is not as effective but added to a protein powder, this amino acid really supercharges the formula. Apart from Leucine's muscle building benefits, it also protects your hard earned muscle from being broken down from stress or exercise. As if the news couldn't get any better, there is emerging evidence to suggest that Leucine plays an important role in high protein / reduced carbohydrate fat loss protocols.

Zinc

You could try getting this important mineral from eating boat loads of slimy oysters, or you could just take a zinc tablet every night. Zinc for men is like iron for women in the sense that most if not all men experience deficiencies in this mineral t some stage. Zinc plays a crucial role in over 300 enzymatic processes, testosterone production and immunity. Whereas women lose iron during their period and often need to supplement in order to replace the lost mineral. Men lose zinc every time they ejaculate. So if you are sexually active, preferably with someone else, there is a chance that you are losing zinc on a regular basis. Simply put, Zinc is important to your testosterone production, the key male hormone that is responsible for facial hair and male physiology. The importance of having good testosterone levels can not be stated enough and research seems to be discovering just how much this hormone plays a big role in how we think and behave as men. Apart from having a correlation with lower levels of abdominal body fat, testosterone has a profound impact on your feelings of well being and libido. Lastly, if you suffer from “Moobs” or man boobs you want to get your testosterone levels up ASAP and do your best to prevent the conversion of testosterone to the female sex hormone estrogen. Zinc assists in the prevention of testosterone conversion by partially inhibiting the enzyme responsible for this process.

30mg – 50mg of Zinc taken with your last meal at night will be more than adequate for most men.

There are many more supplements I could suggest but these are a great start and pretty much target all the areas of your diet you want to hit. The key to supplementing your diet is to apply the K.I.S.S principle. Only do or take as much as you need to in order to get the change you are after and keep it simple. You can use all the suggested supplements, some of them or none of them at all, it is your choice. Ultimately, the principle for fat loss remains the same, consume less calories than you expend and make a caloric deficit.

In Part 3 I will provide you with a formula for working out your macro-nutrients for the day, detail how much you should eat per meal and how to reduce your calories over 12-16 weeks to gradually and safely shed the fat.

Copyright © 2009  by Paul Mischel