All cards on the table, I never took supplements before I met my husband. And anyone who has seen him (or more importantly, his biceps), guesses that he takes supplements. For months, he would try to talk me into the benefits of taking supplements, but I associated supplements with guys who looked like the hulk. So then, he walked me through all of the vitamins and nutrients I should be consuming in a day. Yeah, that looked about right. Then, he tallied up how many of those I was actually consuming in an average day. Well, that can’t be right.

According to the numbers, there wasn’t a single vitamin that was completely covered. I ate healthy, for the most part, but I thought I might need to up my game on just how healthy I was eating. So, I made a meal plan that ensured all my macros (protein, carbs and fat) were right where they should be. Then, I went through and made sure that I was getting all the vitamins I needed. The only tiny problem was that I should be eating bags and bags of food all day, which was obviously an issue since I couldn’t possibly carry those bags around all day. Oh and I can’t spend 80% of my life eating (contrary to what I would have loved my high school aptitude test to reveal).

5 Best Basic Supplements

This is where supplements come in– by filling in the gaps of your nutrition. They don’t make it okay to eat like crap, nor do they make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger (unless you bought them online from Russia). However, a quick perusal on Google for “supplements” is going to make you want to ever so gently toss your laptop out of the window and eat a donut. Which ones? How many? Should I be popping pills every 2 hours? Do I really have to take all the pills suggested by everyone? Well, since you’re already eating healthy and exercising *pauses to glare at you*, you only need to fill in those few gaps you have. So let me walk you through the absolute basic, yet essential, supplements.

Multivitamins

Benefits

Yes, those pills that your grandparents and parents have been taking every day since you were two. And no, the Flintstones gummies won’t work for you, anymore. These do a good job of getting you covered on your vitamins, especially for your fruits and veggies.

Types

These are typically one or two oral pills that you take every morning, and usually don’t require food on your stomach. There are general multivitamins, which should work for anyone, but if you’re older (aka menopausal), pregnant or you have any medical problems, there may be a special type for you to take. But, for the average person, any will do. I have seen some that give you over 100% of your recommended daily dosage, which doesn’t actually make you ultra-healthy. It means that your body will ‘expel’ those vitamins.

Where to Find

Wal-Mart, Target, CVS…. pretty much everywhere.

BCAAs

Benefits

BCAAs or branched chain amino acids are the building blocks for protein. As you work out, you tear down your muscle and the aminos help rebuild that muscle. This will aid in reducing that soreness you feel after a good workout and help the process of building muscle. These also work as an appetite suppressant, so you can take it right after working out or between meals.

Types

You can take these orally in pill form or you can also take them in powder form mixed with water. I prefer the latter, because it’s one less pill to take and because they come in some pretty stinkin’ awesome flavors. So, you have the two types (oral or powder), and there are quite a few breakdowns of the variations you can get. There are BCAAs and there are EAAs (essential amino acids). It it specifically BCAAs that I take, as my diet actually covers the EAs– there is a lot of science that goes into this, which I will spare you. If you’re thinking, “YES! I want the science!”, then I suggest reading a quick guide to walk you through it.

Where to Find

I buy mine on bodybuilding.com, but this is where Wal-Mart fails…. there is a huge difference in quality on where you get your amino acids. Because the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements, you need to be cautious on the brands you use. There are some that companies that opt for third party companies to check on their process, but the supplement companies have to choose this, and they may only guarantee that it has been used for some of their products. Informed Choice is one of the major third party companies and it lists the companies that utilizes their services online.

Omegas

Benefits

Omegas 3 fatty acid, or the “good fat”, is something that many of you may already be getting in your diet, should you be eating fish (specifically salmon) on a regular basis. I cannot overrate the benefits of this supplement, which ranges from mental health to physical health, and includes reducing ADHD, Crohns disease, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, autoimmune disorders, breast/colon/prostate cancer and overall brain health.

Types

You could take straight fish oil…. if you have a strong stomach and a weak palate, or you can take them in gel capsule form. Apart from that, there really isn’t that much variety on types, so this one is much easier to go shopping for.

Where to Find

These can be found at Wal-Mart, Target, CVS or on any online supplement store… pretty much anywhere.

Probiotics

Benefits

These are live bacteria and yeast that aid your digestive system and your body’s ability to process food. This may seem like something you can live without, but as studies have shown the average person carries approximately 20 lbs of waste in their digestive tract, I would highly suggest investing in some probiotics. Perhaps not the best dinner discussion on a first date, but let’s face it, there are quite nasty things involved in health.

Types

There are a lot of different types of bacteria and no one should ever know all the names, but the key thing is to make sure that whatever you’re buying says that it guarantees a certain number of live bacteria. Since the FDA doesn’t regulate this, there are lots of products that either don’t have that much bacteria, or they don’t have live bacteria. There isn’t a set dosage for how much bacteria you need everyday (I’m sure you noticed they aren’t included on the nutritional facts chart), but most probiotic yogurt will have anywhere from 1-10 billion bacteria.

Where to Find

You can find these anywhere, but regardless of where you go, make sure you’re getting high-quality bacteria and do the research.

Pre-Workout (optional supplement)

Benefits

A lot of people out there don’t take pre-workout on a regular basis and sometimes not at all (and I’m actually referring to those aforementioned hulk people). This isn’t a necessity item, so I’m going to say it’s optional to take it everyday but I would definitely suggest you keep some around.

Types

There are two major types of pre-workout. One helps give you a boost of physical energy and a bit of a ‘pump’, and the other is more to help give you the mental focus with that energy boost. These are not the same as ‘energy drinks’, although some people do take energy drinks as their pre-workout. I would not suggest that anyone take an energy drink on a daily basis, though. When you go to pick out a pre-workout, you will feel absolutely overwhelmed… the variety of flavors and types can seem a bit to shuffle through. I actually never take the same one twice, so that I can ‘cycle out’ and prevent my body from getting too adjusted to a specific type. I would suggest you start off with one that markets targeting the mental focus, and that you start off with half a serving.

*Forewarning, it will be felt quickly. Your hands, ears and maybe even nose will tingle and your ears may get red. This will only happen the first couple of times you take it, because your body isn’t used to it. All of those signs should dissipate as you work it off at the gym. It is not not recommend you take it on an empty stomach,  because they usually contain some caffeine.

Where to Find

This is almost too easy to find and you’ll feel a bit overwhelmed. I also buy these on bodybuilding.com. To keep things simple, when you search for a pre-workout, sort the results by ratings. Then pick the first one targeting mental focus with a flavor you like. Buy it in a smaller container, just in case. There are also some made just for women.

These are the bare minimum anyone should take, but there are more out there. There are more supplements that I take, but many of them are optional. There are also health issues my husband and I have, so we take supplements to aid.

Now that I have encouraged you to all become pill poppers, I can go take my next dose.