Fitness supplements should never replace the nutrition of a healthy, well-balanced diet. Instead, supplements should work alongside healthy food to enhance performance and promote overall health. If you have chosen to abstain from certain food groups, supplementation is a great way to add the nutrition that is missing, thus balancing your diet out. For instance, if you are a vegetarian, an amino acid supplement is necessary because of the lack of meat in your diet. When starting a nutritional supplement program, make sure to have proper testing done by a health care provider indicating what nutrition your body needs more of.

What To Look For In Fitness Supplements

When heading out to purchase supplements, be sure and do some research on the retailer you are purchasing from. With the supplement retailers popping up everywhere these days, you want to be sure that their staff are trained properly to answer your questions and make healthy recommendations. When selecting your fitness supplements, make sure they come from a reputable factory that insures the quality and protection of their products. Best to stay away from mass-produced supplements that are cheap, synthetic and typically sold at big box stores. The reality is you get what you pay for, and you want to enhance your health, not compromise it. Although not mandatory, it is best to look for a nutritional supplement that are designed by a physician, dietician, or a company that employs scientists who know and study compounds. Remember, you are ingesting something that has been put together by a human, make sure that human has lots of schooling behind them and research to back up their product. Check out my list of my fitness supplement recommendations.

Tips From The FDA

Here are a few tips from the Food and Drug Administration regarding supplements.

• Watch our for statements like “A quick and effective ‘cure-all'”, “can treat or cure disease”, or “totally safe with no side effects”
• Beware that the term “natural” doesn’t always mean safe
• When searching for supplements on the Web, use the sites of respected organizations, rather than doing blind searches.
• See Health Fraud Scams for general information on fraudulent dietary supplements.
• See the FDA’s Tainted Supplements page for a list of some of the potentially hazardous dietary supplements marketed to consumers.
• Ask your health-care provider for help in distinguishing between reliable and questionable information.
• Always remember, SAFETY FIRST!