Everyone likes a quick fix. It’s why the shelves at your local drugstore are overflowing with products. Supplement companies use buzzwords to convince you that their product will make you lose 10 lbs in a week, live to 100 and have the skin of a Japanese baby until you die. A pill or powder sounds a whole lot easier than maintaining regular hydration or preparing nutrient-dense and satiating meals. But I’m gonna be real with you. The word “supplement” shows exactly what they do — they supplement a nutritious diet and well-rounded training plan. In many cases, there are Japanese ways to replace these expensive supplements.
Spending your money on high-quality, whole foods to nourish your body and fuel your training will do you an immense physical and financial favor and improve your body composition. Here are five supplements that are generally considered worthwhile that you might want to reconsider replacing.
BCAAs: Drink Pocari Sweat Instead
Multivitamins: Focus On What You Lack Instead
Fish Oil Supplements: Eat Fish Instead
5. Pre-Workout Drinks: Make Your Own Instead
1. Collagen: Eat Ikura Instead
Collagen is all the rage in Japan for glowing skin. Collagen drinks, powders and pills are everywhere. Tourists stock up and take them to their home countries like there’s no tomorrow. However, ingesting collagen massively is unlikely to improve your skin quality or have any miracle anti-aging benefits.
When you consume collagen, it combines with stomach acid to form gelatin. The gelatin is then broken down in your intestines to create the four non-essential (read: “unnecessary”) amino acids, glycine, proline, arginine and hydroxyproline. Those proteins get broken down into individual amino acids to be absorbed. The body synthesizes new peptides it needs, but it is not guaranteed that the body will re-synthesize the ingested collagen back into collagen for glowing skin.
While there are studies that prove that beef gelatin may help inflammation in joints, most collagen in Japan is sourced from mackerel. Commercial powders are also laden with sugars (artificial and real). The better bang for your buck is to consume high-quality fish. This is beneficial not only for the collagen but also for the omega-3 fatty acids and protein content. At upwards of ¥5,000/month for collagen powders and drinks, you’re better off treating yourself to some nice ikura (salmon roe), which will boost your collagen and help you stay hydrated.
2. BCAAs: Drink Pocari Sweat Instead
BCAAs are three essential amino acids found in proteins: leucine, isoleucine and valine. They’re essential because the body is unable to create them from other amino acids, which means you have to consume them from whole food sources or supplements. However, that cool-looking blue raspberry drink is just glorified Gatorade.
If you reach your daily protein needs from whole foods, adding more “protein” in the form of BCAAs will not contribute to muscle growth or prevent muscle wasting — unless you’re vegan, vegetarian or have metabolic disorders, kidney or liver diseases, in which case you may be lacking sufficient leucine intake. If you’re not, just head to your local grocery store or conbini (convenience store) and grab a bottle of Pocari Sweat! Especially if you’re getting sufficient protein intake daily (no more than 1.6g/kg of body weight for strength trainees and 1.2g/kg of body weight for sedentary individuals), a Pocari Sweat will be of better value, as it has all the essential amino acids your body needs.
3. Multivitamins: Focus On What You Lack Instead
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