NOW Green Tea Extract
The benefits of green tea extract have been played up over the last few years and there is growing evidence to indicate that this is for good reason. Green tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis and has been consumed in China and other Asian countries for centuries. Modern green tea extracts take all or some of the beneficial flavanoids (kaempferol, quercetin, and myricetin) and polyphenols (epigallocatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate and epicatechin) and provide them in convenient pill or capsule form. NOW Foods produces a very affordable EGCg green tea extract in capsule form.
Scivation Xtend
Free form amino acids, especially L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine, continue to be one of the more popular supplements amongst weight training/bodybuilding enthusiasts. The role of BCAAs in recovery and muscle protein synthesis has now been studied for many years. In the past, I have written about XF ICE and recently had the opportunity to try out Xtend. One of the reasons I had not tried Scivation’s Xtend until now was because a lot of the feedback from the forums, complained of excessive sweetness and strong flavours of Xtend. This has changed as Scivation has recently re-formulated Xtend and removed up to 200 grams of sweeteners/artificial flavours/colours/additives in this new version.
Blender Bottle
This review is not for a nutritional supplement but for something that is found the gym bags, cars and kitchens of most health and fitness enthusiasts - a shaker bottle. If you have ever mixed a powdered supplement (protein or carb powder, pre-workout, BCAAs, etc.) you have used some type of shaker bottle or cup. And you also know that they tend to leak, leave clumps of powder in your shake, end up being filthy and stink after a few uses, are often flimsy, and are often made from cheap plastic that may be leaching harmful chemicals into your health drink. Enter the Blender Bottle - probably one of the best shakers you will find, bar none. Let’s look at how the blender bottle deals with each of the common shaker deficiencies I had mentioned about.
Garden Of Life FucoProtein Bars
A few years ago, I came to the conclusion that protein bars are not a viable way to get a high quality source of protein, carbs or fats. They are typically just a candy bar “spiked with some (cheap soy) protein”. To this day, there are very few protein or meal replacement bars that fall out of this category and are in my opinion worth any serious consideration. Its hard to find a protein bar that does not contain soy protein, high fructose corn syrup, hydrolyzed gelatin, sugar alcohols or hydrogenated oils. The FucoProtein bar by Garden of Life come close as a high quality meal replacement bar that is worth consideration. They also contain Fucoxanthin which is a marine derived antioxidant that has been shown in some studies to help with weight loss. Though this is not the reason I bought these bars, some of these additional benefits don’t hurt its cause. To me the FucoProtein bars are a decent investment for when you need a high quality snack on the run. Read More…
Ascenta NutraSea Fish Oil
I believe that omega-3 fatty acids from cold water fish are one of the more beneficial supplements one can take. There are many options when it comes to fish oil supplements but there are only a few that I trust. Ascenta’s NutraSea is a high quality herring oil that uses Ascenta’s proprietary technology which combines with molecular distillation, to create a very pure omega-3 supplement. The company allows consumers to enter the batch number of their purchase on its website, to view an independent report on the quality test results. These tests include an analysis of the actual amount of EPA and DHA along with oxidation levels and the levels of various common contaminants like dioxins, furans, PCBs, lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic.
Astaxanthin
Astaxanthin is often referred to as the “king of carotenoids” and is found in certain algae, salmon, trout (it was gives then their pink colour), krill, shrimp and yeast. As per some sources, natural astaxanthin may be a more powerful antioxidant than Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Pycnogenol and Beta Carotene. This substance is gaining some popularity within both athletes and the life extension crowd. Studies have also shown that astaxathin may reduce DNA damage, benefit immune support and help with excess inflammation.
Levrone Formula Extreme Nitric Pump
Kevin Levrone was a major body building star throughout the 1990s. His accomplishments on and off the bodybuilding stage are well known. He has now come out with an interesting supplement that may make some waves in the very crowded and competitive, pre-workout “pump” supplement category. The Levrone Formula looks to differentiate itself from the supplement crowd by doing a few novel things:
- No proprietary blends - you know exactly how much of each ingredient you are getting
- No fillers - the cheap, hidden carbs that form the basis of many pre-workout formulas
- No artificial sweeteners or colours
- No added synthetic caffeine
Xtreme Formulations ICE (BCAA)
Branched chain amino acids (BCAA) are leucine, isoleucine and valine. They are important for athletes and active individuals, especially in their “free form”, as they are metabolized in the muscles rather than by the liver. They can there provide a source of energy and are often shown to increase both endurance during exercise, lean muscle mass and better post workout recovery. There are many BCAA supplements out there, but one of the best is Xtreme Formulations ICE.
The basis of my view begins with XF using the highest quality free form amino acids that have been sourced from Ajinomoto and packaged in a GMP compliant facility. They are found in a roughly 2:1:1 ratio that has been studied extensively. ICE also contains free form glutamine, which is an very popular amino acid that is supposed to enhance recovery, gut and immune health.
Gaspari Myofusion Protein
Protein powders are a convenient and often a very cost effective way, of getting easily digestible protein into your diet. This is especially relevant to athletes, bodybuilders and active individuals. Gaspari Nutrition’s MyoFusion protein is a great tasting blend of four different types of proteins along with some healthy fats. It makes a great breakfast protein shake, to go along with oats or other cereals.
Myofusion’s Athlete’s Edge Complete Protein Blend includes Cross-Flow, Cold Infused Whey Protein Concentrate, Cross-Flow, Cold Infused, Microfiltered Whey Protein Isolate, Egg Albumin, Milk Protein Isolate. These are all high quality protein sources, in that cross flow, cold infused filtration is a gentle process that keeps a lot of the beneficial whey microfractions intact. The healthy fats in Myofusion’s Pro-Compliance Lipid Complex are in the form of Cold-Processed Sunflower Oil Powder, Micro-Encapsulated Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Cold-Processed Flax Seed Oil Powder. With the lipids (fats), cold processing should prevent them from oxidizing and going rancid.
VPX NO Shotgun
VPX NO Shotgun has been a popular pre-workout supplement for the last few years. Vital Pharmaceuticals has not disappointed with the most recent (version 3) of Shotgun. Unlike many other pre-workout supplements, VPX NO Shotgun combines easily digestible protein and free form amino acids with various forms of creatine, glutamine, arginine, beta alanine and a potent stimulant blend. This supplement has a lot of ingredients and I will briefly look at a few of the important sub-blends.
