Supplements and Chemical Cocktails: Where They Fit Into a Healthy Lifestyle

There’s a whole segment of society that tells you that there can be quick fixes to shortcut you into a healthy lifestyle. For the most part, these get-healthy-quick cocktails are recipes for disaster. But many cases, there will be some value. You just have to figure out how to dredge it out in context.

Think about things like smart drugs, vitamin supplements, and the ever-popular and shifting ways to gain or lose weight. All of those can involve supplements or chemical cocktails of various sorts, but it’s up to you to research to find out which ones are sustainable, or which ones fit within your budget and schedule.

“Smart Drugs”

When you research smart drugs, it’s a little bit of a Wild West procedure. There is a lot of information out there. A lot of it is no good. And then there are some legitimate options that scientists and researchers are trying to prove can consistently help you out with brainpower, mood, and other positive aspects of life. If smart drugs were ubiquitous, everyone would be using them. So that alone should tell you that most options are still in the research phase.

Vitamin Supplements

The jury is out on using vitamin supplements. However, many people will swear by them. And if you have some natural deficiency, or if your doctor recommends them for pregnancy, for instance, there’s probably no harm in following suggestions. People who obsess over supplementation often find that the results aren’t what they expect. It’s usually a better idea to start with the basics of diet and exercise, and then only move to supplements if there is some outlying situation that you need to handle.

Gaining Weight

What’s the best way to gain weight in terms of muscle mass? You need to figure out what body type you have, what exercises are healthiest for you in context, and then what to eat in conjunction with exercise. But that’s a hard road. It can feel like it makes more sense to take weight-gain supplements and then just assume they’re going to work for you. Whereas these supplements in addition to healthy weight gain are good, without appropriate exercise, they can cause a mess.

Losing Weight

And then, probably even more popular than gaining weight, people are going to wonder how to use supplements to lose weight. All of the crash diets that are available –  these are fantastic ways to lose your health, and if you do lose weight too, it will all come back as soon as you stop taking the supplements, or as soon as you’re back to your regular lifestyle. Losing weight should be an incremental process, and supplements should not be a pillar of what you’re trying to do.