My Essential Daily Supplements: Reasons for My Routine

Are supplements the magic solution to all problems in life?

Probably not.

Do I believe they can be a worthy contribution to life?

F* yes.

I love supplements, I love doing research on them and trying out new ones.

In this article, I’ll keep an updated list of the supplements I’ve been taking daily for a long time, I’ll tell you how much I take, and give you a brief explanation of why I decided to take them.

This isn’t a scientific outlay of every supplement, I’ll keep it to the point and practical.

Note: you don’t have to blindly copy this list and take everything I take for yourself (or limit yourself to this list for that matter). Let it be merely a source of inspiration for what I do, and do your research.

I’m always open for feedback, a chat about supplements, or new supplement ideas, which I may or may not consider adding to the list.

Whey/Isolate protein powder

A good old protein shake.

No surprises here. Protein is the building block of everything I’m trying to accomplish in the gym.

It supports muscle growth, fat loss, performance, and many other sports/health-related functions in the body.

I get a lot of protein from food, but shakes are convenient from time to time. Especially when I don’t have time to cook, some protein powder is an easy way to get in my daily protein requirements. Also, I love the taste of protein powder, especially when baking my infamous anabolic pancake French toast or mixing it with my anabolic Greek yogurt of the Viking Gods. And of course, balanced as everything should be, I eat those same meals every single day. Protein is of course of fundamental importance when setting up any diet.

Dosage: a little bit when cooking (three times a day), and when convenient.

Creatine

The famous white powder.

It still causes controversy in the (fitness) world to this day.

It’s one of the most researched supplements, but there’s still so much false information going around about creatine.

Let me be clear, it’s no steroid and it won’t magically make you achieve all your fitness goals.

I’ll explain why I take it with a short scientific answer: your body uses ATP as energy in short bursts of intense exercise (weightlifting, sprints, etc.). When that energy is about to deplete in your muscles,

aka you’re approaching failure (you’ve done 10 reps, but can’t do 11), creatine provides your body with extra ATP.

In practice, this means you could maybe do 12 reps with a certain weight, instead of doing 10.

Over time these extra reps can lead to increases in strength, and better performance, and help you build more muscle.

Dosage: I take 5 grams/day all year round and I don’t cycle it.

Vitamin d

The birds are chirping and the sun shines bright.

I love it. Except I live in Belgium and those days don’t come around very often.

You can naturally get vitamin D by absorbing the sun, but from where I’m writing, that’s impossible.

Luckily, I simply take a supplement that provides me with the numerous benefits of vitamin D.

I take this mainly for overall health because vitamin D is important for nearly everything. Some examples are your bones, muscles, teeth, chances of getting diseases, blood pressure, and the absorption of other minerals and vitamins such as magnesium.

Oh, and it can improve your mood, which is great!

Dosage: 3,000 IU/day

Magnesium

Hundreds of chemical reactions are happening in your body.

Mind-blowing if you ask me.

Magnesium plays a role in a lot of those chemical reactions. The benefits of healthy magnesium levels are therefore numerous.

It helps with overall health, and blood sugar levels, supporting the immune system, combating depression & anxiety, and improving cardiovascular health.

Besides this, I like the fitness-related advantages such as muscle & nerve function, anti-inflammatory effect, and that it may boost performance.

Dosage: 151mg/day

Up to 350mg/day is known to be safe for adults, just be mindful of this.

Calcium

Drink your milk son.

When you’re a kid people often tell you to drink a lot of milk, so you can grow some super strong bones.

Well, there’s truth to this.

Milk provides your body with calcium. It’s vital for your bone health, which in itself is already extremely beneficial, but it goes even further.

Calcium also supports your heart, muscles, and nerves, which are especially important when you’re working out a lot.

Dosage: 200mg/day

Especially good in combination with vitamin D.

Curcuma

An old man at the age of 23?

I used to get a lot of aches, random pains, and inflammation all over my body, especially my shoulders/hips, etc.

Often this would happen from bench pressing, or squatting, and I would take prescription anti-inflammatories regularly.

I read about Curcuma as a natural anti-inflammatory and decided to try it for myself. It made a HUGE difference.

A lot of the aches and inflammation completely disappeared and since then I only used prescription anti-inflammatory a handful of times.

For me, absolutely a game-changer.

The best curcumin (active ingredient) supplement I've found and use is Longvida Curcumin from Nootropics Depot, which you can find here.

Dosage: 2 pills/day

Omega 3

I won’t say it’s magic, I won’t say it’s not magic either.

This one has been the focus of many studies. The benefits found from having enough omega 3 in your diet are truly remarkable.

It has an impact on overall health, increases metabolism, helps with inflammation, protects against diseases, improves bone & joint health, is good for your skin, and heart health, and is beneficial for your eyes.

If that’s not enough, it can also lift your mood, and help you sleep better.

Note: for women, it might help with menstrual pain (not speaking out of experience here).

Do you know what you need to eat to get all these benefits? Fish. A lot of fish.

I’m the kind of person that doesn’t mind eating the same meals every single day. Fish is simply not a part of my diet, but even if it was, it would probably not be enough to get in enough omega 3 anyways.

Therefore, a simple supplement is my preferred way to reap the benefits.

Dosage: 2,000mg/day

Vitamin E

Another yellow pill.

Well, I’m going, to be honest here. This is one of those supplements I take because there’s no such thing as too much health, right?

It’s important for the proper function of many organs in the body, serves as an anti-oxidant, boosts your immune system, and is good for your skin, and eyes.

Dosage: 400 IU/day

Vitamin C

Do you want to build some big muscles?

Or have any muscle at all for that matter? Well, you’re going to need vitamin C, because it plays an important role in the growth, repair, and development of all body tissues.

Next to that, it improves your immune system, helps protect against diseases, regulates blood pressure, and is good for your memory.

This vitamin is essential, but your body can’t produce it. This means you need to get it from food, supplement, or both. I choose the latter.

Dosage: 1,000mg/day

Green tea

A cup of tea on a beautiful fall morning.

You look outside the window, it’s a beautiful morning, and you have a nice fresh cup of green tea in your hand.

It’s perfect, except I don’t drink tea (often), and if I do it’s not green.

Green tea is a great addition to any diet though, because it may boost your metabolism, improve brain function, protect against cardiovascular diseases, and help regulate blood pressure. It contains natural anti-oxidants.

I like the benefits, not the drink, so I take a supplement instead.

After years I found a green tea supplement that works. Its from Nootropics Depot, which you can find here.

Dosage: one pill

Ashwagandha

A little bit bigger, stronger, and leaner.

That’s why I started working out. It’s been a lot of years, and now realize I’ll probably never be truly satisfied.

Body dysmorphia is a real thing.

But all jokes aside, this supplement might at least bring me closer to my goals. It has been shown to have a positive effect on testosterone, which improves muscle strength, muscle size, and fertility.

Besides this, it can improve blood sugar, reduce inflammation, contribute to a better mood, and help with reducing stress. I take it before bed, and I’ve noticed it also helps me sleep at night.

Dosage: 600mg/day

The brand I use (and recommend) is Nootropics Depot, which you can find by clicking here.

Tongkat Ali

An absolute game-changer.

Better said, an actual world changer.

Before taking this I suffered from low energy to the point I HAD to take a nap during the day.

I started supplementing Tongkat Ali for the positive effect it has on testosterone, because mine was pretty low at the time, and I don’t want to go the steroid way.

It’s a natural herb that doesn’t have any negative side-effect to the body. I was skeptical at first because most “testosterone boosters” are completely useless.

However, I started taking Tongkat Ali together with a friend, and we both experienced the same positive effects. I feel more energetic (I don’t need naps anymore), my libido shot up, my strength in the gym increased, and I’m way calmer under pressure.

I feel more productive in my day-to-day activities, don’t procrastinate as much, and simply deal with stress better. I guess that it did increase my testosterone, and that’s why I experience these benefits.

Other reasons I take it are better body composition (more muscle/less fat), improved immune system, and anti-inflammatory effects. The testosterone boosting effects are especially, but not exclusively, interesting for males.

Dosage: 200mg extract 2% eurycomanone and 100mg extract 10% eurycomanone

The brand I use (and recommend) is Nootropics Depot, which you can find by clicking here.

Melatonin

Close your eyes... and it's morning.

You lay in bed at night, under a nice blanket, while cuddling your favorite teddy bear. You’re ready to sleep, but your body just doesn’t turn off?

We all know this feeling, and I experience this sometimes as well.

Our bodies produce a compound known as melatonin, which helps us wind down at night, so we can fall asleep fast.

However, the blue lights coming from the screen we stare at (phone, tv, laptop, etc.) mimic daylight, and this tricks our bodies to believe it’s not time to sleep yet.

Therefore, we produce less melatonin, which makes falling asleep harder. I supplement melatonin in a low dosage every night because it helps me fall asleep faster.

Better sleep equals more progress. I love progress.

Dosage: 0.29mg/day

Final words

I love supplements.

This article is meant to give you inspiration and full transparency about the supplements I use, and an explanation of why I decided to use them.

It’s not dietary advice thought, and I encourage anybody to do their research. I’m of course not a doctor, but merely a die-hard gym enthusiast.

What’s your favorite supplement?