Food vs. supplementation
Before you buy another supplements...
If you’ve been here for some time already, you know I’m an advocate for food over supplementation. But you also know I love supplements.
When used well, supplements can bring many benefits to your health, energy and performance (physical and/or mental), but they can also easily become a waste of money if you’re not careful.
Supplements should remain what they are: a complement to your diet.
Benefits of the diet-first approach
If you’re lacking certain nutrients, the smartest first step is to look at your diet: see what’s missing and increase your intake through food first.
Most vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are best absorbed when they come from food. Their natural forms are usually more bioavailable, and they’re combined with compounds that optimise digestion and absorption, all in balanced doses.
It’s also usually much cheaper to get your nutrients through food. Foods provide a range of nutrients at once, while supplements typically contain just one or two, meaning you pay more for less benefit.
For example, if you eat lentils to boost your iron intake, you’ll also get protein, fibre, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc and potassium in the mix; none of which you would get from an iron pill. Plus, food nourishes and satiates you, while supplements just sit on top of your existing diet.
With supplements, it’s easy to overdose, waste money, or even consume tainted products due to poor formulation, such as steroids in mass gainers, stimulants, laxatives, or SSRIs in weight-loss products. Unfortunately, what’s on the label isn’t always what’s inside.
Go-to foods for common nutrient needs
If you want to increase your intake of certain nutrients through food, focus on adding more of the following:
Magnesium → almonds, dark chocolate, spinach, wholemeal bread
Zinc → oysters, cheese, shellfish, meat
Iron → red meat, organ meat, lentils, beans
Selenium → Brazil nuts, fish, meat, eggs
Potassium → bananas, beans, nuts and seeds, broccoli, parsnips
Calcium → milk, cheese, leafy greens, fish eaten with bones
Omega 3s → fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herrings), walnuts, flaxseeds
Iodine → eggs, dairy products, iodised salt, sea fish
Vitamin C → citrus fruits, kiwis, bell peppers, pineapple, broccoli, strawberries
Vitamin A → carrots, squash, apricots, eggs, liver, sweet potatoes
Vitamin E → nuts and seeds, plant oils (olive, sunflower, rapeseed, corn)
B vitamins → eggs, fish, poultry, leafy greens, whole grains, legumes
Collagen → bone broth, fish with skin and/or bones, chicken with skin, shrimps, oysters
Creatine → red meat, fish (herrings ++), poultry, cheese (parmesan ++)
Probiotics → fermented foods: kimchi, lacto-fermented veggies, kefir, kombucha, Greek yoghurt, sauerkraut
When supplementation makes sense
Now that it’s clear why a nutrient-rich diet should always come first, let’s look at the few cases where supplementation can truly be beneficial.
To compensate for a temporary deficiency
If you’re deficient in a nutrient, your doctor will likely recommend a short-term supplement to restore your levels. Supplementation is your best ally here.
In the meantime, adjust your diet to prevent the deficiency from returning once you stop supplementing.
When diet alone isn’t enough
Sometimes, even with your best efforts, food just isn’t enough. In that case, I would still aim to get as much as you can via your diet, and just supplement the remaining needs.
That’s quite common with protein and magnesium when needs are higher.
For example, bodybuilders who need nearly 200 g of protein per day will likely benefit from supplementing with protein powder unless they want to stuff themselves with chicken six times a day. For magnesium, people with a very active nervous system, an active lifestyle, elevated stress levels, or who are under certain medications like PPIs have increased magnesium needs that can be hard to fulfil through diet alone.
If you have dietary restrictions
Whether due to health, ethics or preference, dietary restrictions can make it difficult to get certain nutrients.
For instance, vitamin B12 is almost exclusively found in animal products, so if you’re vegan, supplementation is likely necessary.
When a nutrient is hard to get from food
Some nutrients, like collagen and creatine, are difficult to reach in optimal amounts through food alone.
If you eat meat, it’s quite easy to get 1–2 g of creatine daily, but it’s much harder to reach 5–10 g if you’re aiming to fully benefit from it.
The same goes for collagen. Not everyone enjoys chewing on bones or sipping broth all day long. Including foods high in collagen regularly is enough for most needs, but if you want to consume higher levels for specific reasons (joint pain, skin appearance, etc.), then supplementation might be necessary.
For specific compounds not found in food
Sometimes, supplements simply provide specific compounds you wouldn’t get from your diet.
I’m thinking particularly of plant supplements. If you’re interested in the benefits of ashwagandha, rhodiola, valerian root, or bitter herbs, you’ll need to take them as supplements to get them directly.
Fitness tip: Add a source of fat to help with vitamin absorption
Vitamins A, E, K and D are soluble in fat. A great way to promote their absorption is to pair them with a source of fat.
Think about tomatoes with olive oil, a poke bowl with avocado, fruits paired with a handful of nuts…
Science highlight: How a pro-inflammatory diet impacts fertility
A recent study looking at over 17,000 people found that eating more pro-inflammatory foods, like processed foods, added sugars, and saturated fats, was linked to a 61% higher risk of infertility.
Researchers used what’s called the Dietary Inflammatory Index to measure how inflammatory someone’s diet is. For every small increase in this score, infertility risk went up by about 10%.
In simpler terms, the more your diet promotes inflammation, the more it can interfere with reproductive health. On the other hand, eating in a way that calms inflammation by focusing on whole foods, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables, can help support hormone balance and fertility for both men and women.
Association between the dietary inflammatory index and infertility: a systematic review and meta-analysis, published in Frontiers in Nutrition.
This week's recommendations
Podcast
Hormone and Fertility Experts: Dangers of Not Having a Period, Fasting Can Backfire For Women, & More, from The Diary Of A CEO podcast
Essentials: How Humans Select & Keep Romantic Partners in the Short & Long Term - Dr. David Buss, from the Huberman Lab podcast
Stop Ignoring What Your Body Is Telling You! - Dr Sara Szal, from On Purpose With Jay Shetty
Music
Don’t Speak - Leida Taylor
Outlaw overture - mgk
Orion’s Belt - Sabrina Claudio
Reading
Why women’s gut health deserves its own spotlight, an article by Rachel Redman
Take care,
Roxanne
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