Trending Supplements Are They What They Seem with ever more popular supplements entering the fitness industry such as CBD, Ashwagandha, and Beetroot juice do they provide health or performance benefits?
The strain of CBD comes from the hemp plant and is the second most abundant cannabinoid, with the greatest being amount being tetrahydrocannabinol or commonly known as THC. Researchers can isolate the CBD within the hemp plant to create products (such as cannabinoid oil) that you would have likely seen in several shops and health websites.
The isolated CBD is without the THC and, therefore, removes the fixation of ‘getting high’ and is safe on many different unaccredited health websites. The truth is, we do not know the long term effects of such products due to the lack of long term human studies. There is also much debate on the dosages, and research has found that many CBD products do not contain the stated amount of CBD.
The fascinating concept of CBD supplementation is that we now know we have CB1 and CB2 receptors in the human body. Researchers speculate that these receptors are designed to receive CBD, enhancing the potential health benefits. However, we are in the very early stages of understanding the dosages and duration of CBD supplements which makes them potentially risky to take. These benefits appear to extend into a wide variety of areas, such as reducing pain, anxiety, inflammation, stress, depression, risk of cardiovascular disease, and risk of developing diabetes. However, most research is within animal studies, and human studies are extremely limited.
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is found in a shrub and used in the traditional medicine of India for over a thousand years. Researchers can use different parts of the plant, but most Ashwagandha supplements are derived from the root.
Numerous studies have appeared to suggest that Ashwagandha has an anti-anxiety effect on humans, with a noteworthy amount of research to support this claim. However, the optimal dose and duration to elicit these effects are still yet to be agreed upon, with dosages of 50 – 500mg appearing in human studies. Some researchers also speculate that Ashwagandha may reduce fatigue and symptoms of depression, but this has yet to be established.
There is also a hypothesis that Ashwagandha can improve testosterone levels in men, but only small sample sizes were used and still need further research. Ashwagandha may also increase power output during resistance-based exercise but is relevantly small in evidence.
Beetroot juice is liquid beetroot (beta Vulgaris), a root vegetable containing a high amount of dietary nitrates.
Beetroots are packed full of amazing vitamins and minerals (fibre, folate, manganese, potassium, iron and Vitamin C) essential to good health. Alongside these key nutrients, beetroots contain dietary nitrates, showing amazing benefits to exercise performance and cardiovascular health.
Beetroot doses vary between ~5mmol to ~11.4, with only one dose 1-2hours before exercise being enough to improve performance. Regular intake of beetroots can also improve cardiovascular health and potentially reduce blood pressure in hypertensive individuals.
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My philosophy of nutrition is to keep it simple and eat with an approach of food first, not food only, allowing you to be on a non-restrictive diet.
Alex Levington
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