The 3 Supplements You Need

Q: You've talked about supplements a couple of times. How important are they? Most people, or some people, think that I eat well enough, I don't need them. Is that correct or do you think most people need some sort of help?

A: My journey in supplementation has been a lot, because when I was an athlete, I was looking for every competitive edge, naturally. What can I do? And then I'd read every magazine. I'd be like the guy, man I'm going to find out.

I got to the point where I was spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars a month, and my wife Abby said, "You know, Mark, do any of those work?" We had a cabinet full of products, and I said, "Of course they do." And then I realized, "She's right." So I stopped taking everything except three products, three things that I take.

And nothing changed. My results are still awesome. So what I learned, my evolution in supplementation is they just are used to fill the gaps. They're only necessary where your nutrition is not filling in. Now, see, there's three that I see most people are deficient in.

Omega threes, most important. Omega three is an essential fat. Your body can't make it, and it affects your hair, skin, nails, metabolism, heart, so unless you're eating salmon every single day, you're not getting enough omega three. So you get a pharmaceutical grade of omega three, you take about 3000 or 5000 milligrams a day. That's going to ensure that you're getting that essential fat, because your body can't make it.

Next, there's antioxidants. So, every day your body's at war. So stress, a natural part of metabolism, we create something called a free radical, and that's like a little molecule that attacks healthy cells, and antioxidants donate an electron and complete that free radical. So if you're not getting enough antioxidants from your fruits and veggies, you're over-producing free radicals, which directly affect oxidative damage. So it's like when you cut open that apple and you see it turn brown in 30 minutes, that's happening inside of your body with oxidative stress if you're not getting enough antioxidants. I eat fruits and veggies every meal. I still don't get enough antioxidants. So that's where I really think people should do like a liquid antioxidant to fill the gaps with that. Still eat your fruits and veggies, but supplement with that.

And then the third thing is amino replacement, [bar and shape were] necessary. If you do those three things, and then some people might need vitamin D or vitamin C based upon their doctor recommendations, or calcium, but those three, omega, liquid antioxidants,  and amino replacement, that's the only three things I think people really need.