It's been a few months since i've posted on here, but I thought I would share some information for those of you who don't want to give up your supplements, but are tired of paying more then you need to for them.
This is information based off of my years of experience in the supplement industry, and can hopefully help you out. Mods... you can add this to the vault section under my name if you'd like, but it doesn't have to be.
So what do you do if you are on a tight, or even tighter budget?
What options do you as a consumer have?
Do you only have to pay for what you see on the shelf, or online?
The majority of supplements come from most of the same places. There are only a handful of companies out there that have trademarked items, or patented products. These can be amazing, but they can get expensive too.
There are companies that have technologies that can make something better then the next guy, but it is not with every ingredient. I'm sure many of you out there have seen some of these ingredients in supplement companies items.
Are some good? Yes, and many are worth their money. Are some worth every single penny? Well... depends on what has been done to get the ingredient where it is today.
Take for instance PeptoPro. It is a pre digested protein, and one of a kind. It is VERY useful, and has gained lots of ground recently. It is backed by TONS of studies, and used in many new products. Now, it is the only protein to use? No, you can use other protein, but look at it like the Mercedes of proteins. It will cost you more, and that is where you have to decide if it is worth it to YOU.
Another item would be Ester-C patented process for Vitamin C. Is it the only way to go? No, but it is an advancement in C.
So now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about products many of us use. Now by many of us, I mean consumer wise in general.
NO Xplode? Heard of that? Yep, I knew you did.
Cell Mass
Myoplex
NO Shotgun
Black Powder
The list goes on and on and on.
Now many people purchase these products because of the marketing or advertising they see, or what their buddy takes. Are all of them bad? The question is, are all of them necessary. Have you ever looked at a few Muscle Tech products? That Vapor product has like what, 200 ingredients in there? Ok, not exactly, but close. Personally, all of that is overdose, but who am I to say.
Now how about making similar products yourself?
You ever see 5hr energy drinks? I'm sure you have since they plaster that stuff all over the place. Have you ever thought about making that yourself?
Wait omen...i'm no chemist. You don't have to be young grasshopper. Let me tell you the secret of doing it yourself.
Most people will pay close to $3 for a 2oz bottle of that stuff. So $30 for 10 (20oz), and I could get you 128oz for the same price.
When you purchase supplements, you are paying for the COMPANY for the most part. The % you are paying for ingredients are probably 2%. So why not let companies do their own thing, and then look at the list on the back, then make your own?
Now how do I do that?
Depending on the item, you can buy each ingredient by itself, and then make your own concoction. This is what is nice about doing it yourself. YOU can make it the way you want it. Do you ever see a product where you like the item like 75%, but wish you could change it a few ways to make it better?
Many ingredients can be purchased by themselves. All you need to do is figure out the measurement, and then put it in a container and you're done.
I usually sell many of those ingredients to my friends, and make things for them. They can buy 50g, 100g, 500g, and 1KG of many products. Some may be more or less dependent on product. You probably wont be ordering 2.2lbs (1KG) of Vitamin B12 unless you have 100 friends that want some. Being in the industry, I have access to pretty much everything you can think of. If you want to make a 5hr energy drink, I can supply you with those ingredients to do that. Want to make a carbohydrate drink with some added fruit powder, or your own greens? I can supply you with that stuff too. What about many fruit powders to make your own smoothie mix? Yep, you can do that too.
Now what I suggest to people to sweeten their supplements, is to use the sweetener of your choice. Stevia, Sucrose, Dextrose, Erythritol, Shugr (a sweetener) or even plain sugar if you dont mind the calories. I sell those to all my buddies as well.
Now to flavor, the easiest way to do it, is to get a drink mix packet of your choice, and put it in the supplement mix. If you dont want any artificial stuff, you can get a few with natural flavors, and NO colors. Walmart sells a few.
You can even make your own with certain fruit powders. Some people will take Lemon Powder, and use it in their drink, add some sweetener, and you're done. Many of those ingredients are water soluble.
Most of the time, this will save you LOADS of money. People will pay $50-$60 on supplements, and get 20-40 serv out of them. There really is no reason to pay that if you dont mind doing it yourself.
If you want to be precise (SOME PRODUCTS YOU WANT TO BE. FOR INSTANCE CAFFEINE), a digital scale is always nice. They can be bought for $30 or so. Ones that measure micrograms can be a tad higher, but there are only a few ingredients measured in that amount. Some B Vitamins, and Lutein can be. I do suggest though, you purchase measuring spoons that have a smaller amount then you are used to. They go down to 1/32nd of a teaspoon, which is the smallest. Along with those and regular ones, you will be set.
http://www.amazon.com/Pinch-Dash-Smidgen-Measuring-Spoons/dp/B000E8OPVS/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b
If you make larger batches of something, you can usually measure micrograms in milligrams. And on occasion, you want to be precise for some items. Caffeine like I stated above... dont pretend measure. 400mg is NOT that much more then 200mg is NOT a good thought process. If you accidentally measured 21g of protein, instead of 20g, big deal.
Same goes for let's say B Vitamins. Will it hurt you to go over? No, it's just a waste. But sying... 800mcg is no biggy when I was trying for 400mcg. While it may seem like a minute amount, it is a HUGE amount for some B Vitamins.
I have been in the supplement industry over 10yrs, and it has been a long time since I have purchased an OFF THE SHELF product. I make everything myself, and really enjoy doing it. It's fun, I can make WHAT I WANT, and HOW I WANT IT. The best thing, is I can do this all while saving $$$.
And for my friends, I automatically measure, or give them measurement amounts to save them the headache, and take the guess work out of things. I'll usually say... 1tsp= X amount of this product, or 1/8th of a teaspoon= X amount of this product. All of my products are SEALED AND LABELED, and COA'S (Certificate of Analysis) can be requested for all items. This shows the testing on the ingredient, and what it is free from. (Bad stuff that should not be in there).
Hopefully some of this stuff helps you, and can save you $$$. At the same time to, it can be fun, and you can be the mad chemist you always wanted to be.
If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.
This is information based off of my years of experience in the supplement industry, and can hopefully help you out. Mods... you can add this to the vault section under my name if you'd like, but it doesn't have to be.
So what do you do if you are on a tight, or even tighter budget?
What options do you as a consumer have?
Do you only have to pay for what you see on the shelf, or online?
The majority of supplements come from most of the same places. There are only a handful of companies out there that have trademarked items, or patented products. These can be amazing, but they can get expensive too.
There are companies that have technologies that can make something better then the next guy, but it is not with every ingredient. I'm sure many of you out there have seen some of these ingredients in supplement companies items.
Are some good? Yes, and many are worth their money. Are some worth every single penny? Well... depends on what has been done to get the ingredient where it is today.
Take for instance PeptoPro. It is a pre digested protein, and one of a kind. It is VERY useful, and has gained lots of ground recently. It is backed by TONS of studies, and used in many new products. Now, it is the only protein to use? No, you can use other protein, but look at it like the Mercedes of proteins. It will cost you more, and that is where you have to decide if it is worth it to YOU.
Another item would be Ester-C patented process for Vitamin C. Is it the only way to go? No, but it is an advancement in C.
So now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about products many of us use. Now by many of us, I mean consumer wise in general.
NO Xplode? Heard of that? Yep, I knew you did.
Cell Mass
Myoplex
NO Shotgun
Black Powder
The list goes on and on and on.
Now many people purchase these products because of the marketing or advertising they see, or what their buddy takes. Are all of them bad? The question is, are all of them necessary. Have you ever looked at a few Muscle Tech products? That Vapor product has like what, 200 ingredients in there? Ok, not exactly, but close. Personally, all of that is overdose, but who am I to say.
Now how about making similar products yourself?
You ever see 5hr energy drinks? I'm sure you have since they plaster that stuff all over the place. Have you ever thought about making that yourself?
Wait omen...i'm no chemist. You don't have to be young grasshopper. Let me tell you the secret of doing it yourself.
Most people will pay close to $3 for a 2oz bottle of that stuff. So $30 for 10 (20oz), and I could get you 128oz for the same price.
When you purchase supplements, you are paying for the COMPANY for the most part. The % you are paying for ingredients are probably 2%. So why not let companies do their own thing, and then look at the list on the back, then make your own?
Now how do I do that?
Depending on the item, you can buy each ingredient by itself, and then make your own concoction. This is what is nice about doing it yourself. YOU can make it the way you want it. Do you ever see a product where you like the item like 75%, but wish you could change it a few ways to make it better?
Many ingredients can be purchased by themselves. All you need to do is figure out the measurement, and then put it in a container and you're done.
I usually sell many of those ingredients to my friends, and make things for them. They can buy 50g, 100g, 500g, and 1KG of many products. Some may be more or less dependent on product. You probably wont be ordering 2.2lbs (1KG) of Vitamin B12 unless you have 100 friends that want some. Being in the industry, I have access to pretty much everything you can think of. If you want to make a 5hr energy drink, I can supply you with those ingredients to do that. Want to make a carbohydrate drink with some added fruit powder, or your own greens? I can supply you with that stuff too. What about many fruit powders to make your own smoothie mix? Yep, you can do that too.
Now what I suggest to people to sweeten their supplements, is to use the sweetener of your choice. Stevia, Sucrose, Dextrose, Erythritol, Shugr (a sweetener) or even plain sugar if you dont mind the calories. I sell those to all my buddies as well.
Now to flavor, the easiest way to do it, is to get a drink mix packet of your choice, and put it in the supplement mix. If you dont want any artificial stuff, you can get a few with natural flavors, and NO colors. Walmart sells a few.
You can even make your own with certain fruit powders. Some people will take Lemon Powder, and use it in their drink, add some sweetener, and you're done. Many of those ingredients are water soluble.
Most of the time, this will save you LOADS of money. People will pay $50-$60 on supplements, and get 20-40 serv out of them. There really is no reason to pay that if you dont mind doing it yourself.
If you want to be precise (SOME PRODUCTS YOU WANT TO BE. FOR INSTANCE CAFFEINE), a digital scale is always nice. They can be bought for $30 or so. Ones that measure micrograms can be a tad higher, but there are only a few ingredients measured in that amount. Some B Vitamins, and Lutein can be. I do suggest though, you purchase measuring spoons that have a smaller amount then you are used to. They go down to 1/32nd of a teaspoon, which is the smallest. Along with those and regular ones, you will be set.
http://www.amazon.com/Pinch-Dash-Smidgen-Measuring-Spoons/dp/B000E8OPVS/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b
If you make larger batches of something, you can usually measure micrograms in milligrams. And on occasion, you want to be precise for some items. Caffeine like I stated above... dont pretend measure. 400mg is NOT that much more then 200mg is NOT a good thought process. If you accidentally measured 21g of protein, instead of 20g, big deal.
Same goes for let's say B Vitamins. Will it hurt you to go over? No, it's just a waste. But sying... 800mcg is no biggy when I was trying for 400mcg. While it may seem like a minute amount, it is a HUGE amount for some B Vitamins.
I have been in the supplement industry over 10yrs, and it has been a long time since I have purchased an OFF THE SHELF product. I make everything myself, and really enjoy doing it. It's fun, I can make WHAT I WANT, and HOW I WANT IT. The best thing, is I can do this all while saving $$$.
And for my friends, I automatically measure, or give them measurement amounts to save them the headache, and take the guess work out of things. I'll usually say... 1tsp= X amount of this product, or 1/8th of a teaspoon= X amount of this product. All of my products are SEALED AND LABELED, and COA'S (Certificate of Analysis) can be requested for all items. This shows the testing on the ingredient, and what it is free from. (Bad stuff that should not be in there).
Hopefully some of this stuff helps you, and can save you $$$. At the same time to, it can be fun, and you can be the mad chemist you always wanted to be.
If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.