ever notice how today’s super-zowie-whiz-bang supplement is tomorrows old-school, nowhere supp? it happens often in our industry. with the race to be better, faster, stronger (where is that bionic man sound effect?), supplement companies are leaving behind some tried and true compounds that have been trusted for decades.

the best news for you, the consumer, is that these “yesterday” supps are some of today’s best bargains. and they work as well as they always have. i’ve done all the work and hunted them up for you. so let’s get started!

i hope by now you have all read my protein article. if you are going to grow, you have to eat enough protein. and if you are eating enough protein, you have to be concerned about cholesterol maintenance. this brings us to our first supplement- garlic tabs. i remember when the data first came out that garlic was proven to lower cholesterol in the blood. people went absolutely bananas! finally! they could eat all the fat and hydrogenated stuff they wanted and not have to worry. wrong! garlic, while amazing, is not a silver bullet to defeat the cholesterol giant. it helps. if you are eating smart, eating clean protein (lower on animal fats), doing your cardio, eating six times a day, mixing in soy and egg white protein, garlic helps. let me even say that garlic is essential. other substances help also, but not to the degree that garlic does, for the little it costs- i found it for about $7. so eat protein, and garlic tabs. i know garlic makes you smell. so what do you want: to pack on the muscle or smell minty-fresh? choose garlic. you’ll grow, feel better, and maybe even email me and thank me (oh, and buy some mouthwash).

let’s see if we remember these names from the 60’s and 70’s… frank zane, arnold schwarzenegger, dave draper. anybody? oh yeah, those old school guys. well those guys knew something we used to know but, in the search for the bionic mass builder, we forgot. they knew liver tabs. let me go on record, i hate liver. i won’t eat it, i don’t care how its fixed, i don’t care what animal it came from (cow, calf chicken, goose, deer or bull elk)! it stinks, it tastes bad and i would rather get amino acids and proteins some other way. but… liver tabs, now that is a different story. liver tabs have been used by the hardcore core of mass builders for decades. zane, schwartz, draper, all ate them by the jug full, along with many other champions, and big-enough-to-be champions. it is one of, if not the most powerful (legal) mass builder we have available. and if you haven’t read my profile, i only endorse legal mass builders. so what’s in it? amino acids, vitamins, minerals, nucleic acids, lipotropics, antioxidants, cytochrome p450 (an enzyme involved in steroid production and detoxification (thank you, universal)). amino acids build what? come on, pay attention! proteins and muscle. what is a nucleic acid? well, nucleic acids are either dna or rna, present in the nucleus and in some cases the cytoplasm of all living cells. their main functions are in heredity and protein synthesis (read that mass builder). lipotropic are compounds are those which help break down fat during metabolism. bingo! it just keeps getting better. and you can get all this, if the price is right. so how much should i charge you for an amino acid charged compound, which builds serious mass while cutting fat? if this was an infomercial i’d say thirty-nine-ninety-five-ninety-nine. but wait there’s more! it’s available for only about 6 bucks; no i am not kidding. buy it, use 5-20 tabs (caps) a day. i have four jugs myself. btw- it’s free protein in your diet. it can only help.

we haven’t even gotten to the best part of our little discussion, until now. the absolute best, number one supplement that no one talks about has to be guarana. i love this stuff. it was all the buzz (it contains natural caffeine, but no pun intended) when it first came out. i used to stack it with beloved ephedra for the best thermogenic combo ever invented. i still use it alone, and with yohimbe. here’s why. guarana is the extract of a south american plant used in making soda pop. in fact, if you travel south out of the us you can find a drink called guarana in 2-liter bottles. the folks south of the boarder drink it like we drink coke or pepsi. but the powdered herb is a time-release stimulant, an appetite suppressant, a thermogenic and mood enhancer. as mentioned, guarana contains caffeine, but the powder is oily, making it somewhat time released in its effect. it does not give the quick kick of chemical caffeine tabs, but a slower, longer lift. this is good because those of us who are concerned about losing or keeping off fat want to avoid spiking cortisol in the blood. long term use of standard caffeine can do this, because the body thinks it is under stress, and thus the cortisol rise. guarana has no such risk. as a thermogenic and appetite suppressant, guarana is safe and effective thanks to its stimulant properties. but this substance has an added bonus that is not often talked about: theobromine. if you have heard about theobromine at all, it is likely in connection with chocolate. women with pms run for the chocolate because the theobromine can give them relief. theobromine can help in the overall mood of the athlete. theobromine has also been used as a vasodilator, a substance that causes blood vessels in the body to become wider by relaxing the smooth muscle in the vessel wall (hmmm lower blood pressure?). guarana is an excellent deal for the money- the best for your supplement dollars that i have found. i will talk about it forever. buy it, and try it in place of your caffeine for a while, and check out the difference.

deen gill
rhino@cfaith.com