Knowledge is a great thing. I like learning as much as I can about all of the important things I can, and quite honestly, some of the not so important things.

For example, in chimpanzees forced to sit still for 30 minutes, testosterone begins to decrease and cortisol rises. Conclusion: let your monkey jump around as much as possible. Now some smart guys is going to email me and let me know that a monkey is not a chimp, and vice versa, and that they have been incorrectly identified as such in the past, and that if I were the research hound I claim to be, that I would know that.

So what does this have to do with supplements? Everything. So much of what we get about supplementation is based on research of how they have performed for others. So the Deen says read, read, read. But in the final analysis, reading will only take you so far. You can check reports, surf the web, ask the biggest dude in the gym, but eventually you have to try them. You will probably get results similar to the ones you have read about, but “similar results” or “maybe expectations” may not be enough to coax you out of $40, $50 or even $60.

The tremendous diversity of supplements available is a blessing and a problem. What’s a guy to try? Never fear, the Deen is here. I’ve done all the work for you. Following is a list of excellent supplements and ALL UNDER $10. You heard me right. You can try any item on this list for under ten bucks! Now some of the entries may have only one choice under $10, and others may have multiple choices. The point is, I looked them all up, and you can get them for $10 or less. Maybe with all the money you saved, you could say “Thank you” and send me a Ruth Chris’s Gift Certificate. No, just kidding, save the money for more of those LIVER TABS that Deen loves (tasty like pastry)!

GUARANA- if you have read anything by me, you had to know that this was going to be on the list. Guarana is at the top of any of my lists. It gives you energy with natural caffeine, cuts fat with its thermogenic properties, and it won’t raise your chimp’s cortisol (or yours either). Seriously, chemical caffeine can spike your cortisol after long term use. No one talks about cycling caffeine, because doing so can give you nasty headaches, but it should be done. Or you can buy this bargain basement barnburner and avoid the issue. If you haven’t tried guarana, get some. Your chimp will thank you.

LIVER TABS- I covered this, along with guarana, in my other column “The three best supps so one talks about.” I am not going to tell you the third one, so you just have to go read it. That’s why I get to be the author. If you are looking for a muscle building blast, you can try a number of anabolic concoctions. Some are great, like Legal Gear’s Product X Transform (but not for $10), and others I honestly cannot say. I write about what I know and if I haven’t tried something, I won’t say. I do know liver tabs- they are an amino acid explosion for the serious bodybuilder. They are inexpensive and have massive B vitamins. Get past the fact that each tab is the size of a fun-size Snickers bar, and pop 10-20 of these a day. At 10 a day, they will last you almost a whole month.

CHROMIUM PICOLINATE- this is another supplement that has fallen out of hype with the exercise world, which means it doesn’t have bazillions of dollars being spent on it each year, which means the price has fallen and you can pick it up for cheap. Get it, it works. It helps stabilize blood sugar levels, and helps metabolize carbohydrates.

CREATINE- you mean you haven’t tried it? Don’t you know it can fuel muscles for longer, more intense workouts? Don’t you know it helps muscles run cooler, longer? Yeah, yeah Deen, I know, but on my budget, I just haven’t been able to pick some up. It’s more of a financial investment than I’m willing to make, especially since I don’t know what kind of result I am going to get, and I’m in school, and money’s tight, and things like food have kind of taken a top priority. Enough said. It is possible to get a jug for under $10. Start with 20 grams for five days (4 tsp), and take 5 grams each day after. Better yet, read my column on creatine, then pick some up. Email me when you are ready to let me know how it worked out.

LIQUID FLAX OIL - despite alleged claims by Barry Bonds (alas my poor SF Giants), flax seed oil will not give you the ability to hit 700 home runs, or make 60 million dollars. But here’s what it will do. Some of you have read how I used to weigh 335 lbs for no other reason than emptiness and gluttony. Needless to say, the body doesn’t take well to carrying around an extra half a person every single day, and it starts to rebel. Along with my body not breathing well, and being extremely susceptible to infection (I remember being on antibiotics for almost a solid year for constant respiratory infections), my knees started to mutiny. I hurt… I mean bad. I lost a lot of weight and started to take some of the joint/cartilage supplements available. This is where experience comes in. Many people had testified how these supps were nearly Heavenly answers for joint pain and I believe for many they have worked well. For me, they did not do squat. I was taking triple doses a day, along with generous amounts of ibuprofen, and using tube after tube of Ben Gay. I still hurt. And knew that if I stayed on the IB for a long time, that my kidneys would begin to let me know that wasn’t a good idea. I dove into research, and discovered flax seeds and oil. I wasn’t an instant result but after a few weeks I noticed big relief. Within months, the pain completely disappeared. Flax seeds and oil work, and they are inexpensive. They also balance hormone levels, and are an amazing source of omega 3 and 9 EFAs. NOTE: you can take caps, but since 1cc is one gram is one ml (remember metrics class), the daily dose is 1-3 tablespoonfuls, or 14-42 of the 1000 mg (1 gram) caps. The Deen says avoid caps and take GROUND seeds or liquid oil.

YOHIMBE- the energizer that the bunny wishes he had discovered; maybe he could get those batteries out of his back. Many have talked about Yohimbe for its help as the (ahem) “natural Viagra”. Since this is a family website, we won’t go into that aspect of it, but here’s the scoop on it: it increases blood flow to all parts of the body as a vasodilator, which means better pump during workouts. It is also a great thermogenic (I have heard claims that it is the ONLY thermo that will help remove fat from women’s hips and thighs), and it is a great energizer. If you stack this with guarana you had better watch out. This is my favorite homemade combo since the ban of ephedra. Watch the dosage late in the day, as it will keep you awake. It may give you shivers if you take too much at once (some supplement companies have capitalized on this very aspect), so dose it low and slow. You can always take an extra dose if you aren’t getting the pump, but having to increase is better than going too much at once and laying wake at 1:30am wondering how you are going to go to sleep so you can get up at 6am to go to work (a real story).

DHEA- just like I didn’t get the help from the joint/cartilage formula that I expected, some have called DHEA worthless. That is not true. What is true is that if you are 22 years old and raging with T, you probably won’t notice any benefit from it. But older guys, say 35 and older, have noticed benefits with long term use. CAUTION: if you are susceptible to male pattern baldness this may increase the problem (because of added DHT in the body). DHEA is one of the substances that escaped the pro-hormone ban. I suspect it may be because older guys use it and the Feds didn’t want any trouble from the AARP. It’s a precursor to androstenedione, which in turn converts to Test. DHEA is naturally produced in the body by the adrenal glands, but that production peaks around 20-25 years old in males, which may explain why DHEA has varied results. I use it and I like it. But I’m also 35 or older (no guessing now). If you are under 30, you probably won’t get much from it. But, hey 35 and older guys, pick up this potent hormone booster and keep it as a part of your regular arsenal.

HAWTHORNE BERRY- so many of the supplements we take can affect blood pressure, mostly by raising it. I ran into this early on in my supplement research, not realizing that M1T could so dramatically alter my BP. So I foolishly took it while on a cut to preserve muscle mass- a great idea as long as a person isn’t takin ephedra at the same time. Can you see the coming train wreck? My BP went ballistic and I ended up in bed with nose bleeds and bleeding gums. My sweet wife nursed me back to health and didn’t even tell me what a dummy I was. First lesson: read about supplement interactions. Just because they are more natural than pharmaceuticals doesn’t mean they are less potent. Next lesson: if you find yourself in a bind through foolish error like I did and are experiencing temporary BP problems (by that I mean not having been diagnosed with high BP as a disease and needing to be treated under a doctor’s care), try Hawthorne Berry. It’s great for helping control BP and as a side benefit helps lower cholesterol. It’s a big deal in Asia for cardiovascular health. We can get it for a great price right here in the states. If you use a lot of herbal stimulants or some of the remaining pro-hormones, or any substance that says it can affect BP, pick up Hawthorne. From experience, it really works.

Thanks for visiting with me once more. Til next time...(where did I put that monkey cage?)

Deen Gill
rhino@cfaith.com