Supplements

Search “which protein powder is best” and you’ll get a different answer from every page. Whey is the king. No, casein for the overnight window. No, soy is just as good and cheaper. No, pea, because dairy wrecks your gut. Here’s why the arguments never resolve: they’re ranking proteins on a measurement that changes depending on how long you watch. Run a muscle-protein-synthesis test for three hours after a scoop and whey wins. Run the same test for six hours and casein catches up. Measure what actually leaves your gut and gets retained, and pea ties milk protein outright. Every one of those studies is real, well-conducted, and correct. They just answer different questions. ...

Walk down any supplement aisle and collagen has taken over half the shelf. The pitch is always the same: your collagen declines after 40, so take this and get it back. Skin, hair, nails, joints, “glow” — one powder promising everything. Here’s what that pitch quietly leaves out. Collagen is not one thing with one effect. The strongest evidence for it is narrow, specific, and comes with conditions attached. The evidence for the thing people actually buy it for — bigger muscles — is not just weak, it’s negative. ...

There’s a number hiding on the blood panel most men over 40 skip reading. It’s not cholesterol, not HbA1c, not testosterone. It’s vitamin D — and if it’s low, it’s quietly doing more damage to your muscle than you think. Here’s the catch, and it’s the entire point of this post: vitamin D is not a supplement that makes you stronger. It’s a deficiency marker. Below a threshold it’s associated with weaker muscles and worse physical function. Above that threshold, taking more does almost nothing. The supplement industry wants you to forget that distinction, because “take this to get jacked” sells better than “check this one number so you know you’re not deficient.” ...

Walk into any supplement aisle right now and you’ll see a new powder pushing past the whey tubs: beef protein isolate — hydrolyzed beef protein, in the same tub format as your whey. The pitch is smooth — “whey bloats you, beef doesn’t,” “whey is dairy, beef is paleo.” And in the last year the “beef vs whey protein” search has surged, because a whole generation of lifters is suddenly convinced whey is the problem. ...

Creatine is a strange case. It is simultaneously the most heavily researched supplement in the history of sports nutrition and the one most wrapped in folklore — the thing your gym buddy swears by and your brother-in-law swears will wreck your kidneys. Neither of them has read a study. Strip away the noise and creatine is boring in the best possible way. It’s a naturally occurring compound your body already makes (about a gram a day) and stores in muscle. Supplementing it just tops up the tank — and the tank is what powers every short, explosive effort you make, from the last grinding rep on a squat to the sprint up a flight of stairs. ...