Pill Scout’s Supplement Regimen – August 2016

Here’s another supplement regimen post by yours truly!

My regimen has remained mostly unchanged through the summer since my March + April log, save for running out of old supplements and adding some new ones into the mix to try out. I’ve introduced some newer ones but a lot of the same substances are still there.

Goals for August 2016 and beyond

As you would face any problem, big or small, you would set some goals. It’s just common sense. Each of the following are my goals I can reach through lifestyle and supplements.

• Maintain adequate water and nutrient intake, Omega 3’s and testosterone
• Maintain overall health and cognitive ability

That’s not an exhaustive list, is it?

Unlike last time, I have temporarily shifted my focus away from increasing lean body mass at the moment. This will change soon when my life settles down. For now, it is what it is.

Current Daily Supplement Regimen

If you have not seen my previous logs, I list everything I take in the morning and the evening. I use this AM/PM 7 day weekly supplement organizer because in my experience, you can save a lot of time sorting them out in advance. Why, you might ask?

Uncapping more than 3 bottles every day multiple times a day sucks, especially if you have bottles and bottles. Instead of dealing with that mess, I fill the trays once a week based on my regimen. (I wrote about keeping your supplements organized here.)

Every morning and evening, I only have to flip one of the lids and I get all my stuff in one go. It’s so quick and convenient that I’m never going back to the old way!

You’ll also see I’ve switched to newer supplements from my previous regimens, which I will explain at the end.

Morning

• 1 Jarrow Formulas NAC Sustain tablet (Time-released NAC — See my review of NAC!)
• 1 NOW Foods Neptune Krill Oil softgel (my new Omega-3 source)
• 1 Jarrow Formulas Ubiquinol/PQQ Softgel
• 1 Ester-C (w/ bioflavonoids) capsule (Source of Vitamin C)
• 1 Ashwagandha capsule

Evening

• 1 Jarrow Formulas NAC Sustain tablet
• 1 Neptune Krill Oil softgel
• 2 Universal Nutrition ZMA Pro capsules
• 1 Ester-C capsule
• 1 Ashwagandha capsule

Other Misc. Supplements and Stuff

• Up to 1 liter of freshly brewed Runa guayusa (see my post on guayusa — it’s like yerba mate)
• Theanine powder whenever I have some form of caffeine
• CocoCeps powder (contains cordyceps and reishi mushroom)
• Up to 4 grams of kratom powder, rotating strains (see how to find the perfect kratom dose)
• Piracetam, when I am up to experiment with it (See the Piracetam primer and Log #1 and #2 for details)

Explanations and Notes

Jarrow NAC Sustain

I’ve had great results adding NAC to my regimen. As I mentioned in my post on NAC, I noticed in Mike Cernovich’s article on the topic that he was taking the sustained release form of NAC.

I’ve read the article a few times since he posted it, but I barely noticed the form he mentioned. N-Acetyl Cysteine actually has a somewhat short half-life in the body. This is not unlike 5-HTP or vitamin C (which I will get to soon). This hasn’t made the standard NAC bad, my experience has been good. The idea is that the sustained release version should be able to help increase the amount of glutathione (NAC byproduct) in the body over a longer period of time.

Neptune Krill Oil

Krill oil is the talk of the town in the supplement world. Unlike standard fish oil, krill oil contains astaxanthin, a carotenoid antioxidant (similar to vitamin A) that can apparently prevent the oil from going rancid. Rancid Omega-3 is probably useless to the body. Besides that, krill oil is also allegedly far better than fish oil in terms of absorption.

The obvious, provable trade-off is that it’s little more costly than fish oil. I am trying it out now to see whether it’s worth the hype and the cost.

Ubiquinol/PQQ

These two are quinones which function as antioxidants in the body. PQQ however is extra special in that preliminary experiments have shown an increase in mitochondria in bacteria and animal models. No word yet on whether this translates directly to human cells, but we’ll see soon enough. Reportedly this can increase energy and cognition through mitochondria support.

Ubiquinol, a.k.a. Coenzyme Q10, is another antioxidant compound touted for cellular antioxidant support, especially for heart health and conditions like fibromyalgia. However, these are relatively costly, so if it’s not in your budget, I would probably focus on other supplements.

The one I use here is a combination of PQQ and Coenzyme Q10.

Ester-C

Ester-C is a longer-lasting form of vitamin C. Normal vitamin C has a very short half-life in the body (like NAC), which doesn’t sound bad until you consider that unlike normal animals, humans do not produce their own ascorbate. Taking a supplement like Ester-C twice a day ensures that your body gets 24/7 vitamin C support. At least that’s what I think. This seems to have worked like a charm for me so far in terms of gum health.

Ashwagandha

Ashwaganda is a returning favorite. I’ve covered it already in the past for its effects on mood and libido. It makes a bitter yet somehow tasty (to me anyway) sort of tea with the whole roots. In this case, I’m using the capsules from Powder City.

The End

That’s all for now. If you have any questions about my regimen or about building your own, feel free to comment below or write me.