Articles on health and science matters that affect our daily lives

What Are Common Pre-Workout Supplement Ingredients?

What Are Common Pre-Workout Supplement Ingredients?

While pre-workout supplements may seem like a magic mixture of scientifically derived ingredients, are there any that really do a body good?

It seems like everyone in the gym is talking about a pre-workout supplement—colloquially referred to as “pre-workout.”

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, caffeine, beetroot juice, and creatine monohydrate (a popular muscle-building supplement) are all common pre-workout supplement ingredients that have been shown to improve exercise performance.

Carbs are pretty obvious—they’re your body’s go-to source of energy and what experts recommend eating before a workout.

After all, when exercising—especially at high intensity, cycling classes, and lifting—your body uses blood glucose and glycogen (stored carbs) as its main energy source. So boosting your levels before you start can help increase energy reserves and performance.

Caffeine

Caffeine is obviously a stimulant known for boosting energy and alertness. Research shows it can help improve physical performance too, although many of the studies have been done on small sample sizes.

Still, there’s a lot of research supporting caffeine’s ability to increase energy while simultaneously reducing workout pressure. The theory is that caffeine helps muscles burn more fat upfront and preserve glycogen, thereby letting you work harder, and longer, before you use up all your energy stores.

Other studies suggest caffeine simply helps improve a muscle’s ability to generate power.

Beetroot Juice

With beetroot juice, a 2017 study found that it’s been shown to consistently increase levels of nitric oxide and improve cardiovascular performance. Beetroot juice actually contains inorganic nitrates, which convert in the body to nitric oxide.

A natural vasodilator, nitric oxide expands blood vessels, increasing blood flow and decreasing how hard your heart has to work under strain. It’s important to note that beet research is still young, but so far even small results are promising.

Creatine

Creatine monohydrate is also often included in pre-workout formulas. Creatine is a derivative of three amino acids that are naturally produced in the body and stored as a source of quick energy in the muscles.

Some research even indicates that creatine monohydrate is likely more effective at boosting performance if you take it after each workout – as opposed to before, when your body may be more apt to absorb and store it when your natural stores are at their lowest.

Creatine is actually one of the most well-researched sports supplements over the past few decades. Studies consistently show that in normal doses—2 to 5 grams per day over the long term—it’s very safe for healthy adults.

The most common side effect is weight gained from water retention; when your muscles store creatine, they also store water. This can make your muscles look a bit larger and weigh a bit more.

A Smidgen of Common Sense

As a precaution, be careful if you have diabetes, kidney problems, or any other major health condition. It’s always best to talk with your doctor before regularly supplementing with creatine (or anything, really).

 

 

Developing a Custom Food Formula? Read This First

Developing a Custom Food Formula? Read This First

Are You Aware of What it Takes to Develop Safe Custom Food Products?

What is the Safe Food for Canadians Act?

It’s a piece of law that was enacted in 2012 to protect Canadian consumers. The Act provides regulations for custom food formulas and other edible products.

The goal of the Act is to:

  • Make edibles that are sold in Canada as safe as possible
  • Protect consumers by cracking down on food management practices deemed unsafe
  • Enables companies endangering the public to face harsher punishments
  • Makes it possible to control imports better
  • Enhances how easily we can trace our food
  • Standardizes the inspection standards for foods

Read more about the Act on the government’s site.

Does Canada have an FDA?

Canada has three core regulatory bodies that perform the same function as the FDA does in the United States.

The Department of Health Canada is responsible for setting the stands and regulations for custom food formulas and other edible products. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for enforcing the rules that the Department of Health implements.

The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada agency is responsible for new products entering the market.

Who is responsible for food safety in Canada?

Ultimately, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is the enforcement arm of the Department of Health. As a business, you’d have to deal with inspections from the CFIA.

Read more about the importance of these regulations and inspections here.

How is food regulated in Canada?

If you’re researching the regulations for custom food formulas, you’ll need to deal with the three agencies.

Health Canada sets the standards that companies must meet. These include food safety standards and the nutritional quality of foods. The Food Directorate operates under the umbrella of Health Canada.

The directorate is responsible for investigating the benefits and risks associated with the different food products. It follows strict scientific guidelines in reviewing the benefits and risks. Using this research, it helps Health Canada to set the standards.

The CFIA will be responsible for enforcing the regulations. They’ll be the ones knocking on your door to conduct food safety inspections. They also regulate the advertising, labelling, and packaging of food products.

Let’s say that you’re manufacturing a food supplement, for example. This agency will come knocking on your door if you make bogus claims or use unsafe packaging.

To get your supplement approved, you’ll need to apply to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. They’re quite a helpful agency, so it’s a good idea to work with them from the development stage. They’ll help you ensure that your product meets regulatory standards.

Final Notes

All these agencies work together to ensure that the food provided to Canadians is safe. Their work entails regulating the production process and everything that impacts the food. The packaging must be secure and must adequately protect the food.

Companies may not make unproven claims about their products. If they say that the product contains a certain amount of magnesium, for example, independent testing must back that up. Companies that flout the regulations face stiff penalties.

The regulations may seem excessive, but they protect the company as well. By ensuring that the food produced is safe, the company safeguards itself from potential civil action.