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Does Supplementation create dependency?

Here's how supplements stand in relation to dependency and how to avoid it

📖 4 minute Read

So, is there something like supplement dependency? Sadly, yes. And it might not be as straight forward of a thing as you think it is, at least in some cases. This addiction or dependency is a very real thing and deserves to be addressed. Here’s how supplements stand in relation to dependency or addiction and how to avoid it!

To begin with, here’s how something like this may unfold. Most of the time it starts with innocent intentions of somebody who is just highly invested in his health and wants to take supplements to feel or perform better. To make this clear, there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with this! In fact you probably should take supplements, but here’s something to watch out for.

If you have a deficiency for any minerals or vitamins, only taking supplements may create a dependency. Let’s take an athlete who has an iron deficit, has always felt kind of sloppy and now finally has turned to iron supplements. Good thing, all of a sudden he has a lot more energy and can produce greater results! But he also can’t train without them… removing them causes fatigue and a lack of focus, now he has developed a kind of dependency.

Please, be aware! This is not about saying supplementation is bad! I mentioned it earlier, it’s a really great thing, but there are some downfalls to it, especially if you have a strong deficiency.
Back to the example. How to solve this now?

The easiest thing is to diversify the intake portfolio. So instead of only taking iron pills, etc. shift your attention to something like nutrition. Combine the two and it becomes a lot more natural kind of supplementation. The more sources, the better. Also if you don’t take them every day of the week. Pause them from time to time and find your schedule, see if you get any problems! If you do, turn to sb. who’s an expert on this!

Remember how I talked about not every dependency being as straight forward?
What comes into play here, is the placebo effect. This occurs when you take a medication or supplement and get a psychological or physical benefit, which isn’t traceable back to the thing you just took or therapy you did.
With supplements it is either this, you take the supplement and by taking it you feel better, perform better but you don’t actually need it. Or in reverse, by not taking your supplements, you feel like you can’t perform, have insecurity, etc..
Both of these come with the thought that you need these supplements in order to perform.

To sum it up now. Again, supplementation is a great thing, especially for athletes and people doing a lot of sports, but being aware of the pitfalls we just explored will save you a lot of trouble. The very, very most important thing is to listen to experts or generally people who really know what they’re talking about (you’ll find the people I take advice from below). This is to make you aware of the problems that exist, but as everybody has different needs there’s no one fits all solution and everyone has to find what works best for them and what they need. Alright, that was a long one! Check out the guys below and I’ll see you on Monday!💪

1) https://www.hubermanlab.com/
2) https://www.instagram.com/smartgains/

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