Order supplements cheaper from the USA

I usually get my supplements from AmazonDE. But some supplements are a lot cheaper overseas.

iherb.com ships to Europe for only 4€. You can order for 26€ inluding shipping without having to worry about customs.

A few things where I found you can save some money: B12, methylfolate, vitamin d3.

Also you can get things you can’t buy here, like melatonin (for sleep hacking) and DHEA.

Give it a try.

Supplement Regiment

Your diet should supply you with the majority of nutrients that you need. If you mostly eat real food, as in meat, fish, eggs and vegetables, you should be good. But there are a few cases in which targeted supplementation makes sense.

These are the supplements I take on a regular basis:

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine is cheap, effective and safe. It improves body composition (makes you stronger) [1] and cognitive performance (makes you smarter) [2]

Dosage: 3-5g per day, usually in the morning or after a workout

I use this one, but it really doesn’t matter. Don’t buy the expensive stuff.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is so important [3], it should be a hormone. It regulates our immune system and is involved in the correct function of over 1000 genes in the body. If we don’t have enough sunlight, we can’t produce it. Since today we tend to spend most of our time indoors, that can be a problem.

Dosage: ~20.000 IU per week, as Vitamin D3, usually in the morning

Vitamin A

Dosage: 20.000 IU per week, as retinol, the one I use

Vitamin K2

EPA/DHA (Fish oil)

Dosage: 2-3g per day, usually with a fatty meal, as eating other fats at the same time helps with absorption

Magnesium

Dosage: 100-200mg (as glycinate/lysinate chelate), the one I use, usually in the evening before bed, with potassium

Potassium

Dosage: 200 mg, the one I use, usually in the evening before bed, with magnesium

References:

[1] Creatine is safe and effective, especially if you resistance-train

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407788/pdf/1550-2783-9-33.pdf

[2] Creatine improves brain cognition

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691485/pdf/14561278.pdf

[3] 8 Gründe für Vitamin D

http://smart-body-transformation.com/blog/8-gruende-fuer-eine-nahrungsergaenzung-mit-vitamin-d/

Lichttherapie

 

The short version:

Proper circadian rhythmicity and adequate secretion of melatonin at night play a major role in human wellbeing and health. You will sleep, look and feel better, be healthier and probably live longer.

Light is one of the most important factors for this. You want the right kind of light, at the right time:

Morning/day: Bright blue/white light

Evening/night: Dim, non-blue/orange light

Good sources of blue light:

  1. The Sun
  2. Blue-Light devices

 

In the evening, avoid blue light like this:

  1. Install f.lux on your laptop, activate night shift on iOS
  2. Wear blue blocker sunglasses, like these:

blaublocker-brille

 

 

f.lux

F.lux passt zeitgesteuert die Farbtemperatur deines Computers an. Wenn es dunkel wird, werd das Bild rötlicher. Zum einen ist das angenehmer für die Augen. Zum anderen ist es gesünder, weil zu viel blaues (kaltes) Licht abends unsere innere Uhr durcheinanderbringen kann. Mit f.lux kommt man abends besser zur Ruhe.

Alfred

Unverzichtbare Software für den Mac. Spotlight in cool. Ohne dauert alles 3x so lange. Startet Programme, findet Dateien und lässt sich sehr vielseitig erweiten und personalisieren. Eine der ersten fünf Anwendungen die ich auf einem neuen System installiere. Kostenfrei in der Basisversion, für ~15€ bekommt man das Powerpack mit einigen Extras.

https://www.alfredapp.com oder im App-Store

Evernote

Kurz: Ein Notiztool auf Steroiden. Alles was ich irgendwann nochmal nachschlagen möchte landet in Evernote, seit 2009 sind so mehr als 1200 Notizen zusammengekommen. Es ermöglicht mir nahezu komplett auf Papier zu verzichten und hat mir geholfen 2014 wieder ohne größeren Stress aus der Westbank zurück nach Israel zu gelangen. True Story. Evernote verwende ich jeden Tag, mehrmals am Tag, zuhause und unterwegs. Ich habe meistens eine Premium-Mitgliedschaft (~50€/Jahr).