is hard to resist – an estimated 40 percent or more of people living in the United States take some form of dietary supplement. The problem is that with more than 29,000 supplements to choose from, separating what you need from what the manufacturers want

Supplement Function(s) Food Sources Claim(s) of Supplements The ScienceAmino Acids Building blocks of protein Non-essential amino acids are manufactured by the body; essential amino acids are derived from animal protein (meat and poultry), beans

supplements, keep your intake below 2,000 milligrams because anything above that level may increase your risk for kidney stones.

UAN:261 Article type:++add book link at top++ -->This is adapted from the book, Eat Smart, Play Hard, by RW USA Nutrition Editor Liz Applegate. Better known as andro, this supplement made headlines when US baseball slugger Mark McGwire said

for endurance athletes. Several well-designed studies suggest that supplemental BCAAs may improve your exercise performance and help prevent the muscle damage that can occur with heavy training.BCAAs, along with 17 other amino acids, are the building blocks

for your immune cells. Because physical stress and heavy exercise deplete glutamine from your plasma, some researchers suspect that supplementing with this amino acid may ward off colds and muscle soreness induced by endurance exercise.While few studies

, and cartilage. Chondroitin is a component of cartilage. According to the manufacturers’ claims, when taken together, these two supplements protect joints and tendons and relieve osteoarthritis pain.In the past few years, orthopedists and other physicians have

phytochemical acts as the fountain of youth, and no one food – and especially no one supplement – contains all the phytochemicals. Don’t get into a rut of always eating broccoli as your vegetable and an apple as your fruit. Try a new fruit or vegetable each week

UAN:265 Article type:++add book link at top++ -->This is adapted from the book, Eat Smart, Play Hard, by RW USA Nutrition Editor Liz Applegate. While they may not be found in the supplement aisle of your local supermarket or health food store, some

in New York City tested this magnesium-DPG connection with trained runners, who took either a magnesium supplement (at two times the DV) or a placebo for 2 weeks. Runners were tested on the treadmill before and after supplementation. The results showed