Category Archives: Health/Style

Maca root is another in the long line of supplements I’ve been testing out. According to Pill Scout, it’s best known for being an aphrodisiac. In my case, the biggest thing it’s done for me is increase the size of my nuts.

I’m not joking.

Maca root is one hell of a supplement. While having bigger balls isn’t exactly the most useful side effect, the benefits it’s had on my energy levels make it well worth the money.

Maca Root Gets to the Root of the Problem

Maca is a vegetable that originates in the Peruvian Andes, where it’s grown for food. There are a lot of anecdotal claims that taking it can help with adrenal and thyroid health and the like, but the scientific literature is pretty thin.

Maca root’s primary benefits seem to be sexual.

When I started taking three capsules (1575 mg) of it a day, I noticed that after a week, my testicles had grown considerably larger. This would seem to square with the evidence that it helps to increase sperm count in men.

Additionally, I noticed that when I was on maca root, I started getting erections more frequently, as if I were a teenager again. I don’t have problems with impotence, but it was an increasing change. Also, I really haven’t noticed any change in my desire to fuck, but the body appears to be more willing then the mind when I’m on the stuff.

Finally, when I combine maca root with other energy boosting supplements such as bee pollen, it seems to make me more alert and active during the day. It’s not a huge benefit, but it’s nice.

Overall, I’d highly recommend buying maca root if you’re looking to boost your energy levels and/or performance in the bedroom. It’s inexpensive, effective and one of the most beneficial supplements you can take.

Click here to buy Gelatinized Maca Root Powder.

Read Next: Use Kelp Supplements to Increase Iodine and Testosterone

I don’t have difficulty sleeping, but I do have difficulty getting to sleep at a reasonable time. Being an asshole freelancer, I don’t have to worry about waking up early in the morning for an arduous commute and eight hours with my ass in a cubicle. This frequently leads to sessions of article writing or game playing that stretch on to four in the morning.

All sleep is not created equal: if you fall asleep during daylight hours, you will be less rested than if you sleep at night. Because daylight sleep is inferior to nighttime sleep, you also run the risk of oversleeping and all its associated problems. I take both melatonin and 5-HTP to help me sleep, but they don’t help when it comes to falling asleep at the right time.

Never fear, ashwagandha is here.

This helpful, tea-smelling herb supposedly has a whole bunch of benefits, but the biggest one for me is that it helped me restore my normal sleep cycle. If you have a hard time falling asleep at a reasonable time, I recommend trying ashwagandha.

Ashwagandha: Anti-Anxiety, Pro-Restfulness

According to Pill Scout, ashwagandha is another name for the plant Withania somnifera and works by acting on GABA neurotransmitters, reducing anxiety and increasing motivation and libido. While I didn’t really notice any change in sex drive or motivation, I did notice that in conjunction with suntheanine and some other anti-anxiety supplements, I felt a lot calmer and less nervous.

The big thing I noticed from taking ashwagandha in the morning is that I became noticeably more tired around 10pm forward, encouraging me to finish my work early and get to sleep around midnight or 1am. I’ve tried taking both one capsule a day and two (according to the bottle’s directions), without any noticeable difference in my anxiety levels and sleep habits.

The other important thing about ashwagandha is that it needs to be cycled, as your neurotransmitters become acclimated to its effects. I’ve tried both a 4 days on/3 days off and a 5 days on/2 days off cycle, and the former did a better job at keeping my body from developing a strong tolerance. Your mileage may vary.

Overall, I’d recommend ashwagandha capsules as an effective sleep aid for insomniacs, as well as for people looking to lower their anxiety levels.

Click here to buy NOW Foods Ashwagandha Extract.

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Iodine is yet another vital nutrient that most men don’t get enough of. Iodine is important for thyroid function: too little of it will result in a goiter. Men also need iodine for prostate health, and iodine deficiency is linked to lower testosterone levels, increased depression and weight gain.

So how do you rectify low iodine? With supplements, of course!

Pill Scout recommends eating kelp (seaweed) to obtain iodine, but I’ve had a good amount of success using supplements. In particular, 200 mcg kelp tablets have helped me in the gym and improved my mood. However, kelp supplements can be problematic for some men, so be careful.

Kelp: Strength from Seaweed

At present, I take one 200 mcg tablet of kelp a day. A couple days after I began taking kelp, I noticed that I was more alert and my mood was a little sunnier. Given that it’s been cloudy, cold and snowy for at least a week straight where I am, I’m pretty sure my environment isn’t helping my gloominess. I did notice some discomfort when I took the pills—for the first couple of days, I started coughing like I had acid reflux—but my body has since adjusted.

However, I recommend you be very careful if you use kelp supplements. According to Pill Scout, unlike iodine from raw seaweed, supplemental iodine has a tendency to accumulate in the liver. Too much iodine can endanger your thyroid and general health, so I recommend taking no more than one tablet a day. Additionally, if your body doesn’t seem to be reacting well to supplements, stop taking them.

I figure if I take too much iodine, my stomach will make me throw it up like I do with zinc, but better to be safe.

Aside from that, I recommend adding these supplements to your arsenal. The benefits I’ve gotten in terms of improved mood and weight loss are well worth the price. Kelp is also quite economical—I paid $12 for a bottle that will last about eight months—so you’ll be getting your money’s worth as well.

Click here to buy Solgar North Atlantic Kelp Tablets.

Read Next: Increase Your Testosterone with Fenugreek

When most guys start taking supplements, they stick to the cheap-o brands that they find at their local supermarket. While there isn’t much of a difference when it comes to brands of zinc or more common minerals/vitamins, there are some supplements where the economy brands are either less effective or actively harmful compared to the real stuff.

Fish oil is one of those supplements.

Omega-3 is a vital nutrient for brain development, cardiovascular health and other important bodily functions. Most people don’t get enough of it because the only type of food that has omega-3 in large quantities is seafood, which is too expensive for the average schmo. You can get your daily dose of omega-3 through fish oil capsules, but the problem is that most store-brand fish oil is absolute garbage, sourced from low-quality fish and/or full of impurities and toxins.

Given just how important your brain is, you shouldn’t be skimping on keeping it healthy and sharp. I’ve found an alternative to the low-quality fish oil sold at most stores: Nordic Naturals.

Buy Cheap, Pay Twice: Try Nordic Naturals Instead

Nordic Naturals fish oil is not cheap: a bottle of 60 softgels (about a month’s supply) will cost you anywhere from twenty to thirty dollars. However, you can feel the difference.

I switched to using Nordic Naturals a month ago after using economy-priced Wegmans softgels and I immediately felt an improvement in my cognition. I felt more alert and more mentally sharp, which combined with caffeine and Suntheanine has helped me become more productive. I also noticed that my face had more of a glow and (as ridiculous as this sounds) my facial hair was growing in faster. I haven’t tried megadosing yet, if only because my inner miser frowns upon blowing $50 a month on fish oil capsules.

Having said that, I’m never going back to the cheap brands of fish oil. If you buy cheap, you pay twice: buy quality the first time and you save time and money. If you want to supercharge your brain and your health, I highly recommend checking out Nordic Naturals.

Click here to buy Nordic Naturals EPA Xtra 1000 mg Softgels.

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Fenugreek is one of the last supplements I ever thought I’d be taking. It’s an herbal ingredient used by pregnant and nursing women in order to help them produce breast milk. Why would any man take it?

Answer: fenugreek increases testosterone.

Now, before you immediately gulp an entire bottle of the stuff down, you need to read the fine print. Unlike other supplements such as zinc, fenugreek increases usable testosterone, not overall testosterone. If you have low-T, you need to look into other methods of boosting your testosterone in order to see any benefits from the stuff. However, if you already have good testosterone levels, it can help you maximize your gains.

The Science of Fenugreek

I first tried fenugreek after reading Pill Scout’s article on the stuff. According to his research, men who use it increase the amount of “bio-available” testosterone in their blood. While this won’t help you if your testosterone levels are low, it provides a nice boost if you have high-T already. Pill Scout also notes that it has been shown to improve creatine uptake.

I use fenugreek seeds in capsule form, taking twice a day in conjunction with zinc, magnesium and Andro-Plus testosterone cream. I noticed that I was getting a bigger boost from the cream after I started using it: I felt stronger, more alert and was capable of better lifts. It wasn’t a huge boost, but it was definitely noticeable, as well as economical: the stuff only runs about $6 for a bottle of a hundred capsules, which will last you about two months.

The closest thing to a problem I have with fenugreek is the obnoxious smell. Not that I’m bothered by something that tastes bad, but the odor is way more pungent than any other supplement I take. Aside from this, it’s worth adding to your supplement arsenal if you’re looking to improve your testosterone.

Click here to buy Nature’s Way Fenugreek Seed.

Read Next: Using Zinc to Increase Your Testosterone

As most of you know, I’m a fan of Andro-Plus testosterone cream when it comes to upping my T-levels. Anyone who claims that you can naturally increase your testosterone levels beyond a certain amount is full of shit; you need TRT or another form of hormonal enhancement to reach the upper echelons of masculine health. That said, Andro-Plus and other testosterone boosters don’t work as well if you aren’t already eating healthy and using natural methods to improve your masculinity.

Enter zinc.

Pretty much every reputable source on supplements states that zinc is mandatory for men who want to increase testosterone. Specifically, you need to have more zinc than copper in your body in order to maintain an appropriate testosterone level; harder than it sounds, as copper piping is ubiquitous in the West, meaning that virtually all our water contains trace amounts of it. You can gain zinc naturally from beef and other foods, but a supplement is all but necessary to reverse the long-term copper imbalance most men have.

This presents a problem for me: my body is uniquely resistant to zinc.

How do you use zinc to increase your testosterone levels without suffering ill effects? That was the question that I faced.

Dealing with Zinc Sickness

Keep in mind that I’m not some expert on testosterone: I haven’t had blood work done or anything like that. I’m going by how taking these supplements produced demonstrable changes in my health and mood. When I first started taking zinc, I felt both stronger and more alert afterwards, a weaker version of the effects I got from using Andro-Plus. Unfortunately, I also realized that if I strayed from anything other than a relatively small dose, the consequences were… unpleasant.

Guys like Victor Pride recommend 150 mg of zinc a day, but whenever I take more than 30 mg, I get nauseous and start throwing up. Additionally, if I take any amount of zinc on an empty stomach, I start dry heaving. I discovered both of these the hard way, when I bought 50 mg zinc horse pills only to vomit them (and everything else) up less than an hour later. I had to split each pill in half with a bowie knife in order to get my daily dose.

I’m assuming this might be due to the fact that I get enough zinc in my diet already, but given the default low-T levels of young men today, I’d rather not assume all is well. Additionally, I thought that the megadosing guys like Pride engage in is helped along by their training regimens (I started taking zinc before I started lifting regularly), but even when I started working out, my body still violently reacted to too much zinc.

The best solution I’ve found is to simply stick with the low doses and supplement my testosterone with other means.

Once again, I’m far from an expert on the topic. I just write about the supplements I take and how they affect my health. Zinc is clearly an effective way to improve your mental clarity, but listen to your body and don’t force yourself to take too large a dose.

Click here to buy NOW Foods Zinc.

Read Next: Why You Need to Increase Your Testosterone

I love my sleep. My craving for sleep is probably why I’m not as fun as I used to be; whereas I used to be game to stay up all night, nowadays I get cranky if I don’t get my requisite eight hours of sleep. All-night benders and video gaming sessions are a thing of the past as my body heads into shutdown by 5am. Despite this, I still have difficulty falling straight asleep when I lie down, as my brain is hyperactive and constantly thinking about… stuff.

What’s a guy to do?

I’ve used melatonin for years now, but melatonin is only one half of the solution; it gears my body into sleep mode, but doesn’t do much to halt the flow of thoughts in my skull. Over-the-counter antihistamines like Benadryl can provide an extra punch, but I develop a tolerance to them too quickly for them to be useful. Having an active brain is obviously an asset—I like being smart and being able to figure stuff out—but it’s a real hindrance when you just want to go to sleep.

I found a solution from Victor Pride and Mike at Danger & Play: 5-HTP. This miracle supplement works in conjunction with melatonin to power down my brain and give me sweet dreams. If you’re looking to sleep better at night, 5-HTP is a must-add to your supplement list.

5-HTP: Shorting Out Your Brain

5-HTP is billed as the “precursor to serotonin,” a neurotransmitter vital to mood and overall health. Having too little serotonin typically leads to depression, and while I don’t fully understand the science behind this stuff, what I do understand is that taking 5-HTP makes me feel better. Way better. It’s the strongest hit of good feelings you can get that doesn’t involve illegal drugs or pharmaceuticals. One of 5-HTP’s other uses, aside from as a sleep aide, is as a way of getting yourself in a social mood during the day, akin to l-theanine.

So how does this stuff help you sleep?

Simple: 5-HTP calms your brain, relaxing you and making you better able to sleep. If your brain is like a raging bonfire, taking 5-HTP is like throwing a blanket over it to kill the oxygen flow. Whenever I pop a couple, my brain goes into a rest mode, my thoughts slow down and I can better pass out.

However, if you start using 5-HTP, I recommend you start with a low dosage. Most 5-HTP brands are sold in 50 mg tablets; start by taking one a night, then graduate to two (a 100 mg dose) afterwards. If you start experiencing ill effects, go back down to one tablet. For example, while I’ve now adjusted to taking 100 mg a night, when I first tried it, I had some seriously bizarre nightmares and woke up in a sweat. Additionally, unlike melatonin, 5-HTP’s effects are more delayed; you typically won’t feel it taking effect until about an hour after you’ve swallowed it.

Aside from these caveats, 5-HTP is a great way to improve the quality of your sleep. In a world where technology keeps us up way past our bedtimes, chemical stimulants like 5-HTP are an effective countermeasure.

Click here to buy Nature’s Way 5-HTP.

Read Next: The Organic Food Section: Not Just for Hippies Anymore

Caffeine is a part of my life that’s here to stay. I’ve tried kicking the habit in the past by replacing coffee/energy drinks with bee pollen capsules, and while bee pollen does give me a nice energy boost, I still feel logy and lazy without caffeine. As a result, I’ve been experimenting with various supplements and nootropics to further increase my productivity.

The “People’s Stack” is probably the most famous nootropic stack out there, consisting of caffeine and l-theanine. L-theanine is a natural relaxant, making you calmer and better able to focus. By combining l-theanine with caffeine, you can harness the energy-boosting qualities of the latter without having to suffer its more deleterious side effects (jitteriness, nervousness, a debilitating crash later on). While I got some benefit out of using regular l-theanine, it didn’t quite seem to be strong enough for me.

I needed more.

I found it in the form of suntheanine, a purified form of l-theanine that might as well be a legal form of speed. Suntheanine turns the People’s Stack into an all-day party of alertness and clarity. Here’s why you need to buy some yesterday.

Suntheanine: This Ain’t No Fooling Around

The suntheanine packaging seems designed to turn off as many people as possible. For starters, it proudly proclaims itself a “vegan” product right underneath the title. The packaging also refers to the individual 150 mg l-theanine capsules as “veggie caps.” Most normal people would probably throw it in the trash from this alone, but trust me, this stuff works.

Suntheanine advertises itself as “the purest form of l-theanine available on the market today,” and it absolutely lives up to that claim. The most notable difference is that you can feel it taking effect. When I pop a regular l-theanine capsule, I don’t actually sense it taking hold: the only reason I can tell it’s working is because I feel calmer and less anxious. However, when I take suntheanine, I’m engulfed in a full-body ecstasy twenty minutes later. I’m full of boundless energy yet at the same time completely calm and tranquil, and my skin is crackling with electricity.

A little less focus and you could very easily do suntheanine for fun.

In addition to the increased productivity suntheanine gave me, it put me in a ridiculously social mood. After I finished writing three blog posts and another chapter of my upcoming book while on the stuff, I had to go to the supermarket. While I was there, I was unusually chatty with all the clerks and cashiers I interacted with and I just had a overwhelming desire to talk to people. As a result, I’ve started taking suntheanine whenever I go out on a date or when I talk to girls.

The closest thing to a problem I have with suntheanine is that my body builds up a tolerance to it rather quickly, and after about 4-5 straight days of using it, its effects are blunted somewhat. To avert this, I avoid using it on days that I don’t need it. Aside from this minor issue, I highly recommend suntheanine if you’re looking to double your productivity or just take the edge off in general.

Click here to buy Doctor’s Best Suntheanine L-Theanine (150 mg) Vegetable Capsules.

Read Next: The Organic Food Section: Not Just for Hippies Anymore