Ben Greenfield lists the supplements he packs when traveling for endurance events (e.g., Ironman Hawaii), describing each product, why he uses it, and practical dosing/packing notes. Supplements mentioned include fish oil, digestive enzymes, cordyceps (Cordagen), Extreme Endurance, probiotics, Capra Cleanse, CoQ10 (Race Caps), sleep aids (REM caps), Master Amino Pattern, oil of oregano, liquid green superfood packets (Ener Prime / Energy 28), and TN Chi (Chinese herb mix for cortisol). He also gives short practical tips (avoid heat exposure, double-dose probiotics after food poisoning, take sleep aids ~1 hour before bed).
Questions this video answers
October 3, 2011.
A triglyceride-based fish oil (example: Living Fuel).
Two digestive enzymes.
Five in the morning and five in the evening.
About five before workouts and 10 before Ironman.
Chapters
One question that I get quite a bit is what kind of supplements I take with me when I go traveling or really what I take when I'm out and about. So here's what I do. And usually I just throw all these in the bike bag when I travel to a race. First, I take a fish oil. This one happens to be the one made by Living Fuel.
For me. I just try and choose a triglyceride based fish oil. Sometimes use pharmax, sometimes I use this one. But I always travel with the fish oil and I always make sure that it's not going to be exposed to really, really high temperatures. Occasionally I will actually throw this in my book bag and take it along with me if I'm concerned that it might be exposed to heat, such as during international travel. Next, I take a digestive enzyme along with me and I put enough of these in my actual bag that I'll have with me on the plane to where I can take a digestive enzyme prior to an actual meal. But I pop two digestive enzymes before breakfast and also before any real big meals of the day almost every single day of the week. It helps me do things like digest lactose and digest meats more efficiently, et cetera. So this happens to be an enzyme made by Millennium Sports. I'll either typically use this one or the one made by Mount Capra called Caprazyme. Next, I use another supplement from Millennium Sports. This is a cordyceps extract and cordagen has been used or cordyceps has been used really for thousands of years by Sherpas who guide people up Mount Everest. And it can help with adrenal activation of lung tissue. And I'm a fan of using it for endurance based activities. So I take a couple of cortagen before I go workout. Extreme Endurance is a new one that I've been using. I've been experimenting with it for the past half year or really for most of this race season with some pretty good success. So right now I'm taking five in the morning and five in the evening and it helps to buffer lactic acid and reduce the burn. And I'm a fan and I've been traveling with it. Okay, next, probiotics. I travel with probiotics. Probiotics. I happen to drink a lot of kombucha when I'm at home, but when I'm traveling I carry probiotics with me. These are also quite handy if you happen to come into contact with food poisoning. They can really, really help you battle that if you kind of Double dose if you've eaten something nasty while you're out traveling. So I take a few probiotic every morning. This one's interesting. This is actually a cleansing product called Capra Cleanse. This is available over@pacificfit.net I believe. But Capra Cleanse is something that I'll just take if I'm feeling constipated. And the reason that I'm bringing this along with me to Ironman is I'll eat almost what, 4,000 calories of pure sugar during that race and I will be completely gummed up for the next few days. So I bring a cleansing supplement along with me to clean me out after taking in all that sugar. Okay, Race caps. This is a coenzyme Q10. It's involved with the production of energy by your mitochondria and there's a lot of different CoQ10 products out there. I happen to use race caps because I like this one in particular. I'm a fan. Check whatever you are taking in terms of a vitamin because it may be that what you are taking already has CoQ10 in it. But I like to take a CoQ10. Usually I'll use a supplement called Somnidren GH by Millennium Sports or I'll use this stuff to help me get to sleep at also sometimes use like a magnesium, like a natural calm magnesium. But I've been using the Hammer REM caps lately and I like those. I take them an hour before I plan on going to bed. Map Master Amino pattern. About five of these before workouts, 10 before Ironman. It's amino acids. It up regulates your blood levels of amino acids and it's quite a fantastic supplement. It's not cheap but I swear by it now and I always travel with it. Oil of oregano to keep me healthy when I travel. This is mixed in a 7 to 1 almond oil to oregano oil ratio and I'll do a few drops of this before I like get on a plane or a bus or get out into a public place so I'm not getting sick. That last week before Ironman I always use like a green supplement. This one happens to be a liquid one. Usually I'll use Ener Prime. I happen to be out this week unfortunately and so I've got this energy 28 which is something that's also over@pacificfit.net, but it's just a bunch of organic kind of super foods mixed together in liquid form. So I'll carry about seven packets of this with me and then, because I'm going to be probably a little stressed out during race week. I've also got a mix called TN Chi. I interviewed the guy who formulated this on the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast, and this is just a mix of Chinese herbs that will really help to reduce cortisol. And it's also a very impressive supplement as well. It's called TN Chi. So those are all the supplements that I personally use when I am traveling, and these will get packed into my bag and go right along with me, right in my bike bag as I travel to Ironman Hawaii.
