Most of us have at least a vague sense of what’s nutritious – green stuff (or my preferred blue stuff); things that aren’t too sugary, salty or fatty; and things that went through minimal mechanical or chemical shenanigans on their way from the Big Blue Room to our kitchen. Fine-tuning that is a general understanding of the three macro-nutrient groups (carbohydrates, protein, and fats), and how balancing them helps keep us fed and functioning.

Then you see something like Fear Factor and wonder, “How many calories is that horrible thing?[1]” or stumble across some weird nutritional program that has you scarfing down all sorts of weird powders, pills, and stuff you’ve never heard of.

Is there any merit to these nutritional shenanigans, or is it just malarkey? (And how great a word is “malarkey”?)

Let’s take a walk down the virtual shopping aisle, beginning right at the boring stuff – multivitamins. If there’s a simple way to do something good for yourself without making any big sacrifices, this is it. Multivitamins, or specific subsets (B complex, or whatever) are a good way to fill in the gaps that your regular grazing might be lacking on a day-to-day basis. There are all sorts of single vitamins on offer, too. If you know – for instance – you’re way low on your Vitamin D during the winter months, you can pick up the slack. Calcium for bones and teeth, vitamin E for skin and hair, they’re all in this neck of the woods.

Further along the aisle, we come to the natural supplements; things like garlic extract, or fish oil, or powdered ginger. Depending on what you’re looking for, these might fill the bill for anything from psyllium for extra fiber to powdered cayenne pepper for a kick in the metabolic butt. Obviously, you’ll want to watch out for any allergy triggers or other sensitivities when you’re browsing, but there are a surprising array of fairly nifty things they can help with. Of course, there’s always the ongoing propaganda and evangelizing about the latest nutritional wonder-food – whether it’s pro-biotic yogurt for your gastrointestinal tract; Stevia as a sweetener; pomegranates’ antioxidant qualities; or whatever it is that the aςai berry is supposed to do. This is where doing your homework begins to get important, both from a health standpoint, and to keep from getting fleeced.

Next up are the assorted man-made potions, notions, and miscellaneous compounds. Energy drinks, along with protein shakes and powders. Whether they’re  completely lab-fabbed or somewhat more natural — most protein powder is made from soy or whey protein, and occasionally from milk; check the label if you’ve got food sensitivities –  tend to live here, as do the more esoteric supplement capsules. They generally fall into the “lose weight” or “gain muscle” camps. This is where things can spiral off into the deep science end of the pool in a hefty hurry — creatine, caffeine, things that are purported to manage hormone and blood sugar balance, and even weirder stuff. Caveat emptor – much like milled flax seed flour – is not just for breakfast anymore.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be going into a more detail on the subject of supplements, poring through the fine print and research to try and distill some wisdom worth sharing.  If anyone has a particular hankering to learn about this, that, or the other, please let us know in the comments, or with a quick note to ask@shrinkgeek.com. That way we can be sure to hook you up with some +INT.

[1] Things I didn’t expect to learn today: a half-ounce cockroach has about the same number of calories as an Oreo cookie (55), and it’s theoretically better for you, since it’s 100% protein. I’m not sure my life has been enriched, but there you go. To Joe Rogan, nutritional pioneer: I’ll stick with my whey protein shakes, thanks.

Related posts:

1. Strength Buff: Protein shakes
2. The myth of holiday doom
3. Drinking on the job