What are the top 3 supplements to take?

The three-tub parcel: the rule that picks the contents, and the three that survive it, creatine, vitamin D through the UK winter and protein for the shortfall

What are the top 3 supplements to take is a question that every list answers with its own three, and the way to make the three defensible is to state the rule before the names. Imagine that only three tubs could be posted to a person who trains, with no knowledge of their plate, their blood tests or their sport beyond the fact that they lift, and that each tub had to earn its place against every other product by one rule: the largest effect in the most people at the lowest cost with the shortest adverse-event record. The rule has four parts and a product has to pass all four, because a large effect in a few people is a prescription rather than a parcel, a large effect at pounds a day is a luxury, and a large effect with a long record is a trade rather than a gift. Run the whole shelf through the rule and three tubs survive, and they are the same three that the sports institutes give their athletes and that the meta-analyses keep returning.

The first tub is creatine monohydrate. The effect is the largest of any legal product, one to two kilograms of lean mass and a few percent on strength over a training block on top of training alone, and it is seen in most people who train, larger in those with low starting stores and smaller in heavy meat eaters but present across the range. The cost is pence a day for plain powder at 3 to 5g. The adverse-event record is the shortest on the shelf for a real effect, a kilogram of intramuscular water in the first days and a raised creatinine marker that is a laboratory artefact, with no effect on kidney or liver function in the long-term trials in healthy adults. It has an authorised claim for physical performance in repeated short bursts of high-intensity exercise. It passes all four parts of the rule by a margin, and it is the first thing in the parcel for anyone over eighteen who trains.

The second tub is vitamin D, and it is in the parcel for a reason specific to this country. From October to March the sun in the UK is too low for the skin to make vitamin D, and the national diet survey finds a large share of adults below the threshold through the winter, which makes a shortfall of vitamin D the commonest nutritional shortfall a person who trains in the UK is likely to have. The effect of correcting it is a normal status for bone, muscle function and the immune system, with authorised claims for each, and the effect is seen in the largest number of people of any product on the shelf because the shortfall is so common; the cost is a few pence a day; and the record at the ordinary doses is clean, with the upper level set far above them. It passes on reach more than on size, and the rule weighs reach.

The third tub is protein, and it is posted as a powder only because food cannot be. The lifting guidance's figure of around 1.6g per kilogram a day is one that most people arriving at training fall short of by a meal's worth, and the effect of closing the gap, in lean mass over a block in the meta-analyses, is seen in everyone below the figure, which is most people; the cost of a powder for the shortfall is pence a serving; and the record is digestive and avoidable. It is in the parcel as the material that the first tub's extra work is built from, and a person whose plate already reaches the figure may leave it unopened, which is the only one of the three that depends on the plate.

Three tubs that pass the rule, and the two that miss by a plate, the five that never reach the post room, and the worked example placed as the first to miss, which is the next section.

The two that miss the parcel by a plate, magnesium and omega-3, and why missing is not a criticism; the five that never reach the post room; the worked example placed as the first to miss; and the verdict

Two products miss the parcel by a plate, and the distinction matters because missing by a plate is not the same as failing the rule. The rule weighs effect in the most people, and magnesium and omega-3 each have a large effect in a specific share of people and none in the rest, which is a different shape from vitamin D's winter shortfall in the majority. Magnesium has authorised claims for normal muscle function, normal protein synthesis, normal psychological function and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the national survey finds a meaningful share of young adults below the reference intake, especially young men on a narrow plate, and for that share a supplement at 22p a day fills a measurable gap; for a person whose plate is full of the foods that carry it, the leafy greens, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and pulses, it does nothing, which is why it is the first to miss rather than the fourth to make it. Omega-3 is the same shape: for people who eat no oily fish, a supplement supplies the long-chain fatty acids with authorised claims for heart, brain and eye function, and for people who eat two portions a week it supplies nothing they are not already getting. Both are in the parcel for the person a plate or a test finds short and not for everyone, and a person who reads this page and recognises their own plate in the description moves the relevant one in.

Five products never reach the post room, and the rule says why in each case. Testosterone boosters fail on effect, with the audits finding almost no data and no change in the hormone. Pre-workout blends fail on cost and on record, because the one ingredient that works, caffeine, is available as a tablet for a penny and the rest is diluent with a stimulant stack's side effects. Fat burners fail on effect and on record, with gram-scale results over months and a stimulant load. Greens powders fail on effect, with no trial showing they do what a portion of vegetables does, at the price of a week of vegetables. And the stacks, the nootropic, adaptogen and recovery formulas sold as a system, fail on evidence, because the system has never been trialled as a system. None of them passes the first part of the rule, and the parcel has no room for products that fail the first part.

The worked example is placed exactly where the rule puts it, as the first to miss: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, two capsules with the evening meal, in the parcel for the share of young men the survey finds short of the mineral and not for everyone, with its authorised claims for normal muscle function and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue and no claim beyond them, batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium, UK made, 180 capsules for £19.99 at 22p a day. A site that sells magnesium and puts it fourth on its own top three page has put the rule before the sale, which is the only reason to trust the three above it. The full label breakdown is here.

The verdict: the top three supplements to take are creatine monohydrate, vitamin D through the UK winter and protein for the shortfall, because each gives the largest effect in the most people at the lowest cost with the shortest record, and nothing else on the shelf passes all four parts of the rule. Magnesium and omega-3 miss by a plate and join the parcel for the person a plate or a test finds short; the boosters, pre-workouts, fat burners, greens and stacks never reach the post room; and a person under eighteen posts nothing to themselves without a coach and a doctor.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

What are the three most important supplements?

By the rule of the largest effect in the most people at the lowest cost with the shortest adverse-event record: creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5g a day, with one to two kilograms of lean mass and a few percent on strength over a block at pence and the shortest record for a real effect; vitamin D through the UK winter, correcting the commonest shortfall a large share of adults have from October to March at a few pence; and protein for the shortfall below about 1.6g per kilogram a day, posted as a powder only because food cannot be, and unopened if the plate already reaches the figure.

Should everyone take creatine, vitamin D and protein?

Every adult who trains has a reason to take the first two, creatine for an effect seen across most people who train and vitamin D for a shortfall most people in the UK have through the winter, while protein powder depends on the plate: a person already eating around 1.6g per kilogram a day gains nothing from it and a person a meal short gains the whole gap; a person under eighteen takes nothing from a web page and talks to a coach and a doctor, and a person with a kidney condition asks a doctor before creatine.

Why is magnesium not in the top three?

Because it misses by a plate rather than by failing the rule: it has a large effect for the share of young adults the national survey finds below the reference intake, especially young men on a narrow plate, and none for a person whose plate is full of the leafy greens, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and pulses that carry it, which is a different shape from vitamin D's winter shortfall in the majority; a site that sells magnesium and places it fourth on its own top three page has put the rule before the sale, and a reader who recognises a short plate moves it in at 22p a day.

Is omega-3 one of the top supplements?

For people eating no oily fish, yes, since a supplement supplies the long-chain fatty acids with authorised claims for heart, brain and eye function that the diet is not providing, and for people eating two portions of oily fish a week, no, because it supplies nothing they are not already getting; like magnesium it misses the three-tub parcel by a plate and joins it for the person whose plate is short, with oxidation of the oil the one record worth checking on the tub.

What supplements are a waste of money?

The five that never reach the post room under the rule: testosterone boosters, which the audits found to do nothing to the hormone; pre-workout blends, whose one working ingredient, caffeine, is a penny as a tablet and whose rest is diluent with a stimulant stack's side effects; fat burners, with gram-scale results over months and a stimulant load; greens powders, with no trial showing they do what a portion of vegetables does at the price of a week of vegetables; and the nootropic, adaptogen and recovery stacks sold as systems that have never been trialled as systems.

Sources

1. Kreider RB, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2017;14:18. PubMed record
2. The GB claims register, vitamin D entries: vitamin D contributes to normal bones, teeth, muscle function, immune function and calcium absorption, with UK guidance suggesting 10 micrograms daily in autumn and winter. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-britain-nutrition-and-health-claims-nhc-register
3. Morton RW, et al. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018;52(6):376-384: protein supplementation added around 0.3kg of fat-free mass, with the benefit plateauing at total intakes around 1.6g per kilogram a day. PubMed record
4. The UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey: a substantial minority of women of reproductive age have low iron stores and intakes below the reference, a large share of adults have low vitamin D status in winter, iodine intakes are low in young women, and magnesium intakes fall below the reference in many adults, with B12 deficiency concentrated in older adults, vegans and those on metformin or acid suppressants. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey

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