Habits and Hustle - Episode 456: Why Half Your Supplements Are Probably Useless (And Which 4 Actually Matter)

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

Are you throwing money away on supplements that do nothing? In this Fitness Friday episode on the Habits and Hustle podcast, Liron Kayvan and I break down the supplement industry's biggest myths and reveal which ones are actually worth taking. We discuss why most supplements are unregulated snake oil, the importance of third-party testing, and how to cycle supplements so your body doesn't become desensitized. Plus, we share our personal supplement protocols and explain why getting blood work is non-negotiable before starting any regimen. Liron Kayvan founded BFLA in 2019. He’s a NASM Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer, and Transformative Life Coach. Liron has competed in Amateur MMA, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Rugby and has been a Fitness Coach for over 10 years. What we discuss: Why supplements should be the smallest part of your health pyramid The lack of FDA regulation in the supplement industry Essential supplements: creatine, omega-3, vitamin D with K2, magnesium Why creatine isn't just for bodybuilders (new Alzheimer's research) The importance of third-party testing and NSF certification How to cycle supplements to prevent tolerance Why you need blood work before and after supplementation NAD and alpha-GPC for brain health Working with your natural patterns vs. fighting them The difference between giving energy vs. getting energy from exercise Thank you to our sponsor: Momentous: Shop this link and use code Jen for 20% off Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off  TruNiagen: Head over to truniagen.com and use code HUSTLE20 to get $20 off any purchase over $100. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. Bio.me: Link to daily prebiotic fiber here, code Jennifer20 for 20% off.  David: Buy 4, get the 5th free at davidprotein.com/habitsandhustle. Find more about Liron Kayvan:  Website: https://www.beyondfitnessla.com/  Instagram: @beyondfitnessla Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagements

Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it! Hey friends, you're listening to Fitness Friday on the Habits and Hustle podcast where myself and my friends share quick and very actionable advice for you becoming your healthiest self. So stay tuned and let me know how you leveled up. Before we dive into today's episode, I want to thank our sponsor, Momentous. When your goal is healthspan, living better and longer, there are very few non-negotiables.

One of them, quality. And when it comes to supplements designed for high performers, nobody does it better than Momentus. Momentus goes all in on NSF certification, which means every single batch is tested for heavy metals, harmful additives, and label accuracy. And that's why they're trusted by all 32 NFL teams and top collegiate sports dietitians across the country. Here's the thing, they don't sell every supplement under the sun because they believe in nailing the basics with rock solid consistency and those basics are protein and creatine. Momentous sources create pure, the purest form of creatine. Momentous Source is Creopure, the purest form of creatine

monohydrate available, an absolute must for both men and women who want peak physical and cognitive performance. So if you're serious about leveling up, go to livemomentous.com and use code GEN for 20% off. Just act now. Start today. Jen for 20% off. Livemomentous.com. All right, you guys, we're here for another Fitness Friday program. That program episode. There's an F in there. I know. Fitness Friday fun. I know. And LeBne's joining me yet again and we pick a topic and we just like blab for a few minutes and then we cut it.

So remember guys, very important. We love feedback on habits and hustle. The more feedback, the better. Please let us know what you think. If there's something you want us to talk about, all the things, and don't forget to subscribe. With that being said, what do you think about the topic that I just chose, which is supplements? Supplements. I mean, the basic thing, and I think people know this, most people know this, but if you don't, just good to remind yourself is like, you kind of want a pyramid, think of like maybe a three tiered pyramid. And you want, you know, the foundation, the fundamentals to be like training and nutrition.

And then as you go up, you know, sleep or maybe sleep is the foundation. You can play around with the bottom, but either way, the top is supplements, meaning the smallest part of the pyramid, the last thing you focus on after you've got everything else together should be supplements. They're kind of icing on the cake. Yes. It should be done in moderation. Yeah, well, I don't even think done in moderation. I think it's supplemental. I think the word supplements... Literally, by definition. By definition of what supplements are is supplemental. It doesn't take the place of eating properly and eating well and like with like a lot of different

nutrition like nutrients that our bodies crave and need. It doesn't take the place of exercise, it doesn't take the place of sleep, it helps with overall you know your overall. And by the way a lot of these supplements don't do anything. I think we're living in a time when we are all chasing youth and longevity has become such a huge, huge brand in itself that people keep on creating these products that actually have zero, there's no FDA regulation on any of these things. There's zero efficacy on these things. And so like, I believe that people need to be super, super careful of where and who they're getting their information and like do their research.

Because a ton of supplements that come my way, I'm like, are you kidding me? Like it's snake oil. You know, like there's certain things I think are really good, but I know the source. And I think that there are certain supplements that are essential because we can't get it in our foods necessarily or that, like I said, like I think they're doing a very specific thing, but overall, I mean, you can't just be like taking everything willy nilly. So these are, this is the stuff that I think is really important. Are you ready?

And then I want to hear your list. Okay. I think that Omega-3 is really important. I think vitamin D with K2 has to be taken together or it's not gonna do what you need it to do. It won't digest, absorb. I think that creatine is very important. It's not just for bodybuilders anymore.

And I believe, well, protein, that's not really a supplement. And I also do take NAD, I take Trinogen. And the reason why I've been taking that is because it's a molecule that our bodies actually make that we actually stop making, as I think after the age of 30, as we age. But what this does, it's a precursor.

So it basically tells your body, basically you take the supplement, but it gets your body to make it on its own. That's always a better show. Way better thing. Way better thing to do. Than just like taking something that's a supplement on, like that's it.

Yeah. And so a lot of these other things are complete, I hate to say it, completely unnecessary. Yeah. And it's just like, you're throwing your money down the drain. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think?

Should I riff on those specifically or talk about what I'm doing? No, first I want to hear what you take. So right now I am actually taking creatine. You don't always take it? No. Why? So creatine is a great supplement. I think it's the most, we've spoken about this before.

Most researched. The most researched supplement ever. Ever. Ever. And not just for bodybuilders at all. I think bodybuilding in sports is like a small fraction of that. I want to say one thing about creatine because I just read this study yesterday. They did a huge thing for like a big research that just came out I think a couple days ago.

How creatine actually improves Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's. Yeah, I just saw that one. You saw that? I sent that to my brother-in-law, who's a neurologist. I have to hear back from him, but yeah. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's

so many elderly people. So many elderly people. It's really sad. And so I'm really always on the lookout for anything that can like just like give her like a 0.01%. That study was super promising. Yeah, it was really promising. always on the lookout for anything that can like just like give her like a point zero one percent Promising yeah it was really promising the creatine Alzheimer's studies people are into studies to check that one out that was really I looked that up that was really promising no so let me just say

that again for people because I think it's this is really important if you know of somebody or if you have any type of I think for I shouldn't even say that. What I should say is just forget about the muscle, for lean muscle mass, forget about performance. Let's put that aside. If you're somebody who just wants to have overall better brain health, it helps with your memory and overall cognitive skills, you should start taking creatine. You should start taking it because I think it's very, very helpful. But I would say also, and that's not me, that's the, that's the study that we saw. But I do think also knowing where you're getting it from,

very important. Yeah, some of them have like heavy metals and stuff in them. Well, you have to make sure this is another thing, if you're going to take any supplements, make sure they're third party tested, make sure that they have a really high regulation. So I take Momentus because they have an NSF regulation and they're third party tested, which means I think NSF is like the highest you can, you

can have. And so it's a trusted source. So if you don't want to, I don't care what, what brand you take, but make sure you're not just taking some like, you know, brand that you saw on Instagram that your favorite influencer is taking because who knows they can be getting paid for it. like, you know, brand that you saw on Instagram that your favorite influencer is taking because who knows, they can be getting paid for it.

You never know. And I also think that if you're in it for creatine, have you heard of whitewash versus acid wash? No. I think that's what it's called. I'm not sure, but the one, the momentous one it has, it's Creapure, I think it is. It's whitewash.

I don't even know what that means exactly, but I listened to Dr. Stacey Sims and she said that's very important. Okay. Well, I'll take Dr. Stacey Sims word for it. Yeah. So I also interrupted you. I'm sorry. Tell me what you take. Not sure exactly where I was, but creating I take, and I think with things like creating, what's awesome about creating is cause it's such a foundational building block of like everything in our body, because it's, it's part of the energy system, the ATP system. Anyway, don't want to go too far into the science.

And I also don't know it that well, but it's, I know it's a foundational kind of building block for, for a lot of your processes in the body. So it has multiple benefits. Like all boats rise with the tide. It's not just for muscles. It's not just for your brain. It's not just for your energy. It's not just for, you know,

they give it to women to increase their baby's birth weight. I told- Are you talking about creatine still? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when you have a supplement, my point is that when you have a supplement

that does just these really wide ranging, has these really wide ranging benefits, chances are it's because your body is supposed to have it naturally. And create, if you were, if you were eating as nature intended, you probably wouldn't need to supplement so much because- Well, you can find creatine, I believe, like you get it in meat, right? Red meat. That's what I'm saying. Right. Like you can get a lot of these things. I mean, people don't eat enough red meat. People don't eat enough protein. But the other thing, Oh, I find this also, I should, I kind of like, I was remiss. I also forgot. I also take at night, not in the morning. I take magnesium. Yeah. Because again, again, same thing. It does like

everything. You know, it does. I don't think there's anything that you could mention that magnesium doesn't enhance if you're low in it and you supplement with it, that it doesn't improve. Digestive health, energy, skin, hair and nails, sleep, obviously is the big one that most people take magnesium for. But I want to say something else though. So wait, you take magnesium? I take magnesium too, yes. Okay. So you take magnesium, you take creatine, anything else? I think that's about it. Actually alpha GPC is a form of choline, which is naturally present in eggs.

So it helps with brain performance. If you were to eat a diet rich in choline, which I think eggs and liver are like some of the main sources, you probably wouldn't... Need it? Need it as much, but I'm just not eating as much as I usually do. So I'm supplementing with Alpha GPC. It's for brain health, essentially. So this is the thing, like you can talk to... Brain performance. There's so many different things out there that say that they are for brain health,

but do they really help brain health? Like I have a reason for taking everything. I take like the TrueNiogen for recovery and for energy and cellular health. I take my vitamin D for, I mean, I think everyone takes vitamin D at this point. Yeah. I take omega- I mean, I take omega-

I don't take vitamin D by the way. You don't? No. Why? Because I get a lot of sunlight. So that's interesting. So they say even with sunlight, because we live in California-

Some people are low, like my wife is low and she's much lighter than me, so it should be easy for her to get it. A lot of sunlight. So that's interesting. So they say even with sunlight, because we live in California. Some people are low, like my wife is low and she's much lighter than me, so it should be easy for her to get it. You know what I will say? But she's low, yeah, I'm not. I wanna say something else that I think it's important for people to make sure before they even supplement

to get it blood paneled. Yeah, she just got her blood done. To see where you're deficient. Don't just like randomly, oh, okay, you know, willy nilly, just start taking something. Because you may think that you need vitamin D, but not need it, or you may think you don't need something and then need it.

And then also get retested again in six months. To see if it's working or your supplements actually being absorbed. To see if your supplements are even being absorbed, or if now you're over, you might be over the limit that you should be. That's what happened with me and vitamin D. I was taking like, you know, the 5,000 ICUs like they, everyone, everyone says to take. And then I was taking it for so long that when I got my blood back, I was like, they're like,

actually you're taking too much of it. You got to back off that. Yeah, it can be toxic in high enough doses. Most people are just low because again, it goes back to nature. Like we are not meant to be indoors all the time. Like in nature, you're very rarely indoors and we've evolved for a natural living. So in our society, in modern Western world, we're indoors. Yeah. And that's why we need to supplement with D and darker skin people are going to need a lot more.

If you're darker skinned and you're living in a colder place, you know, if you're dark and you're living in Europe, you know, Western Europe, or you're living in New York, you're going to need a lot more vitamin D than other people. So there's a, you know, you're working with nature is my point. You should be working with nature and you should learn a little bit about how nature works and use that as a springboard for your supplementation. I think that's too, honestly, no offense, but I think that learn a little bit about how nature works and use that as a springboard for yourself. I think that's too, honestly, no offense,

but I think that's a little complicated to work with nature and know how nature works. That's not really how most people would- No, they don't, but I think it would fix a lot of things. Or like, why don't you just like be, like kind of be kind of like in tune with where you have symptoms. If you feel tired all the time or lethargic,

maybe then you should get a test to see what you're really low in. Maybe it's because you're, you know, I'm not a doctor, but I'm saying like- But you intuitively already do this. Like I know you walk everywhere. I walk everywhere. That's being in tune with your nature.

No, that's because I don't like to sit still and I think better when I move. And so I walk and do my phone call. That's instinctual. You're listening to your body. True. And so I think better when I walk. And that's the other thing. And what's the other reason why I like to walk? I like... Oh, my mood. My mood. Most important thing. Because if I don't move for an extended period of time, my mood dips, my energy dips. Energy begets energy.

Like, the more I move, the more energy I have. The less I move, the less energy I have. That's why when people say they don't like, they're too tired to exercise, I never understand that because if you actually exercise, you will feel way more energetic afterwards. That's a big problem people have is they think they need to give energy to work out and it's fundamental difference in how fit people see working out and how non-fit, meaning people who don't have the habit of working out, see

fitness is that they think they need to go to the gym to give energy. And we know that you go to the gym to get energy. There's energy in you. It's there. Nobody doesn't have any energy in them. Most of the time I work out, most of the time I work out, I'm not in the mood. I'm very rarely interested in like working out. I'm exhausted, I'm tired. I've got a ton of shit to do. But every single time I've done it, I feel way better and I get more done and I have way more energy.

And that workout actually wasn't as bad as I thought. It's the first five, 10, 15 minutes that suck, but then you get into like, you know, you get into the groove. 100%. you know, against the group. 100%. 100%. Let's quickly talk about a health issue that affects almost all of us. Fiber deficiency. Did you know that 95% of people don't get enough fiber in their daily diet?

I was shocked when I learned this because fiber is truly the foundation of overall wellness. It's not just about keeping our digestion smooth and regular, although of course that's super important. But fiber also nourishes the good bacteria in our gut. It supports a balanced microbiome, helps us feel fuller for longer, which makes managing our weight even easier. And it even improves our energy by optimizing nutrient absorption and stabilizing our blood sugar. That's why I am really excited to share BioMe's daily prebiotic fiber with you. This product makes meeting your daily fiber needs simple, enjoyable, and super effective. With 8 grams of fiber per serving plus gut-friendlybiotics is designed to close that fiber gap in your diet and support your digestion and gut health every single day. And it fits effortlessly

into your routine. Just mix it in the morning smoothie or tea or coffee or afternoon snack and you're good to go. I love that it's so easy to prepare and you can incorporate with literally every busy lifestyle. So if you want to make getting fiber easy visit BioMe. That's B-I-O-M-E dot com and enter code Jennifer20 for 20% off your first order of daily prebiotic fiber. That's BioMe.com code Jennifer20 for 20% off. Grab it today. Okay, so let me just finish what I was saying about supplements and I want to like stay on target here. So number one, know the source that you're getting them from, very important. Get your blood tested before you take it so you know what you're actually deficient in and get it retested at six months later.

You should be getting your blood tested every six months just to know that your own point and don't over supplement. And the other thing I wanted to say was cycle your supplements because I think your bodies can also become very, this is how I see it. Like if I take my allergy, I've got really bad allergies and if I take my allergy medication every single day, my body becomes immune to the effects of it. So it doesn't even work. I become desensitized. So I have to cycle everything. I cycle my supplements too. So I'll do like with my allergy medication, I'll do two weeks on four days off

Two weeks on because I because if I don't take my allergy medication, it's like I'm a mess He went to my allergies a lot recently. Yeah, well that was just it's really bad right now, but you need to cycle everything So if you're taking whatever you're taking whatever you're supplementing with you need to like give it a break like three weeks on one week off one month on one month off just so your body doesn't get acclimated to anything. And I find that to be super helpful. Yeah, there's no supplement I take 24, seven, 365. I'll always take breaks from supplements if I take them. There's also like, I should say also,

there's other things that I kind of like weave in in my routine, but I don't take it as often as I do the Omega-3, the creatine and like the, what was the other one? NAD, what was the other one I said? Magnesium at night. I take sometimes, I take liposomal vitamin C once in a while and I take NAC.

Do you know what NAC is? It's basically a liver, isn't it? It's like the precursor to glutathione, which is like a massively strong, best antioxidant. So I take that sometimes too. Do you feel a difference? No, I don't feel a difference at all with anything, but I will say that to be true, if I was being honest. But that to me is because I think it's like, I was told if you take it all the time, again, like doesn't have the same effect. Yeah, my supplement protocol and philosophy on supplements is always constantly evolving.

It's always changing. And so is the science on a lot of supplements. Yeah, there's a lot of supplements I might even understand. I'm just like, why? Why? But okay, well, hopefully that was a little bit informative for you guys. This is supposed to be very short to the point episode. So hopefully you gleaned at least a couple of things, right?

Get your blood checked, cycle your supplements so your body doesn't get acclimated to it. Don't over supplement, don't replace it with your diet and or exercise and or sleep. It's a supplement for a reason called supplementing your stuff and yeah, check out Liron. What's your Instagram? Beyond fitness, L-A-B-E-Y-O-N-D-F-I-T-N-E-S-S-L-A. your stuff. And yeah, check out Leroy. What's your Instagram? Beyondfitnessla. Thank you.

You're welcome. Bye.