Supplement Protocol
Why this is my protocol
Something I aspire to for my physicality is to be as strong, flexible and healthy as is good for my body and mind. My first goal with everything I ingest is overall health and longevity. I don’t want to be hurting my body or mind in the long term for short term gains. Everything mentioned here meets that goal first and foremost.
My mother has always cared a lot about nutrition and supplementation and I have naturally continued that. I’ve done extensive research over the years on these subjects, and have tried many different protocols for myself. I buy products from people who I trust, I trust them based primarily on listening to podcasts for several years from them and getting to know how they approach life, what their ethos and values are. I get to know what really matters to them ecologically and see how they live that out.
Onnit is one of the brands I trust most because of their founder, Aubrey Marcus. I’ve been following his personal journey as well as his business through his podcast for like 10 years or something, since he was calling it The Warrior Poet podcast. I know he wants the highest quality ingredients, that he cares about the sourcing of those ingredients and wants to do right by our environment and the living things within it. I also know that he respects science and has put many of his products through 3rd party clinical trials to prove their efficacy. I use most of Onnit’s products and get undeniable results.
Ben Greenfield has been on Aubrey’s podcast several times, I’ve learned enough about him through that to give his company, Kion, a try. Kion products make up most of the rest of this protocol right now. I just started using them a couple weeks ago and am loving them so far. I’m definitely noticing significant benefits to energy, digestion and mental acuity.
As with everything on my site, I’m not saying or expecting that everyone will experience the same things as me from this protocol. I know that everyone’s body works in a unique way. I seem to understand that more and more all the time. This is what is working for me right now and I’m sure it will change as I go. My only advice is do the stuff that makes you feel like you’re thriving. Also to remember that there can be just as much improvements in reduction or abstinence as there can be with additives.
None of these companies, or any company for that matter, even know that I exist as far as I know, let alone endorse me or give me any kick back. These are just companies and people I like and support as a normal schmuck.
The Protocol
Workout Day
Morning Mineral Cocktail (Hydrate!)
Lemon and/or Lime Juice (2-4 tbsp)
Salt (Himalayan or Real Salt) (Heavy Pinch…Maybe 1 tsp)
Apple Cider Vinegar (1-2 tbsp)
Water (12-16oz)
Morning Shake (Good fast nutrients to refuel after fasting through sleep)
Athletic Greens (1 serving)
Kion Aminos (1/2 scoop)
Onnit Creatine (1/2 serving, 2.5g)
Water (12oz or so)
Morning Vitamins (Mood, mental ignition and lubricate things)
Thorne Niacinamide (500mg)
Host Defense Mushrooms MyCommunity (1 serving)
Alpha Brain Black Label (1/2 serving)
Onnit Krill Oil (1 pill, 65mg EPA)
Kion Omega Fish Oil (1 pill, 265mg EPA)
Onnit Vitamin D3/K2 (1 serving)
Between breakfast and lunch on empty stomach (anti-inflammatory, stay limber)
Kion Flex (1 serving)
Pre-Workout Shake (1 hour before) (workout energy and performance)
Kion Aminos (1/4 scoop)
Onnit Total Nitric Oxide
Onnit Total Strength & Performance (1 scoop)
Water (8-12oz or so)
Pre-Workout Vitamins (workout energy and performance)
Onnit Shroom Tech Sport (1 serving)
Post-Workout Shake (immediately after)
Onnit Creatine (1/2 serving, 2.5g)
Kion Aminos (1/4 scoop)
Onnit Total Strength & Performance (1/2 scoop)
Kion Colostrum (1 serving)
Onnit Shroom Tech Greens (1 serving)
Onnit Whey Protein (1 serving, 20g)
Onnit Plant Protein (1 serving, 20g)
Raw Grass-Fed Whole Milk (Fill the rest of the shaker bottle. Ends up being around 2 cups I’d guess)
Post-Workout Vitamins
Onnit Krill Oil (1 pill, 65mg EPA)
Kion Omega Fish Oil (1 pill, 265mg EPA)
Onnit DigesTech (1 serving)
Onnit Vitamin D/K2 (1 serving)
Onnit Total Human Day Pack (includes 65mg EPA)
Dinner Vitamins
Onnit Total Human Night Pack (includes 65mg EPA)
Kion Omega Fish Oil (1 pill, 265mg EPA)
Onnit Vitamin D/K2 (1 serving)
1 hour before bed Vitamins
SNAC ZMA-5 (1 serving)
Non-Workout Day
Morning Mineral Cocktail
Lemon or Lime Juice (2-4 tbsp)
Salt (Himalayan or Real Salt) (Heavy Pinch…Maybe 1 tsp)
Apple Cider Vinegar (1-2 tbsp)
Water (12-16oz)
Morning Shake
Athletic Greens (1 serving)
Kion Aminos (1/2 scoop)
Onnit Creatine (1/2 serving, 2.5g)
Water (12oz or so)
Morning Vitamins
Thorne Niacinamide (500mg)
Host Defense Mushrooms MyCommunity (1 serving)
Alpha Brain Black Label (1/2 serving)
Onnit Krill Oil (1 pill, 65mg EPA)
Kion Omega Fish Oil (1 pill, 265mg EPA)
Onnit Vitamin D/K2 (1 serving)
Between breakfast and lunch on empty stomach
Kion Flex (1 serving)
Sometime Shake + Vitamins (when I’m hungry between meals)
Onnit Creatine (1/2 serving, 2.5g)
Kion Aminos (1/2 scoop)
Kion Colostrum (1 serving)
Onnit Shroom Tech Greens (1 serving)
Onnit Whey Protein (1 serving, 20g)
Onnit Plant Protein (1 serving, 20g)
Raw Grass-Fed Whole Milk (Fill the rest of the shaker bottle. Ends up being around 2 cups I’d guess)
Onnit DigesTech (1 serving)
Lunch Vitamins
Onnit Krill Oil (1 pill, 65mg EPA)
Kion Omega Fish Oil (1 pill, 265mg EPA)
Onnit Vitamin D/K2 (1 serving)
Onnit Total Human Day Pack (includes 65mg EPA)
Dinner Vitamins
Onnit Total Human Night Pack (includes 65mg EPA)
Kion Omega Fish Oil (1 pill, 265mg EPA)
Onnit Vitamin D/K2 (1 serving)
1 hour before bed Vitamins
SNAC ZMA-5 (2 pills)
How much and why?
I took this from one of Aubrey’s books, Own the Day, Own Your Life. This is simply to hydrate after you have just gone ~8 hours without any water or salt. I was surprised recently to find that not everyone knows that you need salt for your body to retain water. My understanding is that without salt, you can’t be hydrated. So if you find yourself drinking lots of water, urinating a lot and still thirsty, you need salt. Getting hydrated first thing in the morning helps to wake me up.
Apple Cider Vinegar is good for your gut and helps digestion.
Lemon or Lime Juice tastes good and helps with retaining water as well from my understanding.
Onnit Whey Protein and Plant Based Protein
1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day. (150-160 for me for now. I’m supplementing 40 grams of powder)
Onnit writer Jason Ferruggia writes in https://www.onnit.com/academy/how-to-build-muscle/ to consume 1 gram of protein per pound. That advice is supported by the ISSN(International Society of Sports Nutrition) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28642676/. So I’m trying to get 150-160 grams of protein a day. I get roughly 100 grams from food, plus there’s about 16 grams in the amount of milk I mix into my shake, so I supplement 40 grams/day with protein powder.
My goal in taking protein is to gain lean muscle and therefore weight. I currently weigh 150lbs and my first goal is 160. I take whey protein because it’s hard to dispute that it’s the best and most efficient for the body according to basically all studies. One of the reasons for that is because it naturally has a complete amino acid profile. However, I also take Onnit’s plant based protein because it also has a complete amino acid profile and as I understand it, your body processes different proteins in different ways. I want to eat a variety of foods and do a variety of workouts for the varied ways they hit my body. So it makes sense to me to have different kinds of protein so I’m not overloading on one kind. diversifying. If I had to pick one I would go whey.
Fish Oil (Onnit Krill Oil and Kion Omega Fish Oil)
1 gram of EPA per day
I’ve heard a lot of different dosing suggestions for fish oil over the years, but for now, I’m going with Dr. Andrew Huberman’s suggestion of focusing on getting 1 gram(1000mg) of EPA through fish oils per day. Making sure I’m taking the highest quality fish oils I can. Huberman is a neuroscientist who has also been on Aubrey’s podcast, he’s doing a lot of interesting new research and studies himself and stays up to date on new, quality research being done in the neuroscience world. I’ve been listening to his podcast recently and if you’re an engineer, or have the curiosity to know some of the science of how things work and affect the mind and body, how studies found the results they did and what they mean for us practically, I recommend it. He also mentions what he does personally in light of the research and data that he finds. For example, from his research and studies he has decided to personally taking 1000mg of EPA from fish oil per day for workout recovery and anti-depression(he mentions it in both of the podcasts mentioned in the creatine section below).
I like Onnit Krill Oil, I’m sure it’s of the highest quality, but man it has such a low amount of EPA and DHA in it. I have a hard time justifying the cost and just how many pills I’d have to take to get 1000mg of EPA. I’d have to take almost 8 servings, which is 16 pills per day. I’d be spending upwards of $200/month on Krill Oil alone. Not happening lol. There is also astaxanthin in it, which I know is great, but I don’t how much of that is considered safe necessarily. I’m confident enough in the quality of Kion’s Fish Oil that I’m comfortable getting most of my EPA goal from that.
I personally feel like I get significant mental and joint benefits when supplementing significant amounts of fish oil. I tend to get the joint benefits even in lesser doses, but the mental benefits I really only start to feel at higher doses.
5 grams per day.
Onnit writer Sean Hyson recommends essentially 5-10 grams per day(https://www.onnit.com/academy/creatine/). Dr. Huberman suggests 5 grams for someone who weighs about 180 pounds, the range being 3-15 grams depending on bodyweight. Check out his Science of Muscle Growth, Increasing Strength & Muscle Recovery podcast for more on that. The benefits of creatine are many - strength, gut health, anti-depression, etc. it seems to only have benefits. I have taken as much as 21 grams/day before, but really that felt like too much. I felt that I couldn’t consume enough water to compensate and stay hydrated and therefore felt really tired a lot. 5 grams seems to be what most people suggest these days and I feel I can keep up with that amount as far as staying hydrated and feeling good. Huberman talks about creatine and it’s effects on depression in this podcast - Understanding & Conquering Depression.
From what I understand, timing doesn’t matter, even though creatine is often included in pre-workouts. You’re just trying to keep a consistent amount in your system. And the research I’ve seen seems to indicate that your window of time is at least 24 hours. So even if you forget to take it one day, you could double the dose the next day and be fine.
I take it for the muscle performance, gut and mental health benefits.
1 serving per day
For overall health. Joe Rogan and Tim Ferris rep it and it makes me feel great. I also don’t get that many greens or vegetables in my diet so this compensates for that. I don’t feel the need or benefit from eating more whole food vegetables when I’m taking athletic greens. Hate me for it, tell me I’m not getting sufficient nutrients, you could be right, I could be wrong, I don’t care. Vegetables are annoying and go bad too quick.
What I feel from it is energy, improved mood and mental acuity.
1 serving per day. 1/2 when I wake up and 1/2 at lunch or midday.
Kion Aminos are Essential Amino Acids(EAAs). There are also Branched Chain Amino Acids(BCAAs). They are both good for muscle growth and recovery and a bunch of other things too. Kion Aminos give me a good amount of non-anxious energy. Coffee is useful to me sometimes, but the kind of energy it gives me feels like it spikes my anxiety a bit. Aminos don’t seem to spike my anxiety, but give me more “wholesome” feeling energy. I also feel that it helps keep me from being exhausted after the gym. I feel like it helps with my digestion and gut health too, but I haven’t done specific research on whether that’s expected. I don’t remember what specific resources I’ve come across that recommend aminos, or what kind, but I use them. Ben Greenfield talks about them I’m sure since his company sells them.
One thing with Aminos is that I can easily take too much. If I take too much I get diarrhea. It took me a while to figure out what it was that I was supplementing that was making that happen and I know for sure that it’s this. No matter the brand. The Onnit preworkout I take also has aminos and if I take too much of that, same thing. So if you are having IBS issues and you’re taking aminos, I’d suggest taking these out and seeing if that cures it. If it does, then add it back in, just with a lower dose.
I do the powder. I might switch to the pills. From what I understand there’s no plus or minus to either, just whatever your intake preference is.
500mg per day
I take this for mood, that’s it. I consulted a naturopath about my depression symptoms and the first thing he suggested was supplementing 500mg of Niacinamide per day. I noticed a benefit to my mood immediately. That was maybe 6-7 years ago and I’ve pretty much taken it every day since. I choose Thorne because Huberman says that they are of the highest quality and it’s the brand he uses personally.
Host Defense Mushrooms MyCommunity
1 serving per day
For overall health and slight mental boost. It feels foundational. I have taken their Stamet’s 7 blend before which has larger doses of 7 of the mushrooms that MyCommunity has. With Stamet’s 7, if I double or triple the dose, I can feel slight positive psychedelic-like effects. Almost like micro-dosing psilocybin mushrooms. I don’t do that much, unless I want to have like a creative morning or afternoon, but I do like the type of influence it has on how I think. So I like to take MyCommunity just to have a little of those nutrients available to my brain, and I like that it is an immune system boost from the fungus family. Diversification ya know.
To be clear, I don’t feel specific benefits from this. I just kind of assume it’s fortifying my body in ways that I’m not getting elsewhere.
1/2 serving per day
The mother of all nootropics, the beez knees, cream of the crop and all the things. I’ve been taking if for about a month now I think and it changes the nootropic game for me. Mental acuity and focus is great. I have only taken a full serving once so far and it really does bring the juice. For a normal day where I’m not trying to push myself into the 110% range, 1/2 dose gives me a good level up in focus and working/short-term memory. I love it. I am diagnosed with adhd and took adderall for it for years. Since I started taking this, I haven’t felt the need to take adderall. It covers the focus and momentum part of addy well. It’s awesome. And it’s supposed to have eye health benefits too, which matters a lot to me since I’m a software engineer staring at screens all day.
(There’s a little more to why I feel able to give up adderall, but that probably warrants it’s own article soon…)
3 servings per day (1 serving == 1000iu, so 3000 iu per day)
Really, I’m not sure how much of this one should be taking. When I’ve done research in the past I think I decided like 3000-5000iu was good for muscle building and immunity. Vitamin D3 is just a powerhouse, and K2 improves it’s bioavailability from what I understand(better absorption).
1 serving per day in between meals on an empty stomach
This purports to be for “Mobility, Joint Health and Athletic Recovery”. It has Turmeric Root Extract (as Turmacin), Turminalia chebula Fruit Extract (as Ayuflex), Serrapeptase, Protease Enzyme Blend (as Serrazimes) and Protease Enzyme Blend (as ProHydrolase). I don’t know if I notice a difference in taking this, I do get some of those ingredients from other things I take. However, I know these things are helpful in recovery and joint health. My general philosophy with vitamins is that I take a base of supplements, like Total Human, for general non-active health. But that’s only enough for a normal level of activity. If I’m working out with the intention of gains, I’m requiring more from my body. I’m literally building/extending my body, so it makes sense to me that I would need more building materials, nutrients, than normal. I want my body to have everything it needs and then some, because that’s when recovery happens fast and I can get back to tearing up these muscles in the gym.
Onnit Total Strength + Performance
1 scoop for pre-workout, 1/2 scoop post-workout.
I take half their suggested dose. Because diarrheas… Also I’m taking the Kion Aminos as well. I like taking them both. The Kion Aminos seem like general energy whereas Onnit S+P feels more focused on just that, strength and muscle performance in the gym. Some people don’t like taking pre-workout because they feel like it is taking them above their normal capacity, but with a non-stimulant pre-workout like this, I see it as providing the nutrients that my muscles are going to be looking for when I start tearing them apart. You wouldn’t want to go to the gym on a completely empty stomach and dehydrated because your body needs some fuel to do some work. I view this pre-workout as simply providing nutrients that my mind and body are going to want when I start working. If I provide them, then my body doesn’t get to the point where it needs to send me pain signals to stop as early-on because it has what it needs to keep going. Faster gains because better recovery. As with the Kion Aminos, I feel that it helps keep me from being exhausted after the gym.
I love it as part of my preworkout shake. Good for muscle and athletic performance and promotes healthy sexual performance. If I’m taking it, I’m also working out, which also definitely supports healthy sexual function, but I do believe that this contributes to my feeling sexually healthy and strong in the gym.
In Onnit’s words
“It is a vasodilator, meaning that it dilates (or widens) the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow throughout the body with less restriction. Boosting your body’s nitric oxide production is like shifting into a higher gear during intense exercise, ensuring that your muscles are provided with the oxygen and nutrients needed while removing excess waste that may cause fatigue — promoting performance, recovery, and growth.”
This just provides good wholesome energy and endurance to my body and muscles. I feel the difference. I take it especially before I workout, but I’ll also take it when I’m just generally tired and it’s too early in the day to crash out. It’s calm energy too, no anxiety or hype really.
Colostrum is kinda weird and not super well researched. However, the research that has been done seems to point to it being “Great for gut health, Promising for immune support, and Helpful for post-exercise recovery”. I started taking this at the same time I did Kion Aminos, so I don’t know which to attribute it to for sure, but my digestion has greatly improved, I’m recovering from heavy lift sessions much more quickly (can workout every day as opposed to every other day) and in general my gut feels a lot better. So I’m gonna keep taking it for now. Here is Kion’s take on it and the research https://getkion.com/blogs/all/what-is-colostrum.
One serving equals one serving of organic vegetables. I already get my overall greens/vegetables covered with Athletic Greens and the rare greens in Total Human, but I like to add this to my post-workout shake just for the extra nutrients. I feel like after a workout my body is looking high and low for anything to repair the (healthy)damage I just did to my muscles and I want make sure it can find some good stuff.
This is simply high quality digestive enzymes. I take a serving with my post-workout shakes just to make sure my body can make the most of all the stuff I put in there.
Onnit Total Human - Day Pack and Night Pack
The ultimate multi-vitamin. Each pack has 8 pills in it which includes all kinds of good stuff. The day pack leans toward supporting a waking state and the night pack leans toward supporting a resting state. Both this and Athletic Greens are considered complete foundational supplements for overall health. So an argument could be made that taking both is overkill. However, while I’m working out often and consistently, I like to take both to make sure my body has all that it needs to function, work and recover optimally.
On the bottle this says “Recovery and Sleep Support Formula”. What Snac says about it is
“It promotes a deep and restful sleep and restores exercise tolerance. Healing, tissue repair, anabolic hormone production and muscle growth are maximized during restful sleep”
I believe this is true, it does seem to help me with recovery, but also, perhaps anecdotally, it seems to support healthy testosterone levels. Maybe that’s just from the better sleep, I’m not sure. Either way it keeps me strong in the gym, keeps me strong in bed, ‘nuff said. It’s just a vitamin blend, nothing weird or crazy. I noticed the beneficial difference when I started taking it like 4 years ago and still notice the negative difference when I don’t. Get yo dick hard son.
Raw Grass-Fed Whole Milk
My local health-food grocery store sells this stuff. It is unpasteurized and non-homogenized, which means that it still has probiotics in it and enzymes and other good shit that gets cooked or filtered out during pasteurization and homogenization in non-raw milk. It’s way more delicious and way easier to digest for me. It can be hard to find though and it doesn’t last very long. My local Whole Foods doesn’t sell it. If I can’t find it, I just look for the next best thing which is typically some kind of 100% grass-fed whole milk. If the milk says “Cream-Top” that at least means it’s non-homogenized I’m pretty sure. It will say it very predominantly if it does. And don’t freak out when chunks of cream are on top…that’s why it’s called “Cream-Top” :). Shake it up or take a bite, it’s almost like a soft creamy cheese that tastes like buttery milk.
Accessory Supplements (as needed)
Onnit Mineral Electrolytes (soon to be HYDRATech Instant)
Like Gatorade except all good for you, no bad for you. Great for hydration. I usually do 2 scoops in 32 oz of water that I sip before, during and after my workout. As well as anytime I feel like water just isn’t cutting it.
When I went to find a link, it seems they’ve discontinued the Mineral Electrolytes and replaced it with HYDRATech Instant…which is too bad, because the Mineral Electrolytes were sweetened with stevia rather than glucose and fructose…An argument could probably be made for those helping with exercise performance more than stevia does, but still. Bummer. Either way, once I run out of it, I’ll probably switch to HYDRATech Instant.
Digestive super powers. This helps a TON with my digestion if I eat a big meal or a carb-heavy meal. prebiotics, probiotics and digestive enzymes.