My question I have is I've had kidney issues where my docs said I cant take any pre workouts and any protein supplements after working out. Am I wasting my time trying to gain muscle if I cant use those supplements to aid me in recovery and such.  I also am type 2 diabetic but as of now it's under control.  Hope my question has some sort of reply lol 

 CAM

Hi Cam,

To answer your question; No you are not wasting your time. Supplements don't make or break ones progress in or out of the gym. Good natural sources of Protein, Carbs and Fat Sources will always trump supplements in my opinion. If you eat well and make wise choices with regards to food sources then you will not need to rely on supplements. Personally, from experience I have tried alot of supplements but utimatley real food has been my main staple and I have achieved great results sticking with this philosophy and so can you! For example; I no longer take pre workouts but instead I sometimes drink tea or coffee to give me a little boost if I need one after a long day.

I have written a few articles that can aid you with regards to advice on nutrition, exercise and making lean gainz (Articles can be easily found on my profile)

I hope this advice helps :)

I agree with Jason. Supplements are just that - "supplements". They are meant to augment the consumption of real food not replace it. When you have kidney issues, your body is somewhat limited in the amount of protein it can process anyways due to increased creatinine levels and slower removal of ammonia and uric acid (byproducts of protein metabolism). You don't need to be taking 100s of grams of protein to build muscle and see results.

At the end of the day, having healthy functional kidneys is more important than protein intake levels - even when building muscle. Dialysis is not fun and having CKD will affect many more aspects of your life.

John

Jason and John are both spot on. Supplements are to supplement your diet.. hence their name. Can they help? Sure, but they will only help a little bit, and you should only use them to fill in gaps that are left after you've made yourself a solid @mealplan.

As long as you focus on eating enough quality food to fill your macros and micros as best you can, you will be fine!

Glad we could help @Cam1979! The community has your back! 🙌