The 2021 Holiday Guide For Supplements

December 15, 2021May 2, 2023 Anthony Conigliaro BSc 1445 Views

With the holidays being just around the corner, it’s time to double check your naughty and nice list for holiday gifts! That’s where we come in with our Holiday Gift Guide for Supplements. We understand that buying gifts can be frustrating, which is why we want to make it simpler. Below we listed popular supplements from throughout 2021 that can double as great holiday gifts.

If you’re not sure if these fit who you’re shopping for, let us know and we’ll help you pick the perfect product. And don’t worry if you’re balling on a budget, we have specials going on year round. Check them out here.

Before we dive into the things we look for in the next sections, it’s important to understand everyone can and will experience products differently. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to recommend you a product that will work perfectly for you. Our breakdowns and recommendations are based on the labels of the products, anecdotal information, and customer feedback.

Gift Guide: Protein

Protein can be a great gift for those looking to gain weight, improve metabolism, boost recovery, or for anyone who may not get enough protein in their diet.

How to know if you’re getting enough protein:

Bone Health:

Turns out your bones need more than calcium to be strong and healthy-they also need enough protein. So if you’re prone to breaks and fractures, you may want to re-examine your protein intake. (1)

Hair & Nail Health:

Protein is essential to the health of your hair and nail. If you’re diet is lacking in protein, you may notice your hair and nails looking more brittle or lackluster. (2)

Feeling Fatigued/Weak:

Fatigue isn’t usually the first symptom of a low-protein diet. But, if you’re protein content is consistently lower than it should be, you may notice you feel tired and weak more often than usual. (3)

Now let’s go over what to look for in a protein supplement!

Grams of Protein Per Serving VS Calories Per Serving:

This is an important factor when considering your protein options. How much protein you get per serving can determines whether its optimal for leaning, maintaining, or bulking.

For a lean-mass protein supplement, you’ll want to aim for products with a high amount of protein (around 20-25 grams) and low calories (around 150 calories or less).

But, for anyone bulking, you’ll want to aim for a high content of protein with a high calorie content. Keep in mind that with weight gainers, a large portion of the calories is going to come from carbs like dextrose. If you want to get more of lean-gainer check out Critical Mass from Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals.

Source of the Protein:

The next factor you’ll want to consider when looking for a protein supplement is where your protein is coming from. There are a ton of different options when it comes to how you supplement protein, from your classic whey protein to vegan protein or even collagen protein.

Checkout this post for a comparisons on Whey VS Beef Protein.

And this for a comparisons on the different Whey Proteins.

Gift Guide: Pre Workouts

Pre Workouts are awesome gifts for anyone you know that likes intense energy, tunnel-vision, better pumps, or increased endurance for their gym hits. Like protein, there’s some defining factors that can make or break this as a gift. We go over a bunch of the differences on pre workouts and their common ingredients here, but we’ll also give you a outline of what to consider.

Stimulant:

Stimulants can help with promoting energy, focus, and mood; which are all great for the gym. But many stimulants are also vaso-constricting. This means that stimulant can reduce blood flow, which is not great for the gym.

However, finding the balance between stimulants and endurance/pump complexes is what makes a good pre workout promote a great workout. Below are some of our favorite low-stim to stim-heavy pre workouts.

Low-Moderate Stimulants:

High Stimulant:

Pumps:

When looking for a pre workout sometimes stimulant free is the best for your workouts. This could be the case if you’re sensitive to stimulants or working out late in the evening. a stimulant free pre workout typically features ingredients that are more oriented around endurance or pumps.

They also may feature a hydration blend or cell-volumizing blend with creatine to help reduce muscular fatigue. Additionally, a stim free pre workout can be a great option for someone looking to add more oomph to their everyday pre workout. This could help with improving endurance without sacrificing the energy complex. You can view popular stim-free pre workouts below.

Stim-Free:

Gift Guide: Fat Burners

When you examine a fat burner label, we look for key ingredients to identify the “who” would benefit the most from it. We like to classify fat burners into 4 general areas and understanding these area allow us to make better recommendations. However, it’s important to note that many ingredients share usages. While we may identify an ingredient by a specific property, it may have additional purposes.

Thermogenesis:

A thermogenic supplement helps promote an increase in your metabolism. This is done by helping your body burn more calories. Unfortunately or fortunately, there are a ton of fat burners and if you’re not sure what to look for, it can be confusing. But here are some key ingredients to look for when examining labels:

Citrus Extracts(4)
Grains of Paradise(5,6)
Pepper Extracts(7)
Even some stimulants like Caffeine, Green Tea Extract, and Yohimbe (8,9,10)

Appetite Suppression:

Appetite suppressants are supplements that can aid in reducing appetite. An appetite suppressant is great for someone who struggles with snacking throughout the day or for individuals looking to improve appetite management. Some ingredients to look out for can include:

Hoodia Extract (11)
Griffonia Seed Extract (12)
Garcinia Cambogia Extract(13)

Energy:

Stimulants are the most common ingredient category in fat burners. This is because many stimulants can aid in increasing metabolism, energy, mood, and suppress your appetite†. But, after a while people become tolerant to the effects and stop feeling them. However, because you aren’t feeling the affects of a stimulant doesn’t mean they aren’t still active.

But if you’re not interested in waiting there are still a ton of options! Some ingredients to look out for can include:

Caffeine (8)
Senegalia Berlandieri Extract (14)
2-Aminoisoheptane or DMHA (15)
Ephedra Extract(16)

Improved Mood/Focus:

If you have a positive attitude, it will help you make better decisions regarding your weight loss journey. That goes across the board, from planning meals to making it to the gym. Stimulants can boost mood (think of difference in you mood after that first sip of coffee), but there are also non-stimulant mood booster.

Popular stimulant mood boosting ingredients include:

Caffeine (8)
2-Aminoisoheptane (15)
Eria Jarensis Extract†

And some popular non-stimulant ingredients include:

Phenylethylamine HCl (PEA)(17, 18)
L-Dopa(19,20)
5-HTP(21)

Gift Guide: Focus Products

Shopping for a student or anyone with a heavy work load? Let’s face it; it can be difficult to get through the day without a boost of motivation. For most people that comes as a cup of coffee, while coffee can increase you energy and focus, sometimes it’s not enough. We go over some brain boosting supplements in this post here, but here’s what to look for:

Focus:

Alpha-GPC:

Alpha-GPC, aka Alpha-Glycerophospholine, contains choline at higher doses than found in food products. This nootropic may have cognitive-enhancing properties and may reduce the rate of cognitive decline in the elderly. (22)

Caffeine:

Caffeine is a power stimulant and one of the most readily available one. It has the ability to reduce fatigue, increase motivation and energy.(8)

Choline Bitartrate:

Choline based nootropics (cholinergic) refers to supplements that positively influences acetylcholine. This is a neurotransmitter that encourages muscle contrition and learning in the brain. There are different forms of choline, choline being the basic form. Then is usually combined with bitartrate, forming choline bitartrate. This is the simplest form of choline, which can aid in cognitive functions and reduce fatigue. (23)

N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine:

N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine is a great nootropic for individuals who want to improve cognitive performance in stressful situations. (24)

Memory:

Bacopa Monnieri:

Bacopa monnieri is one the best memory enhancers available. Basically, it is effective at increasing communication channels between neurons, which results in better memory formation. (25)

Ginkgo Biloba:

Ginkgo Biloba features terpenes and glycosides, this formation promotes an increase in blood flow in the brain. Resulting in a reduction in cognitive decline.†

Lion’s Mane Mushroom:

Lion’s Mane Mushroom promotes the release of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the brain. This neurotrophic factor governs the health of the nerves in the brain. Meaning higher NGF, more healthier neurons, which translates to better overall cognitive function.†

Gift Guide: BCAA’s/ EAA’s

BCAAs consist of three amino acids: Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine. Leucine and Valine are important for muscle repair, while valine can also increase energy.(26,27,28) Isoleucine is important for muscle metabolism and hemoglobin production.(29,26)

EAAs consist of all 9 essential amino acids, including the three in BCAAs. Therefore the benefits carry over as well as having it’s own benefits.(30)

This includes:

Increased muscle growth by stimulating protein synthesis.†
Decreased muscle soreness after intense workouts.†
Improved mood and sleep.†
Boosted metabolism.†

These would be a great gift for anyone that has intense workouts on an empty stomach. In addition to the benefits we already listed, most BCAAs and EAAs include electrolytes– which isn’t just what plants need.

Electrolytes are important because they help:

Balance the amount of water in your body†
Balance your body’s pH level†
Move nutrients into your cells†
Move wastes out of your cells†
Aid with muscle contractions†

But BCAAs and EAAs aren’t limited to just gym-goers. They can also be great for refueling after a night of drinking to help prevent or reduce the severity of hangovers. After all, alcohol is a diuretic so drinking water and re-hydrating can significantly help reduce your chance of getting a hangover. The addition of amino acids, aid in replenishing fluids, key electrolytes, and tastes great. So before you have more holiday spirits, make sure to re-hydrate with a BCAA or EAA. (31)

Gift Guide: Stacks

Stacks can include anything and that means there could be a stack for anyone on your shopping list. We already have fat burning stacks, pre workout stacks, and even pro hormone stacks ready to add to your cart, but that you’re not limited to just those options.

Weight Loss Stack:

A weight loss stack would be beneficial for someone who is trying to lose weight and unsuccessful with a fat burner alone.

Most of our pre-made weight loss stacks include 2 additional products with a fat burner. For any Hi-Tech weight loss stack that includes: Carnislim and CLA 1000.

CLA is a fatty acid in dairy products and some meat products too. In terms of weight loss, studies indicate CLA usage for 12 weeks could reduce body fat in overweight adults and help prevent weight gain. (32,33,34)

Carnitine is a derivative of amino acids. It’s found in almost every cell in the body. But, what makes it useful for fat loss is that it helps promote transportation of fatty acids. During this transportation the fatty acids are oxidized and able to be used for energy.(35,36,37,38,39)

Our Metabolic Nutrition weight loss stack includes Synedrex as the fat burner with Thyrene and Hydravax. This stack may be more intense than the Hi-Tech ones.

Thyrene may aid in improving a slow metabolism, improving energy, and increasing weight loss by focusing on improving thyroid function.†

Hydravax works as a fast-acting diuretic.† The combination of the 3 products can help promoting weight loss, reduced water retention, and improved metabolism.†

Pre Workout Stack:

Our pre workout stacks feature a pre workout and a non-stimulant pre workout/pump product. The goal for these stacks are to promote high-energy, skin-ripping pumps, with laser-like-focus. If this sounds like something you or someone you’re shopping for would be interested, we have several product match-ups pre made. For more information of making your own stack check out this post: HERE.

Pro Hormone Stack:

We have a couple of pro hormone stacks that feature the pro hormones and a PCT, deciding which to buy should be based on yours or the individuals goals. But don’t forget to check out our Pro Hormone Guide for more information on building your cycle and our PCT guide for what to look for after.

The Ultimate Shred Stack: As the name indicates this stack is ideal for someone looking to get shredded.
The Blast Your Mass Stack: This stack is ideal for someone looking to put on lean mass and increase strength.
Double Tap Stack: This stack may be beneficial for increasing mass, but is ideal for improving strength and endurance.

Gift Guide: Gym Goodies

These gifts ideas can range from apparel to shakers to belts and more. The important thing is that most can fit in a stocking.

Gift Guide: Mood Boosters

Got the holiday blues? You’re not alone. Keep in mind, while the products we’ll suggest can be beneficial in improving mood and decreasing stress/anxiety, they do not replace medication or therapy.

Tryptophan and 5-Hydroxytryptphan are precursors to the neurotransmitter serotonin. These amino acids can be beneficial for: (21)

Improving Sleep†
Increasing Weight Loss†
Can Reduce Migraine Frequency †

Ashwagandha:

Ashwagandha is a type of Ayurvedic herb that has multiple properties, including it’s anti-inflammatory effects and relaxation effects.(40)

Rhodiola Rosea:

Rhodiola Rosea is another herb, like Ashwagandha, that functions as an adaptogen. Adaptogen help your body adapt to all kinds stressors.(41)

Theanine:

Theanine is another amino acid like Tryptophan and 5-Hydroxytryptphan. It is commonly found in both black and green leaves and is readily available as a supplement. Theanine promotes relaxation without drowsiness.(42)

Holiday Guide For Supplements: Under $20

While this is our “Under $20” sections, this isn’t all of our products under $20! Make sure to checkout each product category for all the items in-stock. And if you’re budget if you missed it in the beginning of the post, here are our current deals.

Pre Workout Under $20

When it comes to shopping for pre workouts, you can choose to go with a full pre workout blend like Warrior Pre Workout From Nutrex or go for the essentials like in Gold Standard Pre Workout From Optimum. Below we’ve listed additional pre workout options that don’t break the bank!

Organic Pre Workout Review:

“I’ve never been one to take pre-workout, but this pre-workout is definitely one that I will stick with!! I don’t feel jittery, and I can trust all of the ingredients in it! This pre-workout provides you with a clean source of energy that sustains you throughout any workout and beyond. I love how natural this product is! All of the ingredients have a purpose and make me feel confident about what I am taking. I definitely would recommend this to any person who wants a trustworthy pre-workout that makes your body feel naturally energized!! Thank you MRM” Posted On 8/23/21

Focus Products Under $20

Focus products and nootropics can include a variety of products from caffeine to herbs and adaptogens like Lions Mane Mushroom. Check out the variety:

Quick Brain Review:

“Ever since I began to take this product, I feel more alert and on my toes. I am less groggy as the day progresses. I am able to think much clearer. This supplement has done everything I hoped it would.” Posted on 6/23/21

Fat Burners Under $20

Fat Burners are one of the most popular categories of supplements purchased for all-day energy and weight management. But within this category are several subcategories that can alter the effects of your fat burner. From diuretics to thermogenics, knowing what you’re looking for from your fat burner will narrow your search to the best fat burner for you.

Nutrakey Yohimbine HCL Review:

“Been on this for like a little under a week and it took what was suppose to be a quick session into an three hour ram session that gained applause after I was done.” Posted on 2/17/21

BCAA’s/ EAA’s Under $20

BCAA’s can be a dime-a-dozen, below we have listed standalone BCAA powders and pills that all fall under the $20 mark. But, keep in mind there are still tons of options available that are on sale!

Nutrex BCAA 6000 Review:

“Great supplement from nutrex good taste and alternate flavors, I feel it gives you that extra push when you need it.” Posted on 3/2/20

Gym Bags And Goodies Under $20

From essential oils to shaker cups and gym equipment, there’s a perfect stocking stuffer for anyone on your list here!

This wraps up our holiday gift guide! If you still need some help coming up with ideas let us know! We’d be happy to help you finish off your holiday shopping. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, need a recommendation, or have a topic you want us to cover in a future blog, let us know HERE!

Checkout some of our other blogs!

Disclaimer:

†The intention of the information provided is for reference only and we are in no way providing medical advice or instruction. The information provided in this post is based on anecdotal information and available studies/reviews. While it is our goal to maintain and display accurate information, we can’t guarantee it represents the latest formulation of the product or information. Therefore, if you have any concerns, please visit the manufacturer’s website. Also, the information above is not a representation of our views at Same Day Supplements. Rather, these are the views and information provided by manufacturers and users. Also, the Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these statements. Finally, the intention of these products is not to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or illness.