Although it’s ideal that our diets provide all the nutrients we need to feel our best and maintain our health well into older age, for many Americans, this is unfortunately not often a reality.
The “Standard Western Diet” tends to be nutritionally inadequate — due to factors like high consumption of processed foods and poor quality soil in which crops are grown — but supplementing can help to compensate for what’s lacking in your diet.
Certain vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs can help to support
men’s health by providing key compounds that are needed for immune system function, cognitive function, cardiovascular health, joint health and more. Read on to learn more about some of the best supplements for men, including collagen, probiotics, mushrooms and more.
Men's Health Supplements
1. Collagen
For both men and women, collagen is the main type of structural protein in the body that gives connective tissues their strength and elasticity. This protein contains 19 amino acids which play a role in building and maintaining your joints, ligaments, skin, gut lining, blood vessels and more.
Collagen is an especially good source of several amino acids that aren’t abundant in many other protein foods such as meat or fish — including glycine, proline and arginine.
Benefits of collagen
for men include support for healthy joints, ligaments, tendons and cartilage, which means it can contribute to joint health, mobility, comfort and exercise performance and recovery.
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It also helps to maintain gut integrity, which is crucial for proper nutrient absorption, digestive health and more. Additionally, it’s beneficial for maintaining a healthy skin appearance and can help improve the appearance of crow's feet around the eyes.
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Because collagen isn’t found in many foods, other than traditionally made bone broth, supplementing with a collagen protein powder each day is the most convenient and effective way to boost your intake.
Ancient Nutrition’s Multi Collagen Protein (MCP) powder features five
types of collagen from four real food sources, plus it contains no fillers, sugar, artificial flavors or artificial preservatives, ensuring you get the highest quality collagen available. MCP specifically features hydrolyzed collagen, meaning the protein molecules are broken into smaller molecules, making them easier for your body to digest, absorb and use.
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MCP comes in several flavors including the pure/unflavored formula which can be mixed into coffee, smoothies, oatmeal, baked goods, soups and many other recipes. Adult men should generally aim to consume between 1–3 servings daily, or about 10 to 30 grams of collagen protein.
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2. Functional mushrooms
“Functional mushrooms” are unique mushroom species that provide an array of compounds that help the body to maintain equilibrium. These include mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, maitake, cordyceps, turkey tail and others. These species are rich in beneficial compounds such as polysaccharides and polysaccharide peptides, beta glucans, glycoproteins and triterpenes, which may be lacking in your diet if you don’t regularly consume a variety of nutrient-rich plant foods.
Supplementing with a variety of mushrooms can generally help support healthy cognitive function by supporting the brain and body, as well as support for healthy immune system function by supplying important nutrients such as amino acids, prebiotics, vitamins and minerals. Certain mushrooms can also help the body adapt to oxidative stress as well as emotional stress, while some mushroom extracts have specifically been shown to promote immune system modulation and a healthy immune response.
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Ancient Mushrooms Multi Mushroom Immune Organic Once Daily supplement is a full-spectrum formula made with a blend of organic mushrooms. While each individual species of mushroom offers its own benefits, the combination of compounds in this product is a game changer in terms of providing body-wide support.
3. Probiotics
Taking a daily
probiotic supplement can have a big impact on
overall gut health and digestion because it helps tip the ratio of “bad guy bacteria” vs. “good guy bacteria” in the right direction.
Probiotic capsules provide your body with microbes (bacteria and yeast) that populate your gastrointestinal system and confer a range of benefits — including support for healthy immune system function, nutrient absorption, elimination and digestive health.
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To get the most benefits from probiotics, you want to consume a supplement that contains “hardy” and survivable microbial strains, which is what you’ll find in Ancient Nutrition’s soil-based organism (SBO) probiotics. Most men should opt for a probiotic supplement that has at least 25 to 50 billion CFUs and includes beneficial strains like:
Bacillus clausii, Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces boulardii and
Bacillus coagulans.
If you’re looking for a quality probiotic supplement, consider Ancient Nutrition’s SBO Probiotic Men’s formula, which features 25 billion CFUs* (*at time of manufacture) of SBOs per serving in combination with organic fermented blends of superfoods and mushrooms.
Within this formula you’ll find herbs traditionally used to support men’s health including ginger, fenugreek and fo-ti root. This unique Ayurvedic herbal blend works to boost muscle mass, strength, serum testosterone levels, male reproductive health, and exercise recovery, while also helping to reduce occasional diarrhea and constipation.
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This formula not only features soil-based organisms, but also prebiotics and postbiotics to create a “trifecta effect” that supports a healthy microbiome.
Prebiotics provide the fuel necessary for probiotics to grow and thrive, while postbiotics help to maintain a balance of gut flora
In addition to probiotics, if you suffer from ongoing digestive issues, such as problems with elimination, some other supplements that can help get things back on track include herbs like marshmallow root and licorice root, as well as digestive enzymes.
4. Multivitamin
A good-quality multivitamin can help to increase a man’s intake of essential vitamins and minerals that may be missing in his diet if he doesn’t always eat the most nutrient-dense or balanced meals.
For example, most multivitamins provide the daily recommended value of nutrients like vitamin B12, B6, vitamin D, vitamin C, selenium, chromium and more.
Men can especially benefit from obtaining more B vitamins and vitamin D, which are common deficiencies in the general public. For instance, we get most of our vitamin D from sunlight exposure, which explains why many adults seem to be lacking this vitamin due to spending most of their time indoors. And men who are very active, under a lot of stress, or who don’t eat animal products may be missing certain B vitamins.
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Vitamin D plays an important role in cardiovascular function, healthy immune system function and bone health, while vitamin B12 is an important vitamin for supporting healthy energy levels, as well as cognitive and neurological health. This is why it’s necessary to meet your daily needs if you want to thrive.
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Ancient Nutrition’s Men’s Once Daily contains at least 100 percent daily value of six key nutrients, including vitamin B12 and other B vitamins to support healthy energy levels, restful sleep, metabolic health and more. It’s also made with multi-kingdom ingredients inspired by TCM (Traditional Chinese Method) for added healthy immune system, outlook, muscle, nerve and bone support.
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5. Organic SuperGreens
Were all know that a critical part of a healthy, nutrient-filled diet is the inclusion of antioxidant-rich foods like dark leafy greens, other veggies, berries and fruits. However, these are often some of the hardest foods to obtain on a daily basis, considering they can be difficult to prepare and keep fresh.
This is where a dried super greens powder can really come in handy; it provides you with the equivalent of several servings of produce all within one convent drink.
Ancient Nutrition’s Organic SuperGreens Powder is a nutrient-packed way to help increase your daily greens intake and support healthy energy levels and antioxidant intake. Powdered greens make it easy to load up on a few of the top immune system–supporting foods while squeezing a variety of essential nutrients into your daily diet, such as vitamin C and iron.
†These statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
