The Science of Dirt Cheap Supplementing

[mattlant]

Hi!!

Fairly new here but I figured I would write this as many people I know think that eating BIG and supplementing for bodybuilding is very expensive.

Well here goes.

(all prices are approximates and in Canadian Dollars)

We all know that when we want to bulk we need to eat BIG. How BIG? Well as much as you can without going overboard where you start to get too much BF.

PROTEIN

Now the main concern is Protein. Everyone has there own opinion on how much protein to take, but lets just say it’s a lot. Most people will want to buy lots of protein powders and such which is great!! But it can get expensive. My advice. Make sure you have at least some Whey protein on hand for your after workout shake, but for the rest of the day you can drink Milk, but mix it up with some CHEAP low fat Soy Flour. Bulk Barn in Canada sells Soy flour for about $1.50 per 1000 grams. Soy is VERY high in protein. Add 25 grams to your shake and you have just added about 12 grams of protein. Plus bulking needs cards and soy flour is approximately 48% protein and 46% carbs, plus is has tons of others nutritious stuff your body needs.

Next for cheap protein is NUTS. Nuts can be very cheap. Buy a huge bag of peanuts and eat a couple handfuls or more a day. Or go to a local bar and have a glass of water and eat THEIR peanuts!!!! Nuts are great too because they contain GOOD fats. (most nuts are high in fat so take care if you are trying to watch your fat intake)

Also you can buy Soy nuts that are baked and flavored with spices. They make a great snack and actually taste pretty good, also very high in protein. (Whole Soy Beans have quite a bit of fat so take care if you are trying to watch your fat intake)

Also you can get BEANS very cheap. A big can of mixed beans (Chick Peas, lima Beans, Brown Beans, Kidney Beans etc) runs at about 60 cents. Half a can has about 16 grams of protein and 40 grams of carbs. Only problem with beans is gas :(. But once you start eating them for a bout a week you body gets used to it and the gas will subside.

TUNA next on my list. Tuna has a wide range of prices. However it can be fairly cheap supplementing with TUNA. A can of Tuna on sale can be picked up for around 60 cents when on sale and has a whopping 30 (approximately) grams of protein.

Chicken. Yes a lot of people like chicken breasts, unfortunately good chicken breasts can be expensive. But if you are bulking you don’t need extremely lean meat, so why not go for chicken thighs. 3 bucks will usually get you about a pound (6x80 gram chunk) of chicken thighs, that’s 60 cents a serving!!!

CARBS

When bulking we needs lots of carbs also. A lot of people go out and buy high calorie shakes. Well that’s great if you have the money. If you don’t, make your own. Go down to Bulk Barn or your local Bulk store and pick up some Rice flour, or Potato flour. These two are VERY high in carbs, about 80% and up. Throw a scoop or two of this stuff and you’ve just boosted your calories. Even regular flour will do the trick but try to avoid refined flours, unless you need it (such as for after your workouts). These flours are also inexpensive about the same price as Soy flour (about $1.50 a kilo). Now these are not the only high carb powders you can find in a bulk store, go check out your local bulk store to see what they offer.

SUPPLEMENTS AND OTHER ALTERNATIVES/IDEAS

Milk is a big thing with some folks. Drink tons of milk. Well if you are one of the people that drink lots of milk but can’t afford to buy bags upon bags of milk, you can go to your bulk store and get Skim Milk Powder for dirt cheap. Just mix with water and voila you have milk!

There are many supplements that if you go to a nutrition store to purchase are just way more expensive than if you bought a big bottle from the drug store. So be smart about stuff like that.

Also Big wholesale stores like COSTCO here in Canada sell nutritional products at good prices. Check it out some time if you have a membership or know someone who does.

If you buy multivitamins make sure you buy the most potent biggest multivitamins you can find, even if they are a bit more expensive. Reason why I say this is because when they are big pills they will have a line in it so you can break it in half. So if you have a potent multi then you can break it in half and take half a day, so now they will last 2x as long.

Of course make sure you buy your stuff when it is on sale!!


FINAL THOUGHTS

This is by no means an authoritative guide to cheap supplementing and also is not by any means complete. The idea behind this article is to give you ideas about cheap alternatives.

What I would love to see if anyone around has any other ideas about cheap alternatives to add it to the thread, and maybe we can have a complete compendium here!! :)

I know I forgot to add stuff in here so I will update it if I remember extra stuff

Thanks for reading, hope it helped!

Matt

[mattlant]

Just wanted to add that this is by no means the best alternatives either!!!

If you have the money to spend then spend it!!!!

Matt

[redboywonder]

nuts are very high in fat. beans carb to protein ratio seems more for a marathon runner.

[mattlant]

hmm, thanks for the comments, maybe you should reread my post and note that I mentioned nuts are high in fat.

YES, nuts are high in fat but remember its good fat. And if you dont get any fat in your diet nuts a are good source for getting it.

And please dont tell me anything about protein to carbs. Anyone who is bulking know they need good sources of complex carbs and beans are a very good source for complex carbs.

Matt

[Yoda]

No offense but how do you know the cheap soy flour actually contains that much protein??? Does bulk barn post the amount of calories per serving, protein, fat, carb ratios???

[Yoda]

No offense but how do you know the cheap soy flour actually contains that much protein??? Does bulk barn post the amount of calories per serving, protein, fat, carb ratios???

[DIABLO]

Thats some really good thinking. Alot of people are not aware that you can bypass the newest so called "best suppliment on the market" and use natural materials to get just as good or very close to as good results as using expensive suppliments. Sure it will take some planning and thinking to use these materials precisely unlike the suppliments that are already measured out for you in the right incriments. But it is very do-able. I personally have not tried some of the materials you have listed in my diet, but will have to look into and do some research for myself also. Someone that tells you that you have to use 20 suppliments ( including steriods ) to get big other than the 1-2 servings of a whey protein powder a day and a well thought out planned diet is probably one of the ones that will tell you that after 2 years of training you have reached your genetic MAX for your body. THATS JUST NOT THE CASE! Sure prepared suppliments do have advantages and additives ( and steriods do have big advantages and sometimes consequences too ) in the right amounts and if you can afford them they are probably the best route, but if you can't you definitely don't absolutely have to have them to get big. Good article, enjoyed it. ;)

[mattlant]

Originally posted by Yoda
No offense but how do you know the cheap soy flour actually contains that much protein??? Does bulk barn post the amount of calories per serving, protein, fat, carb ratios???

No they dont but every source of defatted soy flour I have seen listed on the net is anywhere from 46 - 50% protein and 44-47% carbs, so i am very confident that the soy flour you get there falls within that range.

And regarding soy flour's use. I know some people knock its use, but I have been using it for the last 6 months:

Weight before 6 months - 167 15% BF
Current weight - 192 16% BF

So I dont beleive it inhibits growth and it is complete crap. But of course, you all can be the judge of that.

Another thing I am doing instead of buying something like Nlarge or an MRP is I have bought a nice big 10 Kilo bag of whole wheat flour. I throw a couple scoops in and get an extra boost in carbs and a bit of (incomplete) protein for a couple hundred calories. It actually doesnt taste too bad. throw in a banana and it tastes great.

Diablo - Thanks, i appreciate the comments, and YES it does require some careful planning if you use mainly veggie sources for protien as some veggie protiens do not have a great amino profile. But if you vary your diet and eat everything in sight you shouldnt have a problem at all.

As a side note - If you are going out on a date or something, dont eat a can of beans on that day. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! :D

Matt

[ex_banana-eater]

soy flour is not a complete protein, rendering it useless unless taken with another imcomplete protein with the missing amino acid, or a complete protein.

[mattlant]

Originally posted by ex_banana-eater
soy flour is not a complete protein, rendering it useless unless taken with another imcomplete protein with the missing amino acid, or a complete protein.

So I guess all the Soy protien powders that have boasted a complete protein are scams. The process of isolating protien is just that. isolating protien. They do not add in any other amino acid to make it complete because soy IS COMPLETE.

http://www.soybean.org/faq/SoyGeneral10.html

"All soybean products, such as tofu and soymilk, are complete proteins" - http://1stholistic.com/Nutrition/hol_nutr_protein.htm

"Soybeans: packed with protein
Soybeans are legumes. Although they are native to
northern China, the United States now produces much of
the world’s soybean supply. The bean itself looks like a
small, brownish-yellow pea. The protein in soybeans is a
“complete” protein. This means that it is just as good
nutritionally as animal protein, and it’s the most complete
protein that you can get from a vegetable source. ""• Soy flour is made from roasted soybeans ground
into a fine powder. Soy flour can be used with other
flours to boost protein. This product can usually be
found in health food stores or in larger grocery stores
in the “health foods” aisle.
1/4 cup of soy flour = 8 grams of soy protein" - http://www.upmc.edu/HealthMed/NutriNews/PDFs/feb01.pdf

"They are the only legume that contains the nine essential amino acids, and are therefore categorized as a high-quality, complete protein." - http://www.protein.com/corp_eng.nsf/pages/Soy-3

LOL ex_banana_eater. I think you have confused soy with something else.

BTW everyone. Another cheap thing that you can supplement your diet with is BANANA's. mmmm, mmmm, yummy :D

Matt

[Crazee_786]

hmmm bananas make u fat.

stick with it only post workout and breakfast time.

[mattlant]

Just a little addition here. I pickep up a can of

Pacific Jack Mackeral

Cost me 90 cents (CAD) (not even on sale).
Entire 275 Grams drained:

429 calories
65G Protein (WOW)
17.3g Fat (Fish fat is good)
No carbs

90 cents (CAD) for 65 grams protein is excellent. It is even cheaper than tuna and I thought tuna was the cheapest source of animal protein.

So the cost for me per 1000grams of protein:
$13.85 Canadian.

Damn thats cheap.

Since its in a can, its like eating tuna. If you dont like little bits of skin and the odd bone this isnt for you, but I find it yummy :D

Matt

[ex banana-eater]

sorry i was going by the old PER method (protein efficiacy ratios) it has no changed since then (which was a while ago, i had very old info)
"Older methods, such as the Protein Efficiency Ratio
(PER) based protein quality for humans on the growth of young rats, whih
have vastly different amino acid requirements than humans. "